Report submitted by Mark Nelson

Fall is here and we are all back to work (or back to prison, as Karl refers to the start of school). I do hope you had a good summer. We did.

For me, the big event was two weeks we spent on the Siberian tundra, right on the Arctic Circle where we held the final study session and graduation for our Finno-Ugric Mission and Bible school.

Mark presents diploma

Giving out the diplomas was a very special moment. On the diplomas we had written that this is given “in recognition of having completed the required course of study and in anticipation of future ministry in the service of God among the Fin:no-Ugric peoples.”

I probably will meet most of these graduates occasionally over the years to come, and I do look forward to seeing what God will do among their peoples through their ministry.

During the final study session, our host church organized a 3 day Fin:no-Ug:ric Christian Festival in a large tent some 20 kilometres out of town, on the very edge of the tundra. We slept in teepees with reindeer hides for a mattress.

Breakfast in Teepee with Nenets

It was a great experience! And the mosquitoes did not bother me nearly as much as expected, partly because the fire filled the teepee with smoke. The festival itself was a very colourful event, and our students dancing and singing in their traditional folk costumes definitely communicated the message that becoming a Christian does not mean abandoning your culture, but rather it is Jesus who allows us to fully experience the beauty of who God made us to be.

My host in the teepee was a Nenets lady of about 60. She was not a Christian, and was obviously full of bitterness at the cruelty and injustice that these small ethnic groups have experienced and continue to experience today. The first night, I think she tried to shock us with her pagan stories of witches and people getting their heads cut off. Actually it was a teenage boy who told the stories in Nen:ets, chanting with his eyes closed in the dark smoke-filled teepee, while the older lady translated adding some very vigorous hand gestures. At first they did not participate in the festival program, but when a group of Nenets Christians went up to sing, the teenager, hearing the Nenets song, ran with his drum to join in (see the photo below). Seeing Christians from all these different cultures praising God in their own languages, with their own music and dance, had a very great impact upon these two. I don’t know about the teenager, but by the last day, the Nen:ets lady was asking some of the local Christians what she had to do to become a follower of Jesus.
Udmart, Nenets & Komi

And the family… Shortly after returning from Siberia, our family made a short holiday to Germany where we visited Legoland (to Karl’s delight), visited a castle dedicated to the composer Wagner (for Kai’s pleasure), and went shopping for shoes (for Katarina, who is now a real teenager.) As for me, the highlight was the turbo powered German engineered car we rented and I got to drive on the autobahn.

Now it is back to work for Kai and me, and back to school for the kids. Karl is in grade 2, with the same teacher who continues with the class throughout elementary school. Katarina has started grade 7 in a new school which has a special English program. It is the same school Kai went to, and is considered one of Tallinn’s “elite schools” so we are happy she got in. So far, she is enjoying her new school and classmates, even if she does not enjoy having to get up 30 minutes earlier to take the bus into the city. Oh well.

For me, this fall is mostly teaching at the Seminary in Tallinn, and working on the various office things that are necessary to keep our mission work developing. No major trips, which is nice. Probably a short business trip to Sweden in November and Hungary in December, but that is still comfortably a long way off. For now, I can rest a bit.

In Christ’s Service,
Mark & Kai Nelson,
Katarina, Karl

Prayer Requests:
+ Pray for our support base which continues to be below what is necessary.

PS. Look for me on Facebook to see more pictures from the Siberian tundra.

 

serving the UMC in Estonia

 

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