Second Sunday

What a difference one week can make! Our second Sunday at the Tallinn Kopli Corps was as wonderful as the first, but also dramatically different.

There were many people who were away for one reason or another. The men from Lootusemaja (Hope House) were at a retreat at the Army's camp at Loksa, so that took away around a third of our regulars. A good number of our regular soldiers were away for various personal reasons, so we knew that would also reduce our attendance. On top of that, today was the Tallinn Marathon, which takes place all around the city center. This meant that the trams were not running, many buses were re-routed, streets leading to the corps were closed, and getting anywhere in the vicinity of the corps would be a challenge.

Tim was supposed to preach, with one of our soldiers translating from English to Estonian, and someone else translating into Russian on the headphones. But we learned just before we left for the corps that the soldier was called into work, and with no one else to translate, it meant we had to quickly change plans and have Evelyn lead the meeting and preach in Estonian!

Knowing that none of the public transportation we needed wouldn't be working, we walked to the corps through Old Town, which takes about 30 minutes. That gave us time to talk through the plans for the meeting.

In the minutes leading up to 11:00, people slowly trickled in, primarily the faithful pensioners. There were mostly Estonian speakers, with a few Russian speakers (but most of those said they understood Estonian). We had a wonderful time of singing (accompanied by CD because the band members were away), testimonies and various people doing Scripture readings. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the fellowship together, even though it was very different than usual. After Evelyn began to preach, one man even offered to translate from Estonian into Russian for those who needed it. Overall, it felt like we were a family together, helping one another, sharing together, and worshiping our common Saviour.

So from an attendance of 80 last week, we had 30 this week, but that led to a much more homey atmosphere. We are grateful to God for His constant provision, even when the unexpected comes along. We look forward to seeing all that He has planned for the Tallinn Kopli Corps!