kolmapäev, juuni 22, 2005
Report on Youth Mission Team
Click here to see this article at the international Salvation Army web site, with PHOTOS! (The bottom picture is in our Raekoja Plats, or Town Hall Square, here in Tartu just before the big meeting with the Chalk Farm Band. We were on our way to America for my mother's funeral that day.)
Finland and Estonia: Report on Youth Mission Team
The Finland and Estonia Territory's youth mission team began a year and a half ago when a group met to plan the territory's response to the General's declaration, '2005 – A Year for Children and Youth'.
One of the ideas that came out of that brainstorming session was to put together a mission team of teenagers from Estonia to visit Finland and one from Finland to visit Estonia. Under the visionary leadership of Colonel Gudrun Lydholm the groups were combined so that working together they might help to create a healthy bond with young people in both countries. It was her suggestion, too, that the team would travel throughout the year instead of in one 10-day campaign, thereby keeping this special focus uppermost throughout the year.
The team came together in January at Loksa, a camp in Estonia, for a week of intensive training. The teens worked hard on writing, expressing their life testimonies and exploring their spiritual gifts, as well as spending time in Bible study and prayer. At the end of their stay they shared their testimonies and experienced an outpouring of the Spirit. This was the moment when the team became fused together, united in love.
From February to April the team members met once a month at weekends, putting together aids to their ministry, such as dramas, dances (sacred, line and other forms) and object testimonies. These meetings always centred on Scripture and prayer so that personal spiritual growth took place on each occasion.
The youth mission team was made up of 17 young people whose native languages were English, Finnish, Estonian, and Russian. Prepared to serve the Lord wherever he led them, the team made its first trip to Hyvinkää Corps in Finland from 5-8 May, when the members also visited Helsinki Temple and Helsinki Corps.
The visit to Hyvinkää started with an open-air meeting at the local market place, where, once they had attracted attention with a line dance, the young people moved into a drama expressing the need for Christ. Testimonies were given without hesitation and the gospel was preached. By the end of an hour, many people had stopped, listened and talked with the team members.
After lunch and fellowship with the corps people, the teens held a programme for families and children from the corps weekday children’s centre. They weren't sure who would come because it was Saturday, but many did, and the high-energy programme prepared by the team received an overwhelming response. Crafts, games, snacks, the Bible story, and even the baking, were all well received.
The next morning, which also happened to be Mothers' Day, the mission team ministered at Helsinki Temple and then at Helsinki Corps.
This first weekend was one of 12 trips the mission team will make throughout the year. It will travel in both Finland and Estonia, proclaiming the gospel and telling everyone who will listen that Christ is the hope for all, and for eternity.
As the team members have grown in their spiritual maturity so their love for each other has grown. There has been such kinship and prayer support that even while apart they will be praying for or encouraging one another, perhaps in an Internet chat room. It is wonderful to see the glory of God's Holy Spirit living and moving among these young people, and it is exciting to contemplate where and how he will use them in years to come.
Finland and Estonia: Report on Youth Mission Team
The Finland and Estonia Territory's youth mission team began a year and a half ago when a group met to plan the territory's response to the General's declaration, '2005 – A Year for Children and Youth'.
One of the ideas that came out of that brainstorming session was to put together a mission team of teenagers from Estonia to visit Finland and one from Finland to visit Estonia. Under the visionary leadership of Colonel Gudrun Lydholm the groups were combined so that working together they might help to create a healthy bond with young people in both countries. It was her suggestion, too, that the team would travel throughout the year instead of in one 10-day campaign, thereby keeping this special focus uppermost throughout the year.
The team came together in January at Loksa, a camp in Estonia, for a week of intensive training. The teens worked hard on writing, expressing their life testimonies and exploring their spiritual gifts, as well as spending time in Bible study and prayer. At the end of their stay they shared their testimonies and experienced an outpouring of the Spirit. This was the moment when the team became fused together, united in love.
From February to April the team members met once a month at weekends, putting together aids to their ministry, such as dramas, dances (sacred, line and other forms) and object testimonies. These meetings always centred on Scripture and prayer so that personal spiritual growth took place on each occasion.
The youth mission team was made up of 17 young people whose native languages were English, Finnish, Estonian, and Russian. Prepared to serve the Lord wherever he led them, the team made its first trip to Hyvinkää Corps in Finland from 5-8 May, when the members also visited Helsinki Temple and Helsinki Corps.
The visit to Hyvinkää started with an open-air meeting at the local market place, where, once they had attracted attention with a line dance, the young people moved into a drama expressing the need for Christ. Testimonies were given without hesitation and the gospel was preached. By the end of an hour, many people had stopped, listened and talked with the team members.
After lunch and fellowship with the corps people, the teens held a programme for families and children from the corps weekday children’s centre. They weren't sure who would come because it was Saturday, but many did, and the high-energy programme prepared by the team received an overwhelming response. Crafts, games, snacks, the Bible story, and even the baking, were all well received.
The next morning, which also happened to be Mothers' Day, the mission team ministered at Helsinki Temple and then at Helsinki Corps.
This first weekend was one of 12 trips the mission team will make throughout the year. It will travel in both Finland and Estonia, proclaiming the gospel and telling everyone who will listen that Christ is the hope for all, and for eternity.
As the team members have grown in their spiritual maturity so their love for each other has grown. There has been such kinship and prayer support that even while apart they will be praying for or encouraging one another, perhaps in an Internet chat room. It is wonderful to see the glory of God's Holy Spirit living and moving among these young people, and it is exciting to contemplate where and how he will use them in years to come.
