Countdown to Estonia..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1 day

To send the team off in style, Tim Rice - leader of our ground support team - threw a send off dinner for the College Ministry team and a few members from prevous Estonia teams who've gone before us. We filled up on tasty salad, pastas and bread from Maggiano's - thanks, Tim! - and finished off the meal with cheesecake and homemade key lime pie for dessert. After dinner, we took some time to prepare our hearts for the trip with prayer, as well as stories and helpful tips from those who have gone on previous mission trips to Estonia. They shared with us some about the culture and how best to connect with the Estonians, among many other things. The excitement - and crunch time - is building for all of us on the College Ministry team as we count down the days to next Friday, September 7 when we will finally be on our way! Our flight leaves at 4:45pm on 9/7 and will take us overnight to Amsterdam where we have a four hour layover before taking the two-hour flight to Tallinn, the capitol of Estonia. We then have about a two-hour drive to finally arrive in Tartu before 6pm Estonia time, which is seven hours ahead of our EST for those who want to keep up. :-) See photos from the Team Dinner.

Team Retreat at Simpsonwood August 3-4

The team went to Simpsonwood in Norcross GA this weekend (Aug 3-4) for some great planning and bonding time. We shared our testimonies, identified teams to focus on everything from give aways to concert production to the breakfast menu, and just spent some good old fashioned "together" time getting to know each other a little better. This was our first meeting with the band, and we are SO excited to have them as part of the team! See photos from the retreat.

Supporting College Ministry in Estonia - on location and here at home with encouragement, prayer and financial support

Our Mission while in Estonia will be to assist Peep Saar, our host (pronounced Pape Sar), and the team from Risttee Church in Tartu to launch a college ministry "to produce an irresistable environment where college students can encounter the Irresistable God." We will have numerous opportunities throughout the week to interact and connect with college students through planned activities like free campus breakfasts, afternoon sports games and scavenger hunts, and night time events with the highlight being a concert we will help produce in the middle of the week. The concert will feature Kristian Stanfill and his band, who we are thrilled to have traveling with us from Atlanta to Estonia. We really have no idea what to expect, but we will follow the lead of Peep and his team and have no doubt God is going to show up BIG! We are so glad to have you as part of our team.