We are in Finland for a few days. It’s lovely here. Two friends from the US (Mary and Sarah Walsh) will arrive in Finland on Monday and spend a couple of days with us before we all drive back into Russia. Yesterday I made a video of my drive through the country. (The Finnish voice at the beginning of the video is a radio station.)
Snapshots from Russia
Yesterday we attended the wedding of two dear friends — Andrei Sukhovsky and Liz Hulley. The ceremony was held in an old Finnish Lutheran church in St. Petersburg. It was great to witness this wedding and also to have time with old friends.
A Postcard from Russia — Life at Elama
This was nice: All Nations Church had their camp at Elama last week. They posted this picture online with the following message —
We would like to thank Michael and Olga Cantrell and Sergey Tovstopyat for help in providing the place for this wonderful camp. We were truly blessed, we had a good time in prayer, studying the Bible, fellowship and relaxing.
Sergey Tovstapyat certainly deserves thanks; he is the camp administrator and has spent many hours making Elama a place of warm welcome. He’s been a great help to many people.
Thanks must also go to the many people who have donated time and funds to make Elama into what it is today. Looking at the picture, we give thanks for those who gave money for our mowers, we give thanks for the people who painted the buildings, we give thanks for the owners of the land who graciously let us use it. Elama has received help from Russians, Germans, Finns, Brits, and Americans. The list is long.
Elämä is the Finnish word for Life, and we want that place to be filled with God’s life through His people. It was great to hear that All Nations celebrated a baptism during camp — new life in Christ.
A Few Thoughts This Morning
As some of you know, we’re facing some hard times over here these days (in Russia, inspections and investigations; in Belarus, upheaval and difficulty; financial shortfalls everywhere). I sent an email to our team and thought I’d share it with you —
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Recently I’ve been contemplating Hebrews chapter 12 and want to share a few thoughts.
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
God allows hardships for our good, so that we’ll be more like Him, so that we’ll share in His holiness. Hardships create a harvest of righteousness and peace if we’ll allow ourselves to be trained by them.
This is something God has been impressing on my heart: will I allow these current hardships to train me to be more like Him? Discipline is NEVER pleasant, but it’s good. Even Jesus was ‘made perfect through suffering‘.
Suffering will make us more complete, more mature, if we walk through it in God’s way. I pray that, as we face these stressful, difficult times, we will stand on the true hope that a good harvest is coming as a result of this loving discipline God is allowing in our lives.
We need encouragement when we’re going through tough times; we need to hear good words that will lift our spirits. It’s almost comical how the writer of Hebrews does this; it certainly goes against my natural tendencies:
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
This is the word of encouragement: difficulties are a sign of God’s love for us. The idea is that rather than trying to get out from under our difficulties, we should be thankful and know that God is lovingly treating us like His children.
I think hardships are also a sign of God’s trust in us; He knows exactly what difficulties we can carry and He allows them into our lives. This good word says: Be encouraged, God is disciplining you! 🙂
I don’t mean to imply that the difficulties we face are not as bad as they are. We’re all walking through some very hard times. But God has a purpose and a result in mind; if we’ll submit to Him and endure this hardship as discipline, then our future will hold increasing righteousness and peace and we’ll share in God’s holiness. The very things we long for will be ours as we walk through these hard times with Christ as our guide.
In Him —
Mike
A Snapshot from Russia
A mission team from Oak Hills church in San Antonio arrived yesterday. I met them at the airport and helped shuttle luggage to camp where they will minister for the next two weeks. This team has been coming for many years. It’s good to see old friends.
Hõreda Manor
Estonia is dotted with old manor houses. The other day I went for a drive to see the countryside and visit an old manor that caught my interest.
This is Hõreda Manor, one of many manors that are now abandoned.
The building was finished about in 1810. and was decorated inside with marks and filigranes stucco decorations. After it stood without a roof in 1980s and 1990s, it has been completely ruined. The manor now stands in private ownership.
I originally found this manor on this site, which has many interesting pictures from the back roads of Estonia. There are more pictures of the Hõreda Manor here, and you can see many more manors here and here.
Who Likes Proposal Stories?
This one is a shocker —
Valerie’s Birthday
Tomorrow (the 14th) is Valerie’s fourth birthday. We celebrated early because Olga’s mother left for Montenegro this morning, and I came to Estonia today. Our friend Olga Ryazhskikh also joined us.
Here’s a little ‘familiana’, when we ate the birthday cake:
A Snapshot from Russia
Olga and Valerie were coloring together at dacha. The light was good and the subject superb.
I love my family.
A Postcard from Estonia — A Full Life
We’ve just returned from Estonia where we had a quick visit with a mission team from our home church in Athens, GA. The team is ministering in Camp Gideon, a Christian camp in the shore of the Gulf of Finland. This team is particularly memorable in that my aunt, Judy Cantrell, is a member. That’s her above at right with Valerie and other team members. So, it was good to have some family time as well as mission time with the team.
The team went to a restaurant where you catch your own meal. Olga caught her first fish (ever!). Here she is with Bill Arnold, who has been a great help in many ways. In addition to serving the children, the team is also involved in construction projects, and Bill is taking a leading role in that.
Our summer plans are in flux. I won’t be going to Montenegro as intended, since the mission team that planned to run the camp had to cancel their trip. Thankfully, the youth in Montenegro have been able to connect with other ministry opportunities. I’ll spend more time in Estonia, where I’ll meet with the architect of the center for disabled children and do some other work.
You can read the most recent Stoneworks newsletter here. This will give you an idea of the variety of activities going on this summer. I am very thankful to be a part of such a great team. Our work continues in Estonia (mission teams, center for disabled children), Russia (mission teams, Camp Elama) and Belarus (summer camps, visits to orphanages and shelters, the Minsk Family Home).
I continue to be reminded of how unity is more important than activity. Even though we have a lot going on, it’s more important to abide in Christ, to live with and depend on Him, and to work for unity with those around us; we trust that activities will be a natural result of our relationship with Christ and with one another. Jesus said, ‘by this people will know that you’re my disciples — by your love for one another’. God values love above all else: first loving Him and then loving one another.
Let’s all set our hearts to love God more and more. For He is the beginning and end of all, the cornerstone and the capstone.
Mike and Olga Cantrell 