Progress Report 1_03

Tallinn, March 10, 2003

Greetings from the Lighthouse! This letter is long overdue for which I apologize. Things have been very uncertain and I did not want to act on the promises I had been given. Many thanks to all of you who have kept us in your prayers for the past months. What has evolved is nothing short of a miracle. For no obvious reason we were told one day that the part of the city where most of our client children are from, would like to give us a house to rent. It is a spacious two storey house, in quite good condition and has a spacious yard in the front. The pictures are on our webpage www.lastekeskus.ee/lighthouse, but as I was told these pictures do not even begin to do justice to the actual building. The past weeks have been spent wondering and hoping and praying for a resolution of the City Council. We have that now, but still no contract. Nevertheless, the officials have told us to go ahead and move in. And that is what we did this past Saturday. The team was modest, yet dedicated. Of the movers, our volunteers Nikolai and Aleksander were the only ones over twenty, the rest were the children-Eedik, Oskar, Rasmus, Valter and Andrei V., who had volunteered to come and help. Never mind the sore muscles and total exhaustion the next day. As to the center, we will still be operating at Apteegi this week. On Friday we will receive furniture through our Swedish friends Ake and Lise Wallman who collected it in Sweden. Then we will clean and put things in order the beginning of the next week and then open officially on March 24. There is a need for some renovations and we are hoping and praying that the Lighthouse can receive the first of our very own mission teams in August, that Doug Thomas from First UMC Tullahoma, TN is working on putting together.

With the new facility we need to also enlarge our programs. There is going to be a strategic planning meeting for the staff, board and volunteers on April 5th to evaluate where we have come in the past 5 years and also map out the course for the weeks and months to come. I’ll let you know of the outcome.

One of the innovations we would like to implement is a practical course in Economics. Eventually, we will try to set up a student company where the children produce the goods, market and sell them and do all the bookkeeping and anything else that needs to be done in a company. I do believe this will give them the necessary skills, but more imporatntly, the confidence to do something with their life. Please pray for the success of the program.

Bible study and godly living continues to be an important part of our everyday life. We still recite Our Lord’s prayer in two languages after singing grace before the meals. I’ve been very encouraged by the initiative that our chef suggested—namely, to read the Bible together. We read about 1,5-2 chapters every day and discuss difficult concepts and words. Sometimes the discussions have really driven the point home. I asked a board member to ask the children what makes people impure. Is it something we eat, I helped with the question. No, they said, its what comes out. What do you mean, I asked, like when you get sick? No, they said, the words we speak, these make us impure.

On the down side the staff have had numerous health problems this winter. Eve Järv is recovering from an operation, Alla Gluhhova has had recurring symptoms of flu since December. I myself was recently bed ridden for a week. That’s why we have asked Kristiaana Laansoo, who is now a temporary staff member, to fill in for us and help us through these difficult times. She is only 20 years old but has been leading the children with strength and authority. Please pray for her coninued good experience with us.

Yet another prayer request for this week could be the children’s report cards. This is the last week before the spring break. There is a lot of “correcting the grade” going on this week.

Last but not least, thank you all who have supported the center with your prayers and offerings. Special thanks to Rotary Club of Birmingham and Richard and Karla Vevle for their sponsorships. Any and every support that all of you have helped us with all through the years has been invaluable. In addition reaching out to the most vulnerable children in the city, it helps us not to be dependent on the political decisions. A night shelter that had done an excellent job with funding from the city for 12 years was recently shut down for there happened to be some extra space in a state children’s home. It seems that due to the recent elections there is less intrest in the Social Department of the city government to involve NGOs in solving the city’s problems. Nevertheless, we continue to work hard to find also local supporters for the program.

Thank you again for your support. We do realize that the job we have is greater than ourselves and that’s why we could never do it alone. Thank you for your willingness to be a part of this ministry!

In the Love of Jesus,

Kersti Raudsepp

Chairman of the Board