We’re going back on the mission field

Craig Brotherston and his family are embarking on a huge adventure as they follow God’s call to Estonia. He talked Chris Rolfe through its thrills and challenges

How would you feel if God called your family to move to a country where you didn’t speak the language?

This is the adventure Elim’s Republic of Ireland leader Craig Brotherston and his family are embarking on as they move to Estonia in August.

But with a heart for mission and for Europe and the Slavic world, Craig is raring to get stuck in.

“We’re moving to the capital city, Tallinn, on 1 August and will be working with a church network of Elim Global partners,” he says.

Estonian life will be a brand-new experience for Craig, his wife Abby and their four daughters – Sianna, Aliza, Ariela and Tamara – but Belfast-born Craig’s sense of calling to it began long ago.

“When I was 19 I was living in New York, working for a church, and felt God speak to me about Russia,” he says. “I didn’t know anything about the country, didn’t speak the language, didn’t know anyone there. But I just had a sense of God saying something, and that never went away.”

Six years later he began exploring the idea during a trip to Moscow.

Then in 2014 Craig, Abby and their then three daughters moved to Krasnoyarsk in northern Siberia – an experience they loved. “We worked on a missions internship which was a joint partnership between Elim Missions and Pioneers. We were working with missionaries serving the Evenki people, who are reindeer herders.

“We partnered with a local church, got involved in ministry and Bible translation and learned some Russian. We had eight-and-a-half months of snow so it was very cold at times! But we had amazing opportunities for discipleship.”

The family had been expecting this to be a long-term placement but returned to Ireland after a year.

Once back, Craig and Abby adopted their fourth daughter, Tamara. Then in 2016, unaware of where God would lead, Craig took a trip to Estonia.

“I joined Paul Hudson on an Elim Global trip to partner with the church network EKNK and began to build a relationship with their leaders. We actually brought their pastor to our youth camp in Ireland to help minister there, but I didn’t think a move to Estonia would ever be something God would call us to.”

Around 18 months ago, Craig and Abby’s hearts for mission, the Slavic world and Russian-speaking people began to stir again. They felt prompted by the Holy Spirit that it was time to pursue missions once more, and so the call to Estonia came about.

“In some ways it was a surprise but in others it absolutely fits with what God has been saying to us for a very long time,” says Craig.

As their August move approaches, the mission-hearted family are preparing for a massive change. For starters, they need to learn Estonian.

“We have a foundation in Russian but we’re just starting with Estonian. We need to develop that, and it’s a difficult language to study!” says Craig. “The kids – who are 13, eleven, nine and six – will go to school in Tallinn and all schooling is primarily in Estonian.

“The language is probably the biggest thing in their heads about the move. They’re coming round to the idea, but the fact it’s a language they don’t know is a big deal for them.

“Two of them feel very strongly that God has spoken to them about why we’re moving and that this is their calling too. The others are intrigued but nervous.”

There’s also the tricky in-between season of leaving schools and jobs – Craig looks after 15 churches in Elim’s Republic of Ireland network and also pastors Ballyfermot Community Church in Dublin.

But overall, the excitement is infectious.

“We have a big heart for the spread of the gospel, especially among people who need it most, so we’re very excited to get back to mission,” Craig says. “There are 300,000 Russian first-language speakers in Estonia with a need for church expression or church plants. We’re looking forward to partnering with Elim Missions as well as bringing short-term teams out to Estonia and raising up the next generation of disciple-makers.

“You never know exactly how things are going to look till you land, and we’ve got relationship-building and language-learning to do, but we’re really looking forward to it. I love raising young leaders, church planting and helping struggling churches in any way we can. I’m hugely excited about the mission of God and all he wants us to do!”

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.

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