News from Alan and Alice Osborn

July 2024

Evangelist Tim Hall

Awake Estonia was a success

Evangelist Tim Hall was in Estonia 28th April to 3rd May, holding 3 meetings in the biggest Concert hall in Tallinn as well as meeting in Pärnu, Tartu and Viljandi. There were more people than the venues could cope with and around 6000 people heard the gospel and many received their healing miracle.

After the event different places were able to continue working with people who had become Christians and with people who turned back to God.

The event was also on the main page of one of the leading newspapers in Estonia with an intriguing but out of context headline: “Deceit or a miracle - a hall full of people getting healed through an Australian evangelist!"

Another good thing that has come from the event is regular weekly street evangelism in Parnu, that Alice helps to lead.

Finding our place

And our first mission team

In the midst of summer here in Estonia, we feel excited by what we have seen God do and has in store for the near future. These last few months have been really wonderful and also varied for us in our mission here. Our ministry has been developing as we have gained the full trust of, and built friendships with, EKNK and its senior leaders. We ministered in EKNK churches located in Parnu, Kabli, Lihula and in the free church in Viimsi, which has all been a real privilege. We have helped with prayer ministry, pastoral care, preaching, worship, evangelism, mission and baptisms.

International Missions – Reaching Nations

Final Preparations

Our wider work with the EKNK Pentecostal Church continues. We have been preparing to host the Why Mission? conference on 07.09.24. The posters, registration and schedule are now complete, so next we will need to focus on the finer details of the day. It is all in aid of re-starting International Missions across the EKNK churches and will aim to help work with Pastors and Leaders so that they and their churches can get involved. From this we will shape new processes and training videos to make it easy to engage with Missions.

Receiving our first Missions Team

Leigh-on-Sea Elim Church in Estonia

A super team of 12 people arrived from the Leigh-onSea Elim Church for 10 days of mission wonderfully led by Pastor John and Irene Young. We put together a varied itinerary for them. This included churches in the city of Tallinn, time in the Village of Hope rehab centre, and then off to the rural Islands of Muhu and Saaremaa for evangelism, worship and ministry in 3 different churches.

This is a quote from John on the impact of his and the Leigh-on-Sea church’s first overseas mission trip:

The privilege of seeing a group of people become a team, working and supporting each other as well as stepping out in faith, has been one of the remarkable things about mission.

We witnessed the Holy Spirit move in power, not just amongst the Estonian people but also in our group. Each of us experienced something new and we grew in our relationship with God and each other. There were some tough times but many more times of celebration and thankfulness to God for his love and mercy.

This exciting journey has given our church a focus on how everyone can play a part in the Great Commission, whether they are going on it, helping raise funds or in prayer support. On returning home, there has been so much to tell everyone and we have noticed an increase in encouragement, teamwork, inclusion and financial giving from the congregation.

I can't thank Alan and Alice enough for their devotion to mission, their support and love to us and for the strong friendship that has developed. We look forward to our next visit!

Personally...

Some wins and losses

A friend, Urmas, from our nearest EKNK church in Parnu passed into glory, at only 44 years of age, due to cancer. He will be missed. Ministry continues to be a rollercoaster, but even so, we remain on solid ground

Alan started the A2 Estonian language course – and still needs your prayers!

Alan also managed a 100-mile cycle ride with his brothers, from Gouda in the Netherlands to Bruges in Belgium.

Pastors Team Visit

Met Region Pastors Team in September

There will be a Met Region team of 10 Pastors heading over to us at the end of September, which we are also super excited about. Details for that itinerary are next on our list and we will be putting on a day conference that they will all be a part of. The Met region has also helped us to procure a 9- seater minibus to use for our ministry which we are extremely grateful for. This was super helpful in hosting the Leigh-on-Sea team and will help future teams as well as for any local ministry opportunities.

Making Disciples

Supporting Churches

Several churches are running Freedom in Christ courses themselves and we help support them to run it. One such church was the Viimsi Free Church. Another has incorporated the course into their discipleship program and have now run it 4 times with new people and new believers.

Behind the scenes we are working on a new full website to be an enhancement for our current landing page which is found at https://freedominchrist.org/estonia.

We are continuing to work on the Russian course translation, which is close to completion. We will also host an interdenominational online zoom course starting 03.09.24.

Resources

Learn and support together

We are keen to make disciples and have written books on what we believe is the single most important aspect of Jesus’ teaching – his Kingdom.

Buying these resources will help to support us while you learn more about this either by yourself or with others in a group setting.

Coming Soon!

Excited to announce that the next book in the Kingdom Perspective Series is currently going through proof-reading and will be available soon.

Worldwide at https://kingdomperspective.net
USA at https://amazon.com/author/alanjosborn
UK at https://amazon.co.uk

Partnering with us

How to help us to spread the gospel

We would love for you to partner with us in our calling and gospel mission to Estonia. Could you perhaps consider being part of a short-term mission team into this nation, or even lead a team from your church or region? Either way, we would be excited to help host and be part of arranging your trip. Do please contact us at alan.osborn@elim.org.uk for further details.

Prayer needs

Your prayers are needed! Estonia is one of the top ten most atheistic countries in the world, with both high alcoholism and suicide rates. Please pray for:

• For the Leigh-on-Sea team back from mission and the upcoming Met Region Pastors team
• For our Why Missions? conference on 07.09.24
• For our online zoom Freedom in Christ course starting 03.09.24 and that many people will attend
• For new and growing relationships working with the UK Elim Churches
• For God to provide the regular giving of finances that we need
• We give thanks for all that God has done and provided along our journey so far

 

  more about Alan and Alice
  Donate to Alan and Alice Now