Moving blog and web

I am moving my website back to timoilves.planet.ee

Small groups growing

Every Sunday at 5PM, me, Hanna and dozen of middle-school students cather to Chris'es appartment. We've had our small group for 4 weeks for now. First time there were only me, Hanna and Joshua. Second time there were already 2 students, third time 3 and this week 4 additional new smiling faces. It's been very encouraging to see our group grow. I hope it can be a place for everyone to feel home and secure, to study about God, faith, to be encouragement for others. Also, very interesting is that half of the students coming are non-believers.

End of the world... is it?

Today I was speaking over a long time at our youth event Lift. It was 1st part of series called 'Spiritual world'. I talked about God's plan to recreate the world and about myths about heaven. I used a lot of ideas from series called 'Mythbusters' from North Point Community Church. It was very encouraging for me. I had just been praying for more wisdom and understanding of who God is, so He gave me a topic I didn't know anything, and I had to find a burden to pass on to students. Now looking back, it was amazing how God answered to my prayers again - I prayed for leading of His Spirit, and I believe He did it. I was pretty worried before the talk, yet I trusted God that He's going to take care of this, because I was prepared. During the talk and after that I felt pretty confident, because all confusment was gone and God was carrying me with His Spirit.

For myself, I found out cool truth, that God is going to recreate the world we are living in. When Christ comes the second time, everything will be destroyed, but it's going to be rebuilt. Built the way it was supposed to be in God's first thoughts. World without diseases, AIDS, murdering, famine...

"Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind." Isaiah 65:17

Ohh.. and I finally got a new MacBook. Thanks Josh and Jake for helping me out with it!

Hope

It's been crazy week! Trying to figure things out at school, putting together Risttee music schedule, managing free time, money.. All these might be pretty serious distractions that slowly get us off the course. Last days I have been pretty puzzled of what's been going on with me. Have you ever felt that you need to do something but you just don't know what you're looking for. Do I look for attention? Money? Relationships? Peace in God? And why is it that if we aren't really sure of what we need to do, we do things that for sure are not the right things to do? ...

Yesterday I was listening to a online sermon by Louie Giglio. He was speaking about hope that we have in difficult moments. He used chapter John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." For me it helped to realize again (we so often forget), that life gets harder sometimes. And there are moments we don't realize at all what is going on and it might just seem that God has left us alone with our issues, and He won't deal with us before we've figured them out on our own. Sometimes serious things happen to our friends, to our family members, and we think: "Why doesn't God have control over our things? He has made blind to see and has rose dead to life. Why doesn't He heal me or him/her this time". It is so real, in all of our lives. But what God tells us is to take heart. It might sound really cheesy, but there is still hope. Often that is all we've got. All I've got...

Back to life

It's been a while since my last blog post.. It doesn't mean that my life has stopped or Estonia has lost Internet connection. I think it is just time to raise from the ashes.

It's been crazy time since I got back from Atlanta; trying to find a place in Estonia, hosting my friends Alex and Gavin, having Bear Week for university students, week-long trip to conference in Czech, etc. So I guess it is just easier to start from something and hope that the blog post would end up somewhere.

I had had probably best summer of my life in America this year. I met many amazing people, got to find out more about North Point Community Church and their Music Department, and of course, get to know my old friends more. So here is was now, at Tallinn airport again. I was back in Estonia, full of excitement what's going to happen this year at our church and what God has in His plans for me, yet back to a country that is full of depression and selfishness. But it's the place to be.

In some weeks 2 of my great friends from America came to visit me: Alex and Gavin. We had very good time in Tallinn and Tartu. After showing them around, we toke off with my car to Latvia, Riga. After that we headed to an island to the west of Estonia - Saaremaa. We spent a day there and then it was time them to leave. I was so thankful to God for sending them to me that time, because I needed that encouragement to keep on going and finding my pace here in Estonia, outside of Christian bubble.

Two weeks ago a team from Atlanta came over to help us out with a university festival called 'Bear week'. It was a week full of active games, free breakfasts and concerts. Also, Kristian Stanfill and his band came with the team. They had amazing impact on people here. We could see a lot of new faces at our events and services. Also, it was very encouraging for people to meet those guys - men of faith and worship. To see some photos of Thursday night concert, visit Evelin's website.

So last week, me and 9 other brave Risttee leaders toke off to Czech, to Josiah Venture Fall Conference. It was about leading people. The whole time was great time getting to know other team members better and getting more encouraged of what God is doing in our lives and in Estonia and whole Eastern Europe. Also, Märt Saar decided to start working for Going UP International, so we'll see what God has in His hands for him also.

This was quick overview of what's been going on lately in my life (kind of events wise). I want to just let you know that God's been extremely faithful to me and I am continuing to pray for His plans going into action in my life.

Alright, I apologize to people who've been reading my blog and haven't had anything to read for a while, but... I'm back.

Going to sleep now!
Till the next time...

Acts 5:34-4

I was reading God’s word and I came across with this very powerful chapter. Acts 5:34-42. It tells a story, that many leaders, who’ve tried to accomplish their own plans, have died / been killed, and after that their movement has vanished. A highly honored teacher Gamaliel asked pharisees and priests to leave Apostles alone. He said that if they are after their own movement, it will disappear eventually anyway, but if it was a movement of God, then they would be fighting against God.

He was a very smart man, I would tell. If we look back, even not that far past, great leaders have died and so has their movement with them. Therefore, there is still one huge movement going on and rising every day - movement of God, Jesus Christ, who died on a cross, but is still remembered!

For me, it was very powerful scripture. I understood that whatever or whoever I go against, when I am on the same path with God, no-one can stop me, and God inside me. If there are people in your lives, who want to tear your belief down, who say there is no God, don’t wear down, but be joyful of being worthy to go through all that for God whose plan you’re fulfilling.

38Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."