P a i d e – 500 children participated in the Children’s Day organised by the Union of Free Evangelical and Baptist Churches of Estonia on October 15 in the central-Estonian city of Paide. Central topic was the mission command „Go ye into all the world“. The day began as a mission journey introducing among other things a Bible study by the Apostle Paul. In games and contests the children learned what Paul might have thought and experienced. What mission today is like was described by the mission secretary Agnes Böning (Tallinn) and the US-missionary Brian Karlik along with his 12-year-old daughter Elizabeth. She described to like-aged children what it is like to be a missionary in an unfamiliar country. It was initially difficult for her to leave all relatives and friends behind. But she has now found new friends, she explained in fluent Estonian. A video described the work of Estonian missionaries in China. It was mentioned at the meeting that children usually know most of the mission stories from Africa, but cannot relate personally to such stories. Yet at this event the missionaries were real people. A workshop discussed the question of how one can be a lay missionary in every-day life. It was stated that „We must speak with our friends about God and live in such a way that honours God”. The first step down this road is to become a good friend to others.

A large service in the city’s culture centre with the „Juhhei“ children’s choir brought the event to a close. One-hundred children from congregations throughout the country sing in this choir. Pille Havakats, the Baptist Union’s secretary for children’s ministry, reported that CDs have been produced to help the children practice at home. Estonia has 82 Baptist congrega­tions with roughly 6.000 members.