Blessings from Boni Schanil, Estonia missions, ScriptureStick overseas!

Hi All!

I thought I would take a minute to share an e-mail with you... It is from Boni Schanil, a wonderful lady who just recently returned from a missions trip to Estonia! ...Go ahead... it's OK to look it up on a world map, or "google" it, (I did!). Boni had requested a ScriptureStick to take along, and off it went to her, along with our prayers for her safety, and a fruitful mission. In return, Boni has been a blessing to us in so many ways! Thank you, Boni!

...Here is her recent e-mail to Cari and I...


"Dear Kelly and Cari,

What a blessing it was, first to talk with Cari on the phone, then to receive your wonderful card—and then to have my Scripture Stick with me and in hand on my recent mission trip to Estonia. Because I have a blind spot in my dominant eye, I often fall due to the distortion of my visual perception when there are even slight obstacles. (Earlier in the year while on another mission trip to Russia I fell twice and last year in Estonia fell and broke my shoulder, and so my orthopedic specialist suggested that I begin using a walking stick.) This time, I used my Scripture Stick while traveling through five airports making the various connections—and it was a great help to me on the stairways in the airports (many airports in other countries don’t have escalators—and I even used it in the Chicago airport on a stairway down to a transportation bus). I am happy to report that I didn’t fall once on this trip. And, even though busy, the airport security attendants often took time to read the scripture verse on my stick! It was especially helpful in Tallinn, Estonia during our stay in the old town section where we daily walked on the very old and rough cobblestone streets and walkways.

In Tartu, Estonia, where the focus of our mission trip was located—I used the stick for walking in new areas of the city. Our mission was to teach a Friendship English Language Camp/School, practicing speaking English using the stories of Joseph from the Old Testament and correlating the lessons with the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. We had 26 people enrolled and had 45 attend, including the addition of a children’s camp. We praise God and give Him the glory for moving mightily through the camp in His Almighty and Healing Holy Spirit power.

Another aspect of our mission trip was to bring encouragement and strengthen our partnership with Tartu Academy of Theology (TAT)—the only ecumenical Christian college in Estonia—training pastors, lay leaders and professionals with Bachelor and Master degrees. The founder of TAT had the vision for the college while he hid out as a youth for over four years in an underground bunker, while his pastor father was taken and sent to Siberian labor camps by the Stalinists. I also used my Scripture Stick on a field trip deep into the woods of Southern Estonia to see the bunker. To get there we traveled first by bus until the roads ran out and then we walked a marshy forested trail back to the location along with our host, Eenoch Haamer, founder of TAT. There he told us his story. His father’s journals from the time of his arrest while working at the church where he was a pastor through his time in Siberia and return home have been printed into a book, “We Shall Live in Heaven.” It is available for purchase at www.eemn.org, website for East European Missions Network (EEMN), the organization for which I work and traveled on this mission trip. The website for Tartu Academy of Theology is www.teoloogia.ee.

Attached is a picture of me with my stick in my back yard in Minnesota.

May God bless your ministry.

In Christ Jesus,

Boni Schanil"

...WOW!... God is so wonderful! May God Bless your ministry, also, Boni!

It is exciting for me to see God working through folks like Boni! It is also exciting for me to see that the ScriptureSticks that are sent out are often used in an active ministry, sometimes even to other lands, and, on occasion, overseas!

If you would like to share a story about your ministry, or how you were able to use your ScriptureStick in your ministry (or daily walk), please feel free to drop us a line. We would love to hear from you, to be encouraged in our little ministry, and to encourage you and pray for you in yours!

Boni, we thank you for your ministry, and for your generosity. May God Bless you!

...and may God Bless all of you too!

Stickman