Estonia has had a rough time in the past. In 1227 it was conquered by the Danes and Germans. This led to 700 years of foreign occupation spread out between the Danes, Germans, Roman Empire, Swedes, and eventually Russians. Estonia finally gained their independence in 1918, only to lose it again to the Soviets in 1940. They gained independence once again in 1991 and have been a sovereign country ever since. Needless to say so many years of foreign rule followed by the pretty extreme oppression of the Soviets has taken a toll on Estonian culture.
The spiritual side of Estonia has been interesting to research, as I have already mentioned. Estonia has a very strong Lutheran presence due to German influence. Many official resources say that between 30%-40% of the population is Christian. A closer look, however, gives a much lower number. One website puts the percentage of Estonia’s Church goers at 4% of the population (The U.S.A has 44%). So what I will be working with seemed to be an outwardly Christian nation that is inwardly very secular. Some specific implications of this are that divorce, abortion, and materialism is common place here. Here is a great video about this that was put out by Kevin Mason who I will be working under in Estonia.
There is much more to say about this, but for shortness’ sake I will save it for another day. I can say that after learning all that I have about the country in which I minister has made me very excited to get there, and I hope that this blog will make you all the more excited to partner with me when I get there!
2 comments:
That was interesting to read Josh. The part about Estonia being a nation that is outwardly Christian but inwardly secular kind of reminded me of our nation.
Jordan W.
Jordan- I agree, but I think Estonia is a bit more outspoken about it. The more I learn about Estonia from Estonians the less I think that they are even outwardly Christian. Thanks for the comment!
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