I think last week I received the best birthday gift ever. I'm still trying to get my head around it, or in other words - I'm still unwrapping this present. It takes time. Because it's a big gift with a lot of wrapping paper around it. :)

Dr A. N. wrote me in the beginning of last week and said she wanted to skype because she had some good news to share. So we found time on Wednesday evening (which was my actual birthday) and after talking about birthdays and books we got down to business. "Here's the deal", she said, "there was a big TED/Newbold meeting with all the important people present and we happened to speak about Estonians educating their future pastors in the Baptist seminary in Tartu. Some people opposed this idea in the past but now it's clear that this is the best way for you to do things. So here's the thing. Newbold wants to support you. People were like, Mervi's doing a great job back home and we need to back her and the whole Estonian conference up. We need to offer them our support and see whether we can send our lecturers over for intensive courses and teach what's needed." I was just sitting in front of my computer as if lighting had hit me. And she continued, "I said I'd take this to be my personal project. So I'll be mediating between you and Newbold. Just let me know what courses you want us to teach and I'll fix the rest."

Newbold appreciates what I do here.

They're going to help...

with Dr A. N. leading the whole project.

Dear heavens.

After the conversation everything happened so quickly I didn't even have time to blink my eyes. Wednesday night I sent my senior pastor a message: Maaaaaaaaan, Newbold's backing us up! On Thursday evening we had a meeting with the principal of the Seminary and we let her know some of our own courses were going to be taught by awesome Newbold lecturers as intensives. She said, "That's great, go ahead". By Friday evening we (me and A. N.) had agreed on the modules they'd help us with during the next academic year. We'll have Hermeneutics in the fall and Biblical Theology in the spring semester. A. N. herself will come over to teach Hermeneutics... I'm so happy and humbled I don't know what to do.

Well, all I do is walk around like, Thank you, Jesus, this sure is one MASSIVE gift!