By Colleen Weaver, OMS Coordinator for
Discipleship and Leadership Development
When a train pulls into the
station in the United Kingdom,
a warning announcement comes
over the loud speaker call-
ing everyone to “mind the gap.”
The narrow space between the
train and the platform is the gap
where ankles can be twisted, items
dropped, and shoes or wheels can be-
come wedged. Two possible synonyms for
the word gap are “void” and “opening,” and it is
these words that characterize the gaps that One Mission Society missionaries
Mark and Livia Nelson are “minding” in Estonia.
Estonia is a small country in northern Europe. Although Christianity has been
present in Estonia for centuries, the devastation of wars and communist oc-
cupation have negatively impacted people’s concept of God. This has turned a
majority of Estonians away from organized religion, such as the Christian church,
and toward other types of spirituality such as astrology and fortune telling.
Mark currently serves as the academic dean at the Baltic Methodist Theological
Seminary in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Livia does informal Bible teaching and
discipleship. Together, they have identified a void in the theological formation of
many who are enrolling in the seminary. The students come seeking basic Bible,
theological, and spiritual formation because they have experienced a void in
the Christian education and discipleship offered by their home churches. Once
enrolled, these students unfortunately discover that they are unprepared for the
level of education offered by the seminary. They lack the necessary foundation
for the course work and often have not yet developed clarity about their ministry
calling and gifts.
But gaps are also openings, and Livia and Mark see this formational gap
as a call to go to the communities where there are few opportunities for basic
theological education. The Nelsons recognize that it is essential to facilitate and
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