Answers to Prayer

1 Praise God for religious freedom! Christians can freely evangelise, and many denominations are pressing forward in this vital task

Challenges for Prayer

1 The introduction of capitalism has brought wealth — accompanied by a moral slide

2 Estonia's attempts to preserve national identity have alienated the large Russian minority

3 The Church is now free

4 Estonia is in need of evangelism in much the same manner as the rest of Europe

5 Leadership training is a priority with church leaders

6 The contribution of foreign Christian agencies has been significant

7 The Estonian Bible revision was completed in 1996

Geography

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Area 45,215 sq.km. Northernmost of the three Baltic states.

Population (2000) 1,396,158 -1.24%AGR

Capital Tallinn 435,000.

Peoples

Finno-Ugric 65%; Slavic 33.3%; Other 1.7%.

Literacy 99%. Official language Estonian; Russian is also common. All indigenous languages 5. Languages with Scriptures 4Bi.

Economy

Aggressive reforms from a Communist command economy to a capitalist free market society have made Estonia more prosperous than any other region of the former USSR, but not without pain to those on fixed incomes. HDI 0.773; 54^th/174. Public debt/person 4% of GNP. Income/person $2,860 (10% of USA).

Politics

Long dominated by surrounding nations.

Religion

Severe persecution of all faiths under the Soviet occupation 1940-1988.

Churches in Estonia

Missionaries from Estonia

16 in 7 agencies to 3 countries.

Missionaries to Estonia

95 in 17 agencies from 9 countries

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