Hanna Eliisa Jõgiste, a 22-year-old from Estonia, testifies to a powerful move of God in Estonia. Although she has always been passionate about her country and has always had a heart to see Christians burning for God, she shares how she has seen God move in a very special way in the past few months.
Hanna Eliisa was born and raised in a Christian family in a small town in Estonia. She grew up in a church and has always been with Christ. After moving to the capital city, Tallinn, for education, she remained a part of her home church. She joined both the worship team and youth ministry. At one point, she started to organize events and yearly conferences focused on the younger generation.
For almost five years, Hanna Eliisa and her friends invested in youth aged 12 to 19 to see their hearts burning for God. Hanna’s friend group burned to see their generation not just living a Sunday life, but living out the life that God has called them to.
Today, Hanna is the city director of Tallinn for the Million Month event. She burns with passion for what God is doing in her country. ‘’I love God, I love worship, and my heart is to be a tool in God’s hands. I long not just to see the revival, but to be the one who runs with it.’’
I long not just to see the revival, but to be the one who runs with it.
Preaching in school and on the streets
Hanna goes on to testify about God’s current move in Estonia. He uses the younger generation a lot: ‘’I think even in the past few years I can see that God is doing something specifically with the younger generation and youth. In the past two years, we have had two fire camps in Estonia and I can see that they have affected the youth so much that they are going on the streets to share the gospel in their free time.’’
Christian youth also have favor in their schools. Schools and universities are open for concerts and Christians events. Hanna shares: ‘’I know last year, they had a full-on event in a university where it was built up as a concert, but they were focused on sharing the gospel and preaching about Jesus. I see God using the younger generation a lot in their schools and on the streets.’’
All in or nothing
Hanna describes how Estonians’ radical nature further catalyzes what God is doing in their nation. ‘’If Estonians experience God, we are super radical. We are either one or another.’’ The same applies to the youth: ‘’After the youth have tasted who God is, and understand what Jesus has done on the cross, they are wild. Nothing can stop them.’’
They are wild, nothing can stop them.
Not only are the youth on fire for Jesus, they also receive favor from the Lord to spread their fire to different age groups. Hanna: “I just hear testimonies after testimonies of how youth connect with different pastors and how they are opening doors for them.”
Let no one despise your youth
Hanna relates a story of a fire camper who got to share the gospel in class. In her Christian school, this girl asked her leader if she could share the gospel in class.
‘’The doors are so open that she could do the entire lesson and share what evangelism means, and what it means to really live out the full gospel. So I feel that God is really raising up a new generation that carries radical faith. It’s all in or nothing, there is nothing between.
God is raising up a new generation that carries radical faith. It’s all in or nothing, there is nothing between.
Another young man got to share his experience in his home church, and he simultaneously rebuked the church for not going out to share the gospel. ‘’He shared how he was drunk in the Spirit for the first time and how God healed him, but also how we need to go out more. He said something like: we’re not made to sit here just Sunday to Sundayーwho will save your workmate or your neighbor?’’
Hanna shares how something touches the older generation’s heart when they see the younger generation actually stand up and declare: “Wake up. It’s you who needs to go after them.”
Wake up, it’s you who needs to go after them.
Different denominationsーone body
Another development that Hanna describes is the unification of the body of Christ. ‘’What I see specifically now with the Million Month is that pastors from different denominations are coming together around the same table. I saw one livestream from an event where I saw pastors from different denominations apologizing in front of each other for not treating each other well or honoring each other the way they should. These pastors were on their knees weeping, asking for forgiveness.’’
These pastors were on their knees weeping, asking for forgiveness.
She continues: ‘’I know from the past years that only God can do something like this. It’s not logical or normal, but people are coming together as one to really seek after what God has planned for this nation and for this country.’’
In pursuit of the lost together
Another thing that is of great importance this year is evangelism, going out on the streets, and discipleship. ‘’I haven’t heard people preach and teach about the gospel until the last few years.’’
What’s more, there is another event alongside the Million Month that has the same focus of going after the lost and discipleship, which is very new, according to Hanna.
She realizes that there is still work to be done, but she is incredibly hopeful. Hanna: ‘’We still need a lot of teaching, a lot of religion still needs to be broken off. But at the same moment, I see that churches are coming together. I feel like the youth carries the posture of, it doesn’t matter what church you are coming from, but we run with the same heart to really go after what Jesus has called us to. It doesn’t matter at all if you are from the Methodist church or Baptist church or Lutheran church, but it’s just them coming together as one.’’
We run with the same heart to really go after what Jesus has called us to.
‘’They couldn’t move’’
Recently, Hanna organised a weekend to equip Estonians to go out and preach the gospel. In one of her sermons, she focused ‘’God, break my heart for what breaks yours.’’ Based on Matthew 7: 21-23, she posed the attendees the question of whether they actually know Jesus.
She felt the importance of this, because “we have all those teachings—how to do, how to share the gospel, how to disciple—but if we don’t see Jesus’ heart in the midst of that, it becomes striving. But if we ask to get a taste of His heart, something in our mind changes the way we do things.”
If we ask to get a taste of His heart, something in our mind changes the way we do things.
God’s presence tangibly came. ‘’People were just on the floors and weeping, and at that moment, I didn’t know where to go or what to do, because you could feel the holiness in the room. In the end, I tried to softly close and we put on some soaking music, but no one left.’’
She continues: ‘’The main ones who stayed in the front were the men. When I was looking at the guys who were sitting there, different age groups, I could see that they were fully just blown away with God’s presence. They couldn’t move.’’
The harvest is ready!
During another weekend, fifty people heard the full gospel and three people were saved. People are incredibly open and at the same time, God is using the spreading of the gospel to unite different generations.
Hanna shares the story of two teenage boys who met an elderly lady in a supermarket and shared the gospel with her. She called herself a Christian, but the two were not convinced.
‘’Then one of them asked: have you ever given your life to Jesus? Do you know that when you would die, that you would go to heaven? And she said that no one had told her about that. The lady told the boys that she wanted to give her life to Jesus, so they prayed the salvation prayer.’’ The woman was in tears, super grateful, and asked the two boys for a hug.
Hanna shares: ‘’I believe there’s a strength where the different generations come together. The older generation have more wisdom, they have more experience, while the younger generation carries the fire and I really feel there’s a key when the generations work together.’’
There’s a key when the generations work together.
