Evangelism award for Baptist church in Estonia 

A ‘bold and innovative’ church in one of Europe’s most secular countries is the recipient of a new global Baptist evangelism award

 
The 3D Church was planted by a group of young students in 2010 in a university city, Tartu, Estonia. The church has a strong culture of welcome and discipleship, and more than 200 people have given their lives to Jesus Christ since it launched, many of them first generation Christians in their 20s.
 
Pastor Jakob Remmel received the first-ever BWA-KIBC Evangelism Award on behalf of the church at the recent Baptist World Alliance (BWA) Congress.   
 
The award was presented by the BWA in collaboration with Kowloon International Baptist Church (KIBC) in Hong Kong.
 
James Tanner, a Senior Pastor of KIBC, said, ‘On behalf of Baptist World Alliance and Kowloon International Baptist Church, it is our honour today to recognise a body of believers that has been leading the way in evangelism and discipleship in one of the most secular nations in all of Europe.’
 
Jakob was part of planting this church with a call of the Great Commission at the age of 19 to reach his generation with the good news of Jesus Christ. As the church flourished, it became the first multi-site church in Estonia. There are now more than a dozen of missional communities nationwide, impacting many lives through their combination of Gospel centred outreach and intentional discipleship.
 
In accepting the award, he said, ‘I think this award represents God’s reminder that he still moves in this faithless Europe, which is in some ways just sleeping. At the same time, I think for our church it reminds us that what we are witnessing with our own hearts is just not normal – it’s something miraculous that God is doing, and we should be glad and humbled by what we have been able to witness.’
 
European Baptist Federation (EBF) General Secretary, Tony Peck, said, ‘Ten years ago I was privileged to sit down with a group of young people in Tartu, Estonia, and pray together for a new outreach to their friends that was starting the following week in an evangelistic event in a cinema. Out of that small beginning, and inspired by their vision and faith in God’s leading, the 3D Church network was born.
 
‘In Estonia, one of the most secular countries in Europe, many young people have come to faith in Jesus Christ through the work and witness of 3D. New disciples quickly became disciple-makers, and this has been a most effective means of reaching their friends with the Gospel.
 
‘I am delighted that the innovative mission and evangelism of 3D has now been recognised by the global Baptist family in this first-ever BWA Evangelism Award. Congratulations to 3D! And we hope and pray that this award will greatly encourage the leaders and members of the 3D Church network to continue to be bold and innovative in reaching others for Christ.’
 
The award was presented at 3D Church by Helari Puu, a former president of the EBF. Watch it here: