We’re going back on the mission field

Craig Brotherston and his family are embarking on a huge adventure as they follow God’s call to Estonia. He talked Chris Rolfe through its thrills and challenges.

How would you feel if God called your family to move to a country where you didn’t speak the language? This is the adventure Elim’s Republic of Ireland leader Craig Brotherston and his family are embarking on as they move to Estonia in August.

But with a heart for mission and for Europe and the Slavic world, Craig is raring to get stuck in.

“We’re moving to the capital city, Tallinn, on 1 August and will be working with a church network of Elim Global partners,” he says.

Estonian life will be a brand-new experience for Craig, his wife Abby and their four daughters – Sianna, Aliza, Ariela and Tamara – but Belfast-born Craig’s sense of calling to it began long ago.

“When I was 19 I was living in New York, working for a church, and felt God speak to me about Russia,” he says.

“I didn’t know anything about the country, didn’t speak the language, didn’t know anyone there. But I just had a sense of God saying something, and that never went away.”

Six years later, he began exploring the idea during a trip to Moscow.

Then, in 2014, Craig, Abby and their then three daughters moved to Krasnoyarsk in northern Siberia – an experience they loved.

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