Stepping Into Something Greater

There are three primary reasons Susan Carter would tell you to go on a short-term mission trip. The first is to obey Jesus’ Great Commission. The second is to experience what happens when you allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through you. 

The third, and the biggest blessing she’s found in the nearly thirty years she’s been going on short-term mission trips to Estonia, is to participate in the global Church. 

“For me, it’s always been about relationships,” Susan stated. 

She first felt the call to go to Estonia after an evangelism conference held at Mt. Bethel Church in the late nineties. From 2011–2012, she traded the pursuit of more for a life worth pursuing in Jesus Christ by living in Estonia for a year as a missionary. Most recently, she served with a Mt. Bethel mission team at an International Leadership Institute (ILI) History Makers Conference at Rabav Retreat in Kõrvemaa. 

“My role was to be what they call ‘The Connector,’” she explained. “I connected people with each other and helped them establish personal relationships that would go beyond that week.” 

It’s a role she was well equipped for, considering the many friendships she has made with Estonian believers over the last two decades. But to her surprise, she arrived at the conference this past August with a connection already established. 

“When we got there and we started talking to people, there were these three young adults, all Estonian. One of them had on a Colorado shirt, and he mentioned he had visited there,” Susan recalled. It reminded her of one of her Estonian friends whose son had recently visited the United States. As they continued talking, she realized this young man was her friend’s son! 

ILI’s History Makers conferences equip and encourage young church leaders from around the world to make disciples. The conference Susan and the Mt. Bethel team helped with included young people from Estonia, Finland, Mongolia, and Nigeria. 

In her role as “The Connector,” Susan formed close bonds with many of these young believers, including Nimi, a young woman from Nigeria whom Susan affectionately calls her “new Nigerian daughter.”  

During one quiet moment on the trip, Susan listened to Nimi singing outside among the grass and birds. She described feeling “so small but still so significant”— one person in a tiny country in a very large world. 

Yet in that little place, God was doing something much bigger. 

“What God is doing in that little dot in Estonia in comparison to the size of the whole world,” Susan concluded, "it's changing the world.” 

This moment reminded her of the first time she realized the Church is not limited by geography, language, or culture. It occurred on her first mission trip to Estonia., sShe had been sent to do ministry alongside a local congregation, but she didn’t feel qualified. Then, as she stood beside Estonian believers in church, singing ‘Amazing Grace’ in English as they belted it out in Russian, she realized her lack of ministry experience didn’t matter. 

“It was like, ‘okay, I get it,” she remembered. “The Holy Spirit is not bound by our human restraints. He’s not bound by languages. He’s not bound by distance.” 

Worshiping alongside Christians from another nation gives believers a glimpse of the heavenly community described in Scripture — people from every nation, tribe, and language gathered to praise God. 

We do not go simply because we have something that other people need. We go because we are part of one body, unified by one gospel, and supporting each other in one mission: glorifying our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Investing in the Church 

The work of supporting other believers is particularly important in Estonia, where Susan sees a need to encourage and equip the next generation of church leaders. 

According to Susan, there is a shortage of pastors, and many local congregations are too small to support a full-time minister. Most Estonian pastors work other jobs while serving their churches, and many of them lead multiple parishes several miles apart and must drive long hours traveling back-and-forth.  

“They need a lot of prayer,” she said. 

The current generation of young adults are the first of their families to live without the influence of Soviet rule — an era where public religion was seen as a threat to the government. While people are still wary to talk openly about faith, there is more opportunity for believers to live boldly for Christ. 

It’s why she’s been intentional to continue building the relationships she built at the ILI conference in August. By regularly sending encouraging, scripturally based text messages  to the students there and asking how she can pray for them, she stays connected to them.   

It's also why Mt. Bethel’s continued relationship with Estonia matters. The church has supported ministry there for decades, including the Baltic Seminary, where students are equipped for ministry in Estonia and beyond. 

Susan believes those investments are worth continuing — not simply because Estonia needs help, but because strengthening the Church there strengthens the global body of Christ. 

“The seminary and all these pastors at these churches work so hard,” she said. “And there are a lot of churches that don’t have pastors.” 

Be Part of Something Bigger than Yourself 

Susan knows that answering a call to go can feel intimidating. There are plenty of reasons to wonder whether you are equipped, whether you have enough experience or whether you have anything meaningful to offer. 

She believes those questions can put God in a box. 

“If you can hug and you can smile, you’re ready,” she stated as encouragement to anyone who feels unqualified. “God will use the gifts that He has given you for His glory. So really, you just have to have that ‘Here I am, Lord’ mindset along with heart and spirit.” 

That does not mean every believer is called to the same place or the same kind of ministry. But when the Holy Spirit prompts us to step beyond what is familiar, Susan believes we should be willing to trust Him with the outcome. 

After all, there are young believers in Estonia who need encouragement. There are church leaders who need prayer and support. There are relationships waiting to be formed, disciples eager to be equipped, and a global Church that is already at work. 

Susan knows that work will require more than one generation. 

“We need the next generation to go,” she said. She hopes younger believers, and those with many years of ministry still ahead of them, will step into the relationships that have been built over decades and help carry them forward. 

A short-term mission trip may last a week; the relationships God creates through it can last much longer. 

A song sung in another language can remind us that the Holy Spirit is not limited by language, and a small gathering of young Christians in a forest in Estonia can offer a glimpse of the day when believers from every nation will worship together before the throne of God. 

For Susan, that is what it means to participate in the global Church.