It's not every day a teen from Weyburn has the opportunity to travel to a new country and meet new people, all while serving the purpose of teaching English from the Bible.
Weyburn resident Camden Wade was given that opportunity earlier this summer.
Through a division of Let's Start Talking called Young Friends, Wade, along with three other youth and two adults made their way to Estonia to teach youth of that country English through reading from the Book of Luke.
Estonia rests between the Gulf of Finland, the Baltic Sea, Latvia, and Russia. Across the Baltic Sea lies Sweden in the west and Finland in the north. The primary language of the country is Estonian with Russian as their secondary language.
"Estonia is a beautiful country and it's quite different," said Wade, adding the opportunity came through getting involved with Young Friends in high school.
During the 10 day visit to Estonia, from July 12 to 22, the group met with Estonia youth aged 12 to 20 each day where they took part in service projects such as painting, conversations and evenings filled with games and themes.
Director of Let's Get Talking Canada, Andrea Murrhead was also on the Estonia trek.
"We travelled to help Estonian teens learn English through church programs. They learn English, but it's all text book so it's nice to have someone fluent to talk to them," she said.
Through the themes and games, Estonian youth were give a different feel for learning the language.
North American youth who take part in the program are opened up to a whole new world.
"They grow so much from just one week away," said Murrhead. "Their issues seem so small when they see how big the world is."
Prior to social networking, trips such as these would result in eventual loss of friendships, however, with Facebook and other forms of social media, it's easy to stay in touch.
The Let's Start Talking program helps people internationally speak English.
"It's a really neat program to take part in and you get to know people from around the world," said Murrhead.
Since 1980, the Let's Start Talking ministry has been leading youth overseas into non-English speaking countries and providing them with an effective method for sharing their faith.
