1/ What was the most significant thing in your experience of Taizé? ?

It is very difficult to answer this question, because I have experienced many times that it is not possible to talk about Taizé, because trying to put into words what I experienced in Taizé still leaves something important unsaid.

My first Taizé experience was a European youth meeting in Paris. We were housed in a small community of sisters quite close to the city center. I remember the bright eyes of the sisters, their sincere joy at our arrival and their great care and hospitality. And then the first prayer with tens of thousands of other young people. How powerful the singing sounded (after all, singing together is particularly important for Estonians) and then the silence, being alone before God but at the same time being with thousands of other people.

In the summer of the following year, I went to Taizé with a couple of friends. The most important moments of this trip were to do with our small discussion group. We had Italians, Canadian, French, Spanish and then Estonians in the group. Since not all members of the group spoke English, we did not have a common language in which we could communicate. We spoke through multiple translations, but the conversations were so interesting that they often continued long after the official small group time and ended in Oyak. Taizé is a place where you can safely be yourself in the presence of God, as well as among friends and with everyone else.

2/ What are you hoping for from the Tallinn European meeting?

The gathering could show Estonian youth, who are often sceptical of faith and religious life, that Christ does not make our lives narrower, but wider and richer. Faith opens up new perspectives for us which cannot be seen or experienced by us without faith.

It is difficult for me to imagine myself as a participant of the Tallinn meeting. I can only think that, similar to the experience that I have had by participating in a meeting in a foreign city, the same could happen here in Tallinn. It is an opportunity to see a country, a city, a parish through the eyes of the people who live and work there on a daily basis.

3/ The theme of the morning programme, on 29, 30 and 31 December, prepared by the host congregations will be: meeting local people, visiting signs of hope. Which person or sign of hope would you like to introduce to the young visitors?

We will be happy to introduce our school and tell the story of why a congregation has taken on such a responsibility.