March Forth! Marssige Edasi!

Faithful blog readers:

We really need your help!

The Tartu Corps is scheduled to pray on Friday, January 7th from 9:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. our time. (That is 2:00 a.m. till 8:00 a.m. New York time, but if you are willing to pray some time between 9-3 in whatever time zone you are in, that would be fine.) We will be travelling to America that day, on our way to visit my mother for 4 weeks.

OUTBOUND:Tallinn - HelsinkiFri January 07, 2005AY3112 O
11:25-12:00Helsinki - New York
Fri January 07, 2005AY005 O14:20-15:55
INBOUND:New York - HelsinkiFri February 04, 2005AY006 O
17:55-08:50+1dHelsinki - TallinnSat February 05, 2005AY3111 O10:15-10:45

Here is your chance to be a real part of the Tartu Corps. We are asking for people to sign up for shifts so that we know our time will be covered. Please send us an e-mail if you are willing to do this!

The theme of this prayer time is "come to the Lord's presence for children and youth" as 2005 is the Salvation Army's Year for Children and Youth.

Here are some excerpts from a letter from Major Sirkka Paukku:
It is good to experience and feel that God listens to our prayers. He answers us when we turn to Him from all our heart.... We have received every day from His hand and He knows what is best for us.... We are now making special efforts to reach children and youth.... We are now about to start this important year with prayers, thus getting the best start possible.... During the evening hours and at night 150 persons are praying in different parts of Finland and some abroad, too.... Let us remember each other in our prayers. Prayer is power. Together, we may experience and feel that there is a continuous connection between the prayer and our task.

Please e-mail me at evelynclark@juno.com if you are able and willing to take a shift during our prayer time!

Thanks in advance,
Evelyn

Tonight we will pray for my second cousin Noah, infant son of Ivy & Haytham. We are so glad to have another baby in the family, and especially another boy! (We have many, many girl cousins!)

"Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD." (Genesis 6:8)

Evelyn

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics established

1922: Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, four socialist republics were established on the territory of the former Russian Empire: the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, the Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, and the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. (The former grand duchies of Finland and Poland became entirely independent, as did the territories of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.) The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was established by the four constituent republics on this day and effected on July 6, 1923. Subsequently, other constituent union republics were set up over the years (the independent Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were reintroduced into the union in 1940).

Below is a bunch of stuff from my inbox this morning (none of it was written by me!):

I reason, Earth is short,
And Anguish – absolute,
And many hurt,
But, what of that?

I reason, we could die –
The best Vitality
Cannot excel Decay,
But, what of that?

I reason, that in Heaven
Somehow, it will be even,
Some new Equation, given –
But, what of that?

(Emily Dickinson)
****************
______’s death was a tremendous blow—and a harsh wake-up call—for everyone who knew him. He had been taken unexpectedly and suddenly.... What about the rest of us? Were we ready to die?
As I think about the question now ... it seems every bit as immediate as it did then. For what else is peace, if not readiness to meet God? And if it means readiness, doesn’t it have to mean readiness in every aspect of life? Doesn’t it mean readiness to forgive the unforgivable; to forget when I would rather remember; to reach out to those I’ve avoided? Doesn’t it mean readiness to give everything, and to lay down my life for my brothers?
As far as ______ was concerned, the answer to these questions was clear. He had lived life to the full and was indeed ready to go to God....
______ had quoted the following words from ... Eberhard Arnold:
To be ready is everything! Therefore the expectation of God’s coming must be our active readiness, so that we stretch out our hands to him, ready to be crucified with him; so that we fall on our knees, ready to be humbled by him; and so that we lay down all our own power, that he alone may have power over us. Let us be ready!
(Johann Christoph Arnold)
************************
The Power of Legacy
Dale Fincher

Timothy was a young pastor in the ancient world. He had a personal relationship with one of the great celebrities of the church, Paul the Apostle, and gave us the opportunity to listen in on Paul's admonition and encouragement to him.

Paul tells him in the second letter. "As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother ... and your mother ... and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control" (2 Tim 1:4-7).

At this time of year, when families gather round, it is important for us to reflect on those who have gone before us as examples of Jesus Christ....

One who comes to my mind this Christmas season is my mother who departed the planet a little over a year ago.... It is at the family gatherings that she is missed the most. Her contributions to conversation, her stories, her generosity, her understanding, concern, warmth, and laughter, and her energetic, positive attitude made Christmas mean something more for me. Though the loss tugs at the tears in those moments of remembrance, there is something else that also tugs at the heart to carry on.

In a recent memorial service for a respected woman at my church, we were told of "the power of L." First, was "the power of the Lord" to meet us in our needs. Second was "the power of Love," not only from God, but from a worshipping community. These were needed statements to meet the family and those of us who miss her. Yet, again, something tugged at my heart that moved my mind: "The power of Legacy."

Paul understood this, which is why he penned it in an inspired letter toTimothy. Remember, what your mother and grandmother stood for. Remember where they fixed their heart. Remember their sensitivity to spiritual things. Some of the things you appreciated about them most did not originate from them. They originated in God who gives the Holy Spirit freely to whose that will trust Him.

This power of legacy that originates in God and is played out in the hands and feet of His people encourage me. I may be separated from my mother for the duration of my earthy sojourn, but my confidence lies in carrying her legacy, which was empowered by the Holy Spirit.

As you turn your attention from the Christmas season to thoughts of the new year, reflect again on the Christ who came. It was for forgiveness, but also for holiness. It was for friendship, but also for apprenticeship. It was for love, but also for legacy. Our Lord of Glory has come to make disciples and leave us a legacy so that we may walk in his steps.

(c) 2004 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM)"A Slice of Infinity" is aimed at reaching into the culture with words ofchallenge, words of truth, and words of hope. If you know of others who would enjoy receiving "A Slice of Infinity" each day, they can sign up at www.rzim.org/publications/slice.php or 1-877-88SLICE (1-877-887-5423).
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the dr. said mama's tumor didnt grow.she is rejoicing about this .i loveu.xo
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Just talked to Mama... the tumor is not growing... She'll go back in 5 weeks
No further treaTMENT FOR NOW

Tonight we will pray for my second cousin Monica. She is a little love bug and crawls up into your lap and fills you with peace and joy.

"Greet one another with a kiss of love." (1 Peter 5:14)

Evelyn

I think part of the reason I feel so at home in Estonia is that Estonians are so much like people in New England, where I grew up until I was 16.

Before we came here, I read how Estonians tend to be private people, needing their space and keeping pretty much to themselves. They are not easy to get to know, but once you do get to know them, you will have deep and meaningful friendships. That is so much a picture of people from the northeastern Unites States, and it is accurate of the Estonians I have come to know as well. Fortunately, I have these same tendencies, so I feel like I am among family!

Here's two images from the past few days: Yesterday in Tallinn, we were sitting in the car and I noticed a line of around 10 or 12 people waiting for the bus. The line was perfectly straight, but each person had a good 3 feet of space between him and the next person. God forbid you should get too close and make personal contact! It was a sight that brought a smile to my face! I even pointed it out to our friend and faithful blog reader Kristi, who didn't seem at all surprised by the the sight.

Then today, we were at the grocery store near our house, Citymarket. Coca-Cola is having a holiday promotion here, giving away stuffed elves when you have saved a certain number of bottle caps. A crowd of around 50 or more people were gathered at the front of the store near the check outs, lined up at the table, waiting for their turn. In America, a crowd this size would be loud, chatty and very obvious. This crowd, however, made no noise whatsoever! Everyone waited patiently and quietly until it was their turn. It was typical Estonian, and reminded me again of how much I love the people here.

Of course, I am generalizing Estonian people. The people I know here are all unique and not stereotypes, but overall I still feel like I am with family here. God knew what He was doing when he brought us to Estonia.
--Tim

Today we prayed for my mother, Major Hilda Clark (R). "Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty." Psalm 91:1

Tonight we prayed for my sister Mary-Kay. She has been waiting all month for her day to come and it is finally here!

“You have found favor with God.” (Luke 1:30)

Mary-Kay was on my mind all day, because our original plan was for her to visit us here in Estonia for Christmas (she lives in Moldova). But now she has gone to America to be with my mother.

Today we had our Officers Christmas Party with the officers (and cadet) of the Estonia Region, as well as the Finland & Estonia Territorial Commanders, Colonels Carl & Gudrun Lydholm, and members of their family. Mary-Kay knows the Lydholms from when they served in Russia together, and Mrs. Lydholm taught lectures which Mary-Kay attended as a lay missionary.

Mary-Kay is the Director of the International School of Chisinau.

http://www.state.gov/m/a/os/1463.htm

http://princeton.iss.edu/displaydirectory/ShortSchools.asp?country=Moldova

http://www.qsi.org/mdv_home/

She is not a missionary. She is not an ESL teacher. (She has been both of these things in the past, but this current work position is much higher!)

Mary-Kay got her Master's Degree from George Mason University while teaching in the Washington D.C. public school system, where she also served as a mentor to young girls.

Mary-Kay is my best friend (besides God and Tim!) and closest confidante.

Mary-Kay is the greatest Auntie in the world!

Mary-Kay moved to St. Petersburg, Russia, eight years ago to help the Bates. Since then, she has been studying Russian and is so fluent she has even served as a translator!

Mary-Kay loves to cook, to eat, to decorate, to shop, to go to the movies.... (My, is she the total opposite of me, or what!)

What more can I boast about my sister Mary-Kay? If you know her, you know she is hard to describe! If you don't know her, then words are pretty inadequate to paint an accurate picture.

Mary-Kay was "Mr. Pollution" in a musical we did at the Portland Corps when we were little kids.

People often ask if she is the oldest. NO, I am two years older than she is! But she has almost always looked (and acted!) older than me.

Mary-Kay has been in America for about two weeks now, supporting my mother as she finished her radiation treatments. Please pray for her as she has about two more weeks left in America before returning to Moldova. (We will be together in Maine for about a week before she leaves.)

Evelyn

Peter, Chris & Elizabeth by the Christmas tree at the Kopli Corps. 

During the Kopli Corps' dance group's rehersal for the Christmas program, Chris and Major Derek Tyrrell, our regional commander (who loves a good joke), stood in for Mary and Joseph. Peter played his role as Jesus.

They even danced together!!! 

Chris and Elizabeth making houses and other creations from cookies. We were able to get colored frosting from the store, which hardened to hold everything together. Some of the cookies they made were even left for Santa. 

Tonight we will pray for my mother, Evelyn Alice Groff Smith Banks.

"Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living."
(Genesis 3:20)

My mother is the matriarch of our family and these are her direct descendents:
Danny, Jessica, Jalin, Kahlia, Christina, David, Bobby, Evelyn, Christopher, Elizabeth, Peter,
Mary-Kay, Katherine, DeBrekah, Dequnyah, Kiara

You brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you
even at my mother's breast.
From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother's womb you have been my God.
(Psalm 22:9-10)

My mother has Stage IV Lung Cancer. We are going to see her in America on January 8th!

Click below to play this tune. Some of you will recognize the words as either "Beautiful Mama" or "Beautiful Grandma" depending on your age!

Beautiful Dreamer
Words & Music by Stephen Foster
Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,
Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee;
Sounds of the rude world, heard in the day,
Lull'd by the moonlight have all pass'd away!
Beautiful dreamer, queen of my song,
List while I woo thee with soft melody;
Gone are the cares of life's busy throng,
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
Beautiful dreamer, out on the sea
Mermaids are chanting the wild lorelie;
Over the streamlet vapors are borne,
Waiting to fade at the bright coming morn.
Beautiful dreamer, beam on my heart,
E'en as the morn on the streamlet and sea;
Then will all clouds of sorrow depart,
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

Evelyn

Tonght we will pray for my niece Kiara, youngest daughter of Katherine, youngest daughter of my mother.

"The LORD was gracious to Sara."
(Genesis 21:1)

Elizabeth opening her stocking, including a chocolate coin she called, "The award for the coolest kid in Tartu." 

Chris opens a gift on Christmas morning: CDs! 

Peter with his stocking on Christmas morning. 

Elizabeth with the gingerbread house she made at a friend's
 

Peter was baby Jesus during the Kopli Corps' Sunday service last week. Mary and Joseph are the corps officers, Majors Phil and Susan Wittenberg.

Dr. H. Norman Wright says, "Many of the right things to do in life are the most difficult things to do."

There is a beautiful light dusting of snow here in Tartu, and every tree is covered with frost as if it had been spray painted. Even the sky is totally white! (I think it's ironic that they call the summer "white nights" when it is in winter that the sky is white all the time, hardly ever blue.)

It is Peter's first Christmas! He has a bit of a cold, but he is having a lot of fun with all the excitement from Chris and Elizabeth, even if he doesn't quite know what they're on about. And of course, it is fun to get new toys!

My favorite gift is an outfit that my mother gave to Peter. It has the word "camp" on it, with a pine tree and a campfire. A reminder of Maine.

Chris is quite excited about all the music CDs he has received. Elizabeth is excited about everything, especially stickers and the Stickerizer!

Tonight we will pray for my baby sister Katherine.
"Isn't her younger sister more attractive?" (Judges 15:2)

Last night we attended Christmas Eve service at Salem Baptist Church, just down the street from our house (at Kalevi 66, we are at Kalevi 90). We were able to give away the last of our Christmas presents from the Salvation Army Sweden & Latvia Territory to a family with 11 children. We had only 11 gifts left after giving 80 to the Noortekodu and several to a missionary friend to distribute in Elva. We were thankful to God for our friends who told us about this family, as we did not want to have any gifts left over!

Then we came home and watched "The Snowman" on TV and had ham & pineapple for supper. (We were going to go to our favorite restaurant to have lasagne, my family's traditional Christmas Eve food, but it was closed! Even the movie theater was closed on Christmas Eve; it is a bigger holiday than Christmas in Estonia.) Later we watched "The Grinch" before putting out milk & cookies for Santa and also sprinkling Magic Reindeer Food out the window.

Today is Captain Dan Henderson's birthday.

One of the first things I thought of this morning was that my mother always played this record first thing on Christmas Day:
The real meaning of Christmas
Is the giving of love everyday
The real meaning of Christmas
Is to give as the Master, they say.
And when you’re giving your presents
Don’t forget as you give them away,
That the real meaning of Christmas,
Is the giving of love everyday.

Evelyn

It's Christmas Eve! Tonight we will pray for my great-niece Kahlia.

But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."
(Galatians 4:4-6)

Today we went to see "The Nutcracker"("Petteri ja Lotta jõulumaa" Pähklipureja)! I have seen it before in New York City with my sister, I think at Lincoln Center. This performance was just as magical! Elizabeth was sitting on the edge of her seat through the whole first act. During intermission, we had her photo taken, got her a lollipop, and let her play on some of the giant-sized slippers they had in the lobby. (In Estonia, elves come and put candy in children's slippers each day of Advent.)

Tonight we will pray for my niece Jessica. It seems like just yesterday that she was my mother's only grandchild, and the whole family's little ballerina princess. Now she is the mother of two beautiful daughters herself!

"I will show you what to do." (1 Samuel 16:3)

Evelyn

Being in Estonia is not all that different from being in Maine:
An old-time Mainer might harrumph, "There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes."
In other words, tackle the season rather than letting it sack you. Don't always complain about the loss of light - now and then, celebrate the beauty of a dark night. If it's been a long time since you identified the Big Dipper, you'd be amazed at the clarity and splendor of a crisp winter night.

Today we came one step closer to the official "opening" of the Tartu Corps. We were able to find a location for the opening meeting and concert by the Chalk Farm Band from England.

Tartu is considered the cultural center of Estonia, so there are quite a few theatres that could have housed the opening. Unfortunately, most of them were already booked for March 26. We had several options to still look into, and I had arranged for our regular translator Kerli to make the calls and help me visit these places if I couldn't manage in English. To my surprise, when I called the owner of the Illusioon Theatre (an art house cinema and night club) he sounded suspiciously American. I made arrangements to stop by this afternoon when our regional commanders, Majors Derek and Helen Tyrrell, would be here.

After a nice lunch together, we went to the Illusioon and met Jeff, the owner. Sure enough, he is originally from New York, and had even donated his car to The Salvation Army before moving to Estonia, so he knew what we were all about. The theatre is the former culture palace of Tartu and was in rough shape, but is in the midst of renovation. It seats around 250, with room in the front to set up more chairs. It also has a space where we can provide a meal for the band after the concert and before they head back to Tallinn. Although it is not the most glamorous house in Tartu, it is on the side of the river where we have row after row of blocky Soviet era apartment buildings; 40% of the city's population live within a few square kilometers of the place. It is also about a 1 km walk from Raekoja Plats (Town Hall Square), where we could have an open air meeting and then a march of witness down to the theatre. So overall, it looks like this place will work well for the opening meeting.

We haven't finalized the location yet, and we want to see that the renovation continues (the lighting in the concert hall is terrible at the moment), so please keep this in prayer.

The opening was a big concern of ours, since we will be heading back to America for 4 weeks soon. This will be one less thing for us to worry about now.
--Tim

Today we prayed for Tim's niece Jennifer Kelly. "Be strong in the Lord and in his great power."--Ephesians 6:10

One of my La Leche League sisters has this as her sig line.
"You can be disappointed, but you can not walk away." (John Edwards)

The greatest temptation that Satan throws my way these days is not drinking or taking drugs or cheating on my husband (too easy and obvious for that sly old fox!); it is Being Discouraged. Captain Dan Henderson calls it feeling like you are banging your head against the wall (and accomplishing nothing).

This was one of my favorite Bible stories when I was a little girl. It still is!
The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
"I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."
So Abram left, as the LORD had told him.... (Genesis 12:1-4)

Evelyn

Tonight we are praying for my cousin Jenn.

“Nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)

Today is the shortest day of the year! In Tallinn, they had exactly six hours and three minutes of sunlight today. In Tartu, we fared a little better -- sunrise was 9.00 and sunset was 3.22!

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
Robert Louis Stevenson

Evelyn

from http://www.griefshare.org/devotionals/

"Some people think that going through the losses or crises of life are the exceptional times," says Dr. H. Norman Wright. "I see it differently. I see the times of calm as the exceptions. Life really is going through one loss after another, one crisis after another. "Instead of avoiding talking about these times, let's do our homework. When you know what to expect, you're not thrown by them as much, and you're going to be better able to recover."

Tonight we will pray for my cousin Ivy (because we went to Tallinn yesterday and forgot!) and my great-niece Jalin.

How about an old Christmas carol?

The holly and the ivy,
When they are both full grown
Of all the trees that are in the wood
The holly bears the crown
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a blossom
As white as lily flower
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To be our sweet Saviour
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a berry
As red as any blood
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To do poor sinners good
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a prickle
As sharp as any thorn;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
On Christmas Day in the morn.
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a bark
As bitter as any gall;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
For to redeem us all.
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly and the ivy
Now both are full well grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly bears the crown.
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

Tonight we will pray for Haytham, my cousin Ivy's husband. Haytham is a Coptic (Egyptian) Christian.

(Isn't my family cool?! We also have Salvationists, Methodists, Catholics, Russian Orthodox ... we are so ecumenical!)

http://www.mideastinfo.com/Religion/copt.htm

http://www.st-peter-st-paul-coptic-orthodox-church.org/throughages.html

http://www.suscopticdiocese.org/stantonysanantonio/copts.html

Time for some more of the Christmas story:

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
" `But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.' "
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."
So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."
When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
"A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more."
After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."
So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."
(Matthew 2:1-23)

We have four visitors from Tallinn with us today: Annely, Kristi, Meaghan, and Sarah. They are here to go to Going Up X tonight. Tomorrow we will take them to Tallinn and attend the Kopli Corps Christmas Party!

Elizabeth slept over a friend's house last night.

Tim is taking Karl-Gustav to see his mother again today.

Only one week until Christmas Day!

Evelyn

Tonight we will pray for Gus (August), the son of my cousin Corrina Kellam.

Have you read the Christmas story lately?

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
(Luke 2:1-20)

Words by General John Gowans (retired)
Music by General John Larsson

If crosses come, if it should cost me dearly
To be the servant of my Servant Lord
If darkness falls around the path of duty
And men despise the Saviour I've adored

I'll not turn back, whatever it may cost
I'm called to live, to love and save the lost

If doors should close then other doors will open
The word of God can never be contained
His love cannot be finally frustrated
By narrow minds or prison bars restrained

I'll not turn back, whatever it may cost
I'm called to live, to love and save the lost

If tears should fall, if I am called to suffer
If all I love men should deface, defame
I'll not deny the One that I have followed
Nor be ashamed to bear my Master's name

I'll not turn back, whatever it may cost
I'm called to live, to love and save the lost

(See Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23)

Evelyn

Yesterday I had another of those interesting but rewarding experiences that show how God is opening doors even when we don't expect it.

I received a call on my mobile phone and the person on the other end said (I'll transliterate it, because I don't know the proper spelling), "das vedanya." I responded, "I don't speak Russian; I only speak English." He said, in the best English he could manage, that he would call back. Now my curiosity was piqued, since this doesn't usually happen. A while later, I got a call from our regional office in Tallinn saying that there is a business owner in Tartu who wanted to donate a large amount of canned goods to The Salvation Army in Tartu to help those in need! I needed to contact him, but was told he only speaks Russian. The majority of people in Tartu speak Estonian and are not fluent in Russian, but fortunately Kerli, the young woman who has translated into Estonian for us, also has a a conversational knowledge of Russian. She was able to speak to the gentleman and found out that he knew of the Army's work in other countries, thought he would like to donate food to help others, and did an Internet search to find out if the Army was working here. So now in the next few days, he will deliver (I don't even have to pick it up!!) a large amount of canned vegetables. This was so out of the blue, my head is still spinning from it.

Fortunately, we have been building relationships with the childrens home and local pastors, so I have no doubt we will be able to find people and places who need this food. And it may also open doors for us to connect with others we have not met yet.

Time and again, God has sent people and resources our way. He clearly has a plan for the Army here!
--Tim

Today we prayed for Evelyn's stepfather, Dick Banks. "Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing." (Ezekiel 47:12)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
My Lost Youth

OFTEN I think of the beautiful town
That is seated by the sea;
Often in thought go up and down
The pleasant streets of that dear old town,
And my youth comes back to me.
And a verse of a Lapland song
Is haunting my memory still:
'A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.'

I can see the shadowy lines of its trees,
And catch, in sudden gleams,
The sheen of the far-surrounding seas,
And islands that were the Hesperides
Of all my boyish dreams.
And the burden of that old song,
It murmurs and whispers still:
'A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.'

I remember the black wharves and the slips,
And the sea-tides tossing free;
And Spanish sailors with bearded lips,
And the beauty and mystery of the ships,
And the magic of the sea.
And the voice of that wayward song
Is singing and saying still:
'A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.'

I remember the bulwarks by the shore,
And the fort upon the hill;
The sunrise gun with its hollow roar,
The drum-beat repeated o'er and o'er,
And the bugle wild and shrill.
And the music of that old song
Throbs in my memory still:
'A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.'

I remember the sea-fight far away,
How it thunder'd o'er the tide!
And the dead sea-captains, as they lay
In their graves o'erlooking the tranquil bay
Where they in battle died.
And the sound of that mournful song
Goes through me with a thrill:
'A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.'

I can see the breezy dome of groves,
The shadows of Deering's woods;
And the friendships old and the early loves
Come back with a Sabbath sound, as of doves
In quiet neighbourhoods.
And the verse of that sweet old song,
It flutters and murmurs still:
'A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.'

I remember the gleams and glooms that dart
Across the schoolboy's brain;
The song and the silence in the heart,
That in part are prophecies, and in part
Are longings wild and vain.
And the voice of that fitful song
Sings on, and is never still:
'A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.'

There are things of which I may not speak;
There are dreams that cannot die;
There are thoughts that make the strong heart weak,
And bring a pallor into the cheek,
And a mist before the eye.
And the words of that fatal song
Come over me like a chill:
'A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.'

Strange to me now are the forms I meet
When I visit the dear old town;
But the native air is pure and sweet,
And the trees that o'ershadow each well-known street,
As they balance up and down,
Are singing the beautiful song,
Are sighing and whispering still:
'A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.'

And Deering's woods are fresh and fair,
And with joy that is almost pain
My heart goes back to wander there,
And among the dreams of the days that were
I find my lost youth again.
And the strange and beautiful song,
The groves are repeating it still:
'A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.'

Tonight we will pray for my my niece Dequnyah. She started big-girl school (kindergarten) this year!

Hannah prayed and said: "My heart rejoices in the LORD." (1 Samuel 2:1)

Auntie Evelyn

I'll Be Home for Christmas
Walter Kent, Kim Gannon & Buck Ram

I'll be home for Christmas
you can plan on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
and presents on the tree!

Christmas Eve will find me
where the love light gleams
I'll be home for Christmas
if only in my dreams!

No Home on Earth Have I
George Scott Railton

No home on earth have I,
No nation owns my soul,
My dwelling place is the Most High,
I'm under his control.
O'er all the earth alike,
My Father's grand domain,
Each land and sea with him alike
O'er all he yet shall reign.

No place on earth I own,
No field, no house be mine;
Myself, my all I still disown,
My God, let all be thine.
Into thy gracious hands
My life is ever placed;
To die fulfilling thy commands,
I march with bounding haste.

With thee, my God, is home;
With thee is endless joy;
With thee in ceaseless rest I roam;
With thee, can death destroy?
With thee, the east, the west,
The north, the south are one;
The battle's front I love the best,
And yet: thy will be done.

(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays
Perry Como

Oh, there’s no place like home for the holidays,
‘Cause no matter how far away you roam,
When you pine for the sunshine of a friendly gaze,
For the holidays, you can’t beat home, sweet home.

Oh there's no place like home for the holidays,
‘Cause no matter how far away you roam,
If you want to be happy in a million ways,
For the holidays,
You can’t beat home, sweet home.
Take a bus, take a train
Go and hop an aeroplane
Put the wife and kiddies in the family car
For the pleasure that you bring
When you make that doorbell ring
No trip could be too far

from another Salvationist blogger --

Catherine Bramwell-Booth:
"Never must we lose sight of the fact that the spirit of attack is one of the distinctivefeatures of The Salvation Army. Was it not, in fact, this that brought the Army into existence?There were already churches and chapels and mission halls. There was probably more religious observance than now, an abundance of preaching, any amount of routine businessof what is called Christian service. That which was lacking—that which gave birth to theArmy—was desperate unflinching assaults on the strongholds of evil outside."

Bramwell Booth:
"What are our soldiers for if not to fight? And how can they fight if they never come up with the enemy and force him to stand, and see their leader strike home with the truth? The fact is that some corps—and fine bodies of men and women they are—make little or no impression on the great mass of people in their district, or outside the comparatively small circle of their own people and their families and a fringe of regular hangers-on outdoors and in, just because they do not stand up to the enemy and provoke a proper battle."

To make Chicken Fricassee
1The food supply must be very low, to the point of desperation, as the need to feed & satisfy a large group cheaply will intensify the flavor.
2Old large chicken legs [2 is even better, if you have 2 in back of freezer] are boiled in salt, water, finely chopped onions until all the meat falls off the bones.
3 Be very sure to pray that this is enough to go around; as there is no substitutes on fricassee desperation day.
4 The onions should be so boiled that they are not detectable when you make your rue [Rue; 2 Tablespoons flour mixed into 2 Tablespoons margarine, then dip 1 cup fricassee water & put it into rue, stirring sothat it makes a thin gravy.]
5 Dump rue into fricassee mixture,...open can of peas & put juice Only in at this time [save peas]
6 Instant potatoes work well with this, but you can make regular mashed potatoes.
7Set the table as nice as you can. The visual effect & aromas will go a long way to make the desperation fricassee special.
Add the peas
call the kids
Pray
Enjoy~

Here's the type of stuff that keeps coming up. It might look trite to see it written here now (oh, John 3:16, how original!), but it really means a lot to me when God brings these sorts of things to mind.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

Great things he hath taught us, great things he hath done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
But purer and higher and greater will be
Our wonder, our rapture, when Jesus we see.
(SASB #22, by Fanny Crosby)

"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." (1 Corinthians 13:12)

Evelyn

Tonight we will pray for my niece DeBrekah, whom I sometimes refer to as Rebekah (because if I had a dozen daughters, this would be one of the names I would choose!).

And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,
"Our sister, may you increase
to thousands upon thousands;
may your offspring possess
the gates of their enemies."
(Genesis 24:60)

B u l l e t i n
E a s t e r n T e r r i t o r i a l H e a d q u a r t e r s

Evelyn Banks

Word has been received that Major William Groff's sister, Evelyn Banks, has had a serious diagnosis with cancer. She is the mother of Captain Evelyn Clark.

Cards and well wishes may be sent to:

Major William Groff
23 Scandia Road
Congers, NY 10920

Captain Evelyn Clark
Kalevi 90
Tartu 50104
ESTONIA

Mrs. Evelyn Banks
10 Rand Road
Cape Elizabeth, ME04107


Please keep Mrs. Banks in your prayers.

Lt. Colonel Barbara Hunter
Secretary for Personnel

This is from some Salvation Army officers from our home territory who are serving as missionaries in Liberia. They are African-Americans and we were acquainted with Hester's sister in our last appointment. One of our employees was from Liberia, so we have been praying for this country for some time now.

December 7, 2004

Dear Friends:

Even though we’ve been here a little over 2 months it feels like we’ve been here forever. We left New York on October 16th arriving in London on the 17th. We left London on the 20th at 5:30am and arrived in Monrovia at 6:30pm. We were welcomed at the Airport in Monrovia by a huge contingent of Army officers, soldiers, and young people who cheered as we came out of the terminal. They were a welcomed sight after such a long and audacious journey....

The water is not safe to drink as is, so we boil and filter water 3 to 4 times a day. Everything in Liberia is powered by generators, because the war destroyed the whole country's electrical gird. Our generators have to be turned off at 2:30pm to rest until 5:30 and then turned off again at 11:00pm until 5:00am the next morning. Even so, we have become quite resourceful and have managed to survive in the heat (90 degrees plus everyday). Trying to keep things cool and safe to eat is a chore in itself....

At the end of our second week in Liberia there was a riot. At least 5 churches and 4 Mosques were burned. Private homes were vandalized and destroyed, all the schools were closed and at least 18 people lost their lives. We felt trapped, powerless and fearful for our lives and the lives of the people whom God would soon give over to our care and safekeeping. At the height of our fear God spoke to our hearts, assuring us that we could trust him to be faithful to us and our people. We were infused with power, set free from the fear that gripped us like a vice and anxious to fight in the war against sin and the man of sin. We knew then and there that God didn’t bring us over 10,000 miles to a foreign land to leave us comfortless and alone. During that time of uncertainty and unrest we felt God the Holy Spirit enveloping us and the whole army in his arms of protection, peace and love. AWESOME!

Things have slowly returned to normal, as normal as they can be in Liberia. Our schools were allowed to reopen after 7 days, we are no long under martial law and the curfew that was imposed on the country for 3 weeks is now lifted.

We have seen and experienced many things in these last two months. I would like to share a few of them with you.

Yesterday while walking back from the local grocery store, I saw a little girl sitting on a log. She had something in her hands that vaguely resembled a doll. Someone had taken two pieces of wire, made a cross out of them, and put some straw at the top, trying to make it look like a baby doll with long flowing hair. As I watched, she gently stroked the straw hair and kissed the fake doll's imaginary face. My heart broke, because my youngest granddaughter owns at least 50 dolls. She has dolls that she’s never played with or taken from their packages. As I pondered on this I wished that I could fly back home to the USA, get just one of my granddaughter’s dolls, and give it to the little girl; instead I continued on my journey home, hardly seeing where I was going because of the tears falling from my eyes.

Just outside our CHQ building we’ve seen young boys rummaging through the garbage dump looking for plastic bottles. We often watch them attach bottle caps to the sides of the bottles making makeshift wheels. Some of the boys take string and tie it around the mouth of the bottle so that they can pull their homemade vehicles along the unpaved dusty road.
The girls play with dolls made of wire and straw and the boys make homemade trucks and cars to play with out of debris from the garbage dump....

We’re having a hard time getting use to this kind of stuff. The people here have been so abused by past atrocities that they have little hope of anything better happening to them. They accept everything that happens to them without saying a word. We are working and praying with our officers, trying to encourage and support them in the work that God has set before them.... This place has virtually driven us to our knees, not only for ourselves but for our people. We’re praying every day for wisdom and courage because we know that the battle is not ours but the Lord's.

In the past we’ve said that our God is an Awesome God; since coming to Liberia we KNOW that he is AWESOME. We’ve experienced his keeping power. We are recipients of His provincial care, and He is giving us Grace upon Grace upon Grace upon Grace.

We see on a daily basis the works of his almighty hand. The country of Liberia is beautiful in spite of 14 years of war. In the midst of broken and burned out buildings we see exotic plants and flowers blooming with abandonment....

We are going to have a Christmas program on the 23rd at our Monrovia City Corps. I have organized and have started training a group of young women from our Girls Hostel who will be dancing in celebration of the birth of the newborn king....

Jesus is “the Prince of Peace”. The people of Liberia and all over the world need peace. We’re counting on the Prince of Peace to come through for the country of Liberia.

We’ve only just begun our journey of faith here in Liberia, we don’t have a road map for the journey, all we have are the promises of God and the prayers of the saints. Please be assured of this, we are trusting God big time....

Keep on praying for us, we need your prayers more than anything else.

Please know that we love all of you and are praying for our home territory everyday. Like Paul, we thank our God upon every remembrance of you.

Sincerely yours in Jesus Name
Majors Bob and Hester Dixon
Command Leaders, Liberia West Africa Command

I came across this picture of our friends and wanted to share it with you. Not included is baby Mark, born in October.

Today we told Tõnis that Mario has officially left Tartu and will not be returning to the apartment. We await God's leading on the next chapter of this saga!

Then his girlfriend, Kerli, called to see if we could go to the Noortekodu to drop off Christmas presents. They are from the Salvation Army in Sweden and we picked them up this weekend when we were in Tallinn. We were delighted to be able to deliver 80 beautifully-wrapped packages to the home where Karl-Gustav lives!

We were also happy to pick up two boxes for our family from the post office:

One is from my cousin Andy, containing much-longed-for Joan of Arcadia videos.

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/joan_of_arcadia/

http://www.joanofarcadia.com

http://www.joanofarcadiatv.com/

The other is from Tim's sister, Susan, a Salvation Army officer working hard to bring Christmas to the families of Salem, Massachusetts.

Tonight we will pray for my cousin Debbie (Andy's sister!). One year younger than me in age, and living across the street from me, she was an integral part of my childhood.

“Wake up, wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up, break out in song!” (Judges 5:12)

Evelyn

We just got back from a great weekend in Tallinn at the Kopli Corps. Regional Carol Service yesterday (our family did a skit of the Christmas story) and a full day today.

Tonight we will pray for my nephew David, who is in Iraq.

“The Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power.” (1 Samuel 16:13)

Tonight we will be in Tallinn, and will pray for my brother Danny.

His son is my nephew David who is in Iraq with the U.S. Army. They are sometimes able to speak on the phone, but have not been able to get a good connection since David's unit moved to a new base this week. Please pray that this problem would be solved soon.

Danny is the Computer Specialist for the Salvation Army Northern New England Division in Portland, Maine. His territory covers Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire, and he does a great job of keeping all those corps and offices running smoothly when it comes to their computers!

“Daniel praised the God of heaven.” (Daniel 2:19)

Evelyn

Yesterday we meet with representatives of the city of Tartu's departments of childrens services and social services. This was a follow-up to our meeting with the mayor, and was another important step in developing our work here. We were very encouraged by the discussion.

Although they were not familiar with Päästearmee (The Salvation Army), they were were glad to speak with people they were told were willing to help the people of Tartu. After giving them an overview of the Army's work and mission, they gave us a detailed view of the social problems in Tartu and the challenges children face here. The topics ranged from homelessness to alcoholism to AIDS to broken homes to unemployment ... and on and on. It is certainly no worse than the troubles we have seen in America, but we were glad that they were willing to share this things with people they don't know who are from an organization they have not heard of.

The encouraging thing is that they have a good system in place to meet the needs of the people, but they feel that in some areas they are lacking and need help, and in others they need to develop new programs. We saw so many opportunities for partnership and for establishing the Army's holistic work in this place. At one point, one person listed a wide range of work, from direct service to education to support, and asked which things we did. I responded, "Around the world, The Salvation Army does all of these things. What we want to do is find what is most needed in Tartu and begin a work that is most appropriate here." I think they were glad to here that we are not coming with a pre-conceived notion of what we will do or what the needs are here. They seemed genuinely happy that we are in Tartu and interested in working together.

So I ask that you pray that we will see clearly where we should focus first. During the meeting Evelyn said something like , "In 10 years we may be doing all of the things we are talking about, but we are looking for where there is the greatest need so we can start there." It is an overwhelming thought.

One wonderful thing that came from this is that we were invited to a Christmas gathering they are having next week to recognize the groups that are working to serve the people of Tartu. There will be representatives from the childrens homes, old peoples homes, homeless programs and everything else that is happening in Tartu. It will be a great opportunity to introduce ourselves to those with whom we hope to work alongside, and to hear from others what they are doing. We are so grateful for the opportunity.

Tomorrow we go to Tallinn for a business meeting, which will be followed by a carol service where our family is doing a little drama depicting scenes from the Christmas story. Elizabeth will be Mary, and she is so excited. We will spend the night there and attend the Kopli Corps on Sunday.
--Tim

Today we prayed for my father. "May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you his grace and peace."--2 Corinthians 1:2, NLT

Today we prayed for Evelyn's cousin Corrina Kellam.

“Do not be afraid.” (Matthew 1:20; Luke 2:10)

A Memory from Childhood
Having a mother in a wheelchair from MS meant a lot of hardship on family life growing up the eldest of five children. We ended up having a lot of grown-up things tossed our way and had to muddle our way through most of them without any guidance. One Christmas I remember most is when we had nothing at all for Christmas, no food, no toys. We did have a donated silver tree with a color wheel, but even with that we knew we had no money for anything under the tree...we were even kind of used to it...having always made use of hand-me-downs, and using our imaginations while looking through an old Sears catalog...imagining the food in the advertising page were real...I even remember my brother eating a page of the magazine believing he could taste the food...Well, as you can imagine, Christmas was an especially sad time around our house...So this one Christmas my father took me, I must have been about nine years old, and dropped me off at the Salvation Army and just told me to go in and ask if we could get something for food. I was so scared...we had always kept to ourselves...my father being too proud to ask for any help...yet there I was in a long line with a lot of adults, scared that I would be sent home as soon as someone realized what I was going to ask for. To my surprise, the kindness I received there was overwhelming for me..not only were they kind, they didn't belittle the clothes I was wearing..or my young age. They asked why I was there and to this day I don't remember what I blurted out..I was so unsure about why I was even there. But I do remember they gave me some vouchers. One for $20 worth of food, and one for a $5 gift for each of us for under the tree. I had to walk home, but I had the privilege of being able to stop at Stuarts Department Store and buying the gifts for my sisters, brother and myself. I hid them carefully, wrapped them in newspaper, and we had so many smiles at the Christmas feast that was provided before us that year. This is the Christmas I remember most now, now that I am happily the mother of five, am a pastor's wife, and appreciate all the many blessings...past and present at this time of year... May we all remember and be thankful, and thank those who have been there in times of need...Thank You All Salvation Army and all others in the ministry of serving God's most precious ---People

This is from the Dollar Stretcher web site:

Remembering the Joy of Giving
After reading "Scrooge's Christmas List" I decided to send the below letter to our family and friends. My family has not always been as well off as we are now, and there were times when things were a bit tight. Once we became financially secure, we felt pressure to buy something "very nice" for everyone we knew. This got harder every year because those on our list had no wants or needs. We would spend hundreds of dollars buying a "token" gift that was appreciated but wouldn't have been missed. Every year we dreaded shopping and basically throwing away good money. So, this year we are hosting an Open House for our Neighborhood and we sent the below letter to all our friends and family, via email of course!
Subject: For Christmas, I bought you...
Dear Friends, This year we spent a lot of time trying to find you the perfect gift. We looked in stores, in catalogs and on-line. We searched for that something special that once you received it, would let you know how much we cherish your friendship. After many hours of searching, we finally found the perfect gift! This year, instead of buying you something, we decided to honor you. In honor of all our wonderful and generous friends, we selected several Salvation Army Angels.
Each year the Salvation Army puts up 'Angel Trees' all across the nation. People select an Angel, person in need, from the tree and purchases items from their wish list. The items are then wrapped and distributed for the Holidays. It's a wonderful program!
This year we selected 4 Children, 2 boys and 2 girls. We chose a child that was the same age and gender of our children, we then chose an extra older child because they tend to be the ones who get picked last. We read their little story to our children, and then we planned a shopping trip to purchase their gifts. We took them to Target and they had a wonderful time playing Santa.
Afterwards we all went out to lunch and talked about how good we felt. Our children agreed that it was important to help others and they really felt good that the children's wishes would be granted for Christmas. It really made us look at how materialist our Holiday had become- and that was a wonderful gift to us! We all remembered to be thankful for what we have and to share with those who don't have what they need.
So the gift we give to you, all our friends, is passing along your kindness and love to others. In counting our blessings, we are thankful for all our wonderful friends and family. We reflect on the true meaning of Christmas and remember the Spirit that it is about- Love. It our Christmas wish that you will do the same and share with those who are in need this Holiday Season. We wish you and yours a Blessed Christmas and a Joyous New Year.Jude

hi, im Chris Clark and im gonna be a sorta guest blogger. a few days ago i had something sorta interesting happen and im gonna tell you abuot it. i have a beautiful toshiba sattelite laptop that someone is letting me borrow for a while and before she had it some other guy did (i dont know him but my parents so i dont really need to). i was bored the other day adn on the laptop you can have a guest accunt in case any one wants to use it and i dont want them to use my accuont. so i was bored and decided i would go into the geust accuont and set it up all nice, this was probably a mistake becuase i could have spent my time doing something better and i would have avoided this whole thing. now i really LOVE my music so i have a ton of music (at least 10 CDs) saved on my laptop and so i wanted to be able 2 play it all in the geust account so i went and clicked on the windows media player and opened it up and it asked me if i wanted 2 search the computer for media that it can play and it had three options. i could a. search only for new media (fastest) b. search for new and fairly recent media or c. search for ALL the media it can play (slowest). well i had time to kill so i picked the slowest becuase i knew other people had used this computer (and gone online with it which i have not done yet) and so it got absolutely EVERYTHING this thing could play, over 1000 items!! well i should also tell you i tottally LOVE computer games, maybe even more then music, i dunno. well it got everything from my games, and i mean everything!! it even got the different noises the mouse makes when it clicks (i never even noticed there where different clicks for different games)!! well it also got some things i had never seen before. it got everything, anyone had ever put on this computer. i saw under music sounds and stuff something called "paris hilton". now when i think of my computer, i never think abuot the fact that someone else who was a guy used this before me, so i was ignorant to the fact that this could be something inapropriate. so i click on this and i assume it must be a singer or something and then the windows media player screen gets wider like its gonna play a movie and im like "cool, maybe its like some concert or something". i really wish right abuot here I noticed that something was a little strange but i was bored, and liveing in estonia i cant really find any new music thats interesting so i was hoping this would be something cool. thats when it finished loading and i saw something that scared me so bad i must have jumped half a mile, 2 people on a bed doing, you know, what 2 people do on beds some times. it scared me 2 death, the first thing i did was slam down the top of the laptop so hard i thought i broke it. And there were still sounds coming out of it so i turned the sound off all the way and i just sit there shaking and i have no clue what to do. and right away, im sorta ashamed to say it, my first thought was to keep it. i thought "its risky and i dont really want it right now but maybe i want it later, i could put in a folder with a pass word or something and i could keep it tottally hidden........." and so for a few minutes i was thinking sorta like this. you know how in the movies people will have a devil on one shoulder and a angel on the other and thier both telling them what to do? i really think if i had looked in a mirror i would have seen 2 little guys standing on my shoulders. i could almost hear this little voice saying "chris, you should just keep it. its the smart thing to do, becuase remember once its gone its gone and maybe you'll want it later........" then i could hear that other voice saying "chris, u should go down stairs right now and tell your parents. you know its the right thing to do. you are a soldier in the salvation army for god's sake!" and i have these 2 little guys on my shoulders and i just dont know what to do. so all night im thinking about this and i dont know what to do (after i found the first one I found another one so i have 2 vidoe clips on my computer that i have no clue what to do with) and then i go to bed. i barely slept all night long, i stayed up all night and it was like there was a real battle going on in side me. and then i had a plan. i thought to my self "im not a idiot, i know how to use a computer i'll do it myself!". but that just didn't feel right to me. i woke up sorta early that morning (i never wake up early so this really shows something was up) and i have this book, "every young mans battle" i think its called, and i have this other book, called the bible, and i read part of both of them and i prayed and i listened to music. and i was praying and while i was praying this one song on the playlist i was playing came on, "9 outta 10" by justifide (which is a awesome christian band), and i stopped for a minute to listen and this is what i heard. "i look when i should look away/adictions feed from a glance/a glance of temptation is all it takes/all it takes to lust/ no one there to trust/knowing this, but i look anyway/and now i say i should've looked away/9 times outta 10 i try to end/this never ending battle im failling, im falling into sin." And some where in here i started to sing along becuase i really like this band and i know this song and then it gets to the part where the singers just sorta yelling and he says, "you don't own me!!/by the power of christ i will not let you end me!!" and right about here as im singing along i made up my mind, im gonna tell my parents! so i went down stairs and i talked to them and my dad erased, totally and completely, all the things on my computer like that. and this really was great to me, i really like war games and so i know that it takes many battles to win a war, and you know it would have been so easy to just keep it. but i think i won this battle for God and that makes me feel really good. and i t also sorta showed me prayer at work becuase i was praying asking god what to do and then the perfect song for this came on. so now i feel really good and my mom kept wanting me to blog and i thought this would be a sorta nice story to tell anyone reading this. well i gotta go eat lunch now. my e-mail is chrisjohnclark@juno.com if you want to email me. bye.

Chris Clark
best, and only, soldier of the tartu estonia corps

A faithful blog reader wrote in an e-mail, "God's timing is not always the best, I guess." (Keep reading and in a few days you will see what all this is building up to.) This sentence keeps going through my mind; it is a hard one to think about.

Christmas:
"When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons." (Galatians 4:4-5)

Easter:
"We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." (Romans 5:2-6)

Mis kell on? (What time is it?)

Evelyn

http://www.aroundmaine.com/04/blogs/default.asp

Last night I was lying in bed with Elizabeth, and she was trying to stay awake a few extra minutes by getting me to tell stories about when I was growing up. Auntie Mary-Kay will do this for hours, mostly made-up stuff like saying Pretty Boy, the parrot, would always say "Evelyn stinks!"

When I told her I have blocked out most of my childhood, she asked what I was doing when I was 18-19 years old. Easy! I was at Houghton College. I told her what I did there (clean the library, clean the bathrooms), what I studied (religion major, missions minor).

Missions minor?! I haven't really thought of that term in a while. Yes, almost 20 years ago I was already looking toward the day I would be sitting here in Tartu, Estonia!

I usually say it took us 4 years to get here (1 year in Training and 3 as corps officers in America), but it was really 20!

Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him.
(Psalm 37:4-7)

"The LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless." (Psalm 84:11)

Does this mean that everything in life always goes our way?! No, and if you keep reading in the days to come you will hear much more on that topic, I'm afraid.

But today, I just want to be grateful for the good things that God has given me.

Tonight we will pray for my niece Christina, who is a freshman at the University of Maine at Farmington. "Anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward." (Mark 9:41)

Evelyn

Tonight we will pray for Cassandra Groff, my cousin's daughter.

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known."
(John 1:14, 16, 18)

Evelyn

Each day I've been reading from an Advent devotional by Walter Wangerin, Jr. Called Preparing for Jesus. I read a few days ago about God's faithfulness to Zechariah (Luke 1:5-7) and it really stuck with me, so I thought I would share an excerpt:

"Every present moment is well-rooted in the past. Nothing happens in pure isolation. No human is so alienated that he has no history or so lonesome that she cannot find lifelines through which her person has emerged. We are never only I. We are always, somehow, we.

"Even the miracles of God, so sudden-seeming, have been nurtured in love through the ages to the moment of their appearing. But it may be only in the appearing that God's careful tending of this thing is made clear to us.

"God, you see, is God of history: weaving its past and future together; designing the times by overseeing the intricate patterns of human events; granting meaning to the whole of humankind, and thereby making any single moment, also, incandescent with meaning ...

"So her you are, my friend--this year, this day, this particular moment--bowed down in meditations and preparing for the coming of the Lord. This tick in your Advent clock: how insignificant it seems in the order of things, yes?

"But it isn't--and you are not--insignificant at all! Surely you have taken the lesson of these verses: how vast and complex is the history that brings you to this moment! How countless the divine preparations that presently shape your meditation! Not only do you, your personhood, your self, derive from the bloodlines of your ancestors; not only does the more immediate history of your culture shape your days and ways; but the flower of this moment has a root as deep in antiquity as the time when God spoke promises to Abraham and Sarah. and its sunshine is Christ! For the birth of that light into the world (an event midway between Abraham and you) illumines all our human history, making this particular moment, too, incandescent with meaning.

"Did you think that you were little in the universe? Ah, but look how God has used the universe to bring you here. Like any miracle of God, you have been nurtured in love through all the ages until this instant, this breath you now are drawing, this present beating of your heart, this thought, this faith, this prayer ..."
--Tim

Today we prayed for my nephew, Bryan Kelly. "Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught." Colossians 2:7, NLT

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice …,
to set the oppressed free …?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
(Isaiah 58:6-7)

Anyone who loves [her] … mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves [her] son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses [her] life for my sake will find it.
(Matthew 10:37-39)

Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.
(Mark 5:19)

You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, "Honor … your mother."… But you say that if [an officer] says to [her] … mother: "Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is … a gift devoted to God," then you no longer let [her] do anything for [her] … mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.
(Mark 7:9-13)

No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother … or children … for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.
(Mark 10:29-30)

As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
He said to another [person], "Follow me."
But [she] replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my [mother]."
Jesus said to [her], "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."
Jesus replied, "No one who puts [her] hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
(Luke 9:57-62)

If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
(1 Timothy 5:8)

Evelyn was chatting online with Karl Gustav (Estonia is one of the most internet connected nations in the world, so even orphinages are wired) and he mentioned that he was going to see his vanaema (grandmother). She mentioned that we would like to meet her sometime, and he said why not today. So I went with him.

It was quite a contrast to our visit with his mother yesterday. When we first arrived at her apartment in the Analinn part of town (which is populated by row after row of block style, Soviet-built apartment buildings), Karl Gustav asked me to wait outside the door while he let her know we were there. After 20 minutes of waiting and hearing discussion and stirring inside, he came out with her and said maybe it was best if we went someplace for coffee. I realized that since she now does not have Karl Gustav or his mother to help care for the apartment, it was probably not in a condition they would want to show.

We went to café at a nearby shopping center, I noticed that the grandmother was talking almost non-stop, it wasn't necessarily directed at me, and Karl Gustav seemed to be struggling with the conversation. It was like I was involved in what was happening but also excluded, participating but also observing. I felt like I had been swept into a whirlwind. After we dropped her off, Karl Gustav sheepishly said to me, "That was interesting." I smiled at him and he went on, "I don't know what you think of this." I told him I understood and that I was glad to meet his grandmother. I asked if her mind was well, and he said, "No." He had said to me earlier that he remembers when she used to tell him stories, and I think that was his way of saying that she is not the woman she used to be. When I brought him back to the childrens home, he invited me in for tea and we chatted a bit more. It gave us both a chance to unwind and relax once again, and I was able to let him know that I wasn't put off by the experience--plus, we joked together.

On the way home, I felt emotionally drained. I had so many thoughts about what just took place. I thought about Karl Gustav, who has to bear the burden of a sick mother, being separated from her at a childrens home that, although nice, he would rather not be at, and seeing his grandmother fail physically and mentally. This seems far too much for one 12-year-old boy. I kept thinking the ageless question countless others have asked: Why? Why him? Why so much to deal with all at once? How can this be fair?

I also thought about this obviously bright, polite, humerous, endearing boy, with his melt-your-heart smile and pre-adolescent tenor voice, and I contrasted that personality with the life he inhereted. The two didn't match somehow. How is it that such experiences don't crush a person? He does show some cracks, like the way he struggles to get out words (in English or Estonian) when he is nervous, but overall carries himself better than most young people his age. He has faced life's challenges and risen to meet them. Given the same circumstances, I don't know that I would do the same.

I remembered Isaiah 11:6: "In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard and the goat will be at peace. Calves and yearlings will be safe among lions, and a little child will lead them all. " This is the vision of the Kingdom to come, the one the Church is working to build. Karl Gustav is leading through his life, unconsciously, without really trying. It helps me to believe that the Kingdom of God truly is within reach.
--Tim

Tim neglected to give the web site for the nursing home he went to yesterday. I think it's interesting to look at things like this; hope you do, too!

Here is a cool thing we stumbled on uptown today: Jõululinn (Christmastown!). Go here for a live picture.

Tonight we will pray for my brother Bobby. Everyone knows that he really does work for Santa Claus! "Freely you have received, freely give." (Matthew 10:8)

Evelyn

Today I took Karl Gustav to visit his mother, and it was an incredible experience!

It was the biggest desire he expressed when we visited him, and I was so glad to do it. I was a bit nervous, though, because I went without a translator (just me and him) and the manager of the childrens home had promised to leave directions to the hospital for me, but she didn't. I had seen on the map where the town was (around 50 km south of Tartu), but had no idea how to get to the hospital. But we pressed on anyway.

On the trip down, he seemed nervous too, so we only talked a bit. It was probably because although he knows a bit of English, he feels like he doesn't speak well (although he really does fine), plus the fact that he doesn't know me too well yet and that I was relying on him to direct me to the hospital. But we made it to the hospital with only a bit of backtracking.

We walked into the place and it wasn't as bad as I thought it could be (I've heard terrible stories about these types of institutions), although I still wouldn't want anyone in my family to be there. After walking the corridors a bit, Karl Gustav spotted his mother having lunch and brought me in to meet her. Right when she saw him, her face lit up, proving the value of the trip. It had been a month since she had last seen him. She spoke with me briefly with the few English words she knows, and struck me as someone I could easily talk with if I only knew Estonian. She was a sight to see, though. She has rheumatoid arthritis, was sitting in a wheelchair, her hands curled up and her body obviously frail. I know it sounds like something from sappy fiction, but it truly was heartbreaking to see. After exchanging a few more words, I left Karl Gustav with his ema (mother).

He visited with her for two hours, and when he came out of the hospital, the whole way from the entry door, down the walkway, right up to the van, he was waving forlornly to his mother. It was a touching sight. After getting into the van, he told me that he was so happy to have seen her, but that leaving was always sad. What 12-year-old boy wouldn't say this?

The trip back is what really crystallized the day for me and will mark it as a lasting memory. Karl Gustav was so much more relaxed after seeing his mother, and although at first our conversation was a bit stilted as before, once we started talking about things like how I am learning Estonian ("Say something to me in Estonian!" he said to me) it's like things clicked and we were able to talk easily. His full charm and wit came into view when he offered me a sweet. His mother had given him a bag full of candies, chocolates and cookies, and he gave one to me. When I finished that, he offered me another. I took that too, wanting to be polite, but when I finished that, he offered another. At that point, I said, "Ei, aitäh (no, thanks). I think I've had enough." He said, "You should have just one" with such a sweet smile that I couldn't turn him down. After I took it, he said with a wide grin, "You should have two!" and when I took that he said, almost laughing, "Oh, you should have three!" We had begun a game that was to last the rest of the trip. He would give me something, I would eat it, then he would find a way to make me take more. He took such joy in this that we were both laughing out loud as we passed by the snow covered pine trees on the road back to Tartu.

It showed me his genuinely generous heart, and an innocence that was strikingly wonderful in an age where children grow up too quickly. I feel I am not doing the experience justice with my feeble words, but to have been there and seen his glowing face and heard his laugh would have melted anyone's heart.

I know that there are many children just like Karl Gustav in Tartu, and my hope is that one day we will reach others. Today, helping him to realize the simple wish of seeing his mother made anything seem possible.
--Tim

Today in prayer we remembered my sister's youngest girl, Bethany (meaning "daughter of the Lord"). Also, it is Peter's nine month birthday!

Happy 8th birthday to my niece DeBrekah!

Tonight we will pray for Bea Groff, my cousin's wife and formerly our "German-speaking neighbor" (as Phil Getchell referred to her when he was in high school taking German). In her honor, here is a link about Christmas in Germany.

"Love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD." (Leviticus 19:18)

Just had to share this with you, as it brought a lump to my throat just to see Estonia on the list! What a privilege and very great thrill it is for us to be here for the holidays!

I got this from Organized Christmas, which linked to Christmas World (Elizabeth noticed the Estonian flag on the far right immediately!), which led us to Christmas in Estonia:
Christmas time is still the most important holiday celebrated in Estonia. For Estonians, Christmas is a mixture of the traditional, the modern, the secular, and the religious. Like in other Nordic states, Estonia's celebration of Christmas mostly falls on Christmas Eve, however Christmas season starts in Advent with people buying Advent calendars or lighting Advent candles.
In Estonian folk-tradition Christmas has a double meaning: on one hand, it is marking Christ's birth, on the other, it marks the whole period of mid-winter holidays. ...
In earlier times, the tradition of making special Christmas crowns, imitating the church chandeliers, was widespread among the Estonians. The tradition disappeared around the turn of the century and was replaced by other Christmas symbols however, there was a revival of the ancient tradition in 1970s when it became very popular to make Christmas crowns once more.
Each year on December 24 the President of Estonia declares Christmas Peace and attends a Christmas service. Declaring a Christmas Peace is a 350 year old tradition which began in the seventeenth century by order of Queen Kristina of Sweden.

Evelyn