kolmapäev, detsember 22, 2004
One Step Closer
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
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
