March Forth! Marssige Edasi!

The Lastekoosolek went very well (see Evelyn's post below). We had four boys show up an hour before it was time to begin! By the time we began, we had eight children, all boys! This was a dissappointment to Elizabeth, who was hoping for a Sunbeam group. But it showed us that a boys program is definately needed, and we can do a separat girls program as well. Here you see the boys doing a tug of war in the yard while Vika watches (she translated for us when the person who was supposed to help backed out at the last minute).

Elizabeth with the albino gerbil Laser.

Elizabeth with Cinnamon.

Yesterday we said hello to Vika, a young woman who has often translated for us at the Narva Corps. She is here in Tartu to attend the university, and will be staying with us at least for a few weeks.

We said good-bye to Cinnamon and Laser, the gerbils who have been living with us for the summer. Their family has returned to Estonia after three months in America.

Tonight is our first lastekoosolek (children's meeting).

Tomorrow is the last day of summer here.

Evelyn

I mentioned during our blogs about the Bible Blast that Elizabeth had made a new friend who attended every day, Etthel. Well, the friendship has continued and it has been so wonderful to see the two of them playing in the trees, in the little play house that is in our backyard, down the street trying to grab chestnuts from a large tree, in our house or at Etthel's. She lives diagonally across the street from us, so it is easy for the girls to get to one another, and they are always back and forth.

It is especially fun to see them helping each other with language. Etthel knows more English than Elizabeth knows Estonian, but not by much. So most of their communication is done by motions or by the kind of knowing that little girls share. Many times, they will teach each other words, with Elizabeth saying the word in English and Etthel saying it in Estonian. It has been such a joy to hear Elizabeth actually speaking some Estonian language!

We are so thankful to God for this friendship. School begins for Etthel in two days, so playing together all day will cease, but I am sure that they will continue to be fast friends in the days to come. I've included a few pictures so you can share in the fun! (click on the picture to enlarge it)
--Tim

Elizabeth and Etthel play with Peter (and you can see Chris's big feet in the background!) 

Elizabeth and Etthel climb trees inour backyard. 

Elizabeth makes a funny face in our back yard. 

Etthel shows she can match Elizabeth's funny face. 

We were all a bit nervous about how our first Sunday would go. Chris was hoping for the best and told us that if the day went well, he would celebrate by drinking the root beer that his friend Sarah Wittenberg brought to him from her recent trip to America (you can't get root beer in Estonia).

We were encouraged when this morning, we received a call from a woman who had just heard that The Salvation Army was in Tartu. Her mother attended the Army when it was in Tartu 60 years ago, and she had always heard good things from her mother. She didn't know that this was the first day that we would be having meetings, but she promised that she would attend.

When 3:00 came, we were thrilled to have 20 people (including us and our helpers). It was a wonderful time of praise to God, as we had good mix of young people from the Bible Blast as well as adults. And it was so glorious to hear the piano that sits in our meeting room finally played to accompany singing (beautifully played by our friend Katie). Our friend Anneli Aavil from Tallinn translated for us; Sarah Wittenberg from Tallinn shared her testimony; and Chris, Anneli, Sarah, Elizabeth and I did some dramas. We really felt God was near in the meeting.

When that ended, many of the adults went home and more children came in time for Sunday School. We had 21 in attendance for that! We decided to have it in our yard since it was such a beautiful sunny day. Two of our Estonian friends from Tartu, Liis and Maret, joined as additional helpers and translators and we were able to do some fun games, dramas, stories and dances with the kids. And I had plenty of practice with my Estonian language: "Istu palun!" (sit, please).
It was a great start to our Sunday programs, and we are trusting God to see it through in the weeks to come.

We ended the day by going to the city homeless shelter to do a service for our friends there, and had 25 in attendance. We sang the same songs with them that we did earlier in the day, and it really tied things together so beautifully. Now we are hoping they will join us on Sunday afternoons.

Thank you all for praying for us as we have prepared for this day. It has been so long in coming, and we know that there is still so much work to be done as we build this corps. But we felt very much at peace as we prepared for the meetings, and I am certain it is because you were bringing us before God in your prayers.

By the way, Chris plans to drink his root beer.
--Tim

The people who attended the first Sunday meeting at the Tartu Corps, standing outside of our house/corps! 

Anneli and Sarah teach a song to the children during Sunday School. 

Sunday School finished with roasting marshmallows, which was a special request from the children who had come to the Bible blast. 

Tomorrow is the first meeting of our fall corps programs.

Like a bride on the day before her wedding, I have pre-event jitters big time!

Please pray that I won't be so nervous that I drive everybody crazy! Pray that we will prepare the house and everything as we should. Pray that God would prepare our hearts, most of all!

Here is everyone who will be taking part:
Tim
Evelyn (and baby Peter)
Chris
Elizabeth
Anneli -- translating
Sergei -- playing guitar
Sarah
Katie (and baby Lauri) -- playing piano
Liis
Maret

Please pray that God brings together the people He wants to be there! We are especially hoping to see some of our homeless friends and some of the kids who came to the Backyard Bible Blast.

Thanks, folks! We couldn't do it without you!

Evelyn

I just returned from a great opportunity to tell about the Army's work here in Tartu. There is a group of older people from Sweden who are touring Estonia and Latvia which is lead by a retired major and is made up of many Salvationists. While they were here, they wanted to hear about the Army's work in Estonia, so they rented a lecture room at the Hotel London and invited me to go there and talk.

I gave them an overview of the work in Narva first, because they were not able to hear about it when they were there yesterday. Then I told them about what we have done in the past year to lay the foundation for the Tartu Corps, about the relationships we have built and the things we have done at the shelter and the noortekodu. Then I told them about the beginning of corps programs and our plans for work with the homeless and pensioners. It felt so good to speak in concrete terms about things we have actually done and will do rather than simply speak about what could be. They asked lots of questions and seemed genuinely interested in the work here.

When I finished, they surprised me by taking up a collection for the Tartu Corps that totaled around 1900 Estonian Krooni (around $150.00). I was overwhelmed by their generosity!

Before I finished, I said to them what I often say to you: we are grateful for the support, but the greatest support we need is prayer for the work God is doing here. They took that moment to pray for the Tartu Corps and our family's place here. It was a fitting ending to a wonderful evening.
--Tim

Today was Salvation Army day at the Tallinna Lennujaam (Tallinn Airport). This morning, our regional commanders, Majors Derek and Helen Tyrrell, flew back to the UK to meet their first grandchild, Jessica, who was born last week.

A few hours later, my family and people from the Tallinn Kopli Corps were at the airport to greet Anneli and Evelin Aavik as they returned after spending the summer working at Camp Swoneky in Ohio. They bring a special enthusiasm to the Army here in Estonia and were greatly missed. They enjoyed their summer, but were glad to be back home. Anneli said to me, "I can't wait to have some real Estonian food. I'm so sick of the junk they had in America!" Please pray for the girls as they face some challenges in their preparations for school next week, and pray that their bodies will quickly return to Estonian time (jetlag is always a challenge!).

Not long after that, we and Sarah Wittenberg were on hand to welcome Captains Daniel and Anya Henderson and their five children back to Estonia. They are the corps officers of the Narva Corps and were coming back from their three-month homeland furlough. They traveled 20 hours straight, and the poor children looked like it. The Hendersons have done a dynamic job pioneering the corps in Narva and developing a program for those afflicted with AIDS which has now caught the attention of the Estonian government. Please keep the Henderson family in prayer as they readjust to life in Estonia and face the challenges that they may find after being away from their corps for so long.

Because there are so few of us in the Army here in Estonia, we are like one big family and we feel it when some of our members are absent, and it is cause for celebration when they return. Once Kristi gets back in September, it will be time to celebrate again. We feel blessed to be part of such a wonderful and diverse family.
--Tim

Evelin and Anneli (front, center) surrounded by family and friends who came to greet them at the airport. 

We finished the week with a bang! It was a gorgeous, sunny day and we had 15 children--eight of them for the first time. That means over the five days we had contact with around 30 children, which we are truly thankful to God for.

The Mission Team was ready for a crowd this time, and the games and activities went very well. The kids enjoyed everything and wanted to do more. When we told them that we are beginning regular children's activities in two weeks, many of them seemed genuinely interested. I feel certain that some of these children will be the foundation of our youth programs.

We had seven teenage helpers this week: Five from the Mission Team and two from Tartu. When everything ended, it was like the end of camp. The Kristal and Sarah from Tallinn left with their corps officers, Majors Phil and Susan Wittenberg amid tears and hugs. Then we drove Liis and Maret (our Tartu helpers) home and there were more hugs as they said goodbye to Julia and Veronika from Narva, who we will take home on Sunday when we do the meetings at the corps there. And we got to keep our other big helper, Chris.

This week was a lot of hard work, but now the real work begins. We have begun relationships with these children that we want to continue. We want The Salvation Army to be a place where they feel they can go to experience God's love. Please pray that we will be faithful in our follow up.
--Tim

The Mission Team (and several helpers) perform a dance at the Eeden shopping center. 

The children (and helpers) enjoy food during the cookout. 

Kristal, of the Mission Team, teaches the young people a line dance. As you can see, even the boys got into the dance! 

The children play a game of elbow tag, led by the Mission Team. 

Elizabeth and her friend Etthel climbing in our backyard. 

Your prayers and the hard work of the Mission Team were rewarded today: we had 15 children come for the program!

At first, the team was a bit overwhelmed by number of kids, especially four energetic boys who were more interested in running around and doing their own thing than listening. But once the Mission Team started doing games with the kids, things went much smoother; they really pulled together to make it a great night.

The Bible theme for the day was "Taste the Living Water," taken from Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well in John 4. Through the Bible story, games and activities, we tried to share with the kids that Jesus is the living water available to them.

The weather all day was beautiful and sunny, so we were able to roast marshmallows at the end of the evening. The kids really enjoyed this because it is not something commonly done in Estonia.

Please continue praying for us. We want Friday to be the best day yet, and after tonight the Mission Team's spirits have been buoyed. But through it all we want God to be reflected and to be faithful to what He would have us do.
--Tim

The 15 children, plus the Mission Team and local helpers, gather in a circle to play a game in the bright sunlight. 

The kids and Mission Team play the game Titanic. 

We were also able to roast marshmallows over a bonfire in the backyard. This was good news for Susanna (front center, with the red hair), who has come the other days, except the one where we did marshmallows! 

Well, we were foiled by rain today, but we still carried on. Everyone tried extra hard to get the word out during the day. It was even a bright, sunny day, which made it easy for them to go to the outdoor market to tell people about the program, and to walk around the neighborhood.

When it was time to begin, we had 10 people in the backyard for the cookout, and the sun was still shining so we were able to cook on the grill. But as the sky started to get cloudy, several of the children said that their mom had called and they needed to go home. There was another woman who came with three boys, and we learned that she was from a children's home that is not far from us, but after hanging around for a bit the boys decided they wanted to leave, even though she tried her best to have them stay. As we were finishing our food, the clouds opened up and we all had to dash into the house to hold the program in our meeting room. The three remaining girls kept asking if we were going to roast marshmallows later, but the rain never let up, so they didn't get the chance. But we did have a good time with them. They laughed a lot during the games we played, they had fun learning a dance the team taught them, they very carefully made the craft and they listened attentively to the devotional. It was only a few kids, but we were glad they had come.

At first, Evelyn and I were feeling quite discouraged by the way things had turned out. But as we were talking together, she pointed out that God may use this week for other reasons. We had heard of the children's home that the woman and boys came from, but had never been there or met someone from there. We had a good opportunity to talk with the woman, and even offered to have the Mission Team go there before they left. She was very interested in our work here, and seemed interested in keeping in contact. So this may open a door for more opportunities with young people.

Also, the three girls who stayed had come before and really seemed to enjoy the program. Through this relationship, they may become the start of our Sunbeam troop and Sunday school program.

One of the girls, Etthel, is nine years old and lives in the house diagonally across the street from us. She had a lot of fun playing with Elizabeth, and even joined during the day passing out fliers and during the program at the shopping center. She said she really wants to see Elizabeth even after this week ends, and of course we said yes. So Elizabeth is also gaining a new friend through this.

And so we press on. God has done surprising things during our time here, and I have no doubt He has more in store for us. We still hope for more children over the next two days, but we are also open to the unexpected opportunities and relationships He may bring our way. Please continue to keep us in prayer.
--Tim

The children and team members sat together in our meeting room to sing songs and play games. 

The children work on a craft. 

Today was much like yesterday for the group: handing out fliers in the neighborhood, doing a program at the shopping center. We did give them a bit of a break in the afternoon by taking them to Anna Kanal, the beach not far from the shopping center. They gave out fliers until they had no more, then they swam and played on the beach for over an hour. After that it was one more time around the neighborhood letting people know about the program.

When the time came, only two children came: one girl from yesterday and one new girl. We were a bit disappointed about the number, but everyone still had a great time and felt like it was worth the effort. But I think we will all try much harder tomorrow as we work to get the word out! My personal hope is that we will have at least 15 kids tomorrow. With the number we met over the past two days, I think it is more than possible.

Please pray that we will listen to God's leading tomorrow about the places to go and the people to speak to. And please pray that the Mission Team will not be discouraged, but will feel that their work is bearing fruit. I truly believe God has given us this opportunity; pray that God will give us the faith to see it through.
--Tim

The girls who came really enjoyed learning the line dance from the Mission Team. 

There was no rain today, so we were able to roast marshmallows over an open fire, which was a treat for everyone! 

We just finished our first day of the Backyard Bible Blast we are doing with the Mission Team. It was great fun!

We began by walking around our neighborhood giving fliers to people telling them about the program (and also our corps schedule beginning September). After a quick lunch, we went to the Eeden shopping center, where the Mission Team performed some dramas and dances, and we had the chance to give out more fliers and talk to people. There was a short rest time at home and then they were out in the town center giving out more fliers. They came back in time to catch their breath before children showed up at our door for the program! We were so excited!!!

We had a cookout in the backyard to start out, and while the food was cooking, the Mission Team (and some Estonian friends of ours from Tartu) played games with the children. Once we ate, we did some more games with the kids, then Evelyn did a Bible lesson for the kids. The Mission Team finished up by doing a drama and dance. We were supposed to finish by roasting marshmallows, but that was when the clouds opened up with a sudden downpour. So we all dashed into the house and the Mission Team taught the kids the dance they had just done outside. They had a blast with that, and by the time they were done, we looked outside and saw that there was a rainbow, so they all ran outside again to admire it. It was a great way to end the day.

We had five children and one adult come for this first day. It was small, but we were able to work out how the program will go in the days to come. And the children all said that they will bring friends tomorrow, so we expect it to grow each day.

We are so grateful for all of you who have been praying for this! We are seeing God work before our eyes. I have included some pictures from this first day.
--Tim

Chris and Veronika perform a drama at the Eeden shopping center (while Elizabeth looks on), where we gave out fliers telling about the Backyard Bible Blast. 

The children and Mission Team members play together with a ball in the backyard at the beginning or the Backyard Bible Blast. 

Evelyn leads the children in a Bible lesson and singing. The kids lisened pretty well, although several were drawn to play in the sandbox.

Evelyn and several of the children admire the rainbow from our backyard after the rainstorm.