pühapäev, august 28, 2005
First Sunday Meeting
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
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
