teisipäev, september 06, 2005
What a day!
Monday was quite a day for us. We thought we would be able to work here at our home/office on our ever-growing to do list until it was time for our meeting with the city at 17:00. Then I received an email from the University of Tartu saying that they had space for us in an Estonian language class, and that the class started in a few hours! So after lunch and making sure that Chris was all set to baby sit (he does great with Peter!), Evelyn and I headed out to class. It is a beginners class, so much of what we discussed were things we knew after a year in Estonia, but it was clear that as the class progresses over the next three months, it will help us immensely.
It made us feel old being in with these college-aged students, and it was funny to hear when some asked questions like, "Can I take the class and not take the exams?" or "The schedule for this class isn't good for me. Can you change the times?" We will addend the class for three days a week, two hours a day until mid-December. Evelyn (the overacheiver) and Chris will also be taking a different Estonian language class that begins next week.
After a quick break at home, we headed off to our meeting with the head of city properties for Tartu. This was an opportunity for us to see if there is any space available where we can run a homeless day center (which is badly needed). We were accompanied by the person from the city who is in charge of homeless services and who really wants this to happen, so he was able to explain some things from the city's perspective in a way that we couldn't. We really had no idea if there would be anything available because Tartu is a growing city with a hot real estate market.
We were surprised when, after discussing our needs with the director, he showed us the plans for a building that the city is in the process of acquiring. It is 372 square meters (which is larger than the Narva Corps space), has room for the homeless program and many other programs, is located not too far from the city's homeless shelter, and is supposed to be in relatively good shape. Best of all, if the building is finally approved for use by us, the city would probably make it available to us at no rental cost (only utilities)! We were overwhelmed!!
We will go there in Thursday to look at the property and get a better sense if it really is right for this. After that, there will still be a whole approval process from the city, and at the same time we will have to develop the program idea, budget, staffing and--most importantly--funding. So things are far from settled on this and there are more questions than answers at this point.
Please keep this in prayer. It appears that God may be answering our prayers beyond what we could ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20-21), but we want to be listening to be sure it is His will and what will best serve His purposes as well as the people of Tartu. This is our greatest challenge yet; we want to respond well.
--Tim
It made us feel old being in with these college-aged students, and it was funny to hear when some asked questions like, "Can I take the class and not take the exams?" or "The schedule for this class isn't good for me. Can you change the times?" We will addend the class for three days a week, two hours a day until mid-December. Evelyn (the overacheiver) and Chris will also be taking a different Estonian language class that begins next week.
After a quick break at home, we headed off to our meeting with the head of city properties for Tartu. This was an opportunity for us to see if there is any space available where we can run a homeless day center (which is badly needed). We were accompanied by the person from the city who is in charge of homeless services and who really wants this to happen, so he was able to explain some things from the city's perspective in a way that we couldn't. We really had no idea if there would be anything available because Tartu is a growing city with a hot real estate market.
We were surprised when, after discussing our needs with the director, he showed us the plans for a building that the city is in the process of acquiring. It is 372 square meters (which is larger than the Narva Corps space), has room for the homeless program and many other programs, is located not too far from the city's homeless shelter, and is supposed to be in relatively good shape. Best of all, if the building is finally approved for use by us, the city would probably make it available to us at no rental cost (only utilities)! We were overwhelmed!!
We will go there in Thursday to look at the property and get a better sense if it really is right for this. After that, there will still be a whole approval process from the city, and at the same time we will have to develop the program idea, budget, staffing and--most importantly--funding. So things are far from settled on this and there are more questions than answers at this point.
Please keep this in prayer. It appears that God may be answering our prayers beyond what we could ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20-21), but we want to be listening to be sure it is His will and what will best serve His purposes as well as the people of Tartu. This is our greatest challenge yet; we want to respond well.
--Tim
