laupäev, oktoober 22, 2005
What's up with us?
Sorry we haven't been blogging very faithfully lately. If you really get desperate to hear from us, you can always send us an e-mail and remind us to blog!
Anyway, here's a quick update on various stuff, in no particular order.
Please pray for Tim today (Sat. 22 Oct.). He is in Tallinn with six kids (Chris, Elizabeth, Karl-Gustav, Andrei, Liis, Maret). His main responsibility is to drive a Salvation Army group from Staines, England, around Tallinn. But we thought that since he was going, these kids might as well enjoy the chance to meet some Salvationists from other parts of Estonia and Europe!
We finally got the contract on the building from the city on Friday (yesterday). So Tim has brought it to Tallinn with him, and now it needs to be looked at by folks at RHQ in Tallinn and THQ in Helsinki. Please pray that this process goes smoothly and quickly!
Next weekend is the big 10-year-anniversary celebration of the Army's return to Estonia (having been forced to leave in 1940). Our TC from USA East is coming, and it is a pretty big deal. We've all been working quite hard on various aspects of it, and I have to say I will be glad when it is over! But I do think that it will be a great weekend; please be in prayer that God is glorified!
Today is the wedding of my cousin Jenn Groff. So please pray for her and her parents and her new husband, Dave. I'm sorry to have to miss such an important family event, especially a happy one after we have had so many funerals the past few years.
Our noortekoosolek (youth meeting, teen night) has been going really well. We've been exploring the question of what is a Christian, and will be using ArmyBarmy's SA100 to help us find some good answers! These kids are all recruits, all 14 (well, except Chris, who is 15 and already a soldier!) and all quite eager to learn what this it's really all about. It's a hugely scary thing for us, because for many of them we are the only model of Christianity that they see on a regular basis, and for all of them we are the only model of Salvationism that they see. There is very much the feeling that we have got to get this right the first time! They all know that we plan to enroll senior soldiers at Easter, and they all hope to be among that number! (We are also hoping to have a junior soldier enrollment at Christmas.)
Our friends from the homeless shelter continue to challenge us and break our hearts. This Sunday we will be focusing Luke 18:10-14 because of a question that Mari raised about James 5:16. Many of the people we see on Sunday nights at the shelter are alcoholics, and some also have mental health issues. I am madly in love with all of them -- OUR PEOPLE!
It's getting cold here now, and everyone is talking about how soon it will snow, and the shortening of days. We've got to get this homeless day center up and running soon! Please pray!
Kristi has decided not to come and work for us here in Tartu. So now we are working on a job description and speaking to our friends about someone to work for us as translator/assistant. God knows our needs, and we trust Him to provide. But after 15 and a half months working on our own here, we are really feeling the need quite strongly for some help!
Estonian language class continues to be a big source of both frustration and joy. We had a test on Thursday in the class that I take with Chris, but she didn't give us back our results yet. A lot of it was writing words in partitive case, and I was guessing quite a bit on some of them! On the other hand, we had to read a few paragraphs in class yesterday and then answer questions, and I really did understand everything! This felt really good, because we are always reading just one sentence at a time, or very short dialogues. So to read this little story felt so great!
I continue to miss my mother more than I ever thought possible. There is really a lot of grief to work through during that first year after a death!
Vika has been living with us since the end of August, and will be here until 4 Nov. She is attending the University of Tartu, and we know her because she has worked as a translator at the Narva Corps, and translated for us quite often there! She has been a huge help to us with both Estonian and Russian translation here (especially things for the 10-year-anniversary program booklet!) and we are so grateful to God that He brought her to us right when we needed her. But she is going to move into a student dorm with one of her friends, and this will give her the full university experience!
Tim's mother is home from the hospital and seems to be doing quite well. He called her Thursday night. She still hadn't heard the results of her tests (she has colon cancer), and this has been a huge source of anxiety for all of us for two weeks now. Please pray all the usual prayers! It is too close to what was happening with my mother one year ago, so it is hard for me to write about!
Well, this wasn't as quick as I thought it would be, but you certainly got your money's worth this time!
Tell other people about our blog! And write a comment! Please!
And check out the Blog Links and other Links on the left. They're all good stuff.
Evelyn
Anyway, here's a quick update on various stuff, in no particular order.
Please pray for Tim today (Sat. 22 Oct.). He is in Tallinn with six kids (Chris, Elizabeth, Karl-Gustav, Andrei, Liis, Maret). His main responsibility is to drive a Salvation Army group from Staines, England, around Tallinn. But we thought that since he was going, these kids might as well enjoy the chance to meet some Salvationists from other parts of Estonia and Europe!
We finally got the contract on the building from the city on Friday (yesterday). So Tim has brought it to Tallinn with him, and now it needs to be looked at by folks at RHQ in Tallinn and THQ in Helsinki. Please pray that this process goes smoothly and quickly!
Next weekend is the big 10-year-anniversary celebration of the Army's return to Estonia (having been forced to leave in 1940). Our TC from USA East is coming, and it is a pretty big deal. We've all been working quite hard on various aspects of it, and I have to say I will be glad when it is over! But I do think that it will be a great weekend; please be in prayer that God is glorified!
Today is the wedding of my cousin Jenn Groff. So please pray for her and her parents and her new husband, Dave. I'm sorry to have to miss such an important family event, especially a happy one after we have had so many funerals the past few years.
Our noortekoosolek (youth meeting, teen night) has been going really well. We've been exploring the question of what is a Christian, and will be using ArmyBarmy's SA100 to help us find some good answers! These kids are all recruits, all 14 (well, except Chris, who is 15 and already a soldier!) and all quite eager to learn what this it's really all about. It's a hugely scary thing for us, because for many of them we are the only model of Christianity that they see on a regular basis, and for all of them we are the only model of Salvationism that they see. There is very much the feeling that we have got to get this right the first time! They all know that we plan to enroll senior soldiers at Easter, and they all hope to be among that number! (We are also hoping to have a junior soldier enrollment at Christmas.)
Our friends from the homeless shelter continue to challenge us and break our hearts. This Sunday we will be focusing Luke 18:10-14 because of a question that Mari raised about James 5:16. Many of the people we see on Sunday nights at the shelter are alcoholics, and some also have mental health issues. I am madly in love with all of them -- OUR PEOPLE!
It's getting cold here now, and everyone is talking about how soon it will snow, and the shortening of days. We've got to get this homeless day center up and running soon! Please pray!
Kristi has decided not to come and work for us here in Tartu. So now we are working on a job description and speaking to our friends about someone to work for us as translator/assistant. God knows our needs, and we trust Him to provide. But after 15 and a half months working on our own here, we are really feeling the need quite strongly for some help!
Estonian language class continues to be a big source of both frustration and joy. We had a test on Thursday in the class that I take with Chris, but she didn't give us back our results yet. A lot of it was writing words in partitive case, and I was guessing quite a bit on some of them! On the other hand, we had to read a few paragraphs in class yesterday and then answer questions, and I really did understand everything! This felt really good, because we are always reading just one sentence at a time, or very short dialogues. So to read this little story felt so great!
I continue to miss my mother more than I ever thought possible. There is really a lot of grief to work through during that first year after a death!
Vika has been living with us since the end of August, and will be here until 4 Nov. She is attending the University of Tartu, and we know her because she has worked as a translator at the Narva Corps, and translated for us quite often there! She has been a huge help to us with both Estonian and Russian translation here (especially things for the 10-year-anniversary program booklet!) and we are so grateful to God that He brought her to us right when we needed her. But she is going to move into a student dorm with one of her friends, and this will give her the full university experience!
Tim's mother is home from the hospital and seems to be doing quite well. He called her Thursday night. She still hadn't heard the results of her tests (she has colon cancer), and this has been a huge source of anxiety for all of us for two weeks now. Please pray all the usual prayers! It is too close to what was happening with my mother one year ago, so it is hard for me to write about!
Well, this wasn't as quick as I thought it would be, but you certainly got your money's worth this time!
Tell other people about our blog! And write a comment! Please!
And check out the Blog Links and other Links on the left. They're all good stuff.
Evelyn
