March Forth! Marssige Edasi!

today is Chris's birthday!

2007-01-09T12:21:00.000+02:00

http://chrischronicles.blogspot.com/2007/01/im-17-agh.html

happiness is not in money!

2007-01-08T13:09:00.000+02:00

You are the Sunshine of my life!

2006-12-08T07:57:00.000+02:00

http://images.mspdc.com/users/nne/NNE01_06Holiday.html#H3

Thirty Years of Sunshine and Bells
We’re overjoyed when volunteers come back to serve each season. One special volunteer is Floyd “Sunshine” Libby. He has manned a Salvation Army kettle for some 30 years! His friendly disposition got him the ‘sunny’ nickname. He’s such a joy to be around!
Floyd first met The Salvation Army in 1936, when he became a member of the church. “I enjoy meeting and chatting with the folks,” he says. “It’s a good feeling to raise funds for a charity that helps so many people in need.”

There were always four people sitting on the platform when I was growing up: the two corps officers, Col. Bamford (CSM), and Sunshine (CT)! When I was a kid, I didn't understand why he had such a nickname, because he always looked stern and scary to me! My mother used to say that he was old even when SHE was a kid! But of course, he actually has this huge smile that really lights up a room.

When I lived in Portland as an adult, I had wonderful times doing League of Mercy with Sunshine and my son Chris, who was then between 4 and 7 -- the perfect age to bring such joy to everyone we visited! Sunshine used to always gives his testimony (actually, I'm sure he still does!) that he got more of a blessing out of visiting the people than he gave them. He was the Corps Treasurer for many years, and used to start his prayers off the same way: "We thank you for the opportunity of giving of our tithes and offerings. We pray that you will bless it...." What a lesson that was to me -- the OPPORTUNITY of giving!

Although technically I was raised by a single mother, Sunshine certainly goes on the list of people who brought me up! Hm, maybe I'll work on actually compiling such a list!

Today I'd ask you to pray for Dana, his stepson. God knows his situation a lot better than I do at the moment: cancer, daughter, etc.

Evelyn

for Kristel

2006-09-08T11:43:00.000+03:00

from Psalm 91

14"Et ta minusse on kiindunud,
siis ma päästan tema;
ma ülendan tema,
sest ta tunneb minu nime.
15Ta hüüab mind appija ma vastan temale;
mina olen ta juures,
kui ta on kitsikuses,
ma vabastan temaning teen ta auliseks.
16Pika eaga ma täidan temaja annan temale näha oma päästet."

PS 91:14 "Because [s]he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue h[er];
I will protect h[er], for [s]he acknowledges my name.
PS 91:15 [S]he will call upon me, and I will answer h[er];
I will be with h[er] in trouble,
I will deliver h[er] and honor h[er].
PS 91:16 With long life will I satisfy h[er]
and show h[er] my salvation."

In Estonian, we have none of these gender-inclusive (or lack thereof!) problems. "Ta" and "tema" mean both "he" AND "she" (and also "him" and "her").

Almighty God, You know that Kristel loves You! Please rescue her, protect her, be with her, deliver her! Amen.

Evelyn

we have moved! (literally!)

2006-07-01T09:23:00.000+03:00

We are now blogging over at http://kopli8.blogspot.com/

Please bookmark it! :-)

We'll blog here from time to time when we have news of Tartu and Captain Pirjo Mikkonen's work here. But we'll also tell you at Kopli8 if we do.

Evelyn

Rivertribe!

2006-06-28T14:46:00.000+03:00

Hea meel on tõdeda, et Austraalia ansambel Rivertribe on taas meie kandis.
Sellel korral koguni rohekm kui 10 kontserti kõigis kolmes Baltiriigis.
Seda puhku kolme asemel kahekesi ja kutsuvad nad ennast ka vahest Tribe2.
Elektroonilist etnomuusikat viljelev bänd väljastas hiljuti uue plaadi,
millel ka peaaegu eestikeelne lugu peal, kuid siiski setokeelne.
Koostöös Värska naiskooriga Kuldatsäuka valmis lugu nimega Setomaa.
Eelmisel aastal Jazzkaare raames esinenud muusikud astuvad ühena
peaesinejatest lavale Juu Jääb festivalil Muhu ja Ruhnu saarel sellel
neljpäeval ja reedel. Vaata lisaks
www.tribe2music.com
www.perroon.com
www.nordicsounds.ee
www.piletilevi.ee
Vaata kogu tuurikava ja proovi leida parim võimalus kogeda midagi
erilist...just nagu ise reisiks mööda maailma kultuurist kultuuri:
Thu 29.06.06 Muhu Juu Jääb festival 22:00
Fri 30.06.06 Ruhnu Juu Jääb festival 20:00
Sat 1.07.06 Paldiski Seikluslaager 22:00
Sun 2.07.06 Riga Mathews kirik 14:00
Wed 5.07.06 Riga Club Casablanca 23:00
Thu 6.07.06 Liepaja Club Fontaine Palace 22:00
Fri 7.07.06 Palanga Club Vandenis 22:00
Sat 8.07.06 Pilistvere Järgmine Peatus 22:00
Sun 9.07.06 Tallinn EKNK 11:00
head muusikat soovitades,
Timm Rannu
MTÜ Sonico
timm@sonico.ee
tuuri korraldab RBA
Heili Tõnissaar
Vabadus: Noorte Liikumine
66 050 66
heili@vabadus.org

prayer requests

2006-06-28T13:32:00.000+03:00

Well, it's our final day here in Tartu, the "sunset" as Col. Knaggs says on his blog.

Tim has been feeling sick the past couple of days, but still trying to push himself to finish up on things here. He might have the same stomach virus that Peter had on the weekend. So please pray for health and strength for Tim (and the rest of us!).

We've got a lot of loose ends we're finishing up with here. Please pray that things would go smoothly -- no more 5-minute projects taking an hour, for example!

We're so grateful to our friends the Harrisons, Kontsons, Piips, Viinalasses, Vogels, etc. for their help the past few days and weeks. And also our corps kids like Liis, Karl-Gustav, and Maret. Please pray that God would be especially close to us all as we part.

Thank you!

Evelyn

from the 614 Vancouver prayer newsletter

2006-06-27T17:07:00.000+03:00

Battle School starts next week here -- please pray for life-transformative experiences for each student.

Going Up English Camp

2006-06-21T13:24:00.000+03:00

Just passing along this info....

Hey Everyone,I hope everyone is enjoying your summer vacation. I want to give you areminder about this summer's English Camp. It's going to be 17-21 July! The cost is only 550 eek and that includes food, the camp and housing. We willbe having the camp in Sihva at a school and it's going to be an incredible week. We have 24 Americans coming from Atlanta and Texas for the camp and they are students themselves just finishing high school, so this is going to be very cool! If you want to come, go to www.goingup.ee and follow the link to Summer English Camp "Think Again". Register and pay today because the camp is already half full. We have people registered from all over Estonia and even other places in Europe! English Camp is an international event!You're not going to want to miss this week, 5 days, 24 Americans, and the party of the year!
www.goingup.ee
Craig Hamer
Programming and High School Director
Going UP, Tartu, Estonia

Chris's summer

2006-06-21T13:00:00.000+03:00

We've found it difficult at times to give a short answer when asked exactly what it is that Chris will be doing this summer. It is NOT summer camp! We usually mumble something about "discipleship training" and since most people don't know what that means any more than we do, the conversation ends there. ;-)

But now we have been sent the schedule for the summer, and here are a few of the items listed:
War Room (24-hour non-stop prayer room)
How to Find God
Classes with Captain Stephen Court and Captain Danielle Strickland andothers
Food Line
Air Force
Knee Drill
Divisonal Commander's Installation
Ground Force
Park (I think this will involve doing Vacation Bible School)
Re:cre8 (cafe)

I'm just as crazy jealous as I could be, but so glad that he will have this awesome experience!

Evelyn

P.S.
He leaves the day after tomorrow and we are still packing for our move to Tallinn. Please pray!

from my Uncle Billy (bold highlights are mine)

2006-06-20T09:18:00.000+03:00

Greetings!

Some of you would not know that my job brought me to Bolivia for a week. There is a Mission Team from the USA Eastern Territroy in Bolivia for eight weeks, and I have come down for a week to see how they are doing.

I have been so busy and enjoying Bolivia so much that I haven't got around to finding an internet cafe to check my email. I have been here 4 days already.

I can't do justice to this experince in this short time, but I will share a few highlights.

First, the six young adults on the Mission Team are amazing. Solimar Lugo is providing excelent leadership to the team. They are talented and bright, but, more importantly, they are highly committed Christians who love the Lord. Watching them give of themselves day after day, while sharing the love of God though music, testimony and personal concern is a challenge to my own faith and life. The presentations they have made while I have been here were nothing short of terrific. They have worked long days, without a whisper of complaint. I have visited 2 corps in Santa Cruz and will visit the third one on Wednesday. I preached at one of the Santa Cruz corps on Sunday night.

Second, I have fallen in love with the Bolivian people. They have such a kind, simple approach to life that it makes you long for a simpler life yourself. The officers and soldiers here work very hard, despite very few material resources. I am spending most of my days in Santa Cruz, but will spend today and tomorrow in Cochabamba, Bolivia touring various Salvation Army facilities.

The Army sites I saw today were a marked contrast. A corps in the outlying hills is surrounded by dirt and rocks, as are hundreds of small houses on the same hills. The single man corps officer lives at the corps site. There is no electricity to that area yet, nor any water. A truck goes by each day, and the residents buy "tanks" (small plastic barrels) of non-drinkable water. Need I say more?

In the downtown, the Army runs an immaculate Day Care Center that would make any corps in the United States proud. The commitment of the officers and other staff is remarkable. A Boys' Home in the outlying area was again a lesson in humility. The two single women officers who run the home are so pleasant, and they live right in the walled-in home in a separate quarters. Indeed, almost all houses, corps, churches and businesses in this part of Bolivia have eight- or ten-foot walls around them. The property, despite the need for addtional repair funding, was brilliantly clean. The boys' faces were bright and cheerful, and they were more than pleased to have their pictures taken, each group in their own dorms, and see their pictures in the playback on the digital camera.

This is winter in Santa Cruz, but the weather is what those of us in the Northeastern USA would call perfect weather -- maybe 65 in the evening and 75 or eighty during the day. You haven't lived until you have taken a casual evening stroll through the large Plaza (trees, benches, fountains) in the center of Santa Cruz.

Within a few days, pictures of the Mission Team and of many of the things I have described about Bolivia will be on the Mission Teams Web Site. Naturally, I should mention that there is also a great team of seven members, under the leadership of Miriam and Herb Rader, in India.

To get to the Mission Teams Web Site, try something like this:

Go to the web site of The Salvation Army USA Eastern Territory

Click on the link for Mission & Culture (our Department)

Click on the link for Mission Teams

The Army is in good hands...

Blessings!

Bill Groff, Major

Mission & Culture Secretary

One more week! Please pray!

2006-06-16T09:35:00.000+03:00

One week from today, Chris will take car, boat, bus, and plane to get to America!

Please pray for him especially this week! (And for us, as we finalize his preparations while also packing to move to Tallinn!)

Fri. 16 June -- Brunch with Pastor Leho Paldre's family
Lead the Fighting
2CO 10:3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Sat. 17 June -- Col. Laukkanen & Capt. Mikkonen leave Tartu
Fast and Pray
AC 13:2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said….

Sun. 18 June -- American Fathers' Day & Farewell Cookout
Read the Bible
2TI 3:14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Mon. 19 June -- Is there such a thing as a "day off"?
Witness
AC 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses….

Tues. 20 June -- Maret's graduation from 9th class
Evangelize
2TI 4:1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

Wed. 21 June -- Summer officially begins!
Engage Demons
MT 10:7 As you go, preach this message: `The kingdom of heaven is near.' 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

Thurs. 22 June -- Estonian Salvationists leave for Roots Congress in Finland
Listen to God
JN 6:45 It is written in the Prophets: `They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life.

"Jesus" goes high-tech

2006-06-13T15:33:00.000+03:00

http://www.jesusfilm.org/languages/podcasting.html

what I talked about today at Kolgata Baptist Church

2006-06-11T21:16:00.000+03:00

ISA 58:6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
ISA 58:7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
ISA 58:8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
ISA 58:9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
ISA 58:10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
ISA 58:11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
ISA 58:12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
(Isaiah 58:6-12)

As Salvation Army officers, we promise to:
proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
love and serve Him supremely all my days
live to win souls and make their salvation the first purpose of my life
care for the poor
feed the hungry (v. 7)
clothe the naked (v. 7)
love the unlovable
befriend those who have no friends
meet human needs in His name without discrimination

But aren't those promises that every Christian should make?

Evelyn

"take on the global giants of spiritual darkness, lack of servant leaders, poverty, disease, and ignorance"

2006-06-09T12:29:00.000+03:00

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/US/06/05/warren.aids/index.html

Commentary: Christians must do more to combat AIDS, comfort victims
What would Jesus do when confronted by AIDS?
By Kay WarrenSpecial to CNN
Editor's note: Kay Warren, wife of Rick Warren, founding pastor of Saddleback Church and author of "The Purpose Driven Life," is executive director of Saddleback's HIV/AIDS initiative. An accomplished writer, Mrs. Warren has traveled globally to speak and learn about the AIDS pandemic.
LAKE FOREST, California (CNN) -- Joana crawled toward me on her skeletal elbows and knees, each movement a painful reminder of the fact that she was dying.
When I met her, this emaciated woman was homeless, living under a tree. She had unrelenting diarrhea, little food, no earthly possessions, and only an elderly auntie who had taken pity on her to care for her needs.
Still, she roused herself to offer me, an American visitor to her part of Mozambique, a traditional greeting.
The African pastors who brought me to visit her told me that she had been evicted from her village when it became known that she had AIDS. Now, in this second village, her tiny stick house had mysteriously burned after her status became known. A short time later, Joana died -- rejected, abandoned, persecuted and destitute.
We may think this doesn't happen in the United States. "People who are HIV-positive are treated better than that here," we say. But I'm not so sure.
I live in affluent Orange County, California, yet a disabled man in my area who was HIV positive was not allowed to enter his brother's home.
He and his wife could live in the backyard, but he couldn't come inside. To bathe him, his wife had to attach a nozzle to a hose and shoot him with a hard spray of water that would hopefully dislodge dirt and grime. The family dog was treated better than this man; at least it could go in the house.
Like Joana in Mozambique, this man may also die rejected, abandoned, persecuted and destitute.
As a follower of Christ, I am seriously disturbed by both stories.
Horrific and startling images confront each of us daily through newspapers, televisions, and eyewitness accounts of those suffering from AIDS. You can do what I did for years -- choose to ignore it all because it was too painful -- or you can become disturbed -- seriously, dangerously disturbed -- so disturbed that you are compelled to do something.
Christians are just as guilty as non-Christians of wanting to look the other way when it comes to the problems confronting our world, the topics that make us uncomfortable. But we need to be seriously disturbed about homelessness, child prostitution, rape, poverty, injustice, and HIV/AIDS.
Twenty-five years into the AIDS pandemic, being HIV-positive still carries stigma and shame. But God cares for the sick and so must we.
It's not a sin to be sick. The Bible tells us Jesus was repeatedly "filled with compassion" as he encountered broken bodies and broken minds. While polite society vigorously avoided contact with those they considered diseased outcasts, Jesus responded in a radical way: He cared, he touched, he healed.
I had no medication that could cure Joana, nothing to alleviate her pain, nothing that would restore her to health. But I offered the one thing that all of us can offer: I offered my presence. I put my arms gently around her, prayed for relief from her suffering and whispered, "I love you."
This is a start, but much more is needed. Today, I challenge the worldwide church to take on the global giants of spiritual darkness, lack of servant leaders, poverty, disease, and ignorance. It's past time for those who claim to be Christ's followers to join the struggle against the devastation that the HIV virus brings.
How many more like Joana have to die before you become seriously disturbed?

from www.armybarmy.com/blog

2006-06-07T08:55:00.000+03:00

Greetings in Jesus' name, friends.
If I might tear away everything for a moment, all of our roles and responsibilities and positions and reputations and connections and expectations and mistakes and regrets and pressures and problems and hopes and dreams and longings and fatigue and uncertainty and so on...
Isn't Jesus Christ amazing?
None of the other stuff hassles or hinders in light of the wonderful love manifest on a Cross and victory displayed in an empty tomb.
Hallelujah!
He is risen!
I'll drink to that! (non-alcoholic)
Yahoo (Pronounced YA - hoo)

2006-06-06T20:38:00.000+03:00

On Saturday, we said good bye to one of the young teens who has been coming to our programs regularly. Lauri had been living at the city's turvakodu (safe house) for children, which is like a transitional orphanage. But he is leaving Tartu to live with his mother again, so although we are sad that he is leaving, we share in his excitement of being reunited with his mom.

2006-06-06T20:34:00.001+03:00

We didn't think we would see Lauri before he left, but we went to a children's fair at a local shopping center on Saturday (his last day in town) and there he was! So we were able spend some time with him befofre he left. Here are Lauri with Elizabeth on a little train they have a the shopping center to ride between the mall and some of the outer shops.

2006-06-06T20:34:00.000+03:00

Snow in June?!? No, the shopping center has an indoor ice rink and they put the scrapings from the Zamboni in the parking log. Elizabeth and Lauri had a good snowball fight.

2006-06-06T20:32:00.001+03:00

Lauri gets Elizabeth on the head with snow!

2006-06-06T20:32:00.000+03:00

Later in the day we returned to our house for yet another birthday celebration. This time our friend Ats turned 16, and we had a cookout in our yard to mark the special day.

2006-06-06T20:30:00.001+03:00

Ats tries to help Evelyn light the candles on his cake on the breezy day.

2006-06-06T20:30:00.000+03:00

Our backyard was full of friends for Ats's birthday: Evelyn, Andrei, Ats, Liis, Chris, Elizabeth and Maret.

"you might not have any place that you could call home"

2006-06-06T12:26:00.000+03:00

Where Is Home?
by Clarence Jordan

When Jesus said, “The son of man has nowhere to hang his hat,” he was trying to show the totality of the demands of the kingdom. He was not going around looking for people that he could bait by offering a better job:
“You can follow me.”
“How much are you paying? I’m getting $100 a week.”
“Well, I’ll give you $125.”
That isn’t the way the Lord gathered apostles or disciples. He made it clear to them that it was going to be costly, just as it had cost him, and that you might not have any place that you could call home.

Source: Cotton Patch Parables of Liberation

Please pray for Ats

2006-06-03T11:10:00.000+03:00

Ats turns 16 today. His mother lives in Greece and he lives in the Turvakodu ("safe home"). He's been taking Jr. Soldier classes and is trying to discover what his new Christian faith is all about.

Please lift him up in prayer today!

Coded Gospel

2006-06-03T11:08:00.000+03:00

This whole piece has lots of good stuff, but here's a bit:
"Of course, we are all addicts in one way or another, either by reason of some substance abuse, or addiction to a certain order, way of thinking, way of relating, or to structures of religion and government itself."

Pray for the Kendalls

2006-06-02T17:36:00.000+03:00

http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/2003/003/20.0.html

They really do do this; they really do knock on your door late at night.

Please continue to pray for the Kendall family. Dustin Kendall died in Iraq a few months ago. His parents and little sister (Elizabeth's age) are here in Tartu, Estonia.

Thanks,
Evelyn

"We even help Baptists!"

2006-06-02T15:33:00.000+03:00

Remember, it's a spoof!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6453208040151871370&q=salvation+army

World Weekend of Prayer for Children at Risk

2006-06-01T10:19:00.000+03:00

World Weekend of Prayer for Children at Risk
3rd - 4th June 2006
Arise, cry out in the night as the watches of the night begin:
pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord.
Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children,
who faint from hunger at the head of every street...
Lamentations 2:19

Prayer events worldwide
June 2006 events list. More
Prayer resources
Download your 2006 prayer booklet, PowerPoint, posters and activities! More
What you can do
Want some ideas? We have suggestions for you. More
Stories and feedback from past years
Find inspiration in stories of lives and legislation changed... More
Questions? Email wwdp@viva.org.

www.viva.org/pray

Decline in child labour
The number of child labourers has fallen considerably for the first time, according to a new International Labour Organisation report. Some 218 million are classified as child labourers, down 11% from 246 million in 2002. Numbers fell the most in Latin America, but there was little decline in Africa. The biggest reduction was amongst children working in hazardous environments - the number engaged in this work fell by 26%.
Praise God for this change, and for the millions of children whose quality of life has improved so significantly in the last few years.
Pray that governments would continue to demand better and safer conditions for young workers, and that the poverty which forces children to work would be addressed by the international community.

Polio vaccination in Afghanistan
Afghanistan is one of just four countries in the world still affected by polio. Earlier in the year, Egypt was declared free of polio after successful immunisation campaigns.
Praise God that a polio eradication drive has taken place in Afghanistan this month. More than two million children have been vaccinated, which should lead to an end to the virus in the country.
Please pray for polio to be stamped out around the world. Pray that the last few nations would be able to vaccinate their children effectively to achieve this.

Malnutrition in West Africa and the Horn of Africa
Across West Africa, the countries of the Sahel - including Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger - are facing dangerously high levels of child malnutrition. Further east, the nomadic peoples of Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia are also in danger, as drought has caused up to half of their herds to die. With their families' livelihoods so damaged, 40,000 children are now so malnourished that they could well die in the coming months.
Please pray for enough rain to replenish water supplies, bringing good harvests and revived herds.
Pray for those supporting these vulnerable communities - for sufficient resources to meet their needs, and for long-term solutions preventing food crises in the future.

Child soldiers freed in Sudan
Since 2001, an estimated 20,000 children from the former southern rebel forces, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), have been disarmed, demobilised and returned to their families and communities. However, there are an estimated 2,000 children still associated with the SPLA, mainly in non-combat roles and in hard-to-reach areas.
· Praise God that currently, many child soldiers are being released in southern Sudan, as part of a process to disarm children involved with armed forces or groups. 250 children in Upper Nile State were freed at the end of April, and the government plans to demobilise all child soldiers this year.
· Please pray for children who have fought in Sudan to receive the care and support they need to reintegrate into society. Pray for God to restore them and show them his unconditional love.

Thank you for your prayers,
Cathryn Baker Prayer Mobiliser, Viva Network
PO Box 633, Oxford, OX2 0XZ, UK Telephone: +44 (0)1865 320100 Fax: +44 (0)1865 320101 Email: pray@viva.org Website: www.viva.org
Viva Network is a Company Limited by guarantee no.3162776, and Registered Charity no.1053389 registered at 51 Westway, Oxford, OX2 0JE, UK

2006-05-30T16:48:00.000+03:00

We were asked to judge a "Hollywood Night" held by the young people of the Kopli Corps. They dressed up as different performers, like James Brown and Michael Jackson, and really put on a fun show. This picture shows them all together during the final number.

2006-05-30T16:46:00.000+03:00

Last week was Andrei's 15th birthday. We all had cake and ice cream with him to mark his special day. In the picture are Andrei, Lauri, Evelyn and Elizabeth.

2006-05-30T16:38:00.000+03:00

Here is Andrei with his birthday cake, lovingly made by Evelyn and Lauri.

I cannot leave ... but praying for those who do!

2006-05-29T17:45:00.000+03:00

SASB #780

1.They bid me choose an easier path,
And seek a lighter cross;
They bid me mingle with Heaven's gold
A little of earth's dross;
They bid me, but in vain, once more
The world's illusions try;
I cannot leave the dear old flag,
'Twere better far to die.

2.They say the fighting is too hard,
My strength of small avail,
When foes beset and friends are fled,
My faith must surely fail.
But, O how can I quit my post
While millions sin-bound lie?
I cannot leave the dear old flag,
'Twere better far to die.

3.They say I can a Christian be,
And serve God quite as well,
And reach Heaven just as surely by
The music of church bell;
But, O the drum and clarion call
Of band make my pulse fly!
I cannot leave the dear old flag,
'Twere better far to die.

4.I answer, life is fleeting fast,
I cannot, cannot wait;
For me my comrades beckoning stand
Beyond the pearly gate;
I hear their hallelujahs grand,
I hear their battle cry:
O do not leave the dear old flag,
'Twere better far to die!

Frederick Booth-Tucker (1853-1929)

Memorial Day

2006-05-29T13:28:00.000+03:00

"The memory of the righteous will be a blessing...." (Proverbs 10:7)

Mama
Bill & Edna Roach
John Currie & Arnold Bergdahl
Uncle Reggie & Aunt Joann
Jonathan Groff
Grammy Reny & Grampa Groff
Grampa Reny
Aunt Esther
John William Clark & Grandmother
Grampa & Grandma Smith
Grandpa & Grandma Treadwell

Please put lilacs on their graves for me.

Evelyn

Sisters of Charity

2006-05-28T20:16:00.000+03:00

Halastuse Misjonäride Ordu
Ristiku tn. 44
Tallinn 10320
tel: 673 36 96

http://www.geocities.com/zicaron6/estonia_ch.doc

the distressing disguise

2006-05-28T20:07:00.000+03:00

excerpted from http://www.balticsworldwide.com/missionaries.htm

The men are mostly alcoholics, the poorest of the poor. Every winter men outside this home freeze to death. Others die of gangrene or infections, sleeping under bridges or in makeshift tents in forests. Many live covered in lice which they contract from pulling out of dumpsters everything that might keep them warm. Most of them reek of alcohol. Some smell of urine or feces. It would almost take a saint to deal with them.

...

“We pray to get strength,” Sister Sanjihba says. Despite the faith and optimism of the sisters, they are still human beings living in the real world. “You need the day in to get strength,” says Sister Sanjibha. “It is not always easy to be patient and kind to the poor.”

...

birth certificates etc.

2006-05-26T09:36:00.000+03:00

It seems that much of our time lately has been taken up in pretty boring (not "blog-worthy"), but time-consuming, tasks. An example is needing to renew our visas. When we moved here two years ago, we were given a 2-year visa. Now we are hoping for a 10-year visa.

So we have had to fill out tons of forms and go to offices in Tallinn with Teele, the Regional Commander's secretary. The immigration office said that we need to have an apostille on each of our children's birth certificates; apparently the law has changed since we moved here!

So we had to send them to three different states (NJ, ME, DE) and have them sent back to us via DHL. Expensive!

But then NJ says that Chris's birth certificate was issued by the county, not the state, so they can't do it. So now we have to get family in NJ to go to the offices there personally to obtain a state-issued birth certificate, then bring it to the office that will issue the apostille.

I TOLD YOU it was boring! But anyway, please keep this whole process in prayer.

Other issues are the new corps hall here in Tartu, the new officer's quarters here in Tartu, and packing (and cleaning!) to move into our new quarters in Tallinn.

Evelyn

I had a dream I couldn't walk

2006-05-26T08:08:00.000+03:00

HAB 1:2 How long, O LORD, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, "Violence!"
but you do not save?
HAB 1:3 Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.
HAB 1:4 Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice is perverted.
HAB 1:5 "Look at the nations and watch--
and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told."

MT 4:23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

MT 9:1 Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2 Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."
MT 9:3 At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!"
MT 9:4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 Which is easier: to say, `Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, `Get up and walk'? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . . ." Then he said to the paralytic, "Get up, take your mat and go home." 7 And the man got up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.

LK 5:17 One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
LK 5:20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."
LK 5:21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
LK 5:22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, `Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, `Get up and walk'? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . . ." He said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today."

AC 8:4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.

AC 9:32 As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the saints in Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years. 34 "Aeneas," Peter said to him, "Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take care of your mat." Immediately Aeneas got up. 35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

Covenants, officers and prayers

2006-05-26T07:55:00.000+03:00

from http://old-wells.blogspot.com/

I was in the middle of a rant to God about officers who had left the work, for what in my opinion were not good enough reasons. He listened until I had finished and then said, very clearly, "And where were you? When this officer's marriage was in trouble where were you? Were you praying for them? When that officer couldn't take any more isolation and the hardness of his people, where were you? When another fell into error or sin, where were you? Were you sitting in judgment or on your knees praying?"

The episode humbled me and shocked me into action. I knew that from then on Alan and I had a commission from God to pray regularly and in particular for our session. We have managed to trace most of them and pray for them as often as we can. This is not because we are particularly noble but simply becasue the Holy Spirit just doesn't let us off the hook with this and we have found that the blessing has far outweighed the committment. So often the people we sought to support have ministered to us and helped to keep us on the right track.

I've rambled on but I suppose I'm just hoping that maybe others might take up the challenge to pray.

Andrei's birthday is today!

2006-05-25T15:10:00.000+03:00

Today is Andrei's birthday!

prayer request

2006-05-25T09:33:00.000+03:00

Please pray for Faye, mother of Major Diane Johnson from USA South serving in Moldova.

Faye fell and broke her pelvic bone at the nursing home where she lives. She also has a UTI. She's in the Baptist Hospital in Little Rock.

Thanks, my friends.

When Do We Get to Do the Stuff?

2006-05-24T19:23:00.000+03:00

http://www.brightonvineyard.com/vineyard/jwimb.shtml

Shortly after John Wimber became a Christian, he became a voracious Bible reader. The Scriptures excited him. Finally, after weeks of reading about life-transforming miracles in the Bible and attending boring church services, John asked one of the lay leaders, “When do we get to do the stuff?”
“What stuff?” asked the leader. “You know, the stuff here in the Bible,” said John. “You know, like stuff Jesus did--raising people from the dead, healing the blind and the paralyzed. You know, that stuff.”
“Well, we don’t do that anymore,” the man said.
“You don’t? Well what do you do?” asked John.
“What we did this morning,” replied the man.
In frustration, John responded: “For that I gave up drugs?”

Promises

2006-05-24T16:14:00.000+03:00

http://www.charismanow.com/
"Fire in My Bones" by Charisma magazine's editor, J. Lee Grady
"What I Learned from a Woman of Faith"

from the end of the piece:

...
What about you? It’s likely that God gave you some special promises many years ago. You may have put some of them on a shelf, or perhaps you even laughed them away—thinking to yourself, “That could never happen to me.” Or perhaps you gave God a list of excuses: “I’m too old. I’ve missed my chance. I’m not qualified. I’ve made too many mistakes.” The devil loves to play those messages over and over in your ears. You must fight back by pushing the eject button.
...
It’s not too late to claim your promise. Tune out the shame and condemnation. Quit rationalizing. Don’t laugh at the impossibilities. Stop looking at the darkness of your circumstances and instead gaze on the bright promises of His Word. He is eager to turn your barrenness into joyful shouting.

William Booth said, "The promises of God are sure, if you only believe."

NU 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

Psalm 77
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A psalm.
PS 77:1 I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me.
PS 77:2 When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted.
PS 77:3 I remembered you, O God, and I groaned; I mused, and my spirit grew faint. Selah
PS 77:4 You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak.
PS 77:5 I thought about the former days, the years of long ago;
PS 77:6 I remembered my songs in the night. My heart mused and my spirit inquired:
PS 77:7 "Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again?
PS 77:8 Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time?
PS 77:9 Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?" Selah
PS 77:10 Then I thought, "To this I will appeal: the years of the right hand of the Most High." PS 77:11 I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
PS 77:12 I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.
PS 77:13 Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God?
PS 77:14 You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.

PS 119:41 May your unfailing love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise;

PS 119:49 Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope.
PS 119:50 My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.

PS 119:76 May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant. PS 119:77 Let your compassion come to me that I may live, for your law is my delight.

PS 119:81 My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word.
PS 119:82 My eyes fail, looking for your promise; I say, "When will you comfort me?"

PS 119:116 Sustain me according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed.
PS 119:117 Uphold me, and I will be delivered; I will always have regard for your decrees.

PS 119:123 My eyes fail, looking for your salvation, looking for your righteous promise.
PS 119:124 Deal with your servant according to your love and teach me your decrees.
PS 119:125 I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes.

PS 119:153 Look upon my suffering and deliver me, for I have not forgotten your law.
PS 119:154 Defend my cause and redeem me; preserve my life according to your promise.

PS 119:169 May my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word.
PS 119:170 May my supplication come before you; deliver me according to your promise.
PS 119:171 May my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees.
PS 119:172 May my tongue sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous.
PS 119:173 May your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts.
PS 119:174 I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight.
PS 119:175 Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me.
PS 119:176 I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands.

PS 145:13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.
PS 145:14 The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.

2CO 1:20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. 21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

2CO 6:18 "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
2CO 7:1 Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

2PE 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

how to pray for Chris

2006-05-23T21:21:00.000+03:00

Chris leaves for Canada (via Finland and America) one month from today!

Here is one way that you can pray for him. In preparation for Battle School, I made up the following weekly list. (I told him it's like training to be in the Olympics!) Perhaps it will help guide you in your prayers for him. (THANK YOU for praying!!!)

Sunday
Lead the Fighting
2CO 10:3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Monday
Fast and Pray
AC 13:2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said….

Tuesday
Read the Bible
2TI 3:14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Wednesday
Witness
AC 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses….

Thursday
Evangelize
2TI 4:1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

Friday
Engage Demons
MT 10:7 As you go, preach this message: `The kingdom of heaven is near.' 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

Saturday
Listen to God
JN 6:45 It is written in the Prophets: `They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life.

Rebecca St. James

2006-05-23T19:25:00.000+03:00

Tulemas on ülilahe kontsert!!! Ära jää ilma!!!

Sellel laupäeval kell 19:00 Linnahallis:

Maailmakuulus: Rebecca St James

Hind: 100-200 EEK

Piletid saadaval: Piletilevis ja Linnahalli kassadesinternetis:http://www.piletilevi.ee/index.php?lang=est&id=24,166165&mid=3690

Kuula muusikat: http://www.rsjames.com/music.aspx

http://www.tagahoov.ee/

2006-05-23T15:15:00.000+03:00

Sunday
2:00 p.m.
Sadamateater

I guess this is a 4-week program for ages 5-12, which began last Sunday. Elizabeth went and really enjoyed it.

I'm not saying other people shouldn't see it, but ....

2006-05-23T14:59:00.000+03:00

I just know myself and it would be too scary for me. I didn't even watch the winners of EuroVision (they were dressed as monsters)!

ScreenIt says:
Blood/Gore -- Heavy
Guns/Weapons -- Extreme
Music (Scary/Tense) -- Extreme
Sex/Nudity -- Heavy
Violence -- Extreme

I haven't even seen the new "Star Wars" movie!

I did read the book (The Da Vinci Code) and it was an interesting page-turner. I think that's another reason I wouldn't like the movie; too many changes from the book.

Evelyn

well, I'm not going to see this movie

2006-05-22T19:45:00.000+03:00

http://www.screenit.com/movies/2006/the_da_vinci_code.html#sn

Finally, ScreenIt has their review for "The Da Vinci Code" up! And seeing the word "heavy" in their little boxes is enough to convince me not to go. Of course, the bazillion reviewers saying that the movie sinks also makes me not want to pay 85 krooni to go see it!

So, it's not a boycott -- or even "othercott" as at least one Christian has called for -- just a decision not to see a movie I know I won't like.

In case you've been waiting breathlessly for my reaction to the movie, this is the most you're going to get. But if you've seen it yourself, please leave a comment and let me know what you thought of it!

Evelyn

May 21 -- my mother's birthday

2006-05-21T09:27:00.000+03:00

Friends, I would appreciate your prayers today for me and my family. It would have been my mother's 66th birthday. We want to live in celebration on this Resurrection Day. But our hearts are tinged with sadness in missing her.

Thanks,
Evelyn

JN 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
JN 11:27 "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."

USA East moves

2006-05-20T21:14:00.000+03:00

You can see the list of USA East moves here.

holy laughter

2006-05-19T09:46:00.000+03:00

Having just read Counterfeit Revival by Hank Hanegraaff and then Catch the Fire by Guy Chevreau, this made me smile.

from the Lee Strobel newsletter:
"Okay, please indulge me: I’ve got to tell you the latest anecdote about my granddaughter, Abby, who’s now about four months old. Her father had to take her out of the church service the family was attending on May 7 – not because she was crying, but because she was laughing so much! (And the church wasn’t even in Toronto!)"

I'll try to keep shut about "happy baby noises" as we call them in La Leche League!

GE 17:17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed

GE 21:6 Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me."

JOB 8:21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with shouts of joy.

PS 126:2 Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."

LK 6:21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.

:-)
Evelyn

look at these pictures!

2006-05-19T09:34:00.000+03:00

http://haverford.k12.pa.us/hms/web_page/estonia.htm

I've only glanced at this web site because I just found out about it, but the pictures are great! Interesting to see everything here through new eyes.

Come, join our Army, to battle we go, Jesus will help us to conquer the foe

2006-05-17T14:58:00.000+03:00

http://futurefireblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/sanctified-anger-we-need-officers.html#links

Circus!

2006-05-16T09:54:00.000+03:00

http://www.vanemuine.ee/sadamateater/index.php?name=kava&id=390
FOX TSIRKUSE JUUBELIETENDUS!
muu
Tsirkus Fox juubelietendus 2 osas (kell 11.00 ja kell 18.00) Tartu Sadamateatris. Kogupere üritus, hea meelelahutus! Premeeri oma lemmikuid! Tsirkus Foxil täitus sel aastal 5 tegevusaasta. Selle tähistamiseks on kavas 2 osaline etendus Sadamateatris: I osa- etendus "Läbi aegade", II osa- etendus "Valguses ja varjus"! Vaheajal meened ja tegevust huvilistele.
M Ä N G U P L A A N Mai 200616.05 kl 11:0016.05 kl 18:00

http://www.tsirkusfox.ee/fox_est/index.html
OOTAME ETENDUSTELE!
5 AASTANE TARTU FOX TSIRKUS!
16. MAI 2006 JUUBELIETENDUSED SADAMATEATRIS KOOS SÕPRADEGA! OLETE OODATUD!

Pray for Commissioner Gaither!

2006-05-15T23:35:00.000+03:00

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12744400/

2006-05-15T23:17:00.000+03:00

I realized that I never posted the pictures from the cadets visit to the holdekodu (nursing home). It is situated in Erastvere, a little village far from anywhere. There were more than 50 residents at the program, and they clapped and sang along. We were all treated like royalty by the staff, and even had tea with the director (who can speak Finnish), who told us in great detail about the home and all that they do. He also showed us around the grounds, including the beautiful chapel that overlooks the nearby pond. It was truly a rewarding day.

2006-05-15T23:13:00.000+03:00

The cadets prepare to sing a song for the residents. Also shown is our friend and translator for the day Liis.

2006-05-15T23:12:00.000+03:00

Cadet Esa Nenonen speaks with one of the residents after the program. Because the nursing home is so out of the way, they have few visitors, so they were truly grateful for the time and effort shown by the cadets to come there.

2006-05-15T23:09:00.000+03:00

One of the benefits of the nursing home being way out in the country is that they have a picture-perfect view of the pond and countryside.

joke time!

2006-05-15T15:42:00.000+03:00

This was extremely funny to me, but I realize that it is not quite so hilarious if you are not familiar with these authors.

But to me it's a great joke!

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/124/33.0.html

Evelyn

"We're trying to save sinners."

2006-05-15T09:31:00.000+03:00

excerpted from http://www.armybarmy.com/blog.html

on our church envy:We're trying to save sinners. Sinners have voted with their feet that they don't like church. I think the current stat is 74% of Americans don't go. If we're trying to reach the people who don't like church, why on earth would we identify with church? If they don't like ... 'pastors' why on earth would you call yourself one (especially since you aren't one)? What you consider a difficulty is an excellent opportunity to define ourselves accurately- heroically and romantically - and in so doing attract some of the 74% in USA who don't like church and pastors. It seems like people are interested in revolutionary causes

Man, he (almost!) always says what I'm thinking, but WAY better than I could ever say it! That's what friends are for, eh? ;-) Let the churches fight for the 26% and we've got the 74% all to ourselves! :-)

Evelyn

good words for those of us under Farewell Orders

2006-05-14T16:56:00.000+03:00

1CO 3:5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.
1CO 3:10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
1CO 3:16 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
1CO 3:18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness" ; 20 and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile." 21 So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

regrets

2006-05-11T19:48:00.000+03:00

There was an argument between some kids who came to our youth program tonight, and I handled it badly. Both kids ended up storming off.

Peace, reconciliation, love, respect ... longed for but not seen tonight.

Not even in me.

Please pray for Etthel and Jaanika and everyone else. Especially me!

1TI 5:1 Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.

Evelyn

Be there or be square (sorry, this time we'll be square!)

2006-05-11T08:54:00.000+03:00

Oled väga oodatud selle hooaja viimasele Going Up-ile, mis kannab ekstreemset pealkirja VABALANGEMINE. 12.mai kell 19:00 Tartu Vanemuise kontserisaalis astub laval üles laulja Dave Lubben, kellele pakub konkurentsi Going UP-i meeskond oma läbi aegade säravaimate etteastete ning tegelastega. Sina otsustad, kes on parem!!! Kuid see pole veel kõik! Laval astub üles USA-st pärit mees, kes kannab nime Jose Zayas. Kuidas elada elu, mis oleks põnev nagu üks suur seiklus? Seda saad teada tema käest. Tule ise, võta sõber kaasa... ja sõbra sõber. Üritus on tasuta. Kohtumiseni, Going Up-i meeskond www.goingup.ee

You are very invited to the last Going Up.
12 May
7:00 p.m.
Vanemuise
:-)

Chris

2006-05-10T14:37:00.000+03:00

excerpted from Chris's blog (chrischronicles.blogspot.com):

This summer I am going beyond Tallinn...beyond Estonia...beyond Finland...beyond even America...this summer I am going to a place where no man has gone before, the wild country of...Canada!!! Vancouver to be exact. I'm going to take over Canada, using a suitcase and a backpack. Sound exciting?I bet it does but that's not really what I'm doing. I'm doing something a million trillion ga-billion times cooler, Salvation Army Battle School!! No, I won't be shooting guns. No, I won't really be taking over Canada. I will be getting hands-on training in Salvationism. Isn't that cool? Check out http://www.armybarmy.com/pdf/BattleSchool%20brief.pdf to read for yourself. This is gonna be awesome!!

On June 23rd I will fly out of Helsinki and start a trip that will take me from Helsinki, Finland, to London, England, and then straight to Boston, USA.

Then I'll spend a week in America with family (hey family, who wants me? e-mail me and let me know!!). And then July 1st I will fly out of Boston and get my butt to Chicago where I will switch planes to go to...(drumroll please)...VANCOUVER!!! And then I will spend some time with my family in Canada (whom I've never met but hey, anything to add to the adventure right?) and then on the 4th of July, I will be in Canada starting...BATTLE SCHOOL!!! Awesome, huh? So anyway now you know what I'm doing this summer.

this one's really good

2006-05-09T19:05:00.000+03:00

http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=sojomail.display&issue=060509#2

If you haven't looked at any of the other links about The Da Vinci Code, then at least check this one out. It's that good.

Evelyn

Tuli tuli! ("the fire came" in Estonian)

2006-05-08T15:26:00.000+03:00

1KI 18:22 Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the LORD's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire--he is God."
Then all the people said, "What you say is good."
1KI 18:25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire." 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it.
Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had
made.
1KI 18:27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
1KI 18:30 Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel." 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood."
1KI 18:34 "Do it again," he said, and they did it again.
"Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
1KI 18:36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."
1KI 18:38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
1KI 18:39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD--he is God! The LORD--he is God!"

two weeks till the movie!

2006-05-05T11:52:00.000+03:00

http://www.jesusdecoded.com/questionbox1.php

http://www.jesusfilm.org/davinci/davinci_guide.pdf

http://www.coasthillschurch.org/content/broadcast/index.htm

I tried doing the online quizzes at Dan Brown's site today but didn't get terribly far!

Evelyn

Please pray for Liis

2006-05-04T18:56:00.000+03:00

I would just like to ask you to bring before the Father's throne our friend Liis. She is a 14-year-old girl who speaks excellent English and recently translated for us at a nursing home when the Finnish cadets were here.

God has protected her, and we are grateful. She has learned some important lessons the hard way.

And if you would pray for her, I would be most appreciative!

Thanks!

Evelyn

A fellow Salvationist wrote this song

2006-05-04T09:28:00.000+03:00

Congratulations Phil Laeger!Phil Laeger, who wrote the winning song "America" for the National Day of Prayer Song Search, recently met Rebecca St James, this year's vocalist for the theme song. St James will also act as spokesperson for this year's National Day of Prayer, held May 4. Plans include release of the "America" theme song to Christian radio and downloads through EMI/Sparrow.
"AMERICA" listen to clip"America" is available for download beginning MARCH 28 from the following sites:iTunes / Sony / Connect / Napster / Rhapsody / Walmart.com
Composer and winner of the 2006 National Day of Prayer Song Search: Phil Laeger
Vocals by Rebecca St. James
Produced by Tedd T.

This land is built on freedom
Life and liberty for all
We've declared our independence
So we will depend on the One who made it all

(chorus)
Honor God, America
The land of the free
Honor God, America
O land of liberty
Honor God

So let justice flow like water
And let mercy fall like rain
Those who honor Him, He'll honor
Together let's raise up the One who has made us

(chorus)
Honor God, America
The land of the free
Honor God, America
O land of liberty
Honor God

(bridge)
From the mountains to the prairies
From the desert to the cities
From the heartland to the coastland
Let our hearts turn to the Lord's hand
From the mountains to the prairies
From the desert to the cities
From the heartland to the coastland
Let our hearts turn to the Lord

(chorus)
Honor God, America
The land of the free
Honor God, America
O land of liberty
Honor God

(repeat bridge)

Elizabeth is going to this concert!
Rebecca St. James
Concert details
Date: 5/27/2006
Time: 7:00 PM
Venue:
2006 Europe tour
Tallinn, Estonia, EE
Show Map

Battle School -- why Chris plans to go

2006-05-03T10:10:00.000+03:00

"We can't wait until you have a ... degree or years of employment before you are prepared to lead the fighting on your front.... You need to get trained up now."

http://www.armybarmy.com/pdf/BattleSchool%20brief.pdf

If you're praying for him, I'm sure he'd appreciate hearing from you: chrisjohnclark@juno.com

Thanks!

Evelyn

"Will you dedicate yourself to him without reserve, retreat or regrets?"

2006-05-02T19:29:00.000+03:00

The following is excerpted from:
Mission Impossible: Your Commitment to Christ (Urbana 81)
message from Urbana 81
by Billy Graham
More from Urbana 81.
About Billy Graham (as of 1981).
There are a thousand things you can do with your life, a thousand things for which you can spend it. But how many of them will enable you to say at the end of your life, "No reserve, no retreat, no regrets"?
I well remember 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland, going after the city of Gdansk, which was then called Danzig. Hitler wanted a corridor to the sea, and his action marked the beginning of World War 2.
Poland sits astride Europe and has been the battlefield in many of the great wars that have raged across Europe. And many of those wars have started because of Poland.
One year ago I was in Poland, lecturing and speaking at the University of Warsaw. They were kind enough to give me an honorary doctor's degree. I talked to the foreign minister and many other people whose names are in the news right now, including the late Cardinal Wyszynski. I went to Rome and saw the Pope. We talked about Poland and other events in the world, and I could see his concern over world peace. My own conviction was strengthened that Christians cannot be silent and allow the world to approach the point of the genocide of the human race without at least speaking and praying for peace.
That has not always been my position, but it is my position now because a new factor has dawned upon my thinking - the terrible technology that science has created that can destroy the human race. Of course, we know from the Bible that ultimately God will intervene, and the Prince of peace will come back, and the kingdoms of this world will be his. But till then, whatever hour that may be, thousand years from now or a hundred years from now or tomorrow - we ought to be about the business of witnessing to the whole world of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Jesus gave the apostles an impossible task, a mission impossible. It was geographically impossible because a great part of the world had not been discovered at that time; physically impossible because they had no airplanes or radios or television or printed pages, and they had no way to get about except by donkey or camel.
Numerically, there were too few of them: one hundred twenty at most at Pentecost. Financially, Josephus says the wealth of the church at that time was equal to about 50,000 American dollars. Legally, in most parts of the known world it was against the law to talk about Jesus Christ. Logistically, Jesus Christ had told them to go to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria all at once. They couldn't do it. By every rule of the book, it was impossible to do what they were told to do except for one thing - the power of God that came in the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
People were there on that day from every part of the world, and they heard the gospel and carried it back to the then known world. And I pray that God will do it again....
Though we are different geographically, denominationally, racially, all those who know Christ as Savior are members of one body. The apostle Paul said, "The body is one and has many members" (1 Cor 12:12 RSV). It is to this "one body" that the Lord Jesus Christ committed his work. Christian service is not limited to a certain group within the church. We all have one or more gifts that the Holy Spirit has given, and it is the privilege and duty of each member to serve him.
Proclamation and Service
Throughout the world today there is a lot of discussion within the Christian church about the mission of the church. And it is our purpose to consider missions and the mission of the church. I believe that mission can be summed up in two words: proclamation and service. These represent the essence of the Christian mission at home and abroad, and they are inseparably linked together as the key both to evangelism and to penetrating culture with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ....
If we are ever going to do the job of getting the gospel to all the world, we are going to have to break out of our false distinction between the sacred and the secular. We as citizens of Christ's kingdom are living in occupied territory - as sheep among wolves. It is terribly dangerous, but what a challenge! It is even exciting! I would not want to live in any other period of history if I had a choice. We are in this world with a mission - the mission of proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ and serving a needy world. If we try to separate proclamation from service we are doomed to failure. Jesus never separated the two and we dare not either. Jesus said, "I am among you as one who serves" (Lk 22:26-27 RSV).
A friend of mine who is writing a book on coping with culture asked a youth worker whether he thought a young person today could be a committed Christian and still be an accepted, respected member of his or her school scene. And the youth worker replied that he could think of only one person he knew who was successfully doing that - a young lady who had made it her aim not to be popular at the university, not to be accepted, but just to serve others. In her school she had assumed the role of a servant and gone about doing the jobs that no one else would do. She was willing to work hard and let someone else have the credit, to do things behind the scenes in order to make others look good. Later she became very open in her proclamation of her Christian faith, and people listened and respected her for it. She had won the right to be heard through her service.
The Scriptures teach, "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant" (Phil 2:5-7 RSV). As members of the body of Christ, we are called to the same radical commitment exemplified by our Lord. Put bluntly, it is a "self-emptying" ministry. He said we are to deny ourselves and take up a cross....
I believe that God wants many of you to go overseas in the future as his ambassadors around the world. I am also convinced that he wants all of us to live lives of total commitment and service to him right now where we are. Christ has loved us totally. He demonstrated this by his death on the cross and the shedding of his blood, and only total commitment to him and to his command to go into all the world is a reasonable response to that kind of love.
But first you must face the question of your own personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Many of you could not stand up and say, "I know my sins are forgiven. I know that I have received Christ as my Savior. I know that I am going to heaven if I should die. I know that I have eternal life." You couldn't say that because you are not sure....
Worship and Vocation
As you consider your role in world mission and how God is leading you to express your proclamation and service for him, I would like to focus on several aspects. First, worship.
Worship is not a passive activity, but an active one. It's not something we watch, but something we do. Worship, both corporate and private, is necessary to sustain us in the midst of the sometimes hostile culture in which we live now or will be called to penetrate in the future for Christ. The apostle says in Philippians 2 that we should be "blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation" (v. 15)....
We often lament the fact that certain countries are closed to Christian activity. But there are opportunities and possibilities we have never even imagined. I heard about a young man and his wife who are right now living in a country that is closed to Christian missionaries. They are there at the invitation of the government to teach the young people of that country to play a certain sport. When they applied for their visa, they openly told the government that they were Christians and that they often spoke of their faith. The government told them, "We don't care what you talk about in private on your own time as long as you teach our young people to play your sport." There is another couple that we got a Christmas card from in code. They cannot talk openly about Christ, but they can bear the fruit of the Spirit. People often come and inquire what makes the difference. Thus, because of their dedicated service, they are able to give a quiet proclamation.
In Galatians 5 the apostle Paul lists the fruit of the spirit - "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." Then he goes on to say, "against such there is no law" (vv. 22-23 RSV). There is no law in the world that can keep you from loving somebody. There is no law that can keep us from having the joy that is produced by the Holy Spirit within us. In some countries you may not be able to use the public gifts like preaching or teaching, but you can bear the fruit of the Spirit. And when people see you are different, they will ask your secret. This is what brought Solzbenitsyn to Christ in a concentration camp in Siberia. There were three men from Estonia in the camp. They never talked about God, they just lived it. They were the hardest workers; they went out of the way to befriend everybody. One day when Solzbenitsyn was ready to commit suicide, one of them came up and drew the picture of a cross and walked away. Solzhenitsyn said, "I realized for the first time that that was the only place where real freedom was to be found." These men were the freest people in the world, even though they were in a concentration camp. When you know Christ, you can be free anywhere.
Is Jesus Christ the Lord of your vocation? Are you training so that you can serve him or yourself? Are you willing to let Christ change your motives and be the master of your life's work? If you're willing to go anywhere and do anything for him, you will be amazed at the opportunities he will open up to you. Whatever your vocation, it is part of your ministry of proclamation and service for Christ in the world.
Go
Jesus said to his disciples, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit" (Jn 15:16 RSV). The first word of Jesus' Commission to his disciples was go. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. The Bible is filled with God's calling and God's sending. God calls us to his son the Lord Jesus Christ and then he sends us into the world. God does not reveal himself to satisfy our curiosity. He summons us that he may send us. When the thought that God had chosen me for ministry first struck me, I was humbled and astounded. I agonized and said, "No, Lord, no. I'll do anything except be an undertaker or a preacher!" Yet here I was. Having just accepted Christ as my Savior, I had said in a service of dedication, "Lord, I'll be what you want me to be."
And God was saying, "I want you to preach my gospel." "But Lord, I stutter when I talk I can't even stand up and talk in a classroom. How can I ever preach? I'm nothing - I have no education; I have no money; I have nothing." But God said, "I want you; I have chosen you." He didn't say it in so many words. I did not hear an audible voice. There was no lightning, no thunder. There was just that quiet working of the Holy Spirit, and one night on the eighteenth green of a golf course near Tampa, Florida, I knelt down and said, "Lord, I'm yours." And I began to realize the consequence of that - my whole life changed. Even the person I was to marry changed. Everything changed. He took me step by step....
God has chosen; God has commanded. Are you ready to answer? If we do not respond in obedience, we can become castaways, as Paul was afraid of: "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway" (1 Cor 9:27 KJV). What about you? Have you given God every key to your heart and life? Are there spaces and rooms and closets into which he has not fully come because you have not given up all the keys to your spiritual house?
I am asking you to make an affirmative response to the call of God, a response in which you dedicate your life totally to Christ. God is looking for young men and women who will say to him, "I'll go where you want me to go; I'll be what you want me to be, at home or abroad. I'll put my life under the lordship of Christ and recognize that I am in Christian service, even though I may be working at a secular job. And I am willing to go to the ends of the earth if that is your will, oh Lord." A missionary is anyone, anywhere, who will obey the command to faithfully witness at home or abroad. You may be doing it under the auspices of a mission board or as a private citizen, working and supporting yourself. But God has given you a spiritual gift, and he calls you to put that to work in his service. But first you must be sure that the Lord Jesus Christ lives in your heart.
In 1913 a young man arrived in Cairo, Egypt. He was twenty-five years old, a graduate of Yale University and Princeton Seminary. He was tall, strong, handsome, intelligent, single and very rich. His name was William Borden from Chicago. He had come to Cairo as a missionary. Eventually, he wanted to go to China. Many people had difficulty understanding why a young millionaire wanted to spend his life like that, but those who knew Borden for any length of time understood it. The consuming desire of his life was to share the love of Jesus Christ with people wherever he was, whatever he was doing. He loved people and longed for them to know the God who loved them and died for them and who had changed his life. After only a few months in Cairo, Borden contracted cerebral meningitis and died. In the weeks following his death, the world began discovering some remarkable things about him. He never owned an automobile because, he said simply, "I can't afford one." Yet during his three years at Princeton he gave away hundreds of thousands of dollars to Christian work. Borden's biographer said of him: "No reserve, no retreat, no regrets had any place in Borden's consecration to God." Borden had planned to go to China as a missionary. But God had other plans. And the story of his life and early death became a rallying cry for hundreds who went to the mission field because of Borden of Yale.
There are a thousand things you can do with your life, a thousand things for which you can spend it. But how many of them will enable you to say at the end of your life, "No reserve, no retreat, no regrets"?
Sandy Ford was only twenty-one....
One day Sandy Ford was running the mile and winning. Then he stumbled and fell. He was having a heart attack. He looked back and saw that he was still ahead, and he got back up and went a few more yards and fell again. He saw that he was still ahead, so he crawled across the finish line. Newspapers carried his picture on the front page.
Last month, on November 27th, after an eight-hour operation to fix it, Sandy's heart stopped beating. It never started again. Many people said, "What a tragedy." The newspapers in our state wrote editorials about his life. Thousands who knew him or didn't know him were shocked - but challenged. Sandy's life had not been cut short at twenty-one. It had been completed. I was in New York the Sunday before Sandy's operation. Something said to me, "Go by Duke University and see Sandy." He was at the Duke hospital. I went seven hours out of my way to see him. He was my nephew, the son of Leighton Ford, who married my sister. I went into the hospital room, and we had two wonderful hours together. And Sandy said an interesting thing: "You know, Uncle Billy, I believe that my illness here has something to do with those meetings at the University this next fall. " Little did he know that by death he would be bringing the first message. God had a plan. Sandy had put himself totally and completely in the hands of Christ: "no reserve, no retreat, no regrets."
You do not know how much time you have. But that is not the important thing. The important thing is that from this moment on, you decide to be God's man or God's woman - without reserve, without retreat, without regrets - wherever he sends you. Jesus hung on the cross publicly with hundreds of people watching him and mocking him. He hung there for you, and if you were the only person in the whole world that needed him he would have died for you. That's how much he loves you. He is ready to come into your heart and forgive you, cleanse you, make you a new person and start you on a new road. Will you dedicate yourself to him without reserve, retreat or regrets?

Battle School

2006-05-02T17:51:00.000+03:00

http://www.armybarmy.com/pdf/BattleSchool%20brief.pdf

http://www.thewarcollege.com/admissions-BattleSchool.html

Today Chris filled out his application to go to the Salvation Army Battle School in Vancouver, Canada, this summer (4 July - 11 August).

I would really appreciate prayers for him even now.

I think that this will help scratch an itch he has been feeling for several months.

It's a big sacrifice for us to have him away for so long, especially while we are moving to Tallinn (our Installation Sunday is 2 July, Founder's Day!), and of course financially as well. But we think it is well worth the investment, in every sense of the word!

We are hoping to have him go to America for about a week (24-30 June), and then spend a few days with Tim's mother's family in Vancouver before Battle School actually begins.

It means him missing Jaanipäev here (big summer celebration), as well as several camps at Loksa. But nothing meaningful is ever achieved without some sacrifice, and again, we think it is well worth it!

So, please pray for him, for the other kids who will attend, for the staff, for us, etc.! Thanks!

Evelyn

Please pray for our comrades around the world!

2006-05-02T16:04:00.000+03:00

The 60 most vulnerable states of the 148 countries examined in the second annual "failed states index" of Foreign Policy magazine and the Fund for Peace:
1. Sudan
2. Democratic Republic of Congo
3. Ivory Coast
4. Iraq
5. Zimbabwe
6. Chad
6. (Tie) Somalia
8. Haiti
9. Pakistan
10. Afghanistan
11. Guinea
11. (Tie) Liberia
13. Central African Republic
14. North Korea
15. Burundi
16. Yemen
16. (Tie) Sierra Leone
18. Myanmar
19. Bangladesh
20. Nepal
21. Uganda
22. Nigeria
22. (Tie) Uzbekistan
24. Rwanda
25. Sri Lanka
26. Ethiopia
27. Colombia
28. Kyrgyzstan
29. Malawi
30. Burkina Faso
31. Egypt
32. Indonesia
33. Syria
33. (Tie) Kenya
35. Bosnia-Herzegovina
36. Cameroon
37. Angola
37. Togo
39. Bhutan
39. Laos
41. Mauritania
42. Tajikistan
43. Russia
44. Niger
45. Turkmenistan
46. Guinea-Bissau
47. Cambodia
47. (Tie) Dominican Republic
49. Papua New Guinea
50. Belarus
51. Guatemala
52. Equatorial Guinea
52. (Tie) Iran
54. Eritrea
55. Serbia-Montenegro
56. Bolivia
57. China
57. (Tie) Moldova
59. Nicaragua
60. Georgia

Christians for Biblical Equality

2006-05-01T10:56:00.000+03:00

E-QualityA Publication of Christians for Biblical Equality
Spring 2006

PROMOTING FAMILY VALUES ISSUE

Articles

EDITORS' NOTE
By Megan Greulich

FAITH, FEMINISM, AND FAMILY
By Catherine Clark Kroeger

PARENTING AS PARTNERS
By Kathy Nesper

MARRIAGE AS A MYSTERY
By Dr. Robert Hicks

OUR DUAL CAREER FAMILY: BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES
By Susan and Dwayne Howell

Ministry News and Current Events
A Visit with CBE's Boston ChapterBy Mimi Haddad
CBE to be at Cornerstone this SummerBy Leah Welch
Update on CBE's International Symposium in India
By Julia Butcher
Renew Today: CBE Membership Prices Lowest of the Year! Save up to 33%!In response to the growing needs of our members, and the increasing cost in postage, CBE will enact the first membership price increase in nearly ten years, beginning May 1, 2006. If you renew before then, you will receive the current prices, starting as low as $20 per year, and your membership will be renewed from the date of your most recent renewal. So, if you are not up for renewal until September 2006 but renew for three-years today, your membership will be good through September 2009.As always, you will receive many resources to educate and encourage: E-Quality online newsletter, Mutuality news magazine, and Priscilla Papers journal. You will also receive 15% off all purchases at www.equalitydepot.com, reduced rates at conferences, and ongoing prayer support from CBE staff. Click here to become a member or renew today.
Encourage your church with good news!
Give your church the gift of biblical equality AND give them a free book to use in leadership development: Building Credible Multicultural Teams by Lianne Roembke. Your pastor and church staff will receive all these benefits:
• 20% savings on all books, tapes, videos, curriculum, and more • Group discounts on CBE conferences • A free listing in CBE's online Egalitarian Church Directory • Award-winning journals, Mutuality & Priscilla Papers, each quarter • Prayer support from CBE staff
Visit Equality Depot to give your church a membership today!
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Inward/Outward "On the Way"

2006-04-28T09:34:00.000+03:00

http://www.inwardoutward.org/?page_id=21

Sign up!

2006-04-27T23:37:00.000+03:00

Today we had cadets from The Salvation Army's training college in Helsinki. They arrived at around noon and, after settling in at their hotel and having lunch, went with us to a local shopping center for an indoor open air. After that, we went to a childrens' home, where they did a program for the youngsters.

2006-04-27T23:34:00.000+03:00

The youngsters play a relay game where they had to carry a lego on a spoon in their mouth, and then transfer it to the next person.

2006-04-27T23:33:00.000+03:00

The cadets lead the children in a prayer at the end of their time at the childrens' home, holding hands with their arms crossed. When the prayer was finished, everyone turned around and their arms were uncrossed.

2006-04-27T23:31:00.000+03:00

The final program with the cadets was a cookout in our yard. We usually have our teen program on Thursday nights, but opened it up to everyone from the corps and all together 37 of us joined together.

2006-04-27T23:29:00.000+03:00

The youngsters have fun playing musical chairs (although the chairs kept sinking into the soft ground when people would plop down on them!)

2006-04-27T23:28:00.000+03:00

The cadets lead the group in singing "Lord I Lift Your Name on High."

2006-04-27T23:27:00.000+03:00

As always, we ended the day by roasting marshmallows--which was a first for the cadets but is now an anticipated treat for our young people.

"The Da Vinci Code" -- yet again

2006-04-27T12:07:00.000+03:00

A Quest for Answers

Discover the Real Jesus

Who Was Jesus, Really?

from Lee Strobel

Enjoy!

Evelyn

songs I thought of this morning

2006-04-27T08:00:00.000+03:00

SASB #706
1.What can I say to cheer a world of sorrow?
How bring back hope where men have sorely failed?
Just where I am I'll speak the word of comfort,
Tell how for me Christ's sacrifice availed.
Just where he needs me, my Lord has placed me,
Just where he needs me, there would I be!
And since he found me, by love he's bound me
To serve him joyfully.
2.What can I do to ease life's heavy burdens?
What can I do to help mankind in need?
Just where I am I'll share my neighbor's hardship,
Lighten his load, and prove a friend indeed.
3.What can I do to justify my living?
What can I be to worthwhile?
I'll be a voice to call men to the Saviour,
Just where I am, and win my Father's smile.
Miriam M. Richards

SASB #740
1.Like to a lamb who from the fold has strayed
Far on the mountain, of the dark afraid,
Seeking a shelter from the night's alarm,
Longing for comfort of the shepherd's arm,
So Jesus found me on sin's mountain drear,
Gathered me close and banished all my fear.
In the Love of Jesus there is all I need,
While I follow closely where my Lord may lead;
By his grace forgiven,
In his presence blest,
In the love of Jesus,
In the love of Jesus, is perfect rest.
In the love of Jesus is all I need,
While I follow closely where my Lord may lead;
By his grace forgiven,
In his presence blest,
In the love of Jesus, is perfect rest,
Is perfect rest.
2.Like to a pilgrim in an unknown land
Seeking the comfort of a guiding hand,
Fearing the perils of the winding way,
Pleading for strength sufficient every day,
I met my Lord; and, though the path be dim,
He knows the way and I will walk with him.
3.Like to a child who, when the night may fall,
Out of the darkness hears his father call,
Far and a-weary though his feet may roam,
Sees in the distance shining lights of home,
So at the last the music of his voice
Will calm my fears and make my heart rejoice.
Ivy Mawby (1903-83)

Tulge Grillipeole! Come to the Cookout!

2006-04-26T18:39:00.000+03:00

Palun tulge grillipeole homme õhtul kell 18.00-20.30. Meil on kadettid Soomest meiega.

Please come to the cookout tomorrow evening 6:oo-8:30. We will have cadets from Finland with us.

Educational Philosophy

2006-04-26T15:29:00.000+03:00

The following is excerpted from http://www.sonlight.com/educational-philosophy.html

The world is out there to be marveled at, enjoyed, explored, and learned from. Once you catch on to this idea, you will find it easy to see educational value in almost everything you do.
No More Boring Textbooks!
We believe that most children respond more positively to great literature than they do to textbooks. Books—quality books—can distill the wisdom of an entire life into the span of a few pages. They can feed us with spiritual insight beyond imagination. Whether written by Christians or non-Christians, great books help us to develop critical thinking skills. They cause us to question the validity of our own values and beliefs in light of the author's perspective.
Once a good book grabs your child's attention, you'll find that the educational process becomes relatively painless—because your child will actually want to read!
Explore the Wonder of the World
Look for "teaching moments" throughout the day.
Our world is a place of wonder and exploration. Just take a look around—potential learning experiences can be found at every turn. Use your daily encounters with the unfamiliar to teach your children.
If they (or you) don't understand something, look it up. Use a dictionary or encyclopedia. Go to the library. Use the Internet. Do some research! Search for the answer together. Make it an adventure.
After you find an answer, expand the learning experience by looking for a practical application to reinforce the lesson. Remember: not everything your children need to know can be learned in books. Some things can only be learned by doing.
The World Needs the Gospel
Although God's plans are for all peoples, most children can't imagine that anyone lives differently than they do. Most have no idea that there is a big world around them filled with people who have completely different experiences from their own. We want to help children understand history as it looks from the perspective of these people who, for social or cultural reasons, see things differently than we do.
Balanced Perspectives
We can only speak persuasively to members of other groups if they are convinced that (1) we have listened to them, (2) we have understood what they are saying, and (3) we have empathized with their perspectives. Then, if we still hold a different perspective, it is despite our obvious understanding of and empathy with who they are and what they have said.
We want children to know that God is faithful—they can listen to other perspectives without having their faith destroyed. If our children can lead others to begin questioning their beliefs, they will have no shortage of people asking them "to give the reason for the hope that [they] have" (1 Peter 3:15). They can then approach a new and unfamiliar situation with the humility and grace that is appropriate to an ambassador of Christ.
They will have no need to fear because they will learn that the truth—God's truth—will prevail. He who is in us truly is greater than he who is in the world (cf. 1 John 4:4). And He who is by our side really will give us the right words to say when the time comes (cf. Matthew 10:18—20). Children come to know this not just in their heads, but also in their hearts, through experience.
Natural Learning
Children learn by discovery. They observe, analyze, and then seek to emulate what they have seen a master wordsmith do before them.
As Dr. Beechick has so strongly noted, this is the method by which Benjamin Franklin taught himself to write. It is the method by which many of the world's greatest authors have learned to put their words together.
The "natural learning" method is not as obviously logical as standard workbook methods. In "natural learning," children will make a discovery; we will reinforce it for them; but they won't find 50 similar "problems" neatly laid out for them to "solve." This method is, in some ways, slower than the traditional workbook method, and for a person who demands a linear path from one topic to another, it can certainly frustrate.
Children have to really puzzle things through and figure them out. They often have to use external resources to help. However, when they finally "get" a principle that they've been struggling to master, they will never forget it! They will understand it thoroughly and be able to apply it in almost any context.
An Engaging Process
You have the opportunity to serve as mentor to your own children. Don't waste the opportunity! Interact with your children. Ask questions. Point out similarities and contrasts between what you read in one book with what you read in another. If you find that two books disagree, point out the disagreement—and pursue a solution to the problem. Show your children by example how mature, well—educated people interact with materials they disagree with.
There are areas of life—skills, perspectives, attitudes—that can never be passed on to our children through words alone. These are the intangible qualities and elusive blessings we want our children to enjoy: things like a positive self-esteem; a sense of belonging and of being loved; a love for learning; and an appreciation for beauty. All of these are attitudes, values and methods you can pass on to your children that they will easily miss if you simply hand them a stack of books.
Testing
It is far better that your children should learn to be skilled educators than excellent test-takers!

Goals

2006-04-26T12:46:00.000+03:00

The following is excerpted from http://www.sonlight.com/ten-goals.html

Our Top Ten Goals... Do They Match Yours?
What are your goals?
What are you looking for?
We want to tell you about some of the top goals we have had in mind.
Maybe you will adopt some of our goals. Maybe you will deliberately reject some. Either way, you will be better prepared to make wise decisions. Here are our top goals:
1. To teach students to seek God’s Kingdom above and beyond everything else.
We believe this is the primary goal Jesus set before all of us who claim to be His disciples. “Seek first His [God’s] kingdom and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).
We want to keep that goal in front of ourselves and our students . . . at all times.
2. To create a learner’s heart, enthusiasm and excitement for learning, a desire to discover.
What good does it do to fill children’s minds with all manner of information if they never learn how to learn, or if they never acquire a heartfelt desire for education?
We want our kids to grow up with the same attitude and conviction Solomon had: “[Wisdom] is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her” (Proverbs 3:13-15).
When students want to learn, nothing will stop them from achieving their goal. But if educating our children is solely our goal for our children, we have to wonder: will they continue to educate themselves after “school” is done?
3. To raise children with an international perspective and a godly heart for the world.
God’s plans are for all peoples. And we want never to forget what is foremost on God’s heart. Thus we are unwilling to focus solely, or even primarily, on the West and western history.
What most kids can’t imagine is that anyone lives differently than they do. Most have no idea that there is a big world around them filled with people who have completely different experiences from their own.
We also do what we can to help students understand history as it looks from the perspective of people who are outside the halls of power and who, for social or cultural reasons, just see things differently than we ourselves and “our own” people have always been taught to view them.
4. To inspire students to honor Christ boldly•in speech and conduct.
We believe that the Christian faith is not merely intended to grant us eternal personal comfort; it is meant to change the way we live and, through us, to alter the world around us.
We want children to find true heroes•people whose lives they can emulate, people whose lives they want to emulate.
We want them to read biographies that not only tell them about the good deeds that others have done and the wise habits these people have developed, but that help them see these people as they really were: people whom God used despite their shortcomings.
We want children to sense the excitement and challenge of following Jesus in big and little things•not only at home, at church, and in family relations, but also in the worlds of work and of cultural development.
We want children, through their reading, to see, know, understand, and be willing to make the sacrifices that they may be called upon to make if they are to fulfill God’s purposes in their lives.
5. To train children to become winsome and effective ambassadors for Christ.
The Apostle Paul speaks of ambassadors and soldiers for Christ. And ambassadors and soldiers don’t merely identify the enemy or identify what is alien then turn or run away. They engage the enemy; they interact with whatever is not part of “their own.”
And so, ambassadors must not only be intimately familiar with their authorized message. They must also know their audience. They must know what their audience thinks, believes, and values. They must know the places where their audience’s mental, emotional and spiritual defenses are strong...and where they are weak.
Using the Biblical military analogy: soldiers for Christ must be taught not only to recognize who the enemy is (what is false); they must be taught to discover the peculiar strengths and weaknesses of the enemy, what strategies the enemy will use, and what strategies they may use against the enemy. Soldiers must also acquire a minimal amount of (at least simulated) combat experience before going into the fray.
6. To teach students not only biblical content but how to listen.
Someone has said that God gave us two ears and one mouth and we ought to use them in approximately that ratio. Those of us who wish to be effective communicators for Christ should do two times as much listening as we do talking.
It makes sense. The act of listening communicates powerfully to another person that “I care.” After all, who would you believe really cared for you and to whom would you listen: someone who listens intently to what you have to say before giving a gracious and thoughtful reply, or someone who launches into a prepared monologue designed to “set you straight”?
Studies have shown, and we have seen it proven time and again: children whose parents read to them regularly and at length are far more capable of listening and understanding what they hear than are children whose parents read to them but little.
We seek to convey different sides to an argument.
Many people•both children and adults•are afraid of what “the opposition” may say. Our minds become so filled with worry about our possible inability to reply appropriately that we never hear what the other person has to say.
And so most of us are far more comfortable to remain ignorant of other people’s claims than• first• to become familiar with what they have to say and• second•to find quality answers or, possibly, to admit they have a point we had never thought about before.
7. To teach students, through experience, that God is faithful; they can listen to other perspectives without falling into sin or having their faith destroyed.
In other words, the tools, techniques, knowledge and skills of godly intellectual warfare.
We want students to be convinced, through experience, that there are legitimate answers to questions coming from “the other side.” Not only so, but even when they don’t happen to know the answers, they need not run in fear.
There is no need to fear because the truth• God’s truth•will prevail. He who is in us truly is greater than he who is in the world (cf. 1 John 4:4). And He who is by our side really will give us the right words to say when the time comes (cf. Matthew 10:18-20). Students come to know this not just in their heads, as an article of faith, but in their hearts, through experience.
8. To inspire students, to fulfill the work of true scholars.
Some people may question the value of quality scholarship. We believe it has a direct and valuable impact on a person’s ambassadorship. The person who has “done his homework” is in a far better position than he who has not to communicate effectively and winsomely with a person who is coming from a very different perspective.
9. To create within our students a love for quality literature•and prepare them for action in both social and ethical issues.
We believe quality literature, whether written by Christians or non-Christians, should cause us to search the Scriptures to find out how Jesus would respond in similar circumstances.
And as we seek these answers and think about these subjects, we prepare ourselves for the future when we will find ourselves very much involved in situations similar to those we’ve read about.
10. To raise “culturally literate” students.
As E.D. Hirsch, Jr., demonstrates in his bestselling work, Cultural Literacy, there is a certain basic set of background information every person must know if s/he is to get along in a culture• let alone to influence that culture.
A person must be aware of the key historical events, the significant persons, movements, groups and ideas that have shaped the culture.
We want to raise world-changers: people who will make a difference•for good.
And so we place a premium upon cultural literacy.
We believe our children must be prepared to respond to these cultural influences in a strong and Godly fashion.

Col. Bamford

2006-04-25T12:00:00.000+03:00

Lt. Colonel W. Arthur Bamford has been moved permanently to the SkilledCare Unit at Waterford Glen. ADDRESS: P.O. Box 1257, Asbury Park, NJ 07712.

Col. Bamford was CSM of my home corps when I was growing up.

His influence on my life cannot be measured. He and his wife taught me more than probably anyone else besides my own mother.

Evelyn

Christy update

2006-04-25T11:58:00.000+03:00

Please continue to pray for Christy, daughter of Majors Chet & Joy Emmons. Also for the whole Emmons family, as Chet's father was recently Promoted to Glory.

This Week!

2006-04-24T14:18:00.000+03:00

http://www.tvturnoff.org/

http://www.studentdays.ee/index.php?m=Info&com=6&item=0&lang=eng&mid=3 &

Happy Easter to our Russian Orthodox friends (and family!)

2006-04-23T18:58:00.000+03:00

Matthew 28:1-10
Mark 16:1-9
Luke 24:1-12
John 20:1-18

Kristos vas kriis!

cookout

2006-04-23T09:13:00.000+03:00

A rumor is spreading that we are having a cookout today (Sun. 23 April). We are NOT!

But! We ARE having a cookout on Thursday (27 April) at 6:00. Some cadets from Finland will be here with us, and it's bound to be a good time!

This will take the place of our usual noortekoosolek.

Can you say grillipidu? :-) (Mmm ... viinerid!)

Evelyn

Happy Earth Day!

2006-04-22T21:07:00.000+03:00

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ctmag/special/globalwarming.html

yep, still thinkin' about "Code"!

2006-04-22T15:09:00.000+03:00

Decoding 'The Da Vinci Code'

a review from Boundless webzine

Deciphering "The Da Vinci Code"
Albert Mohler

'The Da Vinci Code': Exciting New Novel, Tired Old Conspiracy Theories
by Greg Hartman

I'm trying not to think "methinks thou dost protest too much"! ;-) Just kidding!!

Evelyn

still more on TDVC

2006-04-22T09:47:00.000+03:00

Outreach Resources

Cracking the Da Vinci Code
Friday, April 14, 2006 -- The runaway bestseller will soon be a blockbuster movie. The story has inspired a legion of fans and ignited a firestorm of controversy - by Drew N. Dyck
from the Salvation Army Faith & Friends magazine, out of Canada

Looks like the New Zealand War Cry also has an article, but it's not online yet.

more TDVC

2006-04-22T09:17:00.000+03:00

Okay, so I've been trying to sift though this in my brain. Someone please tell me if I am a heretic!

It seems to me, that it wouldn't change my faith one iota if I found out that Jesus had been married (to Mary Magdalene or anyone else!) and had a child.

My house is full of artwork of Mary nursing Jesus, originally painted to emphasize his humanity ("truly and properly God, and truly and properly man" blah blah blah) in reaction to ideas that he was only divine.

I guess people think it would be a big scandal if Jesus was married and even had s-e-x. But how could anything be more scandalous than God growing as a human fetus and being born as a human baby and breastfeeding from a human mother?

Evelyn

English

2006-04-22T02:23:00.000+03:00

http://www.ismckenzie.com/2006/04/a_collection_of_english_langau.html

TDVC again (sorry, posted before I saw these!)

2006-04-21T18:33:00.000+03:00

Charisma Online
Fire in My Bones
by J. Lee Grady
Why I'm Not Worried About The Da Vinci Code
No need to fear. Dan Brown's popular novel isn't going to shatter biblical truth or unravel Christianity as we know it.

20 Big Lies in the DaVinci Code
Don't be fooled. Here are just a few ways Dan Brown's best-selling book twists and distorts the truth of the gospel.

The Da Vinci Code

2006-04-21T18:16:00.000+03:00

Well, I've finally joined the rest of the world, and just read The Da Vinci Code. I know, I'm always a day late and a dollar short! (We borrowed it from a teenager here.)

Remember -- it is a work of fiction.

The movie comes out May 19. Above-mentioned girl wants to go as a youth group, but I'm still thinking about it!

Click here for some info from Christianity Today on the subject.

So, have you read this book? What do you think? Do you plan to see the movie?

Evelyn