http://www.phillaeger.com/blog.html

Phil Laeger has a new recording available for downloading at his website. It's really amazing, beautiful and you will be blessed. And it's free! Thanks, Phil!

Estonian youth camp

Last weekend I went to Tallinn, Estonia to help lead their youth camp. There were 13 very typically fun and energetic kids there. It was a flashback to my DYS/TYS days and I had a good time. Although, I was reminded that I'm getting old! I enjoyed the fellowship with the other officers and some time to myself and away from the stresses of training work. Here are some pictures from the camp.


House used for camp - very nice.

House behind the camp house and the Baltic Sea just a short walk away.


Fun and crazy kids

Anya Hendersen and Evie trying to play a silly game.

Thanksgiving Day - what I'm thankful for?

Well, I leave in 6 1/2 hours to fly to Tallinn Estonia for youth camp. I'm thankful that I have the resources to fly because even though the bus is cheap, I'm too tired to deal with that. I'm thankful for the many, many special friends I have here in Latvia and around the world. I'm thankful for my family who I know love me and pray for me, even though I haven't heard from them today (poor me!) Most of all, I'm thankful that I live every day in the presence of God. I can't imagine life without Him.

Day 3 of 'what I am thankful for'

What is it that I am thankful for today? Cadets who are happy, learning and know what the goal is. New leaders in Latvia and Sweden who are encouraging and supportive. (at least that's how I feel after a just few hours with the new leaders from Sweden.) Wisdom beyond my own understanding for so many subjects, questions and situations that come up every day. God, who provides peace, comfort and joy no matter what the circumstances. You!

Since this is Thanksgiving week and I won't be celebrating (well, we have our new regional commanders' welcome but it won't be Thanksgiving), I decided to write every day this week and talk about something I'm thankful for. Of course, I'm already one day behind! So, today 2 things:
1. I am so thankful for God's word and that He continues to teach me new things through His Word and His people. 2 new ideas I had recently came as I listened to the cadets. As they were giving presentations on our doctrine about eternal things, each one of them mentioned an important truth about death. It was not God's original purpose for us. We were created to live forever with Him, but then sin came along. I got distracted for a bit and thought about Lazarus' death and that little verse "Jesus wept." I ocurred to me that maybe Jesus was weeping not just about Lazarus and his family but for all of us. He knew that death was not supposed to be part of life and he grieved for us. A question I can ask Him in Heaven! Then on Sunday at the Riga 2 corps we were thinking about coming together for worship and how special that was. Well, that's what I was thinking anyway and I also got distracted and began thinking about the Sabbath as God created it. I had been reading in both in Jeremiah and Mark that morning about the Sabbath, keeping it and keeping it for the right reasons and in the right ways, not as ritual. So, I thank God for the Sabbath. God knew that I (and all of us) would never find time to spend a day in worship and away from work unless He put it in the plan from the beginning. Thank God for Sundays!

2. Today I thank God for packages! I got 2 this week. One from the Winters with a really fun movie, Elizabethtown. I love it! The second today from THQ, really Kristin and Lisa, filled with mail, movies and thanksgiving gifts. Thank God for friends who send packages!

What are you thankful for?

Happy Day!

Happy Independence Day to Latvia and Happy Birthday to Sian! I just finished watching the 'big' fireworks display on TV (for Latvia not Sian...) I thought about going down to see them as it's close but didn't make a connection with anyone to walk with. It turns out they only lasted about 10 minutes. I could hear them both on TV and for real, but it's cloudy so I couldn't see them out my window. It's nothing like sitting on Claudia Rowland's boat in Lake Michigan on July 3rd! This afternoon was Sian's birthday party. She's 3 and as I have been to her 1st and 2nd birthday parties, I would say this was definitely the liveliest! There were 7 kids with parents and me. Lots of running, jumping and some crying, too. It was fun to be with everyone and especially with kids since I don't get to do that very often here. At one point I did wonder why we would put kids through the torture of watching some one else get all the presents?! I'm sure it teaches something but it's so hard both to be the one not getting to unwrap things and to be the one who gets them all! I'm sure there is a lesson for adults in there somewhere.

Yesterday was such a good day. I slept in and then ran a few errands in the morning. After lunch I made a big pot of tea, lit some candles, put on comfy clothes and sat down to read through all of the cadets' summer assignment homework. Yes, I know summer is long over but it takes a while to get all of that work translated and also, I was a little afraid to tackle it and find out how they really felt about their summer. I had nothing to worry about. Even when things didn't go as planned, they wrote about lessons learned and how they would respond in the future. They all had opportunities to teach, talk with individuals about Jesus and observe corps leadership close up. I was blessed over and over again as I read their reflections about those experiences. They are learning and growing! Later in the evening Chris and I went out towards the airport, with the eventual goal of picking up Goran. She wanted to know the way. On that road there happens to be a great mall, so we stopped there for dinner and planning to do a little shopping. We went to Ganbei, a combination Chinese/Japanese restaurant. It's a chain which we go to once in a while but this one is new to me and very fancy. I was so excited that they had hot and sour soup and when it came it really tasted like hot and sour soup! The service was not fast and we sat and talked for a long time, so that the mall was closed by the time we finished. We had to get our coffee at the airport. It was a nice time to get to know Chris a little better and have a good meal. (Restaurants and coffee shops seem to be a recurring theme lately.)

Just saw an ad for "My little Pony", but not so little and with a bottle included. It looks big and pink and scary to me. Please don't buy that for your children!

Zoe came to teach the cadets about Baby Song, known as Little Sparrows in Latvia.




'at work' on a baby craft (anybody want to donate some uniform sweaters?)
the final product

We had 2 days of snow. It's all gone now.
1. outside the training center 2. outside my flat


Larssons with the cadets for Spiritual Day

Olesja begins work as translator/secretary. She's doing great!

Busy days

wow! The days since I last posted anything about life in Latvia have been very full and exhausting. Some of them great and some of them I'd rather forget. I'll try to concentrate on the good days. The first Sunday in November was a Spiritual Day with the cadets. The Larssons were with us all day and we had a really good time. They both spoke in the morning, we went to lunch and then in the afternoon I asked the cadets to tell a little about themselves. As I listened I was so proud of them. Each of them spoke confidently, honestly and maturely. They have all grown in many ways and this was one evidence of that. Tuesday was the first leaders' day with the Larssons and again, it was a good day. For some reason I was feeling stressed - I think a little worried about how everyone would feel and thinking I was responsible to make it all right - of course, not my problem! And it was fine. I was also working out the details for the cadets' Christmas Assignments which seemed to fall apart in one moment and then came back together even better than I hoped in the next. Chris Larsson hadn't seen me stressed before so was not sure about me, but now she knows it happens and we all survived! That evening Johnny Kleman came from Sweden for a few days with us. We ate out a lot while he was here, which was great for a few days but eventually I just wanted to stay home and have a nice, simple meal. On Wednesday I told the cadets where they will be for their practical training in December. They all seemed OK, even excited, so that was a relief. And their corps officers are excited, too - that's really good! Here are their assignments, in case you want to pray for them:

Arturs - Bauska
Velta - Riga 2
Sergejs - Seda (an outpost of the Liepa corps which is Russian speaking)
Ilona - Liepa and Drusti outpost

While Johnny was here, he taught a seminar about the Salvationist and the Sacraments. A few leaders joined the cadets for this day. It was a tough day with translation. It took longer than Johnny expected so he didn't get to really spend time on the important issues. But, we have his notes and some other resources. When the cadets come back in January we will take it up again. We also had another meeting of the training program committee. It was excellent. I love this group and they were very expressive and helpful this time. Usually I talk most of the time, but I tried to get them to talk more and I think they did. I'm hoping to add Chris Larsson to this committee. We all went to lunch at my favorite (or one of them) restaurant which serves a variety of foreign foods, including Indian. I'm not a big curry fan, but they have good food here. If you come, I'll take you there! A couple of days this week also included coffee with Chris. We are getting quite accustomed to afternoon coffee breaks at various shops.

Saturday afternoon I watched Manuela (3+months) for Guna, as Andre was in the hospital. She wouldn't let me put her down for the first hour. I didn't really mind holding her and bouncing, I love babies! On Sunday I actually got to go to Riga 1 and was mobbed by the girls. They are so good for my ego! Sarah preached an excellent sermon from the book of Ruth. After church, I took Larssons to the Lido near us, the one I like the best.

Last week was a bit stressful with the cadets, worried about final homework projects and exams. A few times I felt like the last 10 months had been completely ineffective. This week it all went much better - the last week of the term! Tuesday in Homiletics we (Sarah and I) had the cadets give an Introduction and Illustration from a sermon. We videotaped them (only to find out later it didn't work). They weren't crazy about that or about evaluating themselves. But the truth is they all have improved, some a lot. None of them are bad preachers and a few will be really good as they continue to get experience and learn some additional methods. It was an encouraging morning for us and I think for them. Again I was encouraged on Wednesday morning as Guna and I listened to their presentations on the 11th Doctrine. On the whole, they were prepared, confident and intelligent. All good things!

In other areas of work, I've also been busy. I've been helping to plan the Larssons' welcome meeting for next Thursday - that was Monday's meeting. On Tuesday a few of us met with someone who is volunteering to help us in our work with the government. He also has a missiology degree from Fuller and so I'm very interested in talking with him about helping us by doing some teaching. Wednesday we had our first Strategy Force meeting with Larssons. It was good and I believe we wil continue to move in the right direction, especially with corps planting and development. And Thursday (today) Goran and I met with the pastor of the Intl. Bible Church and his mission supervisor. It was supposed to be a quick hello and coffee but was really good and inspiring, so went on for about an hour. They are very interested in supporting our church planting vision. And both of them are American so it was nice for me not to have to be so careful about my language. They understood me the first time! (this has been one of those weeks for failing to communicate - very frustrating.) So, lots happening - my 'to do' list just gets longer without time to cross anything off. And the cadets can't understand why I'm so excited about them leaving for a month!

Tried to post pictures but it didn't work. I'll try again later.

I think Gordon's MacDonald's article is the best response to the recent disappointment (a weak word) within the American Christian community. I couldn't add anything to his excellent teaching and counsel for all of us who are leaders and future leaders (even though our field of influence may be much smaller, we still need the same warning.)

http://www.christianitytoday.com/leaders/newsletter/2006/cln61106.html

Praying for all UK friends

Today is the day to pray for you! (I think you get more than one day - wonder why?)

http://www.gmi.org/ow/country/unki/overvw01.html

LTS. Steve and Ketsia Diaz

I'm so proud of my brother Steve and his wife Ketsia. I'm sitting with tears in my eyes as I share this (stolen right off of his xanga site!) They were officially recognized as Lieutenants at the congress in Haiti. It doesn't change anything really, but still it makes me proud of them, in case you didn't already know that! And in case you didn't catch it in any of my other postings, they run the Salvation Army children's home in Port au Prince, Haiti.

I love autumn 2 (still over!)

Mezotne Castle and grounds - see commentary in last posting.









Bauska corps: 1. corps officer Ruth with translator Ruta 2. this corps has more traditional programs. One of the things I like (really) is that we sing songbook songs. Here are the songsters singing while I hummed along!



And here's what was outside my window on Thursday morning, even more snow on Friday!

I love autumn (but it's over now)

Last Sunday I visited Bauska and Iecava to observe the cadets preaching. Veronika went along to 'whisper' translate. Cadet Arturs went with us to Iecava and for the afternoon before his meeting in Bauska. Between the 2 towns and the 2 meetings we found a beautiful castle and grounds to keep us occupied for an hour or so.

Here we are in the castle. Note the lovely slippers on our feet.






Here we are in Iecava: 1. and 3. A nice sausage after church 'because we have special guests from Riga!' Evie, Edvins (works at RHQ) and Arturs enjoy it. 2. The woman in the middle is one of my favorite - I love that face and she has a sense of humor, too!



The view out the window of our classroom - made it hard to concentrate!


More pictures later...

a giant and God's love

Do you know that God has a sense of humor? I have no doubt about that. Take today for instance...I started out reading about David slaying the giant, Goliath in 1 Samuel. I was reminded of a sermon that Lyndall Bywater preached last year at our mission and prayer conference about identifying and slaying the giants in our lives. I realized I've been trying to kill a great big giant that is affecting our lives at the training school, in my own strength and wisdom. So, I decided to walk up to it in God's power and kill it! (that's a metaphor, not literally kill anyone or anything!) I mean David even cut off Goliath's head, surely I can be brave enough to face our giant(s) with God on my side. So, I'm ready for battle and I move to my New Testament reading for the day. Yep, it was all about...love! 1 John 4 which says I'm supposed to love others. Hmmm slay a giant and love others all in one day? And you think God wasn't smiling at me as I was trying to sort that out? the truth is that if we would really love each other, the giant would die on it's own.

Today I met with our new regional commanders for several hours. It was their first day at work and they are trying to meet with everyone to get things figured out. I had my own long list of topics to talk about and so did they, thus the long meeting. As well, we all like to talk! Fortunately we had planned to finish our meeting with dinner, so we just kept it going at the restaurant and then the coffee shop. Chris and I plan to try out as many coffee shops as we can so that's going to be fun!