Time flies

Where to start? At the beginning or the end? OK, big news first - I now know where I'll be appointed when I return home this summer. I'm going to be the Divisional Secretary in the Midland Division, St. Louis, Missouri. I'm not clear yet about the specific job description that goes with this title, but I am excited about living in St. Louis, working with a lot of good friends both on headquarters and in the corps and learning a new culture (I've never lived that far south!) It won't actually happen until the first week in September, so after these initial days of announcing it and sorting out some of the details I have to put the next phase of my life aside for awhile. The days are going by way too fast and I have too many things to do before I leave Latvia. And I need to separate leaving, which will be quite difficult I'm beginning to understand, from going to a new place, which is another adventure.

In the midst of this happening, we have been very busy at the training school. After my last post, we had a visit from Vic and Ros Poke, territorial leaders from Sweden. They spent a blessed day with the cadets. During our worship service, we experienced powerful moments of worship and prayer. And the cadets received their 1st appointments! Here they are:

Andrejs and Irina to Riga, Russian Ministry and Prison Ministry

Sergejs to Drusti and Seda (Cesis team)

Arturs to Daugavpils, Youth officer and help with planting work in Latgale

Velta to Liepaja, corps leader with Ilona

Ilona to Liepaja, corps leader with Velta

The next week I took the cadets and Dana to London. We met up with the cadets and staff from Sweden and spent nearly a week together in the UK. We had 2 days in London, seeing Army sites and many of my favorite London spots. We also enjoyed nice fellowship with some friends: Stuart and Marjory Watson, Steve Yoder, Hasse and Kristina Kjellgren. We went to IHQ and I couldn't believe how many friends I saw there: Joy Baillie, Nancy Moretz, Bill and Nancy Roberts, Ted Horwood and probably a few others I can't remember. We also enjoyed the fellowship of our friends from Sweden. Walking long distances and traveling on many trains gave us great opportunities for conversations. From London, we travelled to Southport for the Roots Conference. I only spent one day there, but loved it. And again, saw many friends but most of them just long enough to say hi. One special blessing was getting to spend quite a while talking with Lyndall Bywater. She is such a special woman and I feel privileged to call her a friend. I also caught up with Henrik and Lisbeth and Lukas at Starbucks! What a great combination - Andersens and a latte! I had to leave early so Sarah and Dace came to help the cadets through the rest of the weekend. I'm especially grateful to Dana who worked really hard, translating, organizing and generally keeping me sane during this fun, but rather complicated trip. We are still trying to figure out our expenses - well, she is - bless her!

I came home early because Paul and Paula Fleeman arrived on Saturday for a week in Riga. What fun we have had (I hope they think so!) We have tried lots of good restaurants and coffee shops, of course. They taught on Tuesday for Leaders' Day and were excellent. Paul shared some personal experiences which really impacted the leaders. A couple of other things from Leaders' Day: Inga was there after some serious health concerns and time in the hospital. She gave a powerful testimony to God's faithfulness in her life. Patrik came and taught us some self defense techniques. Karina was my partner for some of it - she is strong! And you can imagine me trying to do anything that involved moving my hands and feet at the same time and in different directions! (pictures later) Wednesday and Thursday, Paul and Paula taught the cadets. Paul - Biblical counseling from the book of Job and Paula - Inductive preaching. The cadets were tired from Roots, but still seemed to get a lot out of the classes and enjoyed getting to know the Fleemans. And finally tonight, I took Fleemans to the ballet! And tomorrow - I'm on my way to Norway to meet Steve and Ketsia for a long weekend. They are meeting with sponsors there. Another blessing!

Throughout these busy days, God has been present and active. I'll try to write something about how He has been speaking to me through various people and His word - later. For now, be assured that I know God is faithful and I trust Him to continue to be. (pictures of all of this will be posted later)