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June 13th, 2013 - 1:37 pm § in Baltic, Blogroll, Converge, Estonia, General, Sweden, Travels

New Life

Saturday was a big day in Stockholm…a royal wedding of the Princess of Sweden to AN AMERICAN! It was great to observe all the preparations and to watch the wedding on television. Men on horses, marching bands, cannons firing, bells ringing, horse-drawn carriage, and a boat parade. It was a beautiful day as we prepared to return home early Monday.

Sunday was a rainy day as we went to the services at New Life Church in Stockholm. (This is the church where Grant and Lindsay Morgan will be serving this fall.) We enjoyed the services at 10 and 1, followed by a luncheon for twenty as we mixed with church leaders and Kelli Dahlin, a Converge short termer working at New Life this summer. John van Dinther preached an excellent message, and the group especially enjoyed the Fika. New Life stops the service forty-five minutes in and takes a fifteen minute coffee break. (What a great way to network with people!) I noticed many like nursing their coffee and tea through the sermon. Let’s do it!

Then it was off to turn in the vans and settle in at the airport. We stayed at Sky City, a hotel right in the terminal building at the airport. We sat around tables later that night and shared a wonderful Swedish meal…cheese pizza. We shared on our last night about the highlights of the trip.

Monday morning, up at 5:30 for a 7 AM check-in. Two hour layover in Newark, and finally home sweet Whittier.

Epilogue:

As I reflect on our weeks together, it was a great group! No problems, but many tears…. Our hearts were touched in several places by the dear friends along the way. It felt like the last day of summer bible camp as a boy, saying farewell to friends, wishing we could all stay together.

Thanks so much for your prayers during these days. The vertigo is gone, Praise God! The saints were encouraged, but we were blessed. One friend wrote, “Thank you so much for blessing me and my family personally. Thank you for spreading God’s kingdom in all the world.” To God be the glory….


June 9th, 2013 - 9:21 am § in Baltic, Blogroll, Building, General, Sweden, Travels

Sweden

On Monday morning we arrived by boat in Stockholm. Helari Puu and I grabbed a taxi to go to the Hertz office across town to pick up our two Ford Transit vans (9 passengers each). It took about an hour to get back to the docks, then we loaded up for our three hour journey [...][...]


June 4th, 2013 - 6:16 pm § in Baltic, Blogroll, Converge, Estonia, Travels

Tallinn

We arrived in Tallinn on Wednesday night. On Thursday morning we boarded our bus to go visit our Nordic-Baltic office in the Christiine area of Tallinn. From there we walked the 1/2 mile to the headquarters of the Union of Free Evangelical and Baptist Churches of Estonia. We heard presentations from[...]


May 31st, 2013 - 3:46 pm § in Baltic, Blogroll, Estonia, General, Travels

Tartu

On Monday night we met in Tartu, Estonia with the Meego Remmel and his wife and Toivo and Einike Pilli.  After a long day of driving it was great to have a quiet supper with our group of 16 people and these friends. Tuesday was a “hit the ground running” day.  We visited the Tartu [...[...]


May 26th, 2013 - 9:02 pm § in Baltic, Blogroll, Converge, Estonia, General, Travels

Converge Worlwide – Latvian Baptist Union. Signing the Ministry Covenant. Riga, May 26, 2013.

  I’m typing this while bouncing along on a bus through northern Latvia.  Arlie and I have just completed five days in Riga, and the rest of our team joined us on Saturday.  We have been blessed to share with our ministry partners in the capital city.  Riga has a population of over 700,000[...]


May 15th, 2013 - 6:03 pm § in Blogroll, Converge, Travels

Converge Missions Staff – La Quinta, CA

Converge Missions staff.  This is the group who plant English language churches in foreign countries. Meeting in LaQuinta, CA – May 2013[...]


December 21st, 2012 - 5:54 pm § in General

Some thoughts in light of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT

Dear Friends,   Let me share some thoughts in light of the tragedy in Newtown, CT and the struggles so many of you are facing at Christmas.   First, when things are dark, there is hope. When Jesus was born, the godless Roman Empire ruled the world. Caesar Augustus was a brutal narcissist a[...]