A proud dad and his daughter 

Jessica enjoys her bath 

Wide eyed and dressed to kill 

Wrong way round- but happy grandparents 

Our happy daughter with her new husband - a fine couple in a fine city! 

One view of the housing conditions that the familiies of the Lines live in 

Residents queue for their share of the hot soup 

Staines Youth group interact with local residents from the Lines in Estonia 

Major Paul sheltering during Lines Open-Air Ministry in Estonia 

Undaunted

Dear Friends,
As I write, it is fast approaching Christmas and after a really beautiful autumn with long sunny evenings and an amazing blaze of colour in the parks here, I am looking out on featureless trees and the grey, black and white colours of winter. The sky is grey, the ground is white and everything else is in black sillhouette. The contrast of the seasons here is just wonderful, and even the winter days are charming in their own way. Of course our Town Hall Square is ablaze with the sights and sounds of Christmas. A huge Christmas Tree surrounded by lots of little wooden huts and stalls that comprise our Christmas Market. The quality and quantity of the goods on offer are fantastic as Estonia is still very much a hand-craft society from many little cottage industries scattered in every small town, village and island.
However, to get on with the news!! The last quarter of the year has been as busy as all the other months - as you would expect. After the young people returned to the routine of school etc., in the late summer, the activities of the Mission Team resumed with lots of visits to Finland and some activities here at home. The youngsters have worked very hard over a sustained period of time and it has not been without its cost - particularily to our officer personnel for whom it is an added extra on top of their Corps Programme and family responsibilities. It has taken its toll, but we are grateful for their wonderful commitment. It was lovely to welcome the Henderson family back from their well-earned extended furlough as well as some of our teenage girls who had the experience of working in Children's Camps in the USA.
September thrust us into Territorial activity with the Congress at the beginning of the month. The General & Mrs. Larsson were our leaders and it was an opportunity for everyone to meet our still reasonably new Territorial Commanders - Colonels Andre and Silvia Cox, who came to us in July from the Switzerland Territory. The highlight of the Congress was the Youth Rally which featured the Mission Team and the Scout Movement which is big in Finland. Since the Mission Team comprises mostly of youth from Estonia, then we featured strongly in the whole event. In fact a group of 50 Salvationists and friends from Estonia comprised the largest single group at the Congress. We were very proud of them.
Immediately on our return from Congress the Mission Team were back in Lahti in Finland for the week-end while I held our very first Regional Women's Camp. It was a lovely event and it gave me the opportunity to present the concept and history of Home League to the ladies. We also had a lot of fun around a massage table as our 'Special Interest' Activity was Aromatherapy. (I ended up giving myself a permanent weekly appointment.) The report attracted a lot of interest in the Finnish War Cry!
At the end of the month, Derek and I were back in Finland for the Territorial Leaders' Conference. This was an intensive time of discussion that laid out the strategy of the Territory for the next five years. The Salvation Army faces a lot of challenges in Finland in terms of its relevancy and its sharp declining numbers. A lot of hard issues had to be faced. Not the least was the budget and the meagre resources that are available for us on which to operate the various programmes. However, as part of Derek's strategy for Estonia, he commenced the first Regional Advisory Board comprising of representatives of the Hotel industry (Radisson SAS), the British Ambassador and representative of the American Embassy, a high profile politician who is the government's spokesperson on HIV/Aids, a notable professor/architect and a Corps Officer. Already they have been invaluable with their advice and support.
The month of October was an exciting, exhilirating exhausting month. The main event in the diary was our Ten Year Celebration, but leading up to that we had the most amazing Youth Campaign here in Tallinn led by the Staines Corps Youth Group from the UK. Thirty young people arrived at 11pm Friday 21st and took the airport by storm - and they did not stop until they got back to the airport Sunday evening 23rd. I don't think that had as much as 6 hours sleep during that time. They conducted an Open-Air Ministry along with the distribution of Hot Soup in one of the poorest areas of Tallinn. You have not seen abject poverty in any modern city until you have seen this! It was pouring with rain and they stood there for almost two hours, serving soup, engaging with the local people, playing football with the children and playing their instruments. It was truly amazing. Of course, they also led a Saturday Night Youth Event at the Corps and encouraged our young people to play with them in the band and to play their tambourines. I had just started to teach some of our girls the timbrels so they were delighted to play along. It was a great chance for them to 'perform live' as they were part of the big introduction to your Ten Year Celebration Festival the following week. The Staines Youth Group brought us a lovely donation of 500 GBP and asked us to put it to a special project. So we have now committed ourselves to producing a Salvation Army Song Book for Estonia. At the moment, every time we meet for Regional Events, we have to print and photo-copy song sheets. So 'Thank You Staines'.
After the youngsters left on Sunday evening, we just had time to draw our breath and tidy up before our guests arrived on Thursday morning for our Ten Year Celebration. We welcomed Commissioners Laurence and Nancy Moretz from USA Eastern Territory as our leaders, along with our own Territorial Commander and representatives of THQ. The USA Eastern Territory donate 15,000 dollars each year to us and this money runs our feeding programmes for the homeless and supports some of our corps programmes. They have also contributed two sets of officers to our region. The Commissioners were wonderful guests, who made them selves at home amongst us and enjoyed a relaxed fellowship with the officers as well as sharing in inspiring meetings. They were also very gracious in allowing all the planned events to eat into their own time for leadership and ministry. They themselves spoke of the inspiration they had received in witnessing first hand the work of the Army here in Estonia.
I did mention earlier that we had been introduced to a (tight) budget by our TC. This unfortunately left our bank balance almost at rock bottom by the end of October. Unknown to us, the Commissioner authorised a further grant of 25,000 dollars to be transferred into our funds. This was truly a God-send, as some of our officers had been using their own money to pay for the work of their corps. We have said it before, and it is always true - God is good .... all the time ... and he always knows the right time.
The Celebration meetings acknowledged the work of some of our pioneers and other leaders who were able to be present. We had the support of the Helsinki Temple Band and 50 salvationists from Finland treated themselves to an 'Away-Week-end' to be with us. We had members of our Advisory Board join us and for most it was their first experience of the Salvation Army. As you can imagine, Derek did everything to present the 'real' Army, both in worship and in mission. During the week-end a new publication of the History of the Salvation Army in Estonia was presented. This also accounted for some of our business as it was translated from Finnish to Estonian and to English by our own regional team and even printed in Estonia. So that was an added 'dead-line' that we were working with during these busy weeks of October. Whew!! The book will be available in English in due course - but it is already on our Christmas Gift list for next year, so don't go buying up the stock!
November has been synonomous with only one other word - BUDGETS. It has been a nightmare and I think that Derek would find it impossible to count up the hours that he has spent helping our Corps Officers, meeting with accountants, holding training meetings, reviewing, revising and cutting back. The TC told us that we had to reduce our expenditure by a huge amount of money which accounted for 20% of our total budget. Derek worked and worked and cut back and made hard decisions then sent the new figures back to the TC. He thanked him, sent them back and then said - take another 5% off. So with the same amount of money that we had as an operational budget 2 years ago, but we now have two new Corps openings and two extra sets of officers and their family along with all the extra regional events that we have expanded. Quite a headache I can tell you. Howevef - God is good ... all the time - and Helen is engaging on a 'Fund-raising Tour' of the UK in December. Blackpool YP raised money for us in the summer and subsequently, some individuals have given generous donations; Bedford Corps sponsored most of our Youth Camp Programmes in the summer; Staines Corps gave a generous donation and have promised more from the Christmas Carol Service; Major James Williams of Chalk Farm raised money through the Over-Sixties Summer Holiday Programme; Great Yarmouth has promised a share of the proceeds of their Community Carol Service, and Norwich Citadel Corps Songsters Brigade are donating the whole of the proceeds of their Carols by Candlelight Service to the work in Estonia. Helen is going to speak and present the work in Norwich and Yarmouth and will visit Blackpool also. We are so grateful for the prayerful and practical support that we receive from God's People - especially since we know that these same people are raising money and giving to so many other worthy causes. THANK YOU, THANK YOU THANK YOU.
Now, before I finish, I must give you all the greatest news of all. Following our wonderful time at home with our daughter Lorna for her wedding last May, our son and daughter-in-law has not been outdone in the family stakes. On August 10th Alan and Pam welcomed the arrival of the most beautiful daughter - Jessica Mae - our first grandchild. She is wonderful and such a delight. Alan and Pam are wonderful parents and they are all so happy - and so are we. Consequently, we have planned to have some holiday at home for Christmas and we will all be together as a family staying at our daugher and son-in-law's new home near Norwich. I am sure it will be a lot of fun. On a little less happy note, Helen's Aunties - known around the world - have both experienced some of the difficulties of growing a little older. Aunt Louie had a very very long and uncomfortable recovery from her heart by-pass last year only to suffer from a broken hip following a fall when they were both visiting family in London. Fortunately she has physically recovered from a hip replacement but the restrictions now placed on them both and their on-going care and well being is a concern to us all. But as always, the family is rallying round.
This just leaves me to say, that we so very much appreciate your love and friendship. It is good to hear of your own news from time to time. As we get older we tend to rely on memories more and more to stimulate the fun and laughter that we cannot enjoy by direct contact. But we still feel close to you all.
I hope you enjoy this latest epistle. We will continue to remember you in our prayers as we do daily and we know that you also do for us.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS - AND A GUID NEW YEAR.
Helen and Derek