Early Sunday morning in Riga, June 3

Another week. The summer has taken a break. We have had a cold, rainy and windy week in Riga.

 This week I received some pictures from two activities in Latvia. The first one is from Liepa and the social programmes in the corps. The corps in Liepa is one of the oldest in latvia. It has been operating in 15 years.

 

See more pictures from Liepa here

The other pictures are from whit weekend at the corps in Iecava. Acorps that has experienced a dramatic growth the last year.

You can see more pictures from the weekend in Iecava here

This week we also had a staff lunch for the Regional Headquarters, celebrating the end of a busy first half of 2012, even if the coming weeks probably will be still more busy with all the preparations for our Congress in Riga, June 15-17.

 
Yesterday we had our first practice with the Regional Congress Choir. We have so far only had local practices in the different corps. But yesterday we had a full day of practice. People from all corps all over Latvia travelled to Riga for this event. We will be more than 60 people in the choir. Here is a picture review of the choir practice:

Today we are travelling down to Bauska for the morning service. After the service we will have an "Open microphone"-gathering with information about the Salvation Army in Latvia and internationally. When we return to Riga in the evening we will meet Leif Öberg from Sweden. He will be lecturing next week in our Life Skill course, financed with EU-money.

 The poster for our EU-project "Social Rehabilitation and Motivation program at the Day Care Center Patverums"

Then we are already in next week and I pray it will be a blessed week for you.

Peter Baronowsky

Headlines week 22

Shock: British Teens Have as Many as Seven Abortions

LifeNews - "New figures from the British government show hundreds of teenagers in the U.K. are having multiple taxpayer-funded abortions with three who had several government-funded abortions before their 20th birthday.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper obtained official NHS figures using a Freedom of Information Act request and determined that two teenage girls had their seventh abortion in 2010, the most recent year during which the government has figures. Another four teenage girls had six abortions paid for at taxpayer expense."

 Hypnosis and Yoga Open Hidden Spiritual Doors

Dan Delzell in Christian Post - "Hypnosis and yoga are a couple of mystical practices which have basically gone mainstream in America today. Just because a spiritual practice goes mainstream, however, doesn't mean that it is safe and beneficial. Many spiritual teachings and practices are dangerous to the soul. This calls for daily discernment and constant vigilance on the part of every Christian."

Early Sunday morning in Borås, May 27

While updating our webpage I understand that I am in trouble using internet so much. One of the headlines in the biggest Swedish newspaper tells me that using e-mails can cause heart problems. Yesterday I travelled with the airline "Norwegian" which is the first European airline that provides free internet on board. And of course I checked my e-mail in the air. Before that I checked my e-mail while waiting to board the flight. Riga international airport provides free internet access. So according to the article I leve a high risk life. If one morning you find that this page is not up-dated, then you now why...

During this week we have had a full day visiting Skangal together with our Advisory Board. One of the board members is the Swedish Embassador. He brought his mother who happened to visit Riga that week. The embassador´s mother told us that she was partly brought up in the Salvation Army in the village of Orsa. Her mother was active in the corps and all children in the village went to the Salvation Army in the time between the two world wars. On top of that she told us that she had two aunts who were Salvation Army Officers. 

The manager of Skangal, Modris Jankovskis, informs about the work at Skangal: the Orphanage, the Crisis Center for women and the Conference Center.

During the week we have also had a Corps Review at the "Children´s House" in Sarkani together with the Officers leaving Sarkani, and the two cadets who will take over the responsibility as leaders in Sarkani, after their Commissioning in June.

Coming out from the Corps Review in Sarkani....

 .....and here are some children testing the new trampoline at Sarkani.

Just now we are making a short visit in Borås in the soutwestern part of Sweden. Our oldest grandson is having his Church Confirmation Celebration today. Some people have asked us "Do you have grandchildren that old?" - Yes we have and I start to understand that we are not so young ourselves any longer.

Tomorrow we return to Riga and a new working week.

I pray that it will be a blessed week for you.
Peter Baronowsky

Headlines week 21

I'll Fight Congress
- Salvation Army UK - "The 2012 Territorial Congress at the Royal Albert Hall marks the 100th anniversary of The Salvation Army's founder, William Booth, making his famous "I'll Fight" speech. The speech marked a significant step in shaping the future of The Salvation Army's mission to tackle social injustice."

Indonesia Believers Cry Out to God in Historic Rally
Charisma News - "Indonesia's largest sporting arena became one big giant prayer house Thursday. The event was televised across the world's most populous Muslim country.
Christians began praying the moment they entered the stadium.
"Prayer can change everything in this nation, and that's why I came tonight with my family, believing for God to do the impossible," one woman said."

8 Things to Keep in Mind in Regards to Conflict at Work/Church

Perry Noble in Christian Post - "Number 1 – Email DOES NOT WORK! (This would also apply to texting as well as any form of social media!)
When conflict use to arise with me and someone in the office I used to walk to my desk, log on to my computer and fire off an abusive email, several problems with this…
- It is the act of a coward, I would do this so that I would avoid a eye to eye conversation.
- It removes the fact that I am actually dealing with another person…if I type an email I don't have to look them in the eye and removing that obstacle allows me to say things to them through typing that I would NEVER say to them in person.
- It often drags out the conflict way longer that it should be.
- It can easily be misinterpreted, thus causing new conflicts.... "

Early Sunday morning in Riga, May 20

Another week in Latvia. We start to see signs that summer is approaching.

Last Sunday, after the meeting and the "Open Microphone"-gathering at Riga 1 Corps, we drove up north on the coast of Riga Bay. We found a place to sit down and relax for a while. It was not warm, but it was beautiful watching the sun preparing to go down beyond the sea.

 In the beginnng of the week we had a visit from Norway. It was the staff group from the Salvation Army drug rehabilitation centers in western Norway. They are supporting a Life Skill Program at the corps in Liepaja. We had some great days together with the Norwegian group, informing them about Latvia and the Salvation Army work here. Here you can see the corps leader in Liepaja, Velta, reporting from the project:

During the visit from Norway we had also one evening with the corps leaders from Riga 2 Corps. They brought a couple of soldiers from the corps and gave us a great evening of music and testimonies. Here are the Corps Leaders, Irina and Andrejs:

Now it is Sunday morning again and time to go down to the meeting at Riga 1 Corps. After the service there will be another rehearsal with the people from the corps taking part in the Regional Congress Choir.

This is a special Sunday for the Salvation Army in Latvia. We are inviting to a Candidate Sunday in all Corps. It is a Sunday were we will focus on the calling to Officership in the Salvation Army. The Officers at the Training School, Isabel and Norm, have made a special resource package for this day, with information, sermon outline and prayer cards. The Bible verse on the prayer card is from Joh 4:35: "I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest."

And then....another week. That week will start with a tour to Skangale and Sarkani together with our Advisory Board and the staff at the Swedish Embassy.

I pray that it will be a blessed week for you.
Peter Baronowsky

Prophesy - Part 2

One of the cadets sent this prophesy to us during a period of fasting. You can read part one here. (The picture is from Freefoto.com)

"I also see in my spirit a map of Latvia. I see God taking His children from different corners of Latvia, lighting their hearts, putting uniform on them and bringing them into the Army. I see how His lights are getting stronger, I see His children changing clothes. They are leaving their old ways of living. They are leaving all that is from a man and worldly and they put on the uniform. Uniform is important for them, because it is like a sign that they belong to Christ. They are separated from the world. A sign of Kingdom.

I see in the spirit how people how people, who have changed into uniform, respect it. They are not concerned about worldly things, they are ready to sacrifice all for Christ. The time of reward has come. I see the same map of Latvia and I see columns of people marching from one end of Latvia to the other. All people dressed in uniform. They are different than other people living on the earth and streams of grace are flowing from them. These columns of people are growing, the number of people is growing and they march on.

Latvia is like a tillage. The Army moves from one end of it to the other. Everyone is dressed in uniform and they hold a little flag in their hands. There is a one common flag or sign for all, and the little flags mean that everyone has their part in the bigger meaning/picture.

The Army is growing, it belongs to Christ. It is in His heart and He has planned special things for it. The time of reward has come. The Army is receiving what it has prayed for. It was tested, but it has withstood the test. It is the time of fruit and reward. Time of change. A new age for the whole Army."

Prophesy

Yesterday we started our thirty days of prayer for the Congress in Riga, June 15-17. Two days before that we received an e-mail from one of our cadets who had received these words from the Lord (Picture from Freefoto.com):

"I am fasting and today is the 14th day since I have not eaten. Today, when everyone was praying for The Salvation Army, I saw a vision in my spirit and received a Word from God, which I would like to share. 

I saw a flag of The Salvation Army and saw many people in uniforms around it. People were standing in a crowd and did not take up lots of space, people were not moving. I saw a field around these people. Fields were ripe for harvest, in fact, so ripe that the spikes of the wheat were heavily leaning towards the ground. It felt like you only had to stretch out your arm and the grain would fall into their hands. Salvationists, who were standing amidst these fields, did not understand that these fields were ripe, they looked, but did not react to what they saw around them. Salvationists were busy with different things- they sang, played, preached and talked at the table. 

Each of the Salvationists had a basket in hand, but they were empty and then the wind came up, the wind of the Holy Spirit and turned everything around. The views, convictions and understanding of the Salvationists were changed and they started distinguishing the important from secondary. And the Lord said: the time of empty baskets and reflections is over, a new time has come, new age, time of grace and harvest. The Lord says the time of harvest starts now. Time of full baskets, time of overflowing. And wherever you go, you will harvest and the Army will grow in size. The time of trials is over. A new time has come, a time of harvest and fruit. The Army will grow and now is a good time - time of harvest, of victory and multiplication. Praise to God!"