“Through generations”

Interview with the leader of Riga I Corps Sarah Ilsters
- By Vesma Sandberg (From the Latvian Anniversary War Cry. Photo: Gordon and Franceska Simpson from TSA archive)
Can you tell about your relatives in The Salvation Army in Latvia before the war.
I had a Grandma Franceska Balshaitis, she had a sister Elisabeth. They were five children in the family. Elisabeth, I think, was the eldest, Franceska was the next one. They were both Latvians. My Grandma married an English man, Gordon Simpson, my Grandpa.

Gordon Simpson was an officer in TSA, a Commissioner, thus he was often in charge of the Army’s work in other countries. I think from 1930-1931 he was the Divisional Commander here in Latvia. This is where he met my Grandma. They went to Finland, where they spent 3 years. They got married there and my Mum - Margaret was born. Then they moved to Jamaica, where they spent 8 years working and my Mum’s sister Marylla was born. Then their life looked like this: 4 years in Chicago, 3 years in Denmark, 3 years in Norway until they came back to England. In most of these places they fulfilled the duties of Territorial Commanders.

While they travelled the world, my Grandma’s sister Elisabeth lived in Latvia. When the war began, all foreign officers had to leave Latvia, and seeing as the documents related to Bruninieku street building during that time were signed by her, she must have taken on some leadership. She has also written something about that time, when the work of TSA was stopped. I know that Elisabeth was also the editor of War Cry, and had also been the leader of Riga I Corps. During the war she went to England. When I was born, my Grandpa had died and both sisters lived together. That is how I remember them. They lived five doors down from us. I usually met them both on Sundays in Army services. They usually sat with me. When I was little, they did not take me to the evening meeting. Instead Aunty Elisabeth would stay and look after me.

Do you remember what they were like as people?
They were both linguists, they loved education, which I think is quite characteristic of Latvians. They were always doing crosswords. They both spoke six languages- Russian, Latvian, English, French, Swedish and German. Elisabeth always worked as an interpreter, even when she lived in London. Aunty Elisabeth was very close to me. She always played with me, always gave me sweets. She loved birds and nature.

Grandma Franceska was a bit more remote. She did not always see the bright side of life. But meeting new people, she wanted to get to know them so much that she nearly pinned them to the wall with countless questions. They both loved people a lot.

Have you got any special memories of them from your childhood?
I remember about Elisabeth. She was in her eighties then, when I got a computer for my birthday. I was fourteen. Usually when people are that age, they are not bothered with technical things. Grandma, for example, did not get anything about technical things. There was one occasion when she phoned me and asked to come as her tape recorder was not working. She was going blind then and had all this stuff from the Blind Association to listen to at home. When I got there, all that had happened was just that the tape had got to the end..

Elisabeth Balshaitis and Sarah Ilsters. Photo from personal archive

In comparison, when Aunty Elisabeth found out about my new computer, she wanted to know how it worked. She was interested in technologies. Actually she was interested in everything new. She was always reading and was very curious about everything in life. She was a very clever person. They had both graduated from a school in St. Petersburg with high grades. They encouraged me to study as well.

Did something shape you as person? What did you take from them?
Definitely. From Aunty Elisabeth I have taken a real love for people, because she really loved me. She always found time for me even when my parents did not; as they had three other children and did not always have time to listen to me. She taught me to give time to people. That is important. There were probably other things, just at that age I might not have been aware of it.

I remember when I was about fifteen years old; I was in a park with Aunty Elisabeth. I had the opportunity of taking a summer job, but I was nervous to accept it. Elisabeth just went crazy. She said: „You have grown up now. You cannot just rely on your parents all the time. You have to take that job, sort yourself out”. This was like a kick in my backside. She had never spoken to me like that before. The job was in my Dad’s accountancy company, and I took it.

Do you know what they were like as leaders?
No, unfortunately not. No one has ever told me that. They did not like to speak about the time they spent in Latvia. Franceska found it very difficult, as she had to leave the fam¬ily behind; she could not go back. Aunt Elisabeth also experienced quite a lot during the war, so they did not like to speak about it. I never saw them as leaders myself. When I knew them, they were already retired.

Of course, at that time when you joined the Army, it was of some cost to yourself. They were radical Christians. They were of Catholic background, and it was a major change for them. There is a story about how Aunt Elisabeth got saved. She was working in a lawyer’s office, and she had been to see some Catholic Priest to find some answers about God. Ap¬parently he just gave her some books, told her to read them and sent her away. That did not help. Then one evening as she was sitting at the lawyer’s office reading the Bible she just understood, that she had to give her life to Jesus. She knelt and she did it. Then she became an officer in TSA. It was not easy for their Mum, who was Catholic, to see two of her children joining TSA. I think the main focus of the Army in that time was the salvation of Latvia. That definitely was their passion.

What is your passion?
To see people getting saved.

What do you think about God fulfilling His plan through generations?
I do think it is a bit strange that I am in Latvia now. May be there will be people to who it will sound weird, that several generations might carry out a specific plan of God. When God asked me to come to Latvia, I remember thinking- oh dear, what is happening, the circle is closing. Both of them were taken away from this country, but God brought me back.

What do you think you have to do in this country?
Be obedient to God.

How did you understand that you had to come to Latvia? Was it as sudden as the lightning or was it a gradual revelation?
I trained to be a teacher. Not because I wanted to teach in schools. I wanted to teach the Gospel and Christian things. I wanted to understand how a human brain works, how people learn. I worked a year in school and then started working in Christian ministry. After several years, I knew God wanted me to work abroad. I had an idea that it might be here, but it was rather difficult to come here at that time. That was the time, when TSA in Latvia had just restarted its activity. We had family in Latvia, so they kept us informed on what was happening there.

Elisabeth died in 1989. She never got to know that Latvia became a free country. I got the idea of coming here only in 1991. I thought if God really wanted me here, I have to test it. Therefore before I moved to live in Latvia, I came to visit for two summers. I was interested in the work of the Army and attended some services. I guess it was a gradual thing. Then I wrote to TSA in London to tell that I was ready to go anywhere and work. But they sent my papers here, as I told them I knew something about Latvia. David Young, the Regional Commander of the time said: ‘Come, we can use you!’

In July next year you will be commissioned as an officer in TSA. What do you think Franceska and Elisabeth would say if they could be there?
They probably would not believe it. Maybe they would believe that I had become an officer. But they would find it harder to believe that I am in Latvia. I do not know what they would say: ‘Well done! Keep going! We are proud of you!’ I think they would mostly be moved with the fact that I am in Latvia that would be their main emotion. Anyway, they know I am here. And sometimes I wonder what they would say.
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"My first memories are from a far away Island Jamaica. My sister Marylla and I gradually became aware that we were not Jamaicans, but that our dad and his family were British and mother had all her relations in another far away country Latvia. This did not mean much to us at the time. Mother had a very colourful national costume, and one day she made Latvian costumes for us and for our dolls. Dad took a film of us in these, sitting in the heat of our tropical garden having a tea party. We also had a few children’s books written in a very strange language, and this was Latvian, but this was about all we knew.


At the age of eight I became aware that a terrible thing had happened- a war in Europe. There was great sadness and fear for the safety of the relatives we did not yet know. Mother had very little news of her family for a long time. When Soviet Forces took over their lovely country many restrictions were put on the Latvians.. All letters sent out of the country were censured, so people were afraid to tell how bad conditions were for them. Mother could only try and read between the lines what life was really like..."

A fragment of Margaret Mitchell’s childhood memories (Franceska’s Daughter, Sarah’s Mum).