Egypt picture link

Here you can find pictures of our recent trip to Egypt--camels and all. Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2013109&l=86959&id=1177193629

Click, click, click...

Remember to click on any photo for a larger version.

Enjoy!

Love,

Anita and Brad

Worship and Friends

Chief Secretary Alistair Herring joins Commissioners Netty and Wim van der Harst in the orchestra, along with Captain Pasha Gorbunov on his last Sunday serving in Moscow.

Sasha and Sveta Sharov first entered our lives when they served as corps officers while we led the Moldova Region.

Captain (now Major) Vic Tidman taught fund raising to our cadets, along with some other topics, briefly leaving his wife to manage their corps in St. Petersburg.

On Men's Sunday, Brad joined in with the choir. Sometimes they even let him sing.

Captain Pasha Gorbunov says farewell as he heads to a new city, new bride-to-be, and new appointment as Corps Officer, following three years serving in our Education Department. We will miss him and his hundreds of thousands of words in translation...plus his smile and sense of fun.

Anita doesn't usually like to blow her own horn, but she makes an exception for the flute. This was taken during Holiness Meeting in Taganka Corps.

Central Invasion--Central Territory, that is

A Salvation Army youth team from the USA Central Territory spent six weeks in the Eastern Europe Territory, and Brad shared Red Square with them on their last night here.

Like a Palace!

Anita basks in the dusklight atop a bridge in the Palace Park.

Catherine the Great's palace, restored and magnificent.


Brad on a bridge in the Palace Park.

Texas team wrap-up

Jim and April Taylor have a cuppa during the St. Pete, Russia, youth cafe. Can you believe they will return to two of their children getting married this summer?

A very tired but equally inspired team congregate on the "express" train back to Moscow, ready to fly back to Texas the following day with tales to share.

A future post will show you some of the service between arrival and departure.
We caught this lovely sunset from the train window, and felt it summed up the team's whole journey--it had to end, but it was lovely as the time transpired.

Texas in (North) Russia

While gathering for Easter Sunrise Service in St. Petersburg, we met a group drinking next to the local eternal flame. They accepted some gifts from us (crosses and tracts) and sang a song for us. In return we had our picture taken with them. Barry Brown to the left looks right at home in Russia.
Captain Vic Tidman, corps officer for St. Petersburg and area coordinator for North Russia, flanks the various folk gathered for the sunrise service, which was chilly but bright. Texas train dispatcher Steve Webb brought a lively devotional.

Major April Taylor serves breakfast back at the St. Pete corps, where a host of folks enjoyed bacon, scrambled eggs, fried ham, and juice and yogurt, plus coffee with all the fixins.

Texas in Russia

From deep in the heart of Texas came, well, a team of Texans. Here Steve and Janet, Barry, Becky, and April and Jim join Brenda and Rich Herivel during a teaching session at Taganka Corps in Moscow.

Becky Guest guffaws at one of Major Jim Taylor's typical witticisms.

The Texans gather round the dining table with Territorial and Russia Divisional leadership Sunday afternoon before heading to St. Petersburg with Captain Vic and Ellen Tidman.

Our Granddaughter Gracie grows up...

Gracie giggles at the fact that she is (sorta) walking!

Gracie is getting up in the world, with a little help from Mom/Tracy.

Grandma Anita holds a sleeping angel, dreaming of endless items on which to chew as she brings in her baby teeth.

Brad and Anita are flanked by Yuri Gulyanitsky (Territorial Corps Sergeant Major) and Majors Vivian and Ian Callander, Divisional leaders for The Salvation Army in Moldova.

While in Chisinau, Brad and Anita attended a concert with the Callanders. The first group was an all percussion affair playing in a semi-classical style. An acquired taste for some...
Construction on a new orthodox chapel has begun near the Divisional Commander's home. This is a much simpler achitecture than we normally see in such a structure.

Our Old Stomping Grounds

A flock of sheep met us while we travelled from Bucharest to Chisinau, Moldova. They seemed quite content to trot along ahead of us as the day drew to a close and they headed home.
The Salvation Army's Divisional Commander of Moldova, Major Ian Callender (from Australia) leads devotions during continuing education classes with officers within their first five years of service.

Brad speaks with officers about the task of preaching. Here he looks quite...tall.

Ro-Mania!

Anita teaches local leaders in Bucharest Corps. We were in Romania for three days of teaching and worship.
Regional officer Captain Valerie Lalac glances back from the picnic table during a lovely outdoor meal which followed the Holiness Meeting that Sunday. Great Romanian dishes filled the table...
Children of Romania are typically quiet when you first meet them, but they quickly warm to you, as this group did to Brad. We really enjoyed seeing them play and sing together.

From a long line of Salvationists...

Anita and the Eastern Europe Terrotoriy's training principal Captain Sveta Sharova flank the great-great-great-great-great grandson of William Booth. Major Patrick Booth met our two ladies at the ETL conference in Amsterdam.

Good friends and fellowship

Anita sits alongside Mary and Katie Salarishvili, daughters of Georgia's Regional Commanders Gia and Eka Salarishvili. We have known the girls now for five years.

We stayed with the Salarishvili family in Tblissi during our educational travels. This is The Salvation Army's latest property purchase in Georgia. Property is very important to our service due to escalating rent expenses everywhere in our Territory.

Mary Salarishvili offers a walnut which has soaked in its shell in honey. Delicious!

Good Edjukation matters

Anita brings a lesson to officers at Georgia's continuing education seminar in Tblissi.

Territorial Corps Sergeant Major Yuri Gulyanitsky addresses local officers in Tblissi with a powerpoint presentation on Salvation Army internationalism.

Anita investigates Amsterdam's Red Light District. The Salvation Army has a corps in this particularly disreputable part of town, and Anita attended this corps while in the Netherlands on a European Training Leaders Conference.

Georgian journey

Brad enjoys a local Georgian dish, Hingkali, in the capitol city of Tblissi while he and Anita conducted a week of educational seminars there.

Cadet Rezzo climbs the extremely tight staircase to the Georgian classroom at Tblissi Central Corps. Brad taught doctrine with the cadets, meeting them for the first time since they began classes in Georgia in September 2007. Most Georgians still cannot secure documents for travel to Russia.

Here the Georgian cadets seek warmth from a space heater due to the unusually cold weather in Georgia.