What can a sweatshirt tell you?

Notice anything unusual about these pictures? -- Something they have in common?

In each one I am wearing my ACORN sweatshirt! All of these picures were taken this sumer. It really has been rather cool and quite often windy.

Besides the fact that I really like this sweatshirt - the way it feels
and looks, etc., the main reason I wear it is because it reminds of the Acorn Center in Corvallis where people are becoming adjusted to a new life - one where they have to learn a new language and new ways of doing things. Now I have a great deal more understanding of their situation and am happy that the Acorn Center exists to express the love of God in a tangible way.

The first picture was taken when my sister was here and we were making a big effort to clean out some of the rooms in the church and put things in order. Though you can't really tell from the picture - I am sorting the pieces to a flannelgraph set that Calvin church sent to the Tilza church a number of years ago. In the process of cleaning we found the book with all the stories that go with it.


In the second picture I am trying some of my Latvian with Ina the shopkeeper at the largest shop in town. She is also a neighbor of ours, just behind our property.


The third and fourth pictures are from several exploratory bike rides around Tilza when Lorrie was here. We would go out most every day and pray for the town and just learn what was here.

Lorrie was often taking pictures of animals becasue her grandchilden would be inerested but sometimes she would get a shot of me.


The last picture is of another shopkeeper who was so very helpful in working through some language exercises with me.