Samaritan’s Purse Christmas Gifts

At the end of our Christmas program (see the previous post), gifts were distributed to the children in attendance. These gifts came from Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian relief and evangelism organization. The gifts were wrapped in shoeboxes, and were marked for boys or girls, and with an age. I saw many children who were really excited about the gifts they received. To those of you who participate in such programs, thank you.

Grace and Peace

O ce veste minunata

Tonight (Sunday night) our church in Bucharest, Biserica Evanghelică Liberă Trinitatea (Trinity Evangelical Free Church), had its Christmas program. It was much like many Christmas Eve services I’ve been at in the U.S., with traditional Christmas carols and a short message. The candlelight carol was an old, traditional Romanian song, “O ce veste minunată” (“O what wonderful news”), and has an absolutely beautiful tune.

Here’s the lyrics, with my rather unpoetic translation:

1. O, ce veste minunată, Din Betleem ni s-arată. Că a nascut prunc Prunc din Duhul Sfânt Fecioara curată. 2. Mergând Iosif cu Maria La Betleem să se-nscrie. Într-un mic sălaș Lâng-acel oraș S-a născut Mesia. 3. Ce Domnul cel din vecie, Ni l-a trimis ca să vie, Să se nască Și să crească, Să ne mântuiască.

1. Oh, what wonderful news Is shown to us from Bethlehem. That a baby is born A baby from the Holy Spirit From the pure virgin. 2. As Joseph and Mary were going to Bethlehem, in order to be registered. In a small shepherds’ hut, Close to that town, The Messiah was born. 3. Whom the Lord, who is from old, Sent to us, so that He would come, To be born, And to grow, To save us.

Please let me know if the accented characters don’t display on your computer.

I’ve never heard this song in English. For those of you who are iTunes people, the song is available there for $0.99. Just search for “O ce veste minunata.”

Historical note: It was illegal to sing this song in public under communist rule in Romania, 1948-1989.

Grace and Peace

Debris flows — concrete in motion

A fellow member of the Affiliation of Christian Geologists recently sent out a great photo of sediments deposited by a debris flow on the White River, near Mt. Hood in Oregon in November. The deposit here is up to 20 feet (6-7 meters) thick.

Photo by Doug Jones, USFS

A debris flow is a mixture of mud, rock, and or ash; with varying amounts of water. These often have the consistency of wet concrete, and form when heavy precipitation falls on easily eroded material.

Oregonian article on White River debris flows.

Debris flow movie (15 MB)

Another debris flow movie (3 MB)

Grace and Peace