Christmas Eve in Iraq
I asked Aaron Messner to write the following story he told us at staff meeting today:
Here’s a special Christmas story. My sister-in-law was visiting for the Christmas holiday and attended the 7:30 Christmas Eve service with us. She thoroughly enjoyed the service and after we got back to the house, she asked if the service would become available online. I told her that the service was webcast live and would be available to download from the Tenth website in another day or so. Upon hearing this she said, “I’ve got to let my brother know about this.” Her brother is currently serving with the U.S. Air Force in Iraq. She immediately sent a text message to her brother, telling him that she had just attended a wonderful Christmas Eve service at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia and she encouraged him to try to download the service if he had a chance over the coming days. Within minutes she received a surprising text message from her brother. He said that he was awake and on duty (it was the middle of the night in Iraq). He told her that while he was working, a fellow soldier had invited him over to his laptop computer. The soldier said to him “Hey, I’m downloading the Christmas Eve service from my home church back in Philadelphia, do you want to listen in?” It turns out that the soldier’s home church was none other than Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. So, my sister-in-law’s brother had already listened to the Tenth service, he had enjoyed the live webcast in the wee hours of Christmas morning somewhere in Iraq.
Paul Jones told me of a group of people from Sarah Childress's town in Ohio who gathered in one location to see and listen to the service on a large screen monitor. Where else were people listening in?
Here’s a special Christmas story. My sister-in-law was visiting for the Christmas holiday and attended the 7:30 Christmas Eve service with us. She thoroughly enjoyed the service and after we got back to the house, she asked if the service would become available online. I told her that the service was webcast live and would be available to download from the Tenth website in another day or so. Upon hearing this she said, “I’ve got to let my brother know about this.” Her brother is currently serving with the U.S. Air Force in Iraq. She immediately sent a text message to her brother, telling him that she had just attended a wonderful Christmas Eve service at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia and she encouraged him to try to download the service if he had a chance over the coming days. Within minutes she received a surprising text message from her brother. He said that he was awake and on duty (it was the middle of the night in Iraq). He told her that while he was working, a fellow soldier had invited him over to his laptop computer. The soldier said to him “Hey, I’m downloading the Christmas Eve service from my home church back in Philadelphia, do you want to listen in?” It turns out that the soldier’s home church was none other than Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. So, my sister-in-law’s brother had already listened to the Tenth service, he had enjoyed the live webcast in the wee hours of Christmas morning somewhere in Iraq.
Paul Jones told me of a group of people from Sarah Childress's town in Ohio who gathered in one location to see and listen to the service on a large screen monitor. Where else were people listening in?
posted by M Clark at 1/02/2007 05:02:00 PM
3 Comments:
I watched it live, with tears in my eyes, from Aberdeen, Scotland. Trey and I also watch the 9am morning service every Sunday while we eat our lunch after coming home from our church service here. The live webcasts have been such a blessing and encouragement to us so far from home!
Becky Holloway
Tobias and I praise God for the talent he has given us to be able to provide the services. To Him be the Glory.
As an aside For those who noticed it, the "streaks" or "lines" in the webcast during the Christmas Eve and New Years Eve services we due to the camera's inability to handle the low light conditions. We apologize for the poor picture quality and hope to be able to resolve it in the future.
Also, please note that the webcasting committee has a News Blog for announcements and up-to-the-minute information: http://tenthwebcast.blogspot.com/
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