Day 4 Monday, May 31st. 2010

Well its been another lovely day here in Riga. First I got up and had a little breakfast. Then I was able to read for a few minutes before I went to the park. Carl walked me to tram stop where I had my first tram ride in Riga by myself. I've ridden the tram a couple times but never alone before today. It was pretty easy and uneventful. Of course I wasn't that worried because I'm a man and can fend for myself! =) No really it is a good thing that I'm fine going around the city alone because I will be doing a lot of traveling by myself (not because Carl and Becky don't care, they're just busy people and can't always be there to hold my hand)! Anyway once I got off the tram at the park I waited for Martins and Oscars, they showed up about 5 minutes after I did. Once Martins and Oscars arrived we handed out some flyers for our park outreach ministry. The flyers translated said something like, "don't be alone this summer, come and join us for many sports, games, and other fun activities." The flyers also told where the park was located and a couple other things but you get the idea. The park outreach is a great way to get teens involved with church and bible studies, that is how we met Raivis, Marija, and Liga which I have pictures of in my slideshow. After the park Oscars and I rode home with Martins where we saw his 1 month old son Timotejs. (The Latvian version of Timothy.) Then Martins wife Anda drove me back to the apartment and it was time for supper! Once we had cleaned up from supper it was time to go to the store. Carl and Becky took me to a supermarket in a new mall there in Riga. An interesting note is that all 4 wheels swivel on the shopping carts here which makes them a little bit more interesting to push around! The picture above is of me bagging the groceries at the store (Becky slipped this in while I wasn't paying attention). A couple things were similar to Aldi where I shop at home, like having to put money in the shopping cart and bagging your own groceries. After the store it was time to head home and restock the pantry! And now its about time for bed...

Observations about Riga

Here are a few observations of the interesting differences here in Riga. Some of these you may know about some you may not. The first thing that is very different is the length of daylight here. It gets "dark" around 11:30pm and starts getting light around 3:30am this time of year in Riga. Its crazy! The reason that I say "dark" is that it never really gets completely dark here. The next observation is that men and women both wear their wedding bands on their right hands here. This is opposite what I'm used to. Also when I bought a jacket here the zipper was on the opposite side and it kind of threw me at first! Another thing is the electrical sockets in the walls. The plugs are shaped completely different and they have 240V coming out of them as opposed to 110V back home! Also the toilets here have no handles on them! Most of them have a button on the top of the tank split into two halves. You push one half for #1 and both halves for #2! It is a very effecient design that helps conserve water. These will probably eventually catch on in the States. Another this is bottled water. If you buy a bottle of water here you will get carbonated water unless you specifically ask for "still" water. Ask me how I know! One more thing is the light switches. They don't really have switches like I'm used to they have rocker switches and most of the time they aren't in same room as the lights they control. They are just outside the room. Even bathrooms too. Hmm, this leaves room for some mean tricks! Yep I've already done that one though...anyway that's about it for now.

*The above image are of some of the light switches here in Riga*

Mission to Riga day 3 May 30th 2010

Here are the little pizza snacks that Becky and I made!

Mission to Riga day 3 May 30th 2010

Day 3 in Riga. It's Sunday and that means that I get to start activities with the youth! First we had bible study at Carl and Becky's at 1:00pm. We were celebrating 4 birthdays for the youth today. Before the youth arrived I helped Becky make personal pizzas (sliced bread with pizza sauce and cheese). After the youth arrived we ate some food and then played a game. The object of the game was to sit on an air pump to inflate balloons to a certain size. It went over really well (you can see pictures of the game in my slideshow). My team came in last place because I wasn't very fast at this game :( oh well. Once the game was finished we studied Exodus 20 "The Ten Commandments". I didn't really get much out of the Bible study because it was all in Latvian and no one translated for me :-/ . After Bible study it was time to walk to church which starts at 4:00pm. The name of the church is "Riga Reformed Bible Church" and their church service is very similar to Summer Oaks PCA where I attend at home. First we had a song "How Deep the Father's Love for Us", sung in Latvian of course. Then we had a responsive reading and another song. After that Alvis Sauka preached from John 6:41-71. Martins translated the sermon and it was very good! The sermon was 100% gospel focused. A funny illustration is that Alvis said after we become believers we can't just sit around like a bunch of cucumbers, we have to go out and share the gospel with non-believers so that they can also believe! Another thing Alvis talked about is that when believers are stressed out and emotionally unstable if we read scripture it brings us peace. He offered that the reason it brings us peace is because it is the voice of our Father God speaking to us through the scripture. He said it's like when we were young and afraid the voice of our father could calm us down and regain peace. I definately agree. After the sermon we recited the Nicene Creed and had the Lord's Supper. After communion we recited the Lord's Prayer and sang a couple more song including "Before the Throne of God Above" translated into Latvian. Once the service was over we had a time of fellowship over coffee and hot tea. Then it was time to head for Carl and Becky's apartment where all of the youth met for a party in the basement. We had pizza, chips, brownies, cake, and other delicious food. We played pool and other games. After we had the birthday cake we sang "Lord Reign In Me" and "Blessed Be Your Name". The music went really well! The youth loved the first two songs and then requested that we sing "Awesome Is the Lord" and "Here I Am to Worship". All of the songs were sung in english however because they didn't feel confident enough to sing them in Latvian yet. After the music we hung out a little while longer and then it was time for the youth to go home :( . Anyway that's pretty much sums up today and I'm headed to bed soon!

Mission to Riga day 2 May 29th

Today I got up just before noon (or just before 5:00 am EST). I got ready and Becky drove me over to Martins and Anda's home where we discussed plans for this summer. But first we made pizza! Pizza "from scratch" as Martis said. I grated the cheese and cut the salami (in Latvia salami on pizza is called pepperoni). After lunch Martins and I went to the store and bought sushi for his grandmother and we delivered it to her. On the way back home we drove by the apartment that I will be staying in most of the time here. Once we were back home we chose 2 songs to sing tomorow at the youth event after church. We chose "Lord Reign in Me" and "Blessed Be Your Name". We will be singing the songs in both languages, the first time through in english and the second time through in Latvian. We will do it this way because most of the Latvian youth know english and like to practice it but some of them are not confident and will only sing in Latvian (and the only way for me to lead is to sing english of course). After picking songs and practicing them a couple of times we ate dinner. Anda fixed us "Bean Salad" which we also ate with bread. She also fixed a dessert that was called "Heavenly Manna" which I included a picture of above. It was delicious! It was made from strawberries and you pour milk over top of it which you can see in the bottom of the bowl on the picture. Then it was time for Martins to drive me home to Carl and Becky's where I talked with Carl and Becky some. I found out that I have 2 cousins who work for MTW that Carl and Becky know! After that I'm doing this blogging and then off to bed.

Riga day 1 May 28th

From left to right: Martins, Me, and Carl.

Riga day 1 May 28th

Well after a lot of prayer, preparation, and support raising I'm finally here! I had about 15 hrs. of travel all together including the 3 flights and layovers. The travel went smooth but I wore my contacts which wasn't a good idea because I slept a lot and that isn't good for wearing contacts. I wanted to take them out but couldn't because my contact case and solution were in my checked luggage so I could barely open my eyes for the last 5 hrs. of travel! Anyway I met Carl Chaplin at the airport and he took me to the apartment where we met his wife Becky. I feel right at home here already because Carl and Becky are extremely welcoming and they are about my parents age (actually they have a daughter about my age too). An interesting note is that when I got there Becky had some milk sitting out on the counter and it was warm, it hadn't been in the refridgerator. I asked Becky about it and she said that before this type of milk is opened it can sit in the pantry for a couple of months before it goes bad! I've never heard of this type of milk before! Anyway Carl and Becky took me by the bank so I could pull out some Latvian currency which I put to use right away buying eTalons for public transportation and a sim card for my Latvian cell phone. Well even though I made a thorough packing list I somehow forgot a jacket so when we were at the mall buying the cell phone Becky found a store that had hoodies and hooded jackets for half price. They were gracious enough to buy me two! This is such a blessing because I am operating on a budget an can't afford to get off track of my budget. After this we met Martins Martisone and his 3 yr. old daughter Antonetta for dinner which was delicious! After dinner it was back to the apartment and then off to bed!