Day 28 Thursday June 24th 2010

Well this was the second, and most packed day of the family camp. It was a good, but tiring day! First we started off with breakfast, then a morning lecture by Ted Turnau, who was our guest speaker for camp this year. Ted and his family currently live in Prague, Czech Republic, and their sending church is "Redeemer" in Winston-Salem, NC. Redeemer is in the same presbytery with "Summer Oaks PCA", "Grace Fellowship PCA", and "Meadowview PCA". The Turnau's used to live in Winston-Salem, and know Lexington well because of our famous barbecue! It really is a small world! Here I am in Latvia, with a family currently living in Prague, and we used to live about 30 minutes from each other! I think it's kind of cool. Anyway, the title for the camp was "The Nature of Truth and the Truth about Nature". This is because some Latvians participate in pagan nature worship. The Jāni celebration is the most important time of the year for these pagan worshipers, thus the need for this type of teaching at this time of year. This was the first time that I heard Ted speak, and I really enjoyed it. I felt like the teaching was very clear, and very direct. He didn't hold anything back! A couple of times I almost let out a loud ''Amen'' because he was just nailing it and preaching the truth, but I held back however, partially because I was too shy, and partially because I didn't want to distract anyone from the lecture... Anyway, after each lecture we had ''small groups'', and I was helping Mārtiņš, and Carl lead the teenage small group. We played some fun games, had a little discussion, and we sang some songs in English. I was in charge of the music including: picking out the songs, typing up and printing the song sheets, and teaching the new songs to the teens. The teens really enjoyed the music! I had a funny mistake however, because we were singing early in the morning and with little sleep, my voice gave out on one of the high notes and jumped up to a higher pitch like I was going through puberty again! It was funny enough that I laughed out loud during the song, because I just couldn't hold it in! Things like this are good for my humility! ... During our free time in the middle of the day, some of the youth and I walked down to the lake for some swimming. The water was nice and refreshing. It was a little cool compared to home, but it was quite nice. I think I'm starting to get used to this stuff! Anyway, after swimming was dinner and another lecture. Then I went to dancing lessons taught by Egils Šmagris. Egils is a professional dancer that attends RRBC with his family. He is very gifted, and an excellent teacher. This being said I still could hardly get the hang of it! I just don't have the coordination between my hands and feet! It seems like I can do one part or the other, not both at the same time! I enjoyed watching Egils demonstrate how it was supposed to be done dancing with his daughter Evita, who is also a talented dancer of course. After dancing, some of the men (both youth and adults) wanted to play some basketball in the gym. I told them that I wasn't going to play because I'm terrible at basketball, but one of the teens didn't even know the rules so I wound up playing anyway! Once we were through playing basketball (my team lost, partially because of me), the teens and I went for a midnight swim in the lake! The Latvians just love midnight swimming! I'm not really sure why. =) ... Well that's about it for today, Čau!
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P.S. An interesting note about the facility that we were in this year. The building is called Ivandes Mansion. It was built in the 1850's for a German ''Baron'' or landowner. It was destroyed sometime after 1900, but was rebuilt around 1910. It really was an interesting place! It had really fancy architecture like you would expect for a mansion... just thought y'all might like to know about it!

Day 27 Wednesday June 23rd 2010

Well first I want to apologize for taking so long to update this blog! Things have been a little busy, and now that I've gotten behind, it's going to take a long time to catch up... Our summer family camp has come and gone :( , it's sad but true. I think that the camp went really well! We had a great facility, great teaching, and great fellowship! There were 120 people at the camp this year, which is about 5 more than last year. One of our problems however, was that we didn't have 120 beds at this facility. That meant that some people were tent camping outside in the field area, and I was one of those people. Yep, I slept in a tent with two teenage guys during the camp. It was fun, and we had a great time! The tent belonged to Jūstas Sāuka, and Chris Bolyard from the US also stayed with us... Anyway, pictured above are some of the youth and I doing a skit on the first night, which was during the Jāni celebration. I also sang and played my guitar during the celebration, which was a tradition started last year. I played and sang one song solo, but I also played a song by Metallica called ''Nothing Else Matters'' which Jūstas sang to. After that, it was time for our annual ''Night Trek". The Night Trek was fun, but it was too long for me! It lasted until 4:00 in the morning on Thursday! Remember that Wednesday was the first day of camp, this is why I decided to walk back to camp around 1:45 am, and some of the youth followed. Anyway, that's the main stuff for Wednesday... Čau!

Day 22 Friday June 18th 2010

Well as you can see, I went to the beach again today! It was sunny and warm which is an answer to prayer! ...After getting up and going to the gym this morning, I rode my bike over to Mārtiņš' house. Mārtiņš and I rode the tram into "the center" where we met the youth at 14:00. Once we found everyone, we all bought train tickets, and then rode the train to Jūrmela which is a beach town near Rīga. We had a great time playing football, volley ball, throwing the frisbee, and swimming in the sea. The water was cold! Even the Latvians said so! I'm sure it's not worst they've ever been in, but still! Anyway, all of the youth and I had a great time so it was a successful trip! Now I'm at Mārtiņš and Anda's working on my blog until bedtime...

Day 21 Thursday June 17th 2010

Hey y'all! Today was a pretty good one! First thing this morning I helped Mārtiņš take an amplifier to a repair shop here in Rīga. (The only reason he asked for my help is because he was responsible for his 1 month old son Tīmotejs and it was a lot easier if I helped him.) After that we came back to Mārtiņš' house and ate some lunch, yumm! Then Mārtiņš took me to the grocery store so that I could stock up on some food. After that he took me (and my newly purchased groceries) to my apartment where I stayed for a few minutes before heading out. I was headed to Ungars' apartment to watch one the World Cup games (Mexico vs. France). Ungars came by and picked me up at my apartment, then we picked up Bill who is a Fulbrighter from America. Bill has been in Rīga for 6 months as a music teacher and he leaves on Saturday, so tonight was a farewell party for him. The evening was great! Ungars grilled out some marinated pork that was delicious, he also has a way of making me laugh harder than anyone else here in Rīga! After everything was over, Ungars called a taxi for Bill and I. This was my first taxi experience here in Rīga and it went pretty well. It was around 12:30 when we left Ungars' apartment so it was a little late, but still ok. Anyway, that about sums up today! Čau!

Me playing music on Sunday

Birthday Pictures

Day 18 Monday June 14th 2010

Well it's official, I turned 22yrs. old today! It's been a good birthday but it's just not the same when I'm away from my family... Anyway, after getting ready this morning I went to city fitness to work out for a little bit (Thad if you're reading this I want to say that although I'm not working quite as hard as when you push me, I'm trying to keep up a good routine)! After I was through at the gym, I went home to grab my stuff that I would need at the beach. That's right I had my birthday party at the beach this year! (Rachel I know you're jealous!) So I biked over to Carl & Becky's apartment where everyone met up to drive over to the beach. One of the young adult's parents have a beach house outside of Riga and that is where we had my birthday. We had a great time playing croquet, singing, eating, laughing, and goofing off. I got two really thoughtful presents, one is the T-Shirt that I'm wearing in the photo above (from the Martisons family), and the other is a picture frame with 3 pictures of me playing music here in Riga (from Ieva). After we were through at the beach it was time for me bike back home. An interesting note is that there was still enough daylight at 10:30 pm for me to bike back over to my apartment where I arrived just before 11:00!

Day 17 Sunday June 13th 2010

Hey everyone! Sorry that I haven't been updating very much lately! Today was a busy but really good day. First after getting up and getting myself ready, I caught trolly bus #5 which took me close enough to Carl & Becky's that I was able to walk the rest of the way. Once I arrived at Carl & Becky's I did some blogging while the teens were showing up. We had a huge group! I think we had 14 which is a large amount for this size church! The first thing I did with the teens was teach them how to play the game "Mafia". They seemed to enjoy it, but this is a game that needs good strategy and you can't develop that strategy until you have played it several times. We'll definitely play it again so they can get the hang of it. Anyway, as soon as the game was finished I had to leave the Bible Study and head to RRBC where I practiced the music for today. When I first walked in to RRBC, I met a group of young musicians from the Baptist church (this is their building, RRBC just rents the use of it). Their band was practicing and I was actually able to help them a little bit. You see they didn't have a tuner and they were trying to get one of the guitars tuned by using the piano. None of them had "a musicians ear" and they had actually gotten the guitar in an alternate tuning by mistake! Oops! So I was more than happy to fix this little problem for them. (I was very careful with how I interacted with them. I didn't want to seem like I knew it all, or thought less of them because they didn't!) After that I practiced with a singer/songwriter that attends RRBC, her name is Elija. (Note that all j's sound like y's in Latvian.) She has one the best sounding voices that I've ever heard and she is an excellent songwriter. I've heard some of her songs playing on the Christian radio station here in Riga! We played 4 songs, one of them I knew (In Christ Alone, translated) and the other 3 were new to me. God really blessed the music and everything went smoothly. After church I went to Carl & Becky's where I spent some time with members from RRC (Ungar's church). The picture above was taken there. The fellowship was good and was filled with plenty of laughter and silly jokes... Anyway, that about sums it up!

Pictures from our Friday night party!

Top photo is Martins and I showing how to play a game where you try to pull the pantyhose off the opponents head not using your hands, only using your pantyhose with tennis ball.

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This is my team that won this bridge building game. We built a bridge using only spahgetti noodles, 3 apples, and 5 wooden sticks.

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The bottom two are of me playing the game "Chubby Bunny". Where I had to stuff marshmellows in my mouth and say "Chubby Bunny" untill my mouth is too full to say the word anymore. It's hillarious!

Day 15 June 11th 2010

Today has been a busy one! First I got up and got ready to go, then it was time to move into my new apartment! Carl drove all of my stuff over in the car while I biked over so that I will have the bike at the apartment whenever I need it (thanks Carl). Right after we got everything in the apartment it was time for me to head over to Martins and Anda's to plan for tonight. We needed to plan all of the fun activities and buy everything that we needed for tonight. But first we needed to make lunch. So the picture above is of me peeling potatoes (beside me is Martins' daughter, Antonetta). After lunch we made a list of the things needed for tonight and went to the grocery store. We got everything we needed no problem, including women's pantyhose...when two grown men walk into the women's section, right next to the underwear, and grab two pairs of pantyhose, you definately get a few funny looks! Anyway, we had everything we needed and so we headed for the checkout where I paid for everything. The reason I paid, is because I was able to raise a little bit more money than I need, so this was a way to really help out this ministry (PTL)! After the store we headed home, picking up 3 of the people for tonight along the way. Then we prepared everything we bought at the store for tonight. And tonight was awesome! God blessed our time with the teens! We had 14 people including Martins' family, and the teen that I asked everyone to pray about came tonight! PTL!!! ...Well that's all I have time to type up right now because I no longer have computer access where I live...

Day 14 June 10th 2010

I've been here two weeks today. It's hard to believe that almost 25% of my time here has come and gone already! Anyway, I don't really have anything exciting today...I've just been preparing to move into my own apartment tomorow, woohoo! The first thing I did after getting ready this morning was bike over to my new apartment with Becky, to meet Christina (she is the missionary that normally stays in this apartment). We talked with Christina for a while and she showed me a couple more things about the apartment (the picture is of Christina and I in the kitchen of the apartment). Oh, and everyone who is praying for me, you can pray that I'm able to cook enough edible food to keep myself from utter starvation! You see even though I've lived on my own for over 2 1/2 years, I really don't know how to cook anything...not anything that's ok to eat anyway! At home I have a loving family including a mom, two sisters, and sister-in-law that feed me on a regular basis, some of them twice a week. I also buy pre-cooked meals and eat out whenever it's needed (I know it's never really needed, but you get my point). There really aren't very many pre-cooked meals here and I definately can't afford to eat out very much...I see a bunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in my future! Anyway, after we were through at the apartment, Becky and I biked home. The rest of the day has been filled up with doing laundry! Laundry here takes a long time because the washing machines are small and only take a 1/2 load, and Becky doesn't have a vented dryer. I had never used a ventless dryer before today but it takes about 1 1/2 hr. to dry one load! With this type dryer all of the water goes into a container in the bottom that you have to empty out after every cycle...as I told you is hasn't been a very exciting day, mostly just housework, boring!!! Well that's about it for today! Chow!

Day 13 June 9th 2010

Well I'm at the end of another good day here in Riga! This morning started out kind of slow like usual, then I did some planning for tonight and Friday night. I planned two songs for tonight, and planned some fun activities for Friday night. The songs that I picked were, "All Creatures Of Our God and King" (David Crowder Band version), and "Better Is One Day". After I selected these songs, I typed up some song sheets and printed out several copies. I also printed out instructions for the activities on Friday night. Once I had everything printed out, it was time to drive over to Martins and Anda's for our planning session. The planning went well, and we also had some good prayer time...Now let me explain some of our summer plans. Normally during the school year on Wednesday nights we have a young adult Bible Study, but during the summer we're changing things up a bit. We want Wednesday nights during the summer to be a place where non-believers feel welcomed so that the young adults can invite their non-believing friends. Tonight we watched a movie called "Expelled" (starring Ben Stein), and then we had a discussion about the movie. I recommend this movie to anyone who hasn't seen it, even though it's not a Christian movie, and I think that it brings up a few good questions. It's basically about the fact that in America (other countries as well) the vast majority of evolution scientists reject the possibilty of "Intelligent Design" (ID). Not only do they reject it, but many people have lost their jobs for mentioning the possibilty of "ID" being truth. Ben Stein suggests that our freedom in that area has been taken away. I personally enjoyed the movie and I also enjoyed our discussion about the movie. We had two new people show up tonight, one which was openly a non-believer, and the other I'm not quite sure about. The one that was openly a non-believer definately disagreed with a lot of the movie, and also our opinions. But it was really good to have him there! He is very smart and brought up some good points, some that I agree with, and some that I disagree with. He knows where I stand, but no one in the group made him feel like his view's were not welcome, or not to be expressed. I am praying that his heart would be opened to the truth, and that God would show him the truth. Please pray with me. Anyway, I think that tonight was a great success, and I thank God for that! I also thank the many people who have been praying with me and for me. I truly believe that what y'all are doing is every bit as important as what I'm doing! Without the Lord's help and your prayers, my time here would be absolutely worthless! Thankyou for being a key part of this mission! After everything was over, Carl and I drove Liga back to her apartment, and then headed home. We got back around 23:30, so now it's officially Thursday and I need to get in bed!

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P.S. I know that the picture above isn't that great, but it's the only one that I had for today!

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Also, anyone that is interested in scientific evidence that backs up Biblical Creationism should check out Dr. Kurt Wise. He is a Young Earth Creationist and is arguably "Creationism's most highly qualified and most itelligent scientist." I have personally heard Dr. Wise speak, and I think that he is very gifted.

Day 12 Tuesday June 8th 2010

Hey y'all! The first thing I would like to do today is thank all of my prayer supporters...I know that I have been surrounded continually with prayer and it shows! I can't thank y'all enough for that! Well, today the weather has been dreary, but it's still been a good day. Nothing very interesting happened this morning...after I got up I did the usual, then I played my guitar and sang for a while which was really good, and I also read for a while. On Tuesdays we have our weekly planning meeting with Martins and Anda, and also park outreach ministry. We weren't able to have our planning meeting however, because Martins was at the doctor. As you can see in the photo, he is bandaged up pretty good! He has an infection in his right thumb. He doesn't know how it happened, he explained to me that, "my thumb just kept getting bigger and bigger!" Please pray that he will heal quickly, as he is a huge part of the Lord's work here in Riga! Anyway, Carl and I started the park outreach by ourselves because Martins was still tied up at the doctor's office. It went pretty well, and we had a great turnout considering the rainy weather! (See photo.) We played football (soccer), and dodge ball. Martins showed up at the end, and it was good to see him! As we were about to leave, we reminded the teens about our cookout/game night on Friday, and I have a prayer request. There is another party on Friday for the teens that are graduating (going from middle to high school), and basically they all get really drunk. One teen said that he just needed to decide before Friday, "if I want to get drunk, or don't want to get drunk." He said he's leaning towards our party because, at the other there will be 50+ students that are really drunk. I told him that we would really love to have him at our party, and that it is going to be a great time, but y'all know that my words can't change anything, only God can decide whether he comes or not! So again, please pray with me that he will come to the Lord's party, rather than the devil's party, and I will definately let y'all know what happens! After the park, Carl and I drove home to meet Becky. Then we walked to "Rimi" our closest grocery store, to stock up on some food! Now I'm typing this up, and I will get to bed eventually...

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P.S. If you click on any of the pictures that I've posted you can see them full-size.

Pictures of the Market

These pictures were taken inside a market here in Riga. This building was originally built as an aircraft hanger for a "blimp" during WWI. There are 4 of these all in the same city block.

Day 11 Monday June 7th 2010

Another day in Riga has come and gone! It's been a good day! First, I went through my morning routine, then I had some debrief/prayer time with Carl and Becky. The debrief went very well, and it helped our team grow closer together. I say that because, one of the things I did was share personal things that are going in my spiritual life. This is never a comfortable thing, but it's good to get of my comfort zone! And really, it was a good thing and I'm glad that we did it. After we finished praying, we went near my new apartment to check out public transportation routes, grocery stores, and restaraunts etc. One of the interesting things was the market pictured above. The building for this market is 1 of 4 old aircraft hangars built to house "blimps" during WWI. While we were out, we grabbed a couple personal size pizzas at a local deli to tide us over 'till dinner. After our snack, we walked down to the apartment because Carl hadn't seen it yet. The picture above is of me standing in front of the apartment building. Once we were done at the apartment, we came home and ate the supper that Becky fixed. Now I'm on the computer untill bedtime...

Youth Game Sunday June 6th 2010

Day 10 Sunday June 6th 2010

Hey y'all! It's been a great Lord's Day today! First I got up and showered, then I did some organization in my room (I try to keep everything neat and tidy because I'm a guest in someone else's home). After that, I grabbed a bowl of cereal before the teens showed up for Bible Study at 13:00. One teen, Ivars (pronounced Eevars), showed up before I was through with breakfast. I had been told that this might happen, and actually I think it's a good thing if the teens want to show up early. Anyway, Bible Study was underway in no time, and we had a great turnout! First we started off with a fun game, like normal, but this time I had to plan the game! The game went over really well, and all the youth seemed to really enjoy it! It's actually called "snort". The object of the game is to keep a straight face without smiling or laughing, and the last person still in the game wins. Everyone stands facing inwards in a circle, and one at a time you turn to your neighbor and snort. A double snort reverses the direction of play. It's absolutely hillarious! (I took some video and posted a link to it, but at this point they decided to use animal noises instead of snorts. Personally I think the original was better, but oh well!) After the game, we read the 8th commandment from Exodus 20, and then a passage from Luke 18. Everything was done in Latvian so I'm not sure exactly what was said, but I assume that it was good! After Bible Study, it was time to attend RRBC (Riga Reformed Bible Church). Church was good, and Alvis Sauka delivered a sermon from John 7 (he started by reading all of chapter 7, not a short passage)! I recognized two of the songs again today, but I couldn't come up with the names. :-/ After church we had 2 teens, and 2 young adults over to Carl and Becky's to watch the movie "Luther", which is basically about the life and work of Martin Luther. The movie was very inspiring, and we all enjoyed it! Once the movie was over, everyone left, and then it was time for cleanup...yippee! So I helped Carl and Becky clean up the apartment from the day's activities, and then it was time for bed!

Pictures!

Top photo: This is an interesting lamp that Liga's mother made. It's made from a bamboo like plant that only grows here in Latvia and it's poisnous until it's completely dried out like this...

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Next photo: Liga is an artist and one of her main things is wall art. This building has some of her handywork!

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Next photo: Here I'm beside Liga's work.

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Bottom photo: The view looking towards the front of the bus this morning. The other one on my post is looking towards the rear. If you put them together you kind of get an idea what we were dealing with, but it still doesn't do it justice!

Day 9 Saturday June 5th 2010

Well today has been an interesting one! After my morning routine (a shower and quick breakfast), Becky and I walked to the bus stop to catch trolly bus #1. We were heading towards the Latvian Open Air Museum with a friend, Liga. Once we got off trolly bus #1 we met Liga at the bus stop while waiting for alto bus #1 (a diesel powered bus unlike the electric trolly bus). At first everything was normal, but then...a huge crowd of people came up to wait for the bus! We stepped up to the curb so that we could get on early, and it was a good thing to! When the bus got there it already looked full, and we had a huge crowd of people to pile on there! Somehow everyone managed to squeeze in, but we were packed in like sardines (the pictures don't do the situation justice)! The real problem was that we were already at about 110% capacity, and we had a ton of stops before the crowd of people could get off! This meant that at every stop we came to, we stopped, opened the doors, and people struggled with attempts to get on...a few people managed to squeeze in but most failed, and I saw 3 people get hit by the door because they thought that they were in and they weren't! At one point, 3 strong willed women were determined to make it on, so they put 1 woman in front and the other 2 women pushed on her back (like football players, lowering their shoulders and digging in with their feet), while people on the but shouted NO! NO! The women, though strong willed, were unsuccessfull and thus very unhappy! It was absolute craziness! I thought a fist fight was going to break out! One girl that failed to get on went hysterical, she was crying and shouting to everyone around! Anyway, the bus ride took about 55 minutes instead of 40 minutes like normal, but we got there safe and sound. Once we were at the museum we walked around and took a ton of pictures, checking out all the neat stuff as we went along. At about 13:00 we ate a picnic lunch by the lake, in the warm sunshine, ahh! The museum was pretty cool, and we all had a good time. After the museum Becky and I headed towards home, this time opting to take a micro bus (Mercedes Sprinter van) to avoid having another crowded bus experience! Once we got back to Riga, we walked over to catch tram #7. At the tram stop we were approached by a homeless looking man wanting to sell us a Russian coin. I wasn't interested and Becky didn't have any money (really she had spent it earlier), so I insisted that he move on and try to sell it to someone else, but he wasn't going anywhere! Then he rubbed Becky's arm and squeezed it! So I tried to move him along again, but Becky said it was ok, and he stayed continuing to squeeze her arm a second time! Then thankfully our tram came and we got away from him! Once we got back to the apartment, we told Carl about our eventful day, and then eventually ate some supper. Now I'm just typing this up on the computer before heading to bed...

More observations in Riga

Here are a few more differences that I've found in Riga. The first is pictured at left: these are chips! They have regular potato chips like we have in the States, but they also have these more traditional chips. Second is the cars. Here most cars have power windows in the front but manual windows in the back! I've never seen such an option! In the States you either have full power, or full manual, not half and half! (I actually think it's kind of neat). Also the cars are smaller of course, many of them being diesel, and most of them being front-wheel drive. Another thing is, when you pay a cashier here, there's a small plastic tray for you to place your money in. They won't take it from your hand, I know because I tried this at first! Thankfully Becky corrected me, so now I do it the correct way. In the States it seems a little rude to make the cashier pick the money up off the counter, so I always hand it directly to them to be polite (oh well, I'm glad I learned the polite way to do it here)! The last thing (for now anyway) is that eveyone uses what we call "military" time here. Everything is on a 24 hour schedule not a 12 hour am/pm schedule...just another little difference. That's it for now! Chow!

Day 8 Friday, June 4th 2010

Thank goodness it's Friday! Actually that's not really how I'm feeling today. Although it's been a great day, it's not a normal Friday...you see at home I always rejoice on Fridays because I get to put another 42.5 hour work week behind me and head for 2 days off in a row! Awesome!!! But here my work is different, in an awesome way...although I have been working pretty hard here, I get so much gratification from what I'm doing that I don't really long for days off in the same way. I've only been here a week however, and I know that things might change after I've been doing this type of work for a while. I guess we'll just have to see how it ends up! Anyway, I slept in again today and didn't attend BRTS. :-/ After I got up, I took a shower and ate some breakfast. Then I played my guitar for a while, learning a couple new songs and practicing. I was interrupted by Becky who offered to let me go to the store with her. (She does this to help me get ready for going on my own.) We walked to Rimi which is the closest grocery store to Carl and Becky's apartment. The store was similar to Prisma where I went earlier this week. Once we were back home I biked over to BRTS where I met Martins to get my camera from him. (I accidentally left it with him yesterday). Then I biked back to the apartment where I hung out for a little bit and ate some supper. After supper I met Martins at the park around 7:30 (or 19:30 because they always use military time here). We both rode around on bikes looking for spots where teenagers were hanging out, because we would like to start a second park outreach ministry for teens at a different location. We did indeed find a second spot and it's actually nicer than the first location! We will continue our original outreach on Tuesdays, but we will also try this new spot on Thursdays. I'm really excicited to see how this turns out because this park is far enough from the other that we can hopefully get some new kids coming from a different part of town. After that I headed back home and ate a little supper. Now I'm on the computer till I hit the sack...

P.S. The picture above was taken yesterday. I forgot to mention that Janis and Martins insisted that I eat some of this clover...it wasn't bad, I ate a few of them, basically they taste like grapes, yumm!

Day 7 June 3rd 2010

Mission to Riga day 7. It's been a week already! In some ways it actually feels like I've been here longer than a week, I guess it's because so much has happened so fast! I've been processing so many new things that it's kind of crazy! Everything is a little bit different here which is cool, yet a little overwhelming all at the same time. Anyway, today I was too tired to attend BRTS (Baltic Reformed Theological Seminary), so I caught up on some lost sleep and then went to BRTS to meet up with everyone. Like usual I walked there but this time I was alone, (I'm thankful that I didn't take any wrong turns) so I listed to Jason Mraz on my iPOD while making my way to BRTS. Once I arrived at BRTS I met with Martins and two other friends, Janis, and Liga. We all piled in Martins Ford Fiesta (not Festiva, the Fiesta is a newer model not sold in the US) and headed towards the potential meeting place for our family camp this summer. We grabbed some sandwiches at the gas station while we were (more alliteration!) "feeding the car" as Martins said. Then we were back on the road. The trip took about 2 hours and was about 170 kilometers each way. Once we were at the building Liga went to find the trails for our "night trek", and the three of us men met with the owner who took us on a tour everything. While I took some pictures, Janis and Martins took notes on everything so they can plan the camp according to the facilities that are available. After the tour was over we walked around outside and checked out the ponds and playgrounds. The picture above was taken outside by the playground, this was an exercise area that Janis and Martins said was a typical Soviet style. We also wanted to check out the lake that we will be able to swim in, so we walked to the lake which took a little over 30 minutes. We explored all around the lake and took a different route back to the car for a little adventure (it was adventure because we didn't know where the other road went)! The Latvian country side is awesome! It's similar to what I'm used to but just a little bit different, different in a way that I like. As we walked, Martins and Janis told me some interesting things about Latvia. I found out that about once a week in Latvia someone digs up a bomb or mine from WWII! Janis said that he watched his father dig up a bomb at his grandmother's house. He said it was probably a German bomb because Germans were staying in that house during WWII. They also said that regularly people get hurt on barbed wire still in the woods from the Soviets during WWII. Once we got back in the car we drove over to pick up Liga, we had some fun on the way there getting up to 80 km/h on a dirt road! After we had Liga in the car we headed towards home, but took a detour to hang out with a family from Riga Reformed Church for a few minutes. After we got home I spent some time on the computer and then headed towards bed!

Here are a couple of pics taken during my bike ride today...

Day 6 June 2nd 2010

Well I'm at the end of another great yet exhausting day here in Riga. First I got up and had a little coffee and jogurts with musli (yogurt with granola), then it was off to the Baltic Reformed Theological Seminary. After a 25-30 minute walk to the Seminary I listened in on another lecture for the gospel of John. The lecture was good and after our first break we switched into workshop mode and answered some written questions about the scripture. I actually was the first to speak up about one of the questions and I got it right! I was really surprised because I couldn't even come up with an answer for most of them! Of course this is because I am many things, but a Bible scholar I am not. =) (Picture above from left to right: Amy Cambell, Becky, Me, Professor Gordon Cambell, and Carl.) Anyway after the workshop it was time for lunch so Carl, Becky, and I ate at an (like my alliteration?) Itilian restraunt where I ordered a delicious calzone (Jim I know your jealous). After lunch we walked back home for about 30 minutes. Then it was time to go look at my future apartment! Becky and I grabbed our bikes (actually I was on Carl's) and headed across the river to meet Christine. Christine showed us everything and she had even typed out a full page of everything that I will need to know. She is extremely kind and thoughtful! The apartment is nice (I'll take some pictures once I move in) and actually its a Russian apartment building. After our meeting with Christine, Becky and I biked over to Martins and Anda's for Bible study with young adults. The Bible study was good and we had a good number of people also. We studied Isaiah chapters 38 & 39 and then sang a few songs. I had only planned two songs but again they requested a third! (I want to be clear that when I say this I'm not bragging, clearly my musicianship has nothing to do with their enjoyment of the music.) I'm just thankful that God has chosen to use my gift of music here even in a different country! I also want to note that one point in my life I thought that because I was gifted with music it was the only way that I needed to serve God. Now the Lord has shown me that I have so much more to offer Him than just music and He wants it all! Anyway, after Bible study I biked by myself back home! Actually for the first leg I followed Carl in his car but still...and I'm thankful I didn't get lost because I didn't have a map and my cell phone battery was dead! I'm sure that most of the women reading this are now shaking their heads and thinking "typical guy, being too risky", but you men understand...I needed a little adventure! Anyway, I'm now at home and hopefully I will be in bed soon!

Day 5 June 1st 2010

Another day has come and gone! They are going by very quickly and that's one of the reasons I'm thankful for this blog. I'm glad that I'm able to keep a log of everything that happens on this trip because before I know it I will be back home in North Carolina wondering how the summer flew by so quickly! Anyway it's been a good day. First I ate a quick breakfast so that Carl and I could catch the trolly bus (called a trolly bus because it's electric, they have diesel also, reffered to as just bus) but unfortunately they changed the bus schedule so we came at the wrong time. :( Oh well Carl and I walked instead which took about 25 minutes so we were a little late (oops)! We were heading to the Baltic Reformed Theological Seminary where Professor Gordon Cambell was teaching 1 out of 10 workshops on the book of John. The workshop was very good but for the first segment I was too sleepy to get anything out of it! During our first break I grabbed a cup of coffee which perked me up quite a bit considering I'm not used to drinking much caffeine! (Hopefully I can get some pictures from inside the Seminary so that I can post them tomorow.) After the workshop Ungars the pastor from Riga Reformed Church (not Riga Reformed Bible Church where Alvis is the pastor) invited me to join him and some friends for lunch. So I accepted and ate with: Ungars, his wife Gundega, Kristaps (the Latvian version of Christopher), Professor Cambell, and his daughter Amy. Lunch was good and I hope to have a picture of Ungars and Gundega for y'all soon. After lunch I walked to the Freedom Monument where Carl and Becky picked me up so that we could attend a planning session with Martins and Anda. The planning went well and we have a ton of good ideas for outreach. I'm excited to see how these plans develop! Once the planning was through Martins and I ate a quick bite of bread soup that Anda had fixed then we were off to the park. First Martins and I raked up the dead grass off the field so that it would be suitable for our activities. This took about 45 minutes and I somehow managed to break off the handle on the old garden rake that I was using. Now we had 1 and 1/2 old garden rakes to use on dead grass...not an ideal situation but we made it work! Or I should say God made it work! =) Anyway the park outreach went well. We had 5 teens, one of which hadn't attended in a long time. (I meant to get some pictures tonight but I wasn't able to so please forgive me!) First we played an intense game of field hockey, then we threw the frisbee for a few minutes while Carl set up croquet. We played an extremely long game of croquet, then it was time to pack up and head home to eat supper...Well its about time for me to get in bed but first I'd like to tell a little bit about Martins testimony. I think that it's important to know because it helps to understand his zealous heart for outreach ministries. Martins did not grow up in a Christian home and therefore wasn't a believer when he was young. He had some grandparents that were believers and he went to church with them a couple times but he was never interested in church. We he was in his later teen years he began to play sports in the park with members from a local church. Eventually he came to this church and became a believer! I think this is one of the reasons that Martins sees the value in park outreach ministries...I just thought that y'all needed to know some of his story, so anyway I'm off to bed soon and I'll talk to y'all later!

P.S. To those who are wondering my relatives that know Carl and Becky are: Jerry & Peggy Cross and David & Barbara Cross.