Baseball Training

Hey all. I know that it's been awhile since I updated and I'm sorry.

Right now we are in the middle of our baseball training camp, and God has blessed it immensely.

A team of 8 people from View Crest PCA in 84, PA, has come to lead this training camp. They are doing an outstanding job and God is greatly blessing their efforts.

At least four of the teens attending have expressed interest in joining our regular group, and this is huge. It is so encouraging to see the Lord at work here! It has been very helpful to all of us.

Please pray for the remaining two days of the camp. Pray for conversions. Please also pray for the health and well being of all of the leadership here. We are tired, but it is a good kind of tired. A very satisfying feeling.

Thank you for your continued support.

-Caleb


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Location:Vīlandes iela,Riga,Latvia

Jani Camp 2011

This Saturday I completed my third Jani camp. I've been the past three years in a row and that's really amazing to me. I'm amazed at how the Lord has made it possible for me to be in Latvia three years in a row. He has worked out every detail, including my job. I've gotten two months off work during the past two summers. They have had to hire replacements both times but somehow they are willing to work with me and reserve a spot for me. I Praise God for this.

It seems like get to know the people here better and better each year, and I also feel that I relate to them better each year. At first I didn't really care for the flavor of many of their foods simply because it wasn't what I was used to. Now I'm enjoying everything more and more as it becomes more familiar to me. The people here like to joke about me being a full blooded Latvian now. Even though i know that I'm not even close, it still feels good to have them say this. I understand the culture better and develop more of a love for it every year.

Alright, so the camp was great. The Holy Spirit was very evident and I feel like the teens that I worked with learned a lot from this camp. We had discussion times after each of the lectures where we did an activity directly related to the talk, followed by some question and answer time, and a song to go with it also. We could really tell that some of the teens were definitely getting it. They understood the lectures and this was encouraging to see.

I slept in a tent again this year, and I also didn't shower during the camp. As you can image, I was pretty worn out when I got home, but I have recovered since then.

Brad and I were a part of the worship team for this camp and it was a real blessing to each of us. The worship team was a combination of both churches this year. Gundega Gulbe led the group and she did a wonderful job. She teaches piano to children for a living and she is a very talented leader.

Thank you for all of your prayers! The camp was a huge success. I wish that I could explain everything in detail but there's no way I could do everything justice. I will be trying to put up some more pictures though so hopefully you will get a better feel for what Jani camp is really like.

Thanks again for your support in various ways!

-Caleb



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Teen ministry

Today I got the chance to go bowling with a couple teens from RRBC. A good time was had by all. I really enjoy spending time with all of the young people here. They are just a pleasure to be around. I thank God for the good relationship I have with these teens.


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Location:Merķeļa iela,Riga,Latvia

Praise report

Thank you for all of your prayers!

I just want to update and tell you that I'm feeling more encouraged now than ever before on this trip. I feel more focused than I've been since I arrived nearly three weeks ago. Beyond that I feel joy. I feel joy being able to serve God through ministering to His people here in Riga.

Your prayers mean more to me than you know. Keep 'em coming.


-Caleb


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Location:Vīlandes iela,Riga,Latvia

Monday June 13

So, on Mondays we have planning meetings for the new week and the summer in general. Today's meeting was good but almost overwhelming. There are a lot of decisions that are yet to be made for this summer, and I want to share a few things we need prayer for.

First, please pray for the Jani camp. Jani camp will be held on June 23rd-25th. The Jani celebration here in Latvia celebrates the longest day of the year but it is also closely connected with Latvia's pagan roots. Jani celebrates nature worship and a "fertility" ritual that is really an excuse to have sex. The church has the Jani camp during this time to pull people together to worship God and get to know Him better instead of the pagan tradition. Please pray that the people attending this camp would experience the presence of God and would come to a better understanding of the Gospel and God's love. Please pray specifically for the teens involved in this camp. All of our teens here have both good and bad influences on their lives. At church they have friends and mentors urging them to find their identity in Christ, and they also have their friends from school and virtually everyone else telling them to find their identity in the things of this world. This is a critical time in these young people's lives so I beg you to pray on their behalf. The leaders here and I are incapable of moving them any closer to Christ. Only God can bring them to Himself and show His power in this way.

Second, we have a team coming for softball training the second week of July. The date is from July 10th-15th. We will be gathering teens in the park and teaching them how to play softball. There are many decisions yet to be made for this time. Please pray that God would give us guidance. Please also pray for the team coming from the US. This will be the first overseas trip for some of the team members and that can be very difficult. We are also trying to make new contacts with teens during this event so please pray for that to happen.

The last thing I would ask you to pray for is my focus. I feel that the devil is trying to distract me with thoughts of things at home. I just ask you to pray that this would not be allowed to happen. My time here is very important and I know that but its also very hard to be away from home in some ways. I was recently convicted by a verse in Luke 9: Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." My hand is on the plow and I need to not look back but it's hard.

Thank you for your generous prayer support.

-Caleb


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Mission to Riga III

Well its been a good Sunday! Today we had a good teen meeting in the park. The Bible Study was on Romans 9.

Then it was time to scoot over to the church so that Brad and I could practice music. The music went well. Brad and I played acoustic guitar while Anda and Inga sang.

After church 7 of us went to eat at Čili Pica.

Now Brad, Oskars, and I are renting a movie from iTunes to watch.

-Caleb


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Location:Lāčplēša iela,Riga,Latvia

A few pictures...

Brad and me at the airport in DC.



Here I am in Frankfurt.



Here is Mārtiņš receiving his guitar that was a gift from Summer Oaks PCA.



Here Brad and I are playing music for Light Café.



Here is our teens meeting on Sunday in the park.

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Location:Vīlandes iela,Riga,Latvia

Mission to Riga III

Hello again! Sorry that its been a week and a half since I last updated the blog. I don't have a computer to update with but I just found an application for my phone that will allow me to update more frequently.

Alright so today marks two weeks of being back in Riga. This summer has
started off a little slow but 25% of my time here is gone and the pace is really picking up.

I've had a little more free time at the start of this trip which has been great for my ministry here. Because of knowing so many people here, I have been able to spend one on one time with some of the young men. I feel like this is a really important aspect of ministry. One on one ministry is so much more relaxed and personal. I feel like it allows people to open up so much easier and relationships to grow so much deeper than in a group setting. Its great being able to spend time encouraging the believers here and to have discussions about the Christian Faith with the curious but not yet believing people.

Ok so let me tell about a few of the ministries that we have going on right now. First, on Tuesday nights we have a young adult Bible Study where normally around 5 young Latvian believers gather together with Mārtiņš, Carl, Brad, and me to study the Word of God. One week Mārtiņš will lead, and the next Carl will lead. This is always a great time of fellowship. Thankfully all of the young adults have very good English, because if Mārtiņš leads we don't have a translator. On these nights its mostly done in English.

Next, on Wednesday nights Brad and I have started hosting a movie night for teens at our apartment. We have a movie projector and speakers borrowed from BRTS (Baltic Reformed Theological Seminary), and we play the movie using this setup on Brad's laptop. This Wednesday was our first and it went well. We watched "Despicable Me" and had pizza, junk food, and soda. The movie was hilarious and teens love junk food, so I think it was a hit. We even provided some entertainment while trying to heat the pizza. This was the first time Brad and I had used our oven. It's extremely old and we had to get Mārtiņš to show us how to even use it. When he saw it he said it was older than any stove he had used before and suggested that we get insurance before trying to light it. Hahaha. Anyway, soon after lighting it and starting to cook the pizza, it started smoking. And I'm not talking about a little puff of smoke. We had to open the front door and all of the windows in the apartment. I was worried that someone would call the Fire Department. We turned down the fire though and the smoke settled down while the pizza finished cooking. It was exciting to say the least!

Another ministry is Light Café on Thursday nights. Light Café is for both teens and young adults. This is a relaxing time with hot tea, coffee, and some dessert type snacks. Our activity at Light Café varies from week to week. The first week Brad and I played American secular music after Mārtiņš gave a talk on stereotypes. This week Brad and I were interviewed by Mārtiņš about what we believe and how we came to our Faith in Jesus Christ. I think this also went really well and was blessed by the Holy Spirit.

The last ministry right now is our teens meeting Sunday before church. We meet at a park and have a Bible Study with the teens, some games, and some snacks with the teens.

I suppose that's it for now.

Ata! (Like "bye bye" in Latvian.)

-Caleb


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Location:Vīlandes iela,Riga,Latvia

Mission to Riga III

Hello friends and family or "čau" as they say here. I have been back in Riga three days at this point and I'm sorry that this is my first blog post. At first I couldn't figure out how to post on my blog without a computer but I have figured out that I can do it from my iPhone if I copy and paste. Anyway my first days back have been good. It kind of feels strange though, as if I never left. I guess this is becoming my second home. My life here is much simpler and I love it. I bring with me only what I can pack in a suitcase and it's really nice not to have so much "stuff" to look after.

I got here Friday at about 1:30. Carl Chaplin and Mark Bolyard (Mark has been here the past three summers as well) came to pick us up at the airport. After we got money out of the ATM and bought our e-Talons (this is used to pay for all public transportation: buses, trams, trolleybuses, etc.) we went over to our apartment and unloaded our bags. Then we went over to Carl and Becky's where we had spaghetti for lunch.

After lunch we went home and crashed. Brad went to sleep because of taking benadryl earlier due to an allergic reaction to some food on the plane. I stayed up awhile putting a new set of strings on the guitar for Mārtiņš and playing my guitar. Then I uploaded the video that I made and went to bed.

On Sunday I got up around 10:30 and after some cereal for breakfast I unpacked my bag and settled in my apartment. Then it was time to head to the Chaplin's apartment for the weekly teens meeting. The Bible study was good. It was so encouraging to be back with my friends here again. It's such a blessing to be with people who are so accepting and loving. They accept me as a friend even though I can't even do simple things like pronounce their names correctly.

After the teens meeting we went to church where I reconnected with more friends and spoke a few words in front of the congregation through Mārtiņš who translated.

Then we went back over to the Chaplin's where they held a party in honor of Raivis' nameday, Justas' birthday, and Brad and my coming. The party was very good. We ate pizza and played games. The teens were extremely excited to have us there. I was also able to present Mārtiņš with his new guitar that my church Summer Oaks PCA paid for. He loves it and I think he will get a lot of use out of it.

Today I was battling jet lag because I couldn't sleep last night. I got up about 6:00 this morning and took a few pictures and uploaded them to Facebook. It was 11 degrees C this morning so its a little chillier than home but it warmed up nicely later in the day. After going back to the apartment and sleeping till about 15:00 I got up and went to the grocery store. I grabbed some microwaveable stuff and some salami and eggs because these are still the only things that I know how to cook. Once I was done at the store Brad and I headed by tram to the Laima clock to meet Mārtiņš where he took us by car to his apartment. When we got there Anda had some very good food ready for us to eat. We had chicken with potatoes and salad. Then we had banana bread for dessert. It was great to spend some time with them again and I think that Brad enjoyed getting to know them a little bit. They are a great family and I feel blessed to be able to spend time around them.

I guess that's it for now. Atta!