Ministry Opportunities

I'd like to tell you about some of the ways God has given us to serve Him in Ogre.

• Every Monday night we are committed to prayer. Lena and I pray with Steven and Teresa. We have been praying about how God wants us to begin ministering here.
• Thursday evening, Steven and I go to a men's fellowship and discuss discipleship.
• Friday night, the Lord put it on my heart to do evangelism in the center or parks where young people hang out. Many Latvian young people would rather speak English than Russian.
• Sunday morning, the baptist church has invited me to teach the Bible, which I am doing in Russian, verse by verse every week for 30 minutes. I started with 2 John and will go next to 3 John and then Jude. I am also leading worship (also in Russian) while their worship leader is out of town. This is a good experience for ministry while we are still seeking to form a fellowship of our own.
• We are still looking for a Latvian language teacher or beginners class but are learning a lot with books and out of necessity while shopping for food.
• With high speed Internet, I have been able to post more pictures and video on the web. I see this as a possible ministry to future missionaries who want to know what it is like trying to pioneer a new ministry on the mission field. If this ministers to you, please send me an email. We need more missionaries, the harvest is great but the laborers are few!
• Our kids are also important to minister to as we adjust to a new country. We are praying about putting Caleb in preschool so he can learn Latvian and make friends. Lily has been irritable lately, could be sick or just needs extra hugs. Please pray for our kids.

There are so many opportunities that its almost overwhelming, like sharing my testimony on a local TV program, or being a counselor at a Christian camp for 6 days or visiting a Latvian speaking church Sunday afternoon. I have to pray about these and hear from the Lord before getting over committed with various ministries that we neglect our main focus of church planting.

New photos: Walking through Ogre

Ogre, Latvia May ’07

Yeats family helping us get started

The Yeats (pronounced Yates) have joined our Latvia mission team for a season. They are our dear friends who we co labored with in Calvary Chapel Nizhyn, Ukraine years back, After serving the Lord in Ukraine for several years, the Lord called them to serve in the poor country of Moldova where they have been ministering to a small fellowship and Steven has been pastoring. Well, they have had trouble getting visas to stay in Moldova year round, so we have the honor of hosting them for the next 3 months.

Steven and Teresa along with their 8 month old baby, Aiden, are living with us and we are all praying together, getting acquainted with the city of Ogre together and serving together. They are a huge help to us personally and in the ministry. We will have team prayer meetings every Monday night, Steven and I will go street witnessing together and will take turns preaching in the baptist church next door. I appreciate their help and counsel as we seek wisdom from God for his strategy for planting a Calvary style church here. Thank God for the Yeats.

Jet lag

Hey all,
We made it to Latvia but we are suffering from jet lag, so we are all extremely exhausted and would appreciate your prayers for rest and health. I will write more about what we are doing soon but for now the theme verse in my heart is "Seek first His kindom and all these things shall be added unto you." from Matthew 6.

Thanks so much for your prayers. - Brenten, Lena, Caleb and Lily

May Prayer Requests

We give thanks to God for our sending church CCMB and for all your prayers on our behalf.

1. Please pray for our transition to full time church planting in Latvia
   (a) that travels would be smooth and that we would quickly overcome jet lag and get settled in our new home in Ogre.
   (b) that our weekly routines would be established by God, that we would be devoted to language study (Russian and Latvian), calvary home fellowships, teaching in Russian, evangelism, and prayer


2. Please pray for good relationships with those who are helping us get started in Latvia
   (a) for a good relationship with the Baptist church and pastor Vadim that has invited us and given us a place to live in Ogre as well as offer opportunities to teach in Russian and cooperation in various outreaches
   (b) for a good relationship with Steven and Teresa Yeats and their baby, who will be helping us for 3 months. We served with them in the beginning of Calvary Chapel Nizhyn, Ukraine. Steven is now pastoring in Moldova. The Lord has led them to help us get started in Latvia since they have to be out of Moldova for the next 3 months. May they be a blessing to our family and ministry. (c) for good relationships to be formed with those God sending us to minister to, that we would be Spirit-filled witnesses as we share the gospel and make disciples.

Leaving for Latvia in One Week

Hello everyone,
Just wanted to get the word out that we are flying to Latvia May 9 - next Wednesday! We are encouraged by the vision God has given us to go long term to Latvia in order to reach the lost, equip disciples and glorify God in church planting. If you haven't checked our blog lately, perhaps www.powers-latvia.blogspot.com is to hard to remember, so we have a new website that should be easier to remember: www.calvarylatvia.com and from their you can find the latest news and information about what God is doing with us in Latvia.

If you are in the Monterey Bay area, we hope to see you before we go. PLEASE BE A PART OF SENDING OUT YOUR LONG TERM MISSIONARIES THIS WEEK:

• Wednesday night (May 1) Brenten will be at Calvary Chapel Monterey Bay service from 6 to 9
  
• Saturday the CCMB church picnic at Toro Park from noon to 4pm, we will be there to fellowship and share about our mission. There will also be a book for you to share encouragements for when things get tough in Latvia and a video so you can share your heart/prayers/encouragement which we can watch on DVD when we get home sick.
  
• Sunday at CCMB We are dedicating our daughter Lily Grace Powers to the Lord during 2nd or 3rd service and our pastors will briefly pray for our family as they dedicate our whole family to the mission field. Between services, I/we will be in the kiosk between services giving out prayer cards and saying farewell to our home church. ):
  
• Monday night at 7 is the last Missions Prayer Fellowship that I will be able to attend. This group continues to meet monthly to lift up the prayer requests of all the missionaries that CCMB supports.
  
• Wednesday morning we are flying out of SFO and will spend 18 hours in the air plus stops in Chicago and Poland before landing in Riga Latvia Thursday May 10 at 1:55pm
  

Thank you to those of you who have decided to support us financially, Your monthly and one time gifts are going to help us get to the mission field and keep us there to make a long term difference to further the gospel. (By the way, if you want to make automatic monthly donations for our mission, CCMB has a credit card authorization form that you can fill out and drop in the offering on Sunday morning. If writing a check, make it payable to Calvary Chapel Monterey Bay and on a separate note mention you'd like to support the Powers in Latvia.)

Finally, don't forget to keep us in your prayers. In Acts 13 when men of God prayed, the Holy Spirit spoke and said, "Set apart Paul and Barnabus for the work to which I have called them" Then they prayed more, laid hands on them and sent them out on the missionary journey. It's the same with us this week, God is saying it's time for us to go and it's time for you to send us with your prayers. Lets all be faithful to do our part in fulfilling the great commission in obedience to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

For His glory,
Brenten, Lena, Caleb and Lily Powers
Missionaries to Latvia