Merry Christmas

Lena, Caleb, Lily and I wanted to wish you a very merry Christmas today.

Priecīgus Kristus dzimšanas svētkus! Merry Christ's birth holiday!

We thank God for all of the prayers and financial support He has provided through many of you this year.
As we continue to preach the gospel, make disciples and glorify Jesus, we are looking forward to 2009 in Latvia.

With every spiritual blessing,
Brenten Powers and family
To donate by credit card click here.

Credit card authorization form.doc

How to sign up for monthly donations

If you would like to support Calvary Latvia on a monthly basis, follow these instructions:

1. Print out the credit card authorization form (found at http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhnfnc49_2pdb3n3 )
   
2. Fill it in completely.
3. Make sure to sign it.
4. Send to Calvary Chapel Monterey Bay, 3001 Monterey-Salinas Hwy, Monterey, CA 93940

If you have any questions about the status of your donation, please contact the accountant at Calvary Chapel Monterey Bay at (831)649-1158. Thank you.

A Look at Latvia

Here is the slideshow that I put together to show our supporters in the Monterey Bay area what we have been up to since May 2007. I will be sharing these pictues and telling our story this week at Home fellowships in Pacific Grove, Seaside, Salinas and Santa Cruz. Please feel free to leave your comments below. (:

Interview with Brenten

Earlier this month, I visited Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe for speakers week. I had the opportunity to share with the students about Latvia and invited them to pray about coming on a mission trip to help. While I was there, I sat down for a video interview with Mike Pritchard for the podcast of CCBCE.com.



Another video interview, I conducted in Riga during our evangelism. You can view that here:

Prayer needs for December

PLEASE PRAY FOR US

1. - for safe travels especially our flights in the winter weather
2. - for the Lord to use us to bless his church there
3. - for our relatives to see the Lord in our lives
4. - for our financial support to continue and increase so we our ministry can reach more people
5. - for the believers in Latvia while we are gone, that they would fulfill with the responsibilities we have entrusted to them to get things ready for ministry when we get back.

Watch and Pray

"With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints" Ephesians 6:18

1. Pray for our home fellowship in Ogre as we finish teaching Acts and Mark this month that we'd all be built up.
2. Pray for the lost that we may be reaching them with the gospel on our Friday afternoon evangelism in Riga.
3. Pray for more laborers to be called to the harvest, as Brenten goes to speakers week at the Bible college in Hungary November 10-14.
4. Pray for our families heath, as it gets coooold in Latvia, the kids are starting to get sick again. Healing.
5. Pray for our furlough November 25-December 29, that God prepare us to be used at CCMB and CC Santa Cruz and with our families.

Calendar

Join us as we teach through the Bible and worship Jesus Christ.

Bible Reading Plan

I am excited about the Bible reading/teaching plan that the Lord has given me for 2009. Halley's Bible Handbook suggests each church have a plan for the people to read through the Bible in a year and that the Pastors messages be from the text that the church read the previous week.

If you take 15 minutes a day reading a few chapters from the Old Testament and a chapter from the New Testament weekdays, you could read it all in one year. I propose a one year plan to read Old and New simultaneously. But how long it would take to teach through the whole Bible is another question.

My plan (Lord willing) is to teach a one year overview of the Old Testament in 2009 focusing on the parts of each book where we can find Jesus Christ identified, typified, prophesied or foreshadowed. After all, the central focus is Jesus in both Old and New. The best commentary on the Bible is the Bible because the New Testament is in the Old (concealed) and the Old Testament is in the New (revealed). So here is the plan for the Sunday Teaching Schedule in 2009.

1. * January 4 - Introduction, Genesis 1-12
2. * January 11 - Genesis 13-29
3. * January 18 - Genesis 30-50
4. * January 25 - Exodus 1-14
5. * February 1 - Exodus 15-28
6. * February 8 - Exodus 29-40
7. * February 15 - Leviticus 1-14
8. * February 22 - Leviticus 15-27
9. * March 1 - Numbers 1-17
10. * March 8 - Numbers 18-36
11. * March 15 - Deuteronomy 1-34
12. * March 22 - Joshua 1-24
13. * March 29 - Judges 1-21
14. * April 5 - Ruth 1-4
15. * April 12 - 1 Samuel 1-21
16. * April 19 - 1 Sam 22-31, 2 Sam 1-8
17. * April 26 - 2 Sam 9-24
18. * May 3 - 1 Kings 1-22
19. * May 10 - 2 Kings 1-12
20. * May 17 - 2 Kings 13-25
21. * May 24 - 1 Chr 1-29
22. * May 31 - 2 Chr 1-17
23. * June 7 - 2 Chr 18-36
24. * June 14 - Ezra 1-10
25. * June 21 - Nehemiah 1-13
26. * June 28 - Esther 1-10
27. * July 5 - Job 1-21
28. * July 12 - Job 22-42
29. * July 19 - Psalm 1-22 (book 1, part 1)
30. * July 26 - Psalm 23-41 (book 1, part 2)
31. * August 2 - Psalm 42-72 (book 2)
32. * August 9 - Psalm 73-89 (book 3)
33. * August 16 - Psalm 90-106 (book 4)
34. * August 23 - Psalm 107-119 (book 5, part 1)
35. * August 30 - Psalm 120-150 (book 5, part 2)
36. * September 6 - Proverbs 1-14
37. * September 13 - Proverbs 15-31
38. * September 20 - Ecclesiastes 1-12
39. * September 27 - Song of Songs 1-8
40. * October 4 - Isaiah 1-20
41. * October 11 - Isaiah 21-39
42. * October 18 - Isaiah 40-66
43. * October 25 - Jeremiah 1-17
44. * November 1 - Jeremiah 18-35
45. * November 8 - Jeremiah 36-52
46. * November 15 - Lamentations 1-5
47. * November 22 - Ezekiel 1-24
48. * November 29 - Ezekiel 25-48
49. * December 6 - Daniel 1-8
50. * December 13 - Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah
51. * December 20 - Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk
52. * December 27 - Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malechi

John 1:45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
Luke 24:27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. 32 They said to one another, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?" 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
John 5:39 "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; 40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life."
John 17:17 "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth."
Rom 15:4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
1 Tim 4:13 Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.
2 Tim 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Home Fellowship

Since laying out our vision for Calvary in Latvia, we have moved our Bible studies from Ikskile to our home in Ogre.


Those who come are all young people who are hungry for the word of God and like the verse by verse teaching through the Bible. Praise God for the great atmosphere of fellowship and seeking the Lord.


If you are in Latvia, come and see what God is doing every Wednesday at 19:00 (7pm) and Sunday at 14:00 (2pm) in our house at Brivibas iela 30, Ogre. We will be in Acts 19 tonight and Mark 12 this Sunday.

Time to pray

Here are our new prayer request for October. Check the comments below for answers to prayer or to let us know you are praying.

1. Please pray for our church planting mission in Latvia as we have moved our Bible studies from Ikskile to our home in Ogre.
   
2. Praise God for the young people who are committed to studying through the Bible with us (Acts on Wednesdays, Mark on Sundays. After the holidays, we will begin an Old Testament overview).
3. Pray for these young people in our home fellowship: that Inese would give her life to Christ, that Agnese and Ieva grow in ministry as translators, Janis (John) and Marta would grow in faith as a married couple.
4. Pray for Lena, that God would powerfully use her at our home fellowship meetings.
5. Pray for our health, that God would heal Brenten, Caleb and Lily of this lingering cold and cough.

Recommended Videos

Here are a couple great videos I want to share. The first is from the Bible College I went to and the second is from pastor Nate at my sending church Calvary Chapel Monterey Bay. They both express the heart for the word of God that I share. Blessings.





Tradition vs. Scripture - Mark 7:13 from Nate Holdridge on Vimeo.

Stepping out in faith

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me." (Galatians 2:20)

Things in Latvia are changing for our family's mission as the Lord is sending us out from two church groups that we have been serving. Now we feel free to focus to our original calling: preaching the gospel to the lost, making disciples of new believers and planting a new church for the glory of God in Latvia.

And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man's foundation; but as it is written, "THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE, AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND." (Romans 15:20-21)

First, God answered prayer for a graceful exit from the Russian church in Ogre that we had been helping since May 2008. Pastor Vadim came back from his trip to America and let me share last Sunday about how the Lord is leading us forward in our mission.

And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. (Acts 13:2-3)

The other group we are leaving is in Ikskile, consisting mostly of believers who go to a Latvian Baptist church in Ogre. Since January 2008 I had been teaching through Acts on Wednesday and we all hoped that we would see a revival in this city of 7,000 and a new church would be born on Resurrection Sunday. But even though hundreds heard the gospel in Ikskile and a few received it, the church didn't grow.

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 15:58)

We decided to continue offering Sunday services to the city hoping that it would take root as I taught faithfully through the gospel of Mark every Sunday for 6 months. I had 2 faithful translators and 2 faithful Sunday school teachers, but there was no one to teach except for the small group that has been praying for revival for 10 years. I decided I would be committed to feeding them the word of God and equip them to preach the gospel with me. But we were not all on the same page, some resisted my emphasis on teaching and equipping, while others where hungry for it.

"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. " (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

So again I sought to clarify our vision for planting a Bible teaching church this time attaching the name "Kalvarijas draudze" or "Calvary church". Now there are a few young people that are committed to studying the Bible with us, but none of them live in Ikskile. Those who live in Ikskile are no longer willing to plant a new church and want to change the emphasis of their home fellowship back to prayer for revival. So since God is leading us in different directions, we will be moving the Bible studies to our house in Ogre for those who are hungry for the Word. It reminds me of the book of Acts when Paul had to leave the synagogue but other effectual doors were opened to him.

"But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he withdrew from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus." (Acts 19:19)

So, Sunday September 28 will be our last service at the Culture Hall in Ikskile. For those who want to continue, we plan to finish the book of Acts on Wednesday and finish the gospel of Mark on Sunday from October to November in the warmth of our home. In December, we will be visiting our home church in California but we will be back by January, in order to begin an exciting plan to study through the Bible in 2009. But it is getting late, so I'll tell you about that next time.

"Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires" (2 Timothy 4:2-3)

Brenten's Testimony

I would like to share my testimony. My name is Brenten Powers, I was born January 28, 1977 in Sacramento California. My parents were following the Lord at the time but after a few years they divorced. My mom married an agnostic man and I grew up with my mom and step-dad. So we didn’t go to church unless I was visiting my grandparents. My grandparents were the best example in my life because they were faithful to the Lord in all they did. My grandfather was a pastor (before I was born) at a small Mennonite church in the small town of Reedley California.

• How I first believed
  

At the age of 7, I first heard the gospel and put my faith in Jesus Christ to save me. I did that a couple of times that year. First of the two times I was at a [Good News Club] in my neighborhood. My neighbors were this old couple, the woman’s name was Betty, she had all the kids over in the neighborhood to share with them the good news, how to be saved. I remember learning John 3:16 there:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but shall have eternal life. John 3:16.

And I never forgot that verse and I never forgot praying to ask Jesus in to my heart. But later that year I did pray again to ask Jesus in to my heart at another children’s outreach called Vacation Bible School at my grandparents’ church. But the reason why I prayed and asked Jesus into my heart that time was, not because I felt convicted about my sin or I wasn’t sure that I was going to heaven or not, really I did it because I wanted to get a free Bible. (: I saw them giving Bibles to the other kids who were praying. So that wasn’t the best motivation. I thought maybe I was doing something wrong in praying again. But my understanding as a seven year old was not very deep of course. I knew and I believed that Jesus Christ died for my sins and rose from the dead and that if I believe in Him then I would have eternal life.

• Calling myself a Christian
  

But after Vacation Bible School I went back home with my mom and step-dad and my sister. My sister also was excited by the Vacation Bible School, she would make me sing all the songs that we learned there, over and over again until I would just get sick of it. (: But our understanding as children wasn’t very deep and growing up in a non Christian - not a church going family, we kind of strayed from the Lord, both my sister and I. When I was about 13 years old, I started going to church again with my friend because I wanted to go skateboarding with him after church. But at the same time I was living a life like a non-Christian. I didn’t understand that being a Christian means more than believing intellectually that Jesus is alive and able to save you, but it’s putting your faith in Him in order to save you – not just so you can go to heaven when you die but to save you from the practice of sin, to save you from actually sinning, to keep you from sinning. You know 1 John is written to you so you may not sin. Jesus wants to save us not only from the consequences of sin but from sin itself which destroys our lives. But I wasn’t taught, I didn’t know that when I was growing up. I thought I was a Christian because I prayed and asked Jesus into my heart, twice!

• But I wasn't sure of my faith.
  

And so as I grew… I was 16 years old, and I started thinking, “Well maybe there are aliens, maybe we are just put here as a scientific test. Or maybe we were an accident but if not an accident maybe God is just putting some experiment on the earth. Why am I here?” I began asking those kinds of questions.

“Why am I here? What is the purpose of life? Where did I come from and where am I going?”

At the same time I was living a compromised life, doing drugs, getting drunk and seeking sexual relationships with girls. That was my purpose: to have pleasure and find happiness. But when I was 16 and turned 17 I would say that was the emptiest year of my life (when I was a junior in high school, which would be the 11th year in America). I wouldn’t say I felt like I was at the lowest point in my life but it was probably the lowest point in my life because I had given myself away sexually and I had experimented in drugs and I had popularity – everything that the world said you need to be happy. But I wasn’t very happy. I had put on a mask saying “yeah” but I didn’t want people to know that I was empty inside. But all the while I was saying “I’m a Christian" because I believe intellectually in the gospel. But it hadn’t changed my life.

• Calling to live for God
  

Then these 2 girls come to me in my art class, named Joy and Leslie and they shared their testimony with me. They shared like evangelists in our school. I was sitting across the table from Joy as she was sharing the gospel with another student in art class. I was drawing and everyone else in the class were doing their drawings and so it was quiet. Everyone could hear Joy speaking but she was speaking just to this one girl. And the girl who was next to me turned and said to me, “I - I can’t listen to this anymore.” She was getting really frustrated like she didn’t want to hear this gospel (this girl turned out to be a witch). But I at that time, I remember saying, “Well I am a Christian too. There is nothing bad about Jesus. But I am not that radical, like that girl is, I am not that extreme!) What Joy was saying was basically,

“The reason why God created us was to know and to worship Him. Not that He needs us but He loves us and wanted to create people that He could pour His love out upon. He is worthy of our love, worship and service. So logically we should give our lives to Him who gave us life, especially in light of the fact that Jesus loved us and gave Himself for us. He died for us, so we should live for Him.”

To me, living for God was a new concept. But it was attractive to me because they had purpose and I was still looking for purpose in my life. So to make a long story short, they invited me to their church and I started going.

• God was really drawing me to Him during that year.

It was the emptiest year of my life but at then it was a very important year because God was leading me away from the world and to Himself. That year I went to a youth conference called “Aquire the Fire” where they really challenge you,

"Are you a Christian? And are you going to live according to your faith? What things in your life are really keeping you from growing as a Christian?"

I realized, well, there were a few things that were keeping me from growing – My hypocrisy first of all, you know, the pursuit of unhealthy relationships with girls. The second thing was listening to music that was anti-Christian, very overtly anti-Christian, speaking evil about Jesus, and basically blaspheming and speaking very angrily against the things of God. I realized that I had been listening to that music and it had been influencing me. So I decided that I would get rid of all of that music and burn it. Because I knew,

“The Lord is calling me to live for Him now like my ‘radical extremist’ Christian friends.”

So Joy and Leslie became my best friends and they discipled me. Basically after school they said,

“Why don’t you come over to Joy’s house and we’ll disciple you?”

I thought,

“What does disciple mean? Is that going to hurt?”

(: It sounds like discipline! But Jesus said (in Matthew 28)

“Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations.” And “if anyone wants to come after me [to be my disciple], let him take up his cross and deny himself and follow me.”

So it was the process of learning how to follow Jesus as a Christian in my senior year of highschool, which was really desperately needed in my life. So I gave my life to the Lord, and said,

“Lord, I am Yours.”

Not only did He call me to get rid of that anti-Christian music and to listen to Christian music that would help me to grow, but He also called me to make music that would glorify Him.

• Because that is the purpose of my life now - To glorify God and to love Him and serve Him.

It’s all centered – my life is centered on Jesus Christ and it has been since I was seventeen years old.

September '08 Prayers

1. For the church plant in Ikskile, as we meet September 14th to layout the vision for "Kalvarijas draudze" (Calvary fellowship) that the believers coming to our Bible studies would be on the same page.
2. For Caleb in Latvian kindergarten, to understand the language and make good friends.
3. For a graceful exit from the Russian church in Ogre, so we may focus more on church planting, and start a Bible study in Riga, for provision and direction for where we should live.
4. For furlough in California between Thanksgiving and Chrismas, for opportunities to bless our home church and for God's provision.
5. For God to send more Spirit-filled laborers to Latvia. Praise God for the team from Calvary Monterey that helped with evangelism and encouragement.

Monterey Mission to Latvia in Pictures

Thanks for sending the evangelism team. Mitch, Dennis and Frank were a big help and encouragement to our family and the church here. I hope they can share at CCMB what God did in these 2 weeks. Thousands recieved tracts, hundreds heard the gospel, many eyes were opened to the need for Christ. Who knows how many went home and called upon the Lord to be saved. I hope to see a few in church soon and you will probably meet several more in heaven. PTL

Team Monterey's Latvian Mission

My home church Calvary Chapel Monterey Bay has sent us 3 gifted men to help us with our mission in Latvia for 2 weeks. I am excited to see my dear friends again and I know that they will be a blessing to those they serve as they have already encouraged us. Let me introduce you to our guests:

1. Mitch Sorensen - the evangelist. He has had a street witnessing ministry in downtown Monterey, California for many many years and has been equipping other believers to join the team that goes out every Friday and Saturday night. Mitch will teach a class on preparation for evangelism here tonight for Latvian believers who want to learn how to share their faith. Mitch works at the Monterey Airport and was able to score some discounted tickets and brought us care packages and thousands of tracts in Latvian, Russian and English to share. He use to come to our home Bible study when we lived in Marina, California, now we are happy to host him and our other two friends, Dennis and Frank.
   
2. Dennis Vaus - The teacher. He comes to us with missions experience in Japan, the Philippines and Russia. He has been the leader of our care team in Monterey as also teaches a home Bible study in Salinas, California. A gifted teacher, I asked him to teach for me Last night at our Ikskile home fellowship, and he did a great job encouraging us all to "Abide in Christ" from John chapter 15.
   
3. Frank Amador - the prayer warrior. He has been a long time prayer supporer with great faith, compassion and vision. God's hand has been on this humble brother and I have counted on him for many years to keep us lifted in prayer. Now he is very excited to be with us on his first international mission. We are happy he is here and able to rejoice with us seeing the fruit of his prayers together.
   

So far, the guys have gotten settled, and are gradually overcoming jet lag, sleeping about 5 hours at night and 2 hours in the day. For the rest of our time together we will have morning and evening times of evangelism with rest time in between. I will be posting more stories, pictures and video soon, but for now you can see pictures at their blog: http://kathieanddennisvaus.blogspot.com/2008_08_01_archive.html

Vai tu esi labs cilvēks?

Calvary Chapel conference in Denmark

Last week, we were greatly encouraged and refreshed by fellowship with our brothers and sisters from Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Ireland and Canada.


Although Latvia is technically not a Scandinavian country, we found that many of the issues we face in the Baltics are similar to the rest of Northern Europe. We found ourselves received and knit to this group of about 60 believers that sometimes call themselves "the frozen chosen" - I guess because of the cold winters and feeling of being a small remnant of faithful Scandinavians.



But the weather from July 30 to August 3 was quite warm and we even enjoyed a swimming in the fjord with the jelly fish.


I helped with worship services and gave a devotional teaching about communion. Other pastors and Bible teachers took turns teaching chapter by chapter through the book of Daniel. You can listen to the messages here:

• Daniel 1 - Joel Wickstr�m (Stockholm, Sweden)
• Daniel 2 - David Guzik (CCBC Siegen, Germany)
• Daniel 3 - Stan Block (Calgary, Canada)
• Daniel 4 - Daniel Jacobsen (Denmark)
• Daniel 5 - Theis Br�gger (Denmark)
• Daniel 6 - Kevin Fitzgerald (Ireland)
• Daniel 7 - David Guzik (Germany)
• Daniel 8 - Aaron Pratt (Finland)
• Daniel 9 - David Guzik (Germany)
• Daniel 10 - Kevin Fitzgerald (Ireland)
• Daniel 11-12 - Glen Nudd (Calgary, Canada)

Lena and I took turns sitting in the sanctuary to participate in worship and Bible study, while the other looked after the kids playing in the playground. What was great is that they had wireless headphones for parents who needed to be outside with the kids, plus 3 girls from Germany organized a children's ministry, plus there were other missionary kids who treated Caleb and Lily as little siblings.


As a result, our kids were not so clingy and needy and Lena and I were much more laid back about being together without being constantly aware of where our kids were. Good preparation, I'd say, for Caleb going to kindergarten later this month and Lena not needing miss my teaching every Sunday to help the children's ministry.


Overall, we were all really blessed with the Acts 2:42 environment "continuing steadfastly in the teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayers". Below is a picture of Lena with a sister in Christ from Sweden whose last name is the same as Lena's Swedish grandmothers maiden name, could they be related?

August 2008 Prayers

Please keep us in your prayers this month as it is full of ministry opportunities:

1. Pray for our time at the Calvary Chapel conference in Denmark to be refreshing, encouraging (July 30-August 3)
2. Pray for traveling mercies for our family and for our next team (Mitch, Dennis and Frank)
3. Pray for our evangelistic outreaches from August 5 -18.
4. Pray for Caleb to integrate into kindergarden starting August 18
5. Pray that God opens more doors to start Bible studies in other cities.

P.S. Praise God for providing all the finances and documents we needed for visas, we should get them August 14.

Vacation Bible School

This is our second year doing VBS in Ogre with a team from Tennessee. I have been the music guy as well as overseeing all the translators. The first two days went well, setting a foundation of who Jesus is, we are praying that the kids will continue to be receptive in the last three days as we challenge them with the rest of the gospel, calling them to become disciples of Jesus Christ.

Baptism in Ogre river

Baptism in Ogre river, Latvia

Last Sunday, Kaspars was water baptized by pastor Vadim Kovalev and the members of Ogre Evangelical Church came to witness this event with Kaspars' family. It seems that one member was added to the church and another was sent out. At the end of this slide show are pictures of us praying for Anatoly on his last Sunday here before moving to Scotland. I had raised him up to take over worship ministry but it he believes God is opening the door to find work in the West, learn English and serve with a Russian speaking church in Glasgow, Scotland.

God is Always Right On Time

Having just received our last 3 required documents from different sources, this book title came to mind as I raced into the immigration office an hour before our deadline to renew our residence permits: God Is Never Late; He Is Seldom Early; He Is Always Right On Time.

The editorial description: ’GIVE ME PATIENCE, GOD - BUT HURRY!’ When we’re waiting on God to answer prayer, our timing and His timing are rarely the same. Sometimes it seems like God is in a different time zone altogether. We sometimes feel like we picked one of those numbers in the bureau of motor vehicle line and there are 78 others ahead in line.But we need God to wait on us--right away. This book is about trusting God even when it seems He is running late. It’s about God ’s perfect control over the times and events of our lives--and about His perfect power to order those events in a loving and meaningful way. Despite our anxiousness, impatience, and worry,God is faithful to work in our lives at just the right time. He’ll never be late. God’s Never Late is the third book in a popular trilogy including: God Has Never Failed Me. . . But He’s Sure Scared Me to Death a Few Times The Buzzards are Circling, But God’s Not Finished with Me Yet

In answer to prayer, we got everything in on time with no problems. The certified letter from CCMB arrived by mail at 12pm, Lena got back from the US embassy with Caleb's new passport at 4pm and I got a required document from our bank at 5pm. With one more hour before the immigration office closed, the director received our application, checked all our documents and was in an surprisingly better mood than ever before. Perhaps it was the fervent effectual prayers of the righteous (you guys) that availed much, perhaps our desperate cries to the Lord for mercy, perhaps it was a coincidence that Christian radio was playing softly in her office, but mostly I believe it was just God's grace and providence. She said everything was in order and we will return to get our new visas/residency permits on August 14, 2008. Apparently, God is not finished with us here yet. (: Thank you Jesus!

2 saved today

Today, I went out in the center of Ogre to share the gospel with Agnese. She is a good translator with a heart for evangelism who is faithfully serving the Lord. Below is a picture of us on an outreach.

So today we shared the gospel in Ogre with about a dozen different people and two girls received it, turning from sin and putting their faith in Jesus to be saved and begin a Christ-centered life. We prayed that God would lead us to people who were open and give us the words that they need to hear. The two girls are about 16 years old, we walked up to them and introduced ourselves and asked if we could ask them some spiritual questions. They were very open, one didn't believe in God at first and the other believed He exists but didn't know who He is. I can't explain it here exactly as it came out earlier but we shared how God created man good but the problem is that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) but that Jesus came to reconcile us to God by taking the punishment for our sins on the cross (Ephesians 2:16) and He rose from the dead so that God could freely give eternal life to all who believe. We also shared what it means to become a Christian and about the Christ-centered life that begins when the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in born again believers. After sharing the gospel, we asked, "Do you believe Jesus died for your sins and rose from the dead? They said "yes" Then I asked them, is there was anything keeping you from receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior? No. Do you want to repent and pray now? Yes. So we sat down at a park bench and I shared an example prayer that I could lead them in or they could pray in their own words. They wanted to repeat the prayer after me, so we prayed together. Then I asked if they understood everything they prayed and they said yes. Good. Then I encouraged them to go to a good Bible teaching church in order to grow. I gave them my contact info and told them about our church in Ikskile and they said that they would go Sunday. We rejoiced and said goodbye. So praise the Lord and please keep our new sisters, Jolanta and Sintija in your prayers.



Also praise the Lord for Ieva, our new Latvian teacher and one of our translators, and her sister (above photo) who have been coming to Sunday services and are being blessed by the simple verse by verse studies through the Bible. May the Lord keep these services "real" and deepen our fellowship with these sisters.

Prayers for July 2008

Praise God for answering our prayers last month: saving many youth at camp, meeting financial needs, Caleb is signed up for Latvian kindergarten, our new Latvian teacher, our 8th wedding anniversary...

Please pray for

1. The teens from youth camp to continue in God's grace, opportunities to disciple them
2. For smaller kids and parents to be reached at next Vacation Bible School in Ogre July 21-25
3. The process of renewing our residency permits, for all documents to be ready by July 14
4. For Sunday and Wednesday Studies in Ikskile, that the Lord would build up the saints
5. Mitch, Dennis and Frank coming to serve, evangelize and encourage August 5-18

Turning to Jesus

Here are two guys I witnessed to in Riga one Thursday night. They were walking by my and I asked, "Can I ask you some questions?" They said, "About what?" and I said "About eternity" Then they said, "Sure, let's go sit at a park bench" After sharing the gospel with them, one of them, named Roma, was ready to turn to Jesus, and wanted me to lead him in a prayer of repentance, he didn't want to forget it so he wrote it down on a map he had with him. I was so excited that he was ready to turn from sin and trust the Lord to save him and set him free from his addictions. Here is a video from that night...





Yesterday I got back from a youth camp where I helped with worship leading and a couple Bible studies. Wednesday night about 20 kids came forward to receive Christ. I was able to connect with a few and encourage them. I hope to continue influencing three who live in Ogre, one in Ikskile and four in Jaunjelgava. Pray for those who were sincere about following Christ, that they would continue to become disciples and overcome worldly influences in their lives after camp.

Hallelujah - Latvian youth version

At youth camp we rewrote the verses to "Hallelujah" for a special performance on our last night of camp. I wrote verse 2 to suit the new faith of the boys singing behind me and they wrote the Latvian verse with Liena Pandare.




HALLELUJAH - YOUTH CAMP (c) June 2008.

I heard that there was a secret chord,
that David played and it pleased the Lord,
but you don't really care for music, do ya?

It goes like this the fourth the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift,
the prophet king is singing hallelujah!

Hallelujah (4x)

It takes guts to sing a song
In front of friends when they think I'm wrong,
but I don't really care what they think anyway.

All I want is to please the Lord,
Everything else I can't afford,
It's the word of God so let me sing it to ya.

Hallelujah (4x)

Bībelē teikts tev un man
Dzīvot būs mums kā Pestītājam,
Bet bez Jēzus vieni to nespējam.

Tik Jēzū spēks un dzīvība
Ja Vinņa vienmēr paliekam
Tad neuzveiks mūs grēks vairs - Aleluja!

Camp Slideshow

Camp Hope Blog

I took some pictures from the youth camp I am at but can't upload them yet. So, here are some pics from the Virginia teamš blog.

Here is a link to the blog that the Virginia team is updating.

http://www.hffworldwide.org/Blog/Blog.html

If you want to subscribe to their blog's RSS feed it's http://www.hffworldwide.org/Hope_For_Families/Blog/rss.xml

Today I taught one of the Bible studies about the sinfulness of man. Please pray that these youth would be convicted of their sin and desire to turn from it. Thanks!

At Camp in Malpils

Hey everyone,
I've been busy getting ready for this youth camp, and now I am here in Malpils where the camp has just begun. I am leading worship in Latvian and English on guitar with 2 other singers. Please pray for the teens who have come, that they may recieve the word of God this week. This is the 4th year of that this camp has taken place, put on by Trinity baptist church of Ogre and a Presbyterian church from Virginia. It lasts until Friday but hopefully there will be lasting fruit. Most of these teens come from troubled backgrounds, broken homes and have addictions to cigarettes and other unhealthy lifestyles, but this week is a chance for them to find hope, life, peace, love, truth in Christ. The theme is "How to get from Latvia to Heaven"and the theme song for the week is "Thy word is a lamp unto me feet and Light unto my path". Stay tuned to this blog for pictures and a link to the visiting teamš blog. I gotta go now, and get ready for the next event, "Bible village orientation" which involves each team visiting different stations where they will learn something about the places in the Bible. Todays specific message is that the Bible is Godš Word. Thank you for praying for the youth of Latvia and for me as I am away from my wife and kids to serve. By the way, a handful of the kids are ones that came to our VBS last year and professed faith in Christ, so it will be good opportunity to encourage and build them up again.

Happy Fathers Day

I hope you all enjoyed fathers day. I sure did. Lena and Caleb made me a cake for after lunch and we went out to dinner and ate ceasar salad and barbeque chicken wings. Then after the kids went to bed I finally put together some clips from our weekly family outings.

Par mums

Mēs esam misionāri Latvijā, kurus sūta Kalvarijas kapela Monterejā. 1994. gadā, kad man bija 17 gadi, es nožēloju savu egocentrisko dzīvi un atdevu to Viņam, un Jēzus aicināja mani dzīvot Viņa slavai. Viņš man deva alkas pēc Dieva vārda, un tas mani aizveda uz Kalvarijas kapelu, un 1998. gadā uz Kalvarijas kapelas Bībeles koledžu. Tur es pieaugu Jēzus Kristus žēlastībā un zināšanās par Viņu. Mani piepildīja Svētais Gars, un Dievs atvēra manu sirdi būt misionāram. 1999. gada vasaru es pavadīju Vācijā, sludinot evaņģēliju. 2000. gadā mēs ar Lenu apprecējāmies un sākām kopā kalpot Kalvarijas kapelā Monterejā dažādās kalpošanās. No 2002. gada līdz 2004. gadam Dievs mūs sūtīja būt Ukrainā, kur mēs iemācījāmies krievu valodu, palīdzējām izveidot Kalvarijas kapelu Ņižinā un pieaugām kopā kā ģimene (mūsu dēls tur ir dzimis). 2005. gadā es redzēju vīziju no Dieva, ka mums jādodas mājās un jāgatavojas jaunam misijas darbam. Kad Kalifornijā bija piedzimusi mūsu meita, Dievs ielika mums sirdī doties uz Latviju. Viņš mums atvēra visas durvis, un 2007. gada majavascript:void(0)
Publish Postijā mēs sākām dzīvot šeit. Šobrīd mēs palīdzam veidoties jaunai draudzei Ogres rajonā. Mēs audzinām abus savus bērnus, lai viņi mīlētu To Kungu un dzīvotu Viņa slavai.

June prayer requests

Dear prayer team,
Thank you for those who prayed at CCMB's missions meeting. Lily seems to be feeling better now.
Please continue to pray for our church planting mission in Ikskile, Latvia.

• For at least 1 person to be saved and added to the church in this month
• That Brenten would be used at a youth camp for teens from troubled families June 23-30th
• For Caleb to make some friends this summer and begin speaking Latvian with them.
• For Lena to keep learning the language, for confirmation if Ieva is to be our new teacher.
• For the preparation of evangelists coming from Monterey for a mission trip in August.
  

Mark 3 - Is Jesus a Liar, Lunatic or LORD?

Video of Brenten preaching the gospel

This is the gospel message I preached on March 23, 2008 at the house of culture in Ikskile. No one indicated they repented as a response but my hope is that the word of God that I shared would one day bear fruit in changed lives.

Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. James 1:21

Thanks to Ansis Imaks and his team at Kristus Gaisma TV, the Easter Sunday outreach was filmed, edited, shown on local Ogre TV and posted at www.kristusgaisma.lv. He gave me permission to copy it and share it at imeem.com and here.

Cultural Bonding and Witnessing in Riga

Besides hockey fanaticism, one of the cultural highlights of Latvia is the Latvian Song festival where a choir of 50,000 people is formed. Tickets sold out a few minutes after they went on sale but I was able to see a qualifier performance of a couple top choirs, thanks to our Latvian teacher, Zane, who sings in a group called "Balsis" (voices). Here are 2 of the songs I filmed last Friday.



Since I was in Riga on Friday evening, after the performance, I went out to share the gospel in the central park and train station. Our friend Agnese was there to pray and translate for me, but it turned out most the people we talked to either spoke Russian or English so she didn't translate too much. Many were open to talking with us until we brought up Jesus. One homeless woman we walked up to told us she was planning to commit suicide, she didn't ask for money so I think she was serious, however when I offered to share about eternity and how to be saved, she didn't want to hear it anymore! On the other extreme, there was drunk man we stopped in the park who wanted to hear how to be saved and thanked us for the gospel tract. But most were just out to have a "good time" and did not want Jesus to interfere with that. On our train trip back to Ogre, I had an interesting talk with Agnese about culture and faith in Latvia. There is much to learn about this culture, but one thing that is true of every culture is that we all need Jesus to save us from the corrupting influences of the world. The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16-17) and there is power in the name of Jesus (Philippians 2).

Spring and Summer Events

It is finally warm outside! Thank God for the warm half of the year. We are encouraged to use this opportunities to emphasize sharing the gospel on streets. I'd like to share our current schedule with you so you get an idea of what we are doing:

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

• Sunday - 10am Ogre Russian Evangelical church
• Sunday - 4pm Ikskile Latvian church plant
• Monday - Family Time (Day off)
• Tuesday - 6pm English Conversation Club (our home)
• Wednesday - 7pm Ikskile Home fellowship
• Thursday - Evangelism in Riga
  
• Friday night - Evangelism in Ikskile
• Saturday - Study/Prepare for Sunday

UPCOMING EVENTS

• May 6 English Club and Ogre youth watching "A Venture of Faith"
  
• June 23-30 High School Camp - I will be leading worship in Latvian / English
• July 21-25 Vacation Bible School in Ogre - Team from Tennessee
  
• July 30-August 3 in Denmark - Calvary Chapel Scandinavian conference
• August 5-18 Monterey Team Mission trip - Evangelism, Fellowship

Please pray for these things on our schedule and also for our welfare here.
Pray that we would be filled with the Spirit, encouraged in faith and the joy of the Lord, guided into more fruitful ministry and be used by the Lord.
Pray also for our effort to reach youth in Ikskile, that God would guide us to those who are open and that some would be saved and discipled this summer.

Thanks,
Brenten

May Prayers and Praise 08

PRAISES:

God answered prayer for sufficient funds the last 2 months, for reduced rent for the next 6 months, for healing of our colds, for warm spring weather, for encouragement and hope to press on.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. Please pray for Brenten as he is sharing the gospel on the streets more now that it is warm, that God's word would go out and change lives,
2. for Lena that she wouldn't have headaches (she had migraines for 2 days)
3. for relationships with Latvians and Russians to be loving
4. for our ministries in Ikskile and Ogre to be a edifying and effective
5. for our walks with God; that we'd live by faith as He leads us into our second year in Latvia.

English Club news

Our English Conversation Club continues to reach out to new people. Tonight, will have our monthly movie tonight, but we will not meet at our house as usual, but we will meet at Trisvieniba Baptist church along with the youth group to watch the film "A venture in faith" about Calvary Chapel's history and philosophy. Here is a clip with the testimony of Lonnie Frisbee, one of the hippies that God saved during the Jesus people movement in Southern California in the late 1960's and 70's.



We started the English Conversation Club last August in order to help young people practice what they are learning in School and to compare world views on different topics. We have discussed many topics from the alphabet and numbers to a Christian hard rock group "Flyleaf" that is popular here.






We will continue to meet Tuesdays at 6:00 PM as long as it is helpful to those coming. Those who come regularly have improved in their communication skills and becoming more fluent. It is also a nice opportunity for us to bond with their culture and share our faith. Praise God for the English Club. For more info go to www.englishconversationclub.blogspot.com or www.angliski.wordpress.com

Memories from Nizhyn, Ukraine 2003

Here is a slideshow from our first 2 years of church planting in Ukraine. Music "Beautiful One" by Jeremy Camp.

Moral Support

I recieved an encouraging email from a friend who was a missionary in Africa and is now back in Santa Cruz supporting us by prayer and moral support. Her name is Carrie Wheeler and this is her email (she gave me permission to post it)... Thank you Carrie!

Hi- this is Carrie. I hope and pray that you are well in the Lord and His work. We were praying for you and your easter service and I am thankful that you and your family were faithful to deliver the "goods" to the people. The gospel of truth. Simple yet incomprehensible.

I just wanted to share something with you guys that I have been thinking about since I saw your blog and heard about how your easter service went. I am glad that you are able to critique yourself about your message and what you might've done different. I am reminded though, of Jonah and his message, as I was listening to today. The whole city repented at the preaching of Jonah, and he couldn't have cared less for the Ninehvites.His message was heartless and cold. I am also reminded of Jeremiah, an awesome servant of God, who was faithful to all God had for him to do. When he was tired of sharing he said the Word burned in His heart and he couldn't help but share. But in all his time and life, no converts. Not one. No single soul touched unto repentance. What a contrast!! Just wanted to encourage you that it is not about the messenger, though we are obviously called to be a vessel and holy, but it is God who saves and He can do it through Jonah or Jeremiah. He can do it through a donkey. Be encouraged, it is so freeing to know that all you are supposed to do is share the truth. You have done that and well and I am always so blessed to see all that you are doing there and your love for the people and your hearts for the Lord. The videos always bless me and I am so thankful that you are there and the Lord is proud of you. I always had to ask the question- what if I never saw one person come to Christ through my ministry? The Lord doesn't usually do that but it is surely a matter of the heart. Is the Lord enough for me? I have often felt like Jeremiah, with no visible fruit in all my time in Africa, but I have to know that our work in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Cor 15:58

I pray for you always and know that the Lord is greatly working for His Name through your service,

Carrie

Memories from Ukraine 2004

Here's a video I made in 2004 when we were missionaries in Ukraine. When we don't feel like we are making that much of a difference, it gives us hope to look back and see the fruit of changed lives. O how we desire to see God pouring out His Spirit in Latvia too. Although Latvia and Ukraine share a communist past, their cultures and spiritual openness are quite different. I believe God used our time in Ukraine to prepare us for Latvia but it is also evident that it's a unique situation here which keeps us praying that we will be lead by His Spirit not just trying to repeat past victories.

That's what I meant to say

Have you ever said something and wished you had put it another way almost immediately after you said it? And as you reflect, you can envision a lot better way you could have delivered it then you did. This is how I usually feel after I teach the Bible, especially after my Resurrection day message. As I reflect on the gospel message I gave last Sunday (see previous post about Easter) and evaluate how to better communicate the pure gospel of our risen Lord in biblical way, I think I would have done some things different if I had the chance to do it again. I would not and could not change the message of the gospel, and I am confident in God's leading to make 1 Corinthians 15 my main scripture, but I know my delivery of it could have been more succinct and to the point. If I had not had 6 pages full of proof text for each point I would not have needed to abandon my notes to just speak point to point from heart as the Holy Spirit reminded me of key verses. Soon after envisioned a more expositional (verse by verse) message from 1 Corinthians 15:1-10.


Here was the outline I used to share the gospel last Sunday.

I. THE FACTS OF THE GOSPEL (1 Corinthians 15:1-8) What did Jesus do?

• Christ lived a perfect life (Hebrews 4:15)
  
• He died for our sin (John 19:34)
  
• He was buried (Matthew 12:39-40)
  
• He was raised (Luke 24:34, Acts 1:3)
  
• He appeared (1John 1:1-3, 2Peter 1:16)
  
• He ascended to Heaven (John 16:10)
• He sent witnesses to the world (Mark 16:15)
  
• He will come again to judge the world (Acts 10:38-43. )
  

II. THE MEANING OF THE GOSPEL (1 Corinthians 15:17-19) Only the risen Christ can save from sin.

Why did Jesus die for our sins?

• God loves His creation but men loved darkness (John 3:16-20, Romans 5:8)
  
• God is holy gave us the ten commandments (Exodus 20:3-17)
• All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)
  
• We cannot justify ourselves under the law (Romans 3:19-20, James 2:10-11)
  
• The law leads us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. (Galatians 3:24)
  
• Only one thing can take away our sin is the blood of the Lamb. (John 1:29, Hebrews 9:22)
  

III. THE RESPONSE TO THE GOSPEL (1 Corinthians 15:56-58) Who will have victory?

• A summary (Acts 17:30-31)

• There will be a judgment (Hebrews 9:27)

Where will you go after you die? (Luke 16:19-31)

• Those who are Christ's enemies - Hell (Mark 9:43-48)
  
• Those who are Christ's and He is your Lord - Heaven (Revelation 21:3-4)
  

What must you do to be saved? Repent and Believe (Mark 1:14-15)

• Repent (Luke 13:3-5, Acts 17:30, Revelation 3:19-21)
  
• Recieve Jesus as Savior and Lord (John 1:12, Phil 2:10)
• Call upon the Lord in truth (Romans 10:9-16, Luke 6:46-47)
  

Final appeal:

• Be saved from this perverse generation (Acts 2:40)
• Be reconciled to God (2Corinthians 5:20)

Alter call

• Since you have heard the gospel, Is the Father drawing you to His Son for eternal life? (John 6:44)
• Are you willing to turn from darkness to light (Acts 26:18)
• Jesus died for YOU, are you ready to live a life of faith? (Gal 2:20)
• Present your bodies to God (Romans 12:1)

Tas Kungs patiesi augšāmcēlies!

The Lord is really risen!

Thank you all for praying for our Resurrection Sunday service in Ikšķile, Latvia. We had a great turn out, over 100 people came to the culture house for our Christian concert and evangelistic message. There were even a handful of kids that enjoyed the children's ministry. Lena was part of the children's ministry team as I preached the gospel to the adults from 1 Corinthians 15.

I felt the Spirit give me boldness to preach the gospel, why Jesus died for us on the cross and how His resurrection is significant to our salvation. I preached about sin according to the law, about God's righteous judgment, about what Christ did to save us, and about the need to respond to the gospel with faith and repentance, but no one wanted to pray to receive Christ as there Savior and Lord. However afterward I talked with two teary eyed teenage girls who were invited by a grandmother in our church, it seems one was convicted but was not ready to commit to following Christ and the other is a professing Christian concerned for her friends eternity. I am kind of discouraged that no one responded right then and there but I am encouraged that so many heard the gospel and seeds were sown. I am reflecting on how I could have done a better job as a sower of seed, but I also know that only God is able to make it grow and the response also has to do with the state of the hearers' hearts (as in the parable of the 4 types of soils). Perhaps it is better that they didn't spring up at this first opportunity, they need time to count the cost of discipleship. Perhaps the double edged sword of God's word was tearing up soil of their hearts so that the seed of God's word would take deeper root.

Let us pray that the enemy doesn't steal the memory of this message but that God's Spirit will continue to convict the unbelieving world of sin, righteousness and judgment concerning Jesus Christ. So at the end of the day, after all the effort that went into the event, I am disappointed there were apparently no conversions and I wish I was a better communicator but then I look up at my God with assurance that His word will not return void (Isaiah 55:10-11) and our labor in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). Please also pray for us to have God's perspective as we prepare for our 2nd Sunday at the culture house in Ikskile. Thanks, good night. - Brenten