Update for prayer supporters

We are in our 3rd out of 4 weeks in Riga, Latvia and we praise God for how things are progressing.

In the beginning most of our energy was consumed by jet lag and finding groceries and things that were unexpected needs (crib for Lily, plastic bath tub for Caleb, cell phones for me and Lena). But we had help from our friend Dagnia from Carmel Valley and her roommate Ilze (two Latvian-American Christian women who have helped us get our feet on the ground. )

Now that we are figuring out the bus routes and shuttle schedules, we are able to get out and about more and fill in our schedule with meeting more people and getting acquainted with the cultural context that we hope to minister in in the future.

God has given us several divine appointments and are looking forward to next week being even more fruitful. I have been able to witness to all kinds of people: Russian Orthodox babushkas (Grandmas), A gypsy couple by the trainstation, teenage Latvians by McDonalds, British tourists, Mormon neighbors outside our apartment, a potential landlord, taxi drivers, people we sat next to on the bus, or met in the park. I've visited churches ranging from traditional Baptists, to hyper Charismatics, to a non denominational church somewhere inbetween. I have met with missionaries from India, Philippines, Canada, USA, Ukraine and Russia. Lena and I are praying about all the advice we've received; about where the Lord might want us to go and and how to start and who we should work with. I am learning about how to get residency permits to be able to live here year round.

We definitely see the Lords hand in preparing us for this trip and using this trip to prepare the ground for future church planting in Latvia. He is showing us that there is a need for balanced churches with sound doctrine and the power of the Spirit.

Please pray with us for

• confirmation that we are to move to Riga in January, we are all willing and believe that this is how God is leading us. The question is not so much "if" but "when" concerning our future in Latvia. We have some ideas of who we might work with, where we may live, how we may start but we need the Lord to show us what is of Him and what is not.
• about where and with whom we would start out. We were advised to be invited by a local church and work partially with them. There is a possibility to work with another non-denominational church in Riga and Jurmala for our first year as we learn Latvian and learn from them so we don't make the same mistakes they made when starting out here. We will go to meet with this missionary team in Jurmala on Wednessday. We have also hit it off with the leader of the evangelical aliance who has invited us to align with them when we start a church and possibly help in interdenominational outreach as there are open doors for the Bible teachers in public schools throughout Latvia. There are some penticostal and charismatic churches that I don't see ourselves working with because of the "word of faith" doctrine and the "toronto blessing" that we don't agree with. We need to meet with the Baptist Union to see how flexible they are with inviting others to start non-traditional churches.
• Also pray for more opportunities to preach the gospel during this next week. I will visit a couple other towns and churches and feel led to take my guitar out to the streets again.

Thank you for keeping us in your prayers,

Brenten