Busy but good to be home

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Have I been home a week already? I'm still catching up with the fast paced American life! Life doesn't slow down when you have jet-lag either. (:

• I got home safely Tuesday night, tired but happy to see my wife again.



• Wednesday I got stay home with my wife and kids,



• Thursday and Friday back to work at A&B Fire systems,



• Saturday my parents were visiting from Southern California.



• Today, we attended Sunday services at CC Monterey Bay and then a baptism in the afternoon, followed by catching up with emails while the kids napped.



• Tomorrow, at 5am I begin another 40+ hour work week.



• Tuesday evening friends are gathering to hear about the trip and to pray for Latvia.



• By the end of the week I hope to have all our important documents together to take to Sacramento to get a special "apostille" seal that the Latvian government will recognise.



• Next Saturday is Caleb's 4th Birthday party.
• Next Sunday I will be speaking at Calvary Chapel Santa Cruz

My life is so busy here. I have to remember to put God first and balance family, work and church activity. My wife is still tired from spending 24/7 with the kids. Please pray for strength and wisdom now, because there is so much to do and so little time and it seems like either my family or my health suffers from too much busy-ness and not enough rest. I am starting to realize I have so many friends here but so little time to spend with everybody.

God's word for tonight is "Be still and know that I am God."

On the way home

Hey everyone, I am finally on my way home from Latvia. We hope to share with you about my final day in Latvia, getting the rental agreement and invitation letter from Ogre and then driving to the immigration center in Riga to begin the bureaucratic process of getting a missionary residence permit (like a visa). Looking back on the trip, I think it was very fruitful in many ways.

1. We have a house to live in starting in May.
2. We have been invited officially to do missionary work in the country.
3. My Russian speaking improved by God's grace
4. Churches in Ogre and Liepaja were strengthened in their faith
5. The gospel was preached
6. God was glorified in songs
7. God gave more vision and specific scripture confirming our direction
8. I was healed of a stomach virus in the middle of teaching
9. Many of our books and my guitar is now waiting for us in Latvia
10. Your prayers were answered

Now I am looking forward to seeing my family again. I also hope to sharing with my home church Calvary Chapel Monterey Bay and with Calvary Chapel Santa Cruz, who will also support us prayerfully and financially.

Healing in Liepaja

So, Sunday.... I was feeling so terribly sick before the service that I almost vomited again but it was just dry heaving because all I had to eat Saturday was water, airborn, a power bar and pepto bismol. I had to lay down until an hour before service, then I forced myself to get up and get dressed, shave, eat a bowl of cereal, more airborn, and more peptobismol and 2 childrens Ibroprofen. I told Sergej and his family to pray because I had a terrible headache too and I didn't feel like talking and could hardly carry on a conversation with his kids. You can imagine it's hard enough being emerced in Russian speaking home with a bunch of talkative boys and one screaming 1.5 year old and then feeling sick and knowing I am going to preach in Russian was a lot of pressure to be under. Anyway I went to church by faith, and felt like Job who decided to praise the Lord inspite of how he was feeling even if God didn't heal him. During the worship that Sergej led, I had to sit every other song. Then his deacons got up and shared about the Baptist conference they had just been at with Sergej, I got up to go to the bathroom 2x while they were sharing for 15 minutes each. Then it was my turn, Sergej introduced me and thanked me for coming from so far away and teaching in Russian even while sick and he had the church stretch out their hands torward me and pray for me. So I sang a couple songs and began teaching a similar message as I tought in Ogre and with out realizing it, by the end of the service I felt all better. So after the Sergejs closing prayer, I shouted out, One more thing, I feel 100% better. God has healed me! Sergej said, Are you sure? and His wife Olga looked at me in disbelief because they saw how bad I was feeling before. I said, yes! Let's eat! So we all rejoiced over chai and bulichki. Then we went back to his house and ate chicken and spagetti. I haven't felt sick in my stomach since and my head was fine too.

Liepaja Pictures

See the full Liepaja Album at http://travel.webshots.com/album/557708459kUOhyv?start=28

Visiting Liepaja (march 7-12)

(Wednessday) Last night I arrived in Liepaja, met Sergej's family (his wife and all 5 kids and 2 Grandparents) and had dinner at their house which is pretty poor but homie, we had bread with mayonnaise and sliced tomatoes and rice on the side. I gave them the gifts we bought in the states, they all tried the peanut butter and Sees candy. Then we went to their Baptist church where there was a meeting for members (a committee of some kind) to talk and plan. We sat around a big table and talked about finances (the book keeper read what came in and what was spent), privatization (buying the building they are renting now), planning for a fast (shared opinions about which day was best), Sergej suggested others take part in leading worship. at the end, Sergej encouraged to think about how the church can be used to reach the lost and save sinners.
I finally slept through the night, they have a comfy couch and I was tired from not sleeping the night before.
(Thursday) This morning, they served the Starbucks coffee I gave them but they made it like instant coffee (just add hot water) you can imagine how that tastes. They said they liked it though, it's how they usually make coffee. I said I would buy thema a coffee maker which may have offended them, they had one but it broke. But I did like the hard boiled eggs and bread with butter and salami for breakfast. Lunch was the best though, potato and mushroom soup with a dab of sour cream. I contributed my peach juice and orange juice, which they all enjoyed. Today happens to be Women's Day (which actually isn't an official holiday in Latvia but it is in Russia so they carry that tradition over from Soviet times. I didn't have flowers to give but the juice was a special to Sergej's wife and his mother who joined us for lunch. She was sick at home with a virus yesterday and least 2 out of 5 boys are sick too and stayed home from school today. Pray I don't get it too!
Today, I walked to the beach with his oldest son Max (19) and there were no bees! We did find some amber on the beach. Cool! I am going to start a collection. I'll try to send some pictures soon. Now it's time for me to go to their church. I'm going to play drums.
Tonight I will be taking part in the bible discussion of Hebrews 7 and on Sunday I will teach again in Russian. Please pray even more because I wont have any translator.
FUTURE PLANS
I have already told Sergej how God provided a place for us already and we are going to move to Ogre, it's a little sad to tell him we won't be living in Liepaja but he accepts it as God's will. I still do want to visit and help him evangelize more people in the future and we are praying about some common ministry to this end. We'll see how often I can get here, it is 300 kilometers (200 miles) from Ogre.
Anyway, I have to go now. Please write me.

A Place For Us

"The Lord your God.... went in the way before you to search out a place for you to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day. " Deut. 1:32-33

Tuesday morning, I was reading the devotional called "Daily Light" and the Lord spoke to me through these verses. Then Wednessday, before I left Ogre, I taked with Vadim about renting the house that is available. It seemed like God has prepared it just for us. And it turns out that it is within our budget. Praise the Lord for the fulfillment of His word! I plan on going back monday to sign the rental agreement. Vadims church will also give us the official invitation we need to begin our ministry in Ogre, Latvia.

Ogre Photos

View the whole Ogre album at http://community.webshots.com/album/557705610eBDqCM

A Day to Pray and Walk

It's Tuesday night and I haven't written since yesterday morning and so much has happened but I will try to keep this brief.
Monday I call PRAYER/WALKING DAY... Vadim and I walked about 13 Kilometers (10 miles?). First we walked around the center of town and then up to the highest peak in Ogre where we prayed for the city and for future ministry opportunities. We were looking down into a huge amphitheater where there are plans for a Christian concert. It can easily seat 3,000 people. Right now it is covered with snow but in the summer I could imagine having an Evangelistic outreach there or if Calvary Ogre outgrows our home, we could meet there in the summer - but I am getting ahead of myself. After coming home, I took a nap and then we went walking again. This time we met up with a Christian brother named Valodia at his body building gym "super gym". It is in the basement of a communist block apartment an is a place for troubled teens to go. Valodia was sharing about how since he came to the Lord he tries to run his business honestly and it is definitely harder but the Lord provides for his needs. After praying in the gym, we walked out to the edge of town where there is a forest and a mountain ridge called "синая гара" or "Blue Mountain" because of the color of the sky. Going up and down the snowy path between the trees, almost slipping along the way, we were exhorted by Valodia and praised the Lord at each peak. I got some cool video clips of Vadim and him singing a Russian hymn at the top of a mountain peak overlooking a large frozen lake on which people were ice fishing. The sun came out from the clouds for the first time and we prayed again. Valodia is so enthusiastic and always has something to say, and fill in the gaps with Hallelujah, Brot! I had to call for a moment of silence to hear the Lord. So often we think of prayer as talking to God, well he wants to talk to us too. It's good to "be still and know that he is God". Then we hiked back down the mountain to his Gym. Along the way we met people that he knew and we stopped to pray for them. I shared the gospel with one guy named Maris who had already drunken 2 liters of beer. He was surprised to be talking with an American. He said, "You left America and came to the little town of Ogre? Can you imagine!"
PASTORS PRAYER MEETING.... After all that walking we ordered pizzas and had a feast. Then a few pastors from Riga and Ogre came over for the monthly prayer meeting. Pastor Vadim has an important role as the president of the Evangelical Alliance to pray together and plan for events where evangelical churches can work together to win the lost. There is another Bible reading marathon planed for August. At this pastors meeting, we also heard from another American missionary who is carrying a cross around the cities of Latvia and handing out tracts that say "Smile Jesus loves you". There are scriptures in these bright yellow tracts called the four smiles and the guy really wants to share the joy of Jesus in Latvia because he read in the Guinness book of world records that Latvia was the most unhappy nation in the world in 2007. Then we all stood up and prayed out loud (everyone at once) for Latvia. I am actually not so comfortable praying while others are praying so I was listening a little and then crying out to God quietly. On my left was a woman who is a pastor with New Generation church who was praying in tongues (now I don't believe women should be pastors or that one should pray in tongues while everyone else is praying out of turn) so I was listening and I think God gave me the interpretation which I shared with her afterwords. I saw a tree with the wind blowing and the interpretation of her prayer language was "Lord, let the wind blow out the dead leaves on the tree to make room for new growth in the Spring time. Let your wind blow through the trees." She said that was the first time anyone shared the interpretation of her tongue before and she thanked me because it was edifying. REFLECTIONS ON THE MEETING... That is exactly why the Bible says that if people are praying one should speak at a time and if someone has a tongue they should let someone interpret otherwise how will the others understand and be edified? The Bible also says that we should not allow a woman to teach as a pastor and have authority over the men. There needs to be order in the church, that's what the Bible says, people may have emotional reasons for doing things different but I believe God has established this order for the edification of the church. Needless to say, at the end of the day I was beat. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Teaching In Russian

SUNDAY SERVICE . . . I thought I could only teach for 5 minutes and then I would need a translator, but the Lord gave me clarity. Vadim stood up to translate after 5 minutes but I kept speaking in Russian so he sat down. He did help with some words though. I know I made a lot of grammatical mistakes but people were really gracious and encouraged me that it was understandable. I guess none of the Americans they have met really tried to speak Russian. I ended up sharing for more than 30 minutes about growing in the grace of God and how we aren't just saved by grace but we continue by grace. The verse God gave me was Acts 16:4-5 where Paul strengthened the church in the faith by delivering the apostles doctrine about the gentiles not having a legalistic yoke of bondage. I encouraged them learn to walk by faith. So thanks for praying. It was a definite miracle because I was very nervous but God gave me boldness and it got more comfortable and easy to share my heart as I continued.
OPEN HEARTS / OPEN DOORS . . . Afterward we all went downstairs and sat at a long table over coffee and sweets and fellowshipped. When I shared about our need to find a house or apartment, people mentioned that other half of the house (where i am staying now) is available. It's owned by the church and used for a few teams in the summer from the USA. It's really nice inside, all remodeled white walls, wood floor big living room and kitchen and 4 bedrooms with a bunch of single beds. The only problem is the stairs are really steep and I almost fell coming down the first time. but it is just a wooden staircase that I think could be rebuilt safer. There are 3 bedrooms upstairs and a bathroom, downstairs is a big entry and then the living room where possibly 20 -30 people could squeeze in for prayer/bible study/homefellowship. then on he other side of the living room is another bedroom/office and the kitchen. They didn't say how much we could rent it for, but they were talking about other houses that would be at least 1000 US dollars a month minimum, so they suggested we buy an apartment for 120,000 USD - but that takes time and it's not really what I would want to buy nor could we afford it. There are some rich peoples houses that are probably more than half a million. According to Vadim, Ogre is one of the more expensive cities because of it's good infrastructure (and probably it's proximity to Riga), he thinks Liepaja is one of the expensive ones too. We'll see when I meet with Sergej.
CALVARY CHAPEL OGRE? . . .
Any way, I also talked to Vadim last night about Calvary Chapel and about our style and philosophy of ministry "healthy sheep reproduce". I asked how he felt about us starting another church in Ogre, he was very open because he thinks there should be a church for every 1000 people and there are only 7 here for 30,000 people and many people may be drawn to less traditional churches. People that won't go to a baptist church may be reached by Calvary. Vadim, like Sergej, are happy to be a part of the work of God in our lives. Both are willing to invite us if we feel called to church planting in their cities.
TOUR OF OGRE CITY . . .
Before church Vadim drove me around the whole city to get an idea of the size and neighborhoods. There is a huge pine forest on one side, a river running through it and a hill with a walking path in the trees by the river. There is a big lumber factory and a TB sanitorium on the edge of town - we should get vaccinated! I guess kids with TB stay there, depending on their health some stay until they finish school. Anyway, Vadim showed me other parts of town where they are going to build a new shopping center, there is a super market and a hyper market (difference?). If we were to rent the churches house there is a mid size (for Latvia) grocery store and a couple restaurants across the street. It's a great location in the center, plenty of room for guests or an office plus kids rooms.
INTERNET ISSUES . . .
So it is Monday morning, Vadim is now staying in the house next door with me. I am writing in the church office where Vadim is the phone with his wife in Salem using skype - an Internet phone program that's free between skype members. I actually downloaded skype onto our laptop but didn't know anyone who had it so never used it. I think Nate and Theis speak through skype. I wonder how many other friends we could talk to while in Latvia using skype.
I haven't heard definitely from the Lord yet, we need to pray and wait to find out more about Liepaja and prices and so forth but I do like Ogre, it's central location in the country. It's not near the sea but that's not the most important thing - especially in the winter.
So that's all for now. I took a bunch of pictures on our drive yesterday but I have not been able to upload photos for everyone to see - yet.

In Ogre, Latvia

It hardly seems real that i am here in Latvia. It kind of feels like Ukraine because of the weather, The weather is above freezing during the day. and there are piles of snow on the sides of the brown slushy roads. Many trees look dead but in Ogre (where I'm staying for 5 days and praying about moving to) there are pine trees that stay green through the winter. Ogre used to be a sanatorium for people with illnesses to get fresh air. tomorrow we are going to see the river and more of the city. You can learn more about Ogre at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogre%2C_Latvia

Its Saturday night. I'm writing from pastor Vadims office and have the apartment in the other half of the building as living quarters. So far we just dropped off my stuff and when out to dinner and got some groceries for me and then I took a 2 hour nap. We have only spoken Russian since he picked me up at the airport. He asked me to teach tomorrow for 30 minutes in Russian and play 2 or 3 songs! I told him I'm not ready to teach that long in Russian but he said he will help me translate when I get stuck! Pray pray pray. the service is at 4pm so I will prepare in the morning. pray that i can get some studing done and that communication is clear. God has been speaking to be about strengthening the church that I am visiting as Paul the apostle strengthened the churches withe the Word of God on his second missionary journey in Acts 16-20.

Traveling Through London

Hey all! I am sitting in the London Gatwick airport and have a few minutes to blog before flying to Riga, Latvia. I will be in Ogre, Latvia for the next 5 days and then Liepaja for the 5 days after that. My last day will be the day that I sign the rental agreement deciding where we will live for the next year. I am looking forward to following the Lord and seeing where we will begin our ministry and where we will live. I really don't know which city we will end up in and I am not leaning anywhere, but both Lena and I are willing to go anywhere in Latvia that He calls.

My travels have been smooth and on time. I already miss my wife and kids, who I usually travel with. Lena always keeps track of my passport and tickets and I just carry most the bags. This trip, I have almost lost my tickets twice but by the grace of God there have been no problems. I had to stuff my guitar case with items from my carry on bag because they only allow 1 carry on through London. Other than that I have no complaints and I am rather excited to have this time to pray and reflect before arriving in Latvia.