October 31 Alternative

What is there for kids to do on October 31 in Latvia?

1. Get dressed as the dead and go out with friends to get candy or do pranks on people.
2. Nothing. Sit at home and be bothered by mobs coming to your door.
3. Or, celebrate good instead of evil at the missionaries house: free food, lots of candy, Christian music, fun and games.
   

The Bible says, "Don't be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21) And "Flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace along with those who call upon the Lord from a pure heart." (2 Timothy 2:2) So, we decided to host an alternative to Halloween for the kids from our childrens ministry, we called it "Reformation Day" and we explained how Martin Luther was a Christian who changed history by challenging evil in his generation and stood up for good. We encouraged the kids to glorify God not the devil and to celebrate life not death and to seek good not evil.



We provided Hot dogs, chips, cola and plenty of candy so that they wouldn't be tempted to go trick or treating. Our games included a pinjata, Uno, guess how many M&M's are in a jar, bobbing for apples and who could make their balloons stick to the ceiling after rubbing it on your head and finally. We connected our camera to a monitor so they could see themselves dance along with the David Crowder Band, singing "Your a Revolutionary Love" and "O Praise Him" and now we have this action packed video to show you:






October 31 Reformation Fun

Dosvidanya, Yeats

Yesterday, we said good bye to our co-laborers, Steven and Teresa Yeats, as they headed back to Moldova to resume their ministries in Briceni. We have been friends a long time, knowing Steven since Bible college in 1999 and Teresa since 2001 in Ukraine, we are sure to keep in touch as we continue serving the Lord either in Latvia or Moldova. We will certainly miss them and so will the church in Ogre that received ministry from them.

Their fellowship was a great blessing to our whole family as they lived with us for our first 2 and a half months in Latvia. Having been missionaries for 7 years, they were a source of deep insight and encouragement as well as a living example of serving as unto the Lord. Unlike Lena and I, they were not rusty in their speaking in Russian, and they were very handy to have around when I just couldn't find the words in Russian to express what God put on my heart to share.

Steven and I preached the gospel together on the streets weekly, he played the djembe as I led worship on the guitar, we took turns teaching at the Baptist church next door and we often discussed strategies and prayed about how to begin planting a new church in Latvia. During this time, Steven wrote a gospel tract and we had it translated into Latvian and Russian, which we are able to use as we continue spreading the Word.

Teresa and Lena had lots of fellowship together, shopped together, took turns making dinner for every one and helped look after each others kids. Life can be lonely for a missionary wife, but I think having another missionary/wife/mom/American/woman friend turned the mundane into fun and meaningful times.

We are praying for God to send us more co-laborers to come in the future, but for giving us a kick start into church planting, the giftings and fellowship of Steven and Teresa was a real God send. There is no one quite like them. We are thankful for their sacrifice (Latvia is a lot more expensive than Moldova) but they never complained and were never a burden, but were always a blessing to us and to all who they got to know, as I am sure they will continue to be to their church in Moldova. If you would like to support the Yeats, you can send a check to their sending church:

• Calvary Chapel


• P.O. Box 4794


• Thousand Oaks, CA 91359


• Please write “Missions” on memo, and attach a separate note specifying that’s it’s for the Yeats family.

Who do you say Jesus is?

What comes to mind when you hear the name Jesus Christ?

It's safe to say that most people in western culture have heard the name Jesus and have at least some impression or thoughts about who he is, what he said, and why he lived. Depending on the way we have been raised, the people we know, and our experiences in life, we each respond to the name Jesus Christ in some way, whether positively, negatively, or indifferently. Some have called him the Son of God, a good teacher, philosopher, prophet, social revolutionary, and even a fraud. I don't know what has shaped your understanding about Jesus Christ, but I would like to invite you to honestly consider what Jesus has said about himself, and determine whether your understanding is consistent with the truth.

Jesus said that he is the Christ or Messiah that was prophesied about in the Old Testament scriptures. The Greek word 'Christ' and the Hebrew word 'Messiah' both mean 'Anointed one' and refer to a great king and deliverer about whose coming men of God had spoken since the beginning of human history. It's written that this King would be our Creator, God Himself, who would dwell amongst us by taking on human flesh, being born of a virgin and called “Immanuel” which means 'God with us'. This Creator-King would come to establish a new and eternal kingdom, judge evil and restore peace and righteousness to the earth, bringing great joy to the people of every tribe, tongue and nation. Jesus said He is that King.* John 4:25-26, Micah 5:2, Isaiah 7:14, Daniel 7:13-14

Jesus said that He is the SaviorOf the world. It's written that the Savior would rescue us from the condemnation and guilt of our rebellion against God and provide a way for sinners be reconciled to Him. He would satisfy the demands of God's justice by humbling Himself to suffer and die on the cross as a criminal, willingly standing in our place of judgment under His law and sacrificially taking upon Himself the penalty of our sins. Having removed the cause of enmity between us by righteously judging and paying for the crimes of His enemies, the Savior would declare peace and call all men to draw near to God, offering mercy, forgiveness and eternal life as a gift of His grace, instead of the judgment, wrath and hell we all deserve. Jesus said He is that Savior.

* Matthew 1:21, Matthew 20:28, Isaiah 53:5-6, Galatians 3:10-13, Romans 3:23-28, Ephesians 2:8-13, Colossians 1:21-22

Jesus said that he would rise From the dead. In order to silence His enemies and critics, the Savior would rise from the dead to justify both Himself and those who have believed in Him. He would prove, by showing that death had no power over him, that He is both Lord and Savior; that He will return again and that the power and right to judge and give eternal life belong to him. After he was dead and buried, on the 3rd day he rose from the dead and was seen by his apostles and then by more than 500 men at one time, many of whom, for proclaiming the reality of Jesus' resurrection would later lose their lives. The resurrection itself and the testimony of countless martyrs say that Jesus is alive and that He is in fact Lord over all and Savior of the world.

* Mark 9:30-31 * Romans 4:25 * Acts 2:32-36 * Romans 1:4 * Acts 17:30-31 * 1 Corinthians 15:3-6

Jesus today is calling all men to repent of their rebellion and to believe the good news of salvation. To repent means to literally change our thinking and way of life. It means with God's promised help we confess and actively turn away from our conscious rebellion, acknowledge our guilt and need for mercy, and turn to God in humility and obedience, submitting to His authority over us as King of our lives. It's written that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. To believe means to fully trust and rely on the truthfulness of what Jesus has said and the sufficiency of what he has done for us as the sole basis for our salvation and peace with God. It is written “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus (repentance), and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved”.

* Mark 1:14-15 * Luke 24:46-47 * Isaiah 55:6-7 * 1 John 1:9 * John 5:24 * 1 John 5:13 * Romans 10:9-13

To those who would come to him as Lord and Savior, Jesus offers deep and satisfying hope, both in this life and the one to come. Jesus' death on the cross was intended to convince you of His love and desire that you would not perish, but live forever with Him; that it is joy, peace, freedom and life to know such a beautiful and loving Savior and to worship and serve such a good and humble King. But those who reject Him will be held responsible for their sin on the day of judgement. My sincere desire is that you would see that Jesus Christ Himself is your greatest need today and that you would turn to Him and find that God Himself is the greatest and most satisfying Treasure you could ever possess.* Romans 15:13 * John 3:36 * 2 Thess. 1:6-10 * Romans 5:6-11 * 2 Peter 3:9 * Matthew 11:28-30 * John 6:35

Written by pastor Steven Yeats, missionary in Moldova

New Prayer requests for July

For those of you who are committed to praying for us monthly or even daily, Thank you! Here are some new prayer requestes:

• For fruitfulness in all of our weekly activities especially Friday evangelism, Sunday Bible studies, Latvian language lessons (mon, wed, fri), Monday night prayer, Thursday fellowship, etc.
• For our family and our continued blessing and balance with ministry. Our wedding anniversary is 7/1/07, Lena's Birthday is 7/16/07.
• 7/7/07 wedding of Elina and Vadislav. This couple is from the Baptist church that we are helping at. Elina sings with me on the worship team, she is the one who is looking to my wife for wise counsel and she may be translating for me in September. Pray for a blessed Christian wedding and for us to be godly encouragement to them in their marriage.
• 7/8/07 Seminar on Evangelism for churches in Ogre. i have been asked by the Evangelical aliance be a speaker along with pastor Rufus (a missionary from Africa) to teach and equip believers from various churches who are interested reaching their city with the gospel. The goal is to show how evangelism is more of a lifestyle than a once a year program. Pray for my teaching in Russian. Pray for a good turn out and that God's word will be received and put into practice for the sake of the gospel.
• For preparations for the annual Bible Reading Marathon 8/4-8/7/07. For four days evangelicals team up to read the whole New Testament and Psalms in the central square. Pray for wisdom as churches are seeking to work together to proclaim the word of God in Ogre.
• 7/20/07 A missions team from America is coming to help us do VBS outside our house for the kids who are out on the streets while their parents work. Pray for kids to come to Christ and for us to be gracious hosts.
• 7/23/07 Steven and Teresa leave for Moldova. Pray that the remainder of their time with us and their church in Moldova to be blessed when they return. I will be street witnessing with Steven as much as possible while we have the chance.

New Sunday night meeting

Tonight, we hosted our first weekly meeting for people who we met when street witnessing. Seven long-haired, 17 year old young men came with questions about what we believe and heard Steven and I share our testimonies from 8pm to 10:30pm. They actually spoke and understood English very well, so we were able to share freely how Jesus called us to himself. They listened intently and asked a lot of the same questions we asked ourselves before committing our lives to Christ. I think we related well to each other since I too was a long haired rocker in my late teens. I let them take turns playing my guitar in the background while we all talked seriously and ate cookies our wives brought out to us. They said they would come next week to begin learning what the Bible has to say and perhaps bring some girls so that our wives could share their testimonies too. Our meetings will start at 8pm after our kids go to bed, and it doesn't get dark until about 10:30 this far north. We might set up a circle of chairs right outside our front door like we did tonight, although we are thinking of buying a couch so that more people can comfortably sit inside where there are no bugs. Anyway, we are trusting the Lord to save some of these guys and to see them begin to live for Christ.

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.

Calvary connections

More devine appointments today, I met with a team from Calvary Chapel Pittsburg and Fredricktown at the end of their 10 day mission trip and was encouraged by the YWAM missionaries that hosted them.

Background: When I first researched Latvia last year, I searched online for "Calvary Chapel" and "Latvia" and found this page about a couple Calvarys who teamed up and took a couple short trips and through YWAM to a Russian Baptist church in the city of Liepia (about 3 hour drive from Riga). So I emailed the pastor and called a couple team members, told them about our plans and found out they were planning to go about the same time. So we said, "Maybe we can meet in Riga on our last day".

This morning the Lord reminded me - Today is their last day! So, I called YWAM to find out where the team from CC Pitsburg and Fredricktown were, I found out they were on their way to the airport. So I jumped in a taxi hoping to see them there (it's a small airport). Timing couldn't have been better, I helped them bring their luggage from their van to the check in counter and spent almost an hour talking with them about what we were doing in Latvia. They had helped a small Russian church with outreach and a Vacation Bible School. Pastor John had done an Inductive Bible Study training with Sergei the Russian pastor, trying to help him to feed the sheep better, not just talking about current events and opinions but digging into the word of God. To those who had been their on previous trips, they seemed a little discouraged at the lack of progress and growth compared with 3 years ago.

They suggested I visit Liepia and encourage pastor Sergei, which I was already interested in doing, but now I see the Lord opening the door. Also seeing them off at the airport was a Russian girl (I'm sorry I forgot her name) who helped translate for the team and has been living in Liepia as a missionary sent from Calvary Chapel Smolensk, Russia. She got my email address and will, talk with Sergei about what day I could come. By the way, her pastor back in CC Smolensk Russia is praying about leading his family to Riga, Latvia to plant a church here too. Perhaps the Lord is preparing a team???

Ministry Beginnings in Riga, Latvia

Friday Morning I was wide awake at 3 am so I decided to have devotions. It was a good time in the word, I read about the temptation of Christ in the desert and the beginning of His ministry in Galilee. Comparing all the gospel accounts it was interesting to see how Jesus did not sin against the word of God as he answered each temptation with “it is written”, and when He went to Galilee he fulfilled Scripture “A light will shine in Galilee…” As we are just beginning here, I want to be obedient to the word of God, like Jesus was. I want to fulfill God’s plan for me by letting my light so shine before men and lead my family where he has foreordained that we should walk.
Later, we all had breakfast together and after Lily’s morning nap, we went out for a walk together to town (about a 30 minute walk), I took Lena to the center and we had lunch at TGIF and watched people walking by. And were getting familiar with where things were. After the kid’s napped, We found a good grocery store called Rimi, I felt like we were in an American grocery store because of the variety, abundance and organization of all the food, they even had cream cheese for Caleb.
The phone situation was kind of disappointing. We have a phone jack in our apartment but no phone, and the landlord said it will be impossible for us to have a working line there because we are foreigners. I was able to make a call from the landlords office but Dagnia was not home so I left a message inviting her to come over at 8pm for prayer and fellowship. Around 8, I went out to find a pay phone and call Dagnia to invite them out to lunch the next day, She informed me that she couldn’t come but her room-mate Ilza was on her way over to our apartment to meet us.
Ilza is Latvian-American (she grew up in the States and learned Latvian from her parents). It was good to hear her share her perspective about what is going on spiritually here, and how there is not really a church that she feels comfortable inviting people to. She was really interested to hear how God lead us here and what our vision was for church planting. It is good to have another friend who speaks English and Latvian and we are glad the Lord led her to come over to our house without even knowing us. She is a good contact and continues to show us around, help us find important things, answer questions and if she doesn’t know, she can connect us with people who do.

Saturday, we went out to lunch with Dagnia, William and Ilza at Chili Pizza, it was Latvian style pizza, but not bad. We got to know them a little more and decided to get together in the evening for our first home fellowship. It was a special worship and prayer time. I led worship, we interceded for Latvia and at the end they prayed specifically for Lena and me. God gave them each an encouraging word concerning our mission in Latvia, which they later wrote down for us to keep. Here is what they wrote:

Dagnia – Prayer and Exhortation

Do not dispise the day of small beginnings. Not only does this mean that you are
starting our here but also your children. They have been called here; watch them
as the Lord uses them. They are anointed.

William - Prophecy for Brenten and Lena

You are like a tank; strong, powerful, going into enemy territory, taking ground,
possessing the land. God is your protection – he is your Shield, when you go
through the rough ground (enemy fire) It will not harm you, you think it might
but it won’t. Trust Him. It is “not by might nor by power but by My Spirit” says
the Lord.

Ilsa - Heb 3:17-19 Amplified version

Though th fig tree does not blossom and there is not fruit on the vines [though] the product of the olive fails and the field yield not food, though the flock is cut off from
the fold and there are no cattle in the stable, Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will exult in the [victorious] God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hind feet and will make me to walk [not stand still in terror but to walk] and make [spiritual] progress upon my high places [of trouble, suffering or responsibility]

God is putting you into turbo gear to get “up the mountain” You are (on) an all terrain vehicle. He’s called you to go on rough terrain (barren lava like, lifeless) but you are WELL EQUIPPED. The 4 wheels = all the members of your family.
Worship is the key! He makes your feet like hinds feet on high places. Meditate on the “lava terrain” I think there’s more there…