Why Latvia?

Calling. Because our Lord is specifically calling us to Latvia as missionaries, we must follow Him and preach His word as He leads. Matthew 28:18-19; Acts 16:9, 1Corinthians 9:16, 2Timothy 4:1-2
Compassion. Because our Savior is giving us compassion for the lost, we want to help them find Jesus. They need to hear the gospel. They also need churches where they can learn the Word of God and grow in their walks with Jesus Christ by the power of His Spirit. Jn 3:16, Act 2:47, Rom 1:16, Eph 4:15, 1Ptr 2:2, 2Ptr 3:18
Opportunity. Because God is opening the door, we can reach more Russian speakers in the former USSR. Christians in Latvia are inviting us to come and help plant churches. Our home church is willing to send us. Supporters like you make it possible.
Acts 1:8, Acts 13:1-3, Col 4:3, 1Cor 16:9, 2Cor 9:12, Rev 3:8

3 Key Ministries

We continue to pray for and about Latvia. I still believe that we will be moving there in January although the business of life in America has slowed down the preparation process. We need to communicate our vision and raise support to return. We are getting clearer vision about what we are called to do, and how we can use our gifts to penetrate the Latvian culture with the gospel: the keys are 1. Language, 2. Music, 3. Family.

1. LANGUAGE. We speak Russian, we want to begin taking Latvian lessons when we return so that by the time summer comes we can share the Word of God in the language most people use and build more relationships with Latvians as well as Russians.
2. MUSIC. I am called to minister through music, both to the Lord and to people. I believe the Lord loves the musical expression of his people to him. I hope to encourage other musicians to use their gifts for God's glory, form a praise band, record original Latvian praise songs and do outreach concerts in various places.
3. FAMILY. Since God has called my family, we want to be used as an example of the kindness of Christ by showing hospitality and opening our home for fellowship, Bible study and prayer. Starting a home fellowship and having friends over is a good way to build the church in Latvia.

For these three ministries, we will need to raise monthly financial support: for language lessons, for music equipment, for rental of an adequate home for my family and home fellowship ministry. Would you support us financially? Checks can always be sent to Calvary Chapel Monterey Bay, 3001 Monterey-Salinas HwyMonterey, CA 93940. Just add a note that it is for our mission to Latvia.

Finally, prayer will help us to achieve our mission, may God help us become fluent in Latvian, may God be glorified through the music of His people and draw many to himself, may God make our family a shining example of being doers of His Word. Would you support us in your prayers?

Latvia is on the forefront of our minds and prayers - so much so that God is reminding me to seek His face alone first of all. I have to ask, "What are is God trying to say to me personally?" not just, "What about Latvia?" If we seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, then everything we need will be added to us. We don't need to worry or be anxious about tomorrow. We are more valuable to Him than the birds or the lilies. (Mat 6) It's always best to fix our eyes on the Lord, the author and perfecter of our faith. So, what is the Lord speaking to you?

Would you pray for us?

• Praise God for our productive trip last month . . . Several people were receptive to God's word; Christians were encouraged and the lost heard the gospel. Also, we have a few offers from Christian organizations for the invitation letter that we would need to move there to begin planting a church. Praise God that He spoke to our hearts and confirmed our calling with open doors and love for Latvia.
• Please pray for our time here in the USA . . .
  1. For our walks with God. That we would seek first God's kingdom and hear God clearify our calling that we may run in His will.
  2. For time to prepare and to present our vision to the church. We have been kind of overwhealmed getting back into our busy American lives, I haven't been able to write a newsletter or make a DVD to inform supporters about our vision.
  3. For financial provision. We will need $3000 per month for our family and all our ministry goals for 2007. Praise the Lord for already providing for our airfare and start up costs. We are hoping to sell our car here and use that money to buy a van in Latvia.
• Pray for our future work in Latvia . . .
  1. Latvian Language. For a good Latvian tutor to teach us this winter so that we can penetrate the Latvian culture in the spring and summer.
  2. Home Fellowship. That we would find an affordable house with a yard for our family to rent in Jurmala that we can use for hospitality, fellowship, BIble studies and prayer meetings.
  3. Music Ministry. For musicians to be prepared to form a praise band for outreaches and worship services. I hope to visit the Bible College in Hungary to find co-laborers in this ministry. Latvians and Russians really respond to music. Pray that God uses us to call and equip Latvian and Russian musicians to make music that glorifies Him in their own languages.
  
  

Sharing Time

For those of you who live in the Monterey area, we would like to share with you personally about our trip to Latvia. Some things happened that we couldn't write on the blog, and we'd like to update you about our vision for reaching Latvia. This Thursday, August 31, 7:30 at our house in Marina, you are invited to come, listen, ask questions, see pictures and maybe video from the mission field. Call for directions, 883-8315. If you think God might be calling you to be a missionary, I encourage you to come, perhaps God would speak to you about His will for YOUR life too. (:

Back Home

(August 21) We just returned to the Monterey Bay from our exploratory mission trip to Latvia. We believe God is calling us to move to Latvia and begin church planting as soon as possible. Lena is excited to return and loves Latvia too. For the last year God has been speaking to her about her calling as a missionary. Now that we are back in Monterey, we are getting things in order so we may leave.

Thoughts on the journey home

After four weeks, we are on our way home from our exploratory mission trip to Latvia. I hope to share with all my friends what God revealed our hearts as we stepped out in faith. He has confirmed in our hearts, that He has called us to be His missionaries and He has shown us the that He is calling us to. He has given us a love for the country of Latvia and people of Latvia. We made good contacts among Christian leaders which will definitely help to open doors for moving there in the near future. Lena and I are both excited to return to Latvia as soon as possible.

We have been reminded that we can trust Him fully and completely with our lives and He knows just how to lead us. He gently leads those who are with young. We are encouraged to follow Him, to delight ourselves in Him and he will give us the desires of our heart. It's worth it to not just be a hearer of His word, but a doer of it; we are followers of Christ, we are learning how to be lead by the Holy Spirit. What a joy it is to be disciples of Jesus!

Evangelical Connections

Last Tuesday, I went to a prayer meeting for Christian leaders from different evangelical churches. As we prayed for the different ministries of those who attended that they would be fruitful, God gave me an encouraging word from

Isaiah 55, For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it.

Like rain the word is sent from heaven and falls down on different locations, it trickles down from the high places and off of the rocky ground into the soft soil, that is where fruit comes from. Many will hear the Word, it will roll off the hard hearted and it will soak into the soft hearted. ---------
After the prayer meeting, Vadim, the leader of the Evangelical alliance, invited me to visit him in the city of Ogre to talk about how churches can work together. ----------
Saturday, we found a shuttle to Ogre to meet Vadim at a local outreach he organised. A group of Christians from different churches were reading the whole New Testament through a loudspeaker in the public square all weekend. Vadim and his wife invited us to their offices and we talked about our common desire to see churches planted in Latvia. He isn't able to help with official invitations by the Evangelical alliance but he introduced me to another pastor who had some information about other documents needed for missionaries from the States. I will be meeting with Vadim again tommorow.
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Another day I took a 3 hour bus trip to Liepia on the west coast to meet and encourage a Russian pastor who has hosted a couple of CC mission teams, we had a good talk about the need to be filled with the Holy Spirit for ministry. He was excited that the Lord was calling us here and he said that Latvia really needs Calvary Chapels to be planted. While we were having tea at his house, he called another brother named Vitalii Andreic on the phone who is organizing a course called CP21 "Church planting for the 21 century" and recommended we meet. --------- So the next day, back in Riga, Lena and I had his family over for tea, I shared how we planted churches in Ukraine and he shared about their plan to equip new pastors to plant churches in the outer regions of Latvia surrounding Rigas Region. It turned out he still needed a teacher for the topic of evangelism. I said, "that's my favorite subject", so he asked me if I would teach it. It would require traveling 1 to 4 hours from Riga to Liepia (west), Jelgava (South), Daugavspils (South-East) and Valka (North-East). I said, I am very interested. So he is wating to hear back from me about when we will be returning, so he could schedule a month for me to teach.