Freedom ParkJune 24th-July 9th
Josiah Venture "Stories"
English Camp 2009
Sorry it's taken me so long to post an update on our trip to Latvija. I came home to come down with a cold that had me out of commission for about a week and then was thrust back into the usual hustle and bustle of everyday life. I am pleased to announce though, that all is back to normal and we now have a 100% return rate on our team coming back from Europe.
Latvija is in Eastern Europe, just West of Russia, on the Baltic Sea.
Our trip started off as such a huge blessing. I don't usually sleep on planes and more times than not get sick going to the destination. This time though I had many people praying for rest and health and praise the Lord, I slept on every trip!! I stayed healthy for most of the trip and made home before I got sick. So thank you so much for all of you who prayed for that. We arrived in Latvija mid-afternoon on Thursday. Joe greeted us with Kelly, Donna, Fletch and Adam. The Josiah Venture(JV) team that works in Latvija. We split up into two groups; one who took cars back to the hostile we would be staying at and another who took the bus. I was with the group that took the bus. It was pretty funny,because we didn't have tickets intitally and then we thought we got the bus wrong, so we got off by the train station and walked several miles to the hostile. This was only the beginning of the walking :) The day was beautiful and the city was amazing. Cobblestone streets, historic architecture, fresh flowers and people everywhere.
Outside the Train Station
Friday and Saturday we spent time in oldtown Riga and Riga; sightseeing, visiting local churches and of course checking out where Joe and the others live! We were forced into the local time zone....little time to rest when we first got in and no time for naps. The biggest difference I struggled with initially was the difference in lack of darkness. The sun didn't dip below the horizon until after 10:30pm and it never really got 'dark' at night. The culture embraced late everything...late breakfast(9:30-11:30am)...late lunch(2-3pm)..late dinner(9ish pm) ..and late nights (started 12am-6am). Thankfully camp was a little more structured closer to U.S. customs.
Baptist Church Riga,Latvija
Sunday we were back to the train station to head to Tukums. The rural town 1-2 hrs outside of Riga. The Tukums Baptist Church is the church we did the first camp with. This was their first camp and expected about 35 students to attend....58 showed up!!! Yea God for answered prayers! :) We were able to grow really close with the church and also got to enjoy two church services with them! Thanks to them for such hospitality!
Dinner with Tukums Baptist Church
Camp started Sunday afternoon after church was finished. We were able to walk to
the camp from the church, probably about a 40 min. walk. The camp's name was Vagneris
and was absolutely beautiful! I couldn't believe we were actually on a mission trip. We were
very blessed to have the accommodation we had. It was interesting trying to squeeze all
the extra bodies into camp, but it worked out well and somehow, someway, everyone had a
bed to sleep in :) The theme of the English Camp this year was 'Stories'. We had 4 activities
for the kids to sign up in for their classes each day. They got to choose 2 out of the 4.
Scrapbooking, crafts, woodworking and sports. I must say that all very successful and loved
by all the students! Our sports team were true troopers! They were outside countless hours
each day on the front line entertaining the kids and wearing them down! ;) The kids got to
learn a camp dance to 'Wake Up, Wake Up' by Everyday Sunday! We had to use the video
everyday..because leaders included... had no clue what we were doing! It made it more fun
that way...making stuff up as you go and acting crazy!! The stories that we told each day were
the stories from the Bible. The kids had an opportunity each day to get an overview of
different memorable Biblical stories from Pastor Jason(s) <---- how you spell it in Latvijan.
There was an opportunity in the morning and in the evening session to split into small groups
and discuss the stories that had been shared. In these groups we had Nationals(Latvijans)
and Amercians. There was a good mixture of English being used in the groups, sometimes they
went back into Latvijan if they got unsure of how to say something or if they were getting
personal with the questions. They also listened to two testimonies a night. Usually one from
an American and one from a Latvijan. I got a chance to share one night and must say it was so
powerful...all the stories. We all had differences, yet similarities in our lives before Christ.
The most moving part to me was being able to show them that even as an American we still
have struggles and share similar problems that they have as well. We are no better off just
because we live in the United States. Satan is the same in every country and he fights just as
hard and equally to keep us from the hope the Gospel can bring us all.
Vagneris
The small groups were a true blessing in disguise for me. Like I mentioned above, we had a mixture of National and Americans in the groups. In my group our Nationals were Liga and Andretta. Liga is from the Tukums Baptist Church and is a wonderful mother to Rahele and wife to Martinch. She also helps leads worship in the church as well. Coming into this camp Liga had never lead a small group. The first night and morning session Liga was very shy and really didn't want anything to do with leading the group. In the past I would have jumped in and taken over for her, but God has been changing my heart and he revealed to me this was an opportunity for myself and the other American leader to step along side her and encourage her in this position. For it wasn't about me being able to lead the group and using my abilities to take over, it was about me using the experiences God had given me and the new heart He was creating in me to show her how to lead. It was really important in this camp to step alongside the Tukums staff and help them build bridges with these kids. The youth group in their church isn't fairly large and they really have a great staff ready to love on kids...they just need the kids!! :) So all week I built an awesome relationship with Liga. Talking with her, sharing with her, asking her questions. It makes me tear up even know to think of how I was just touched by standing by and encouraging someone instead of jumping in and doing for someone. I have a memento from her that i wear everyday to remember her. She will always hold a special place in my heart. I can't wait to see how God will grow her up and use her in her own church!
Liga, Rahele and Me
After we came back to camp we spent a few more days in Riga. Kelly and Donna who are the heads for Josiah Venture in Latvija were a great help in debriefing with us and also showing us local churches. One day Kelly introduced us to a member from a local church who is starting something new in the city; a recreation room for the kids. Here the kids can come to play games and hang out with one another. The city choir will also practice there as well, with hopes to eventually have a working kitchen to cook food in as well! I know it doesn't seem all that odd to us, because we're used to that here in the states, but it is not very common in Riga or even Latvija for that matter! Forward movement and thinking outside the box is always a great sign of growth in the church!!
Teen Activity Room Riga, Latvija
Overall the trip was a great success. I learned a lot from it while I was there, but much more even upon returning home and having time to ponder on it. I went into this trip, not with an arrogance, but with a level of comfort that Satan definitely used against me. I must say that I had Proverbs 4:23 highlighted in my Bible. "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.", but I didn't do that on this trip. I had come off of trips where my heart was guarded when I was in the field, but it wasn't guarded by my own doing..it was almost spoon fed to me. I didn't have to do much work in guarding my heart when devotionals were led by others and we worshiped for hours every day. Alone time was frequent and I wasn't pushed outside of my comfort zone on a regular basis; tried by Satan on an hourly basis. That was easy....this trip was my test. A message we had at church talks about how we guard our heart....more than we guard our health, our checking account, our home, our car..guard your heart. I'm sad to say that I didn't do that on this trip. There were good things on this trip that I participated in, but I should have given up some of those good things to allow myself time to guard my heart. I should have gotten up earlier to be alone with God, I should have been in the Word more and I should have been more prayerful. My heart went astray and I became very empty and very lost at some parts on this trip. Now when I share this with you as my supporters, I don't share this with you to scare you or to give you the idea that God didn't use me. He did, even as ineffective as I can be as a human. I share this with you because it's really what happened. I am transparent and real in my walk and I hope that in that you can appreciate it . I am learning and growing and am thankful that I dropped the ball, so to speak. Because it showed me that I am not doing the most important thing, guarding my heart. I could relate so much to that message about guarding your heart because what Dr. Wayne had gone through and experienced, I had experienced as well. Pride, uneasiness, a desire to be recognized by others...on and on....My heart became out of tune because I had neglected it. So with this said, There can never be enough planning and preparing to go into the field; but the preparation starts long before I get into the field. I need to start guarding my heart on a daily basis. I hope you will pray for me on this area in my life. Thank you all for your support and encouragement. It is such a blessing to have such wonderful people in my life. It is an encouragement to me to continue to pick up, deny myself and go out into the nations and share the Gospel with others. Thank you for being a sender and for continuing to allow me opportunities to go out and be a part of the Great Commission!
God Bless you all!!
Becky :)
http://s830.photobucket.com/albums/zz224/rmbierwas/
My photo album from Latvija
