rīgas ūdens

gotta love the water here in riga!

they have already turned off our water twice four times this week and they were nice enough to warn us about it one of the times. i am working on my computer and waiting for them to turn the water back on so that i can take a shower. im hoping it will not come out looking like this again! :)

language course

yesterday, our team finished an intensive language course at the university of latvia. after three-weeks of classes, we received a certificate of completion! yahoo.

our class w/ our wonderful teacher (in the middle in the red blouse)

it was great to get back to formal language learning & refresh a lot of the things that i had forgotten over the summer. please pray for us (americans) as we seek out the best way to continue learning & speaking this crazy language!

miks wedding

miks is a youth leader at matthews church who i have worked with a lot over the past year. over that time he has become a good friend of mine. he got married this past weekend and it was great to be part of his bachelor party & wedding!

a tid bit of bad news

a few weeks ago, i lent my car to a friend who needed to drive to estonia. on the way back to riga the driver fell asleep and drove off the road... the miraculous news is that THANKFULLY no one was injured!!! there were four very dear people to me in the car when it happened, so i was more than happy to have them all in one piece. the bad news was that my car was totaled in the process. obviously, the friend felt terrible and offered to buy me a new car. here is what we ended up with...

1991 BMW 318
not bad for $1,400 right?

3sixteen footwear

many of you know that i have a "thing" for shoes... and by "thing," i mean an obsession. after i had payed off my school bill in college, most of my paychecks would go towards buying shoes. i cannot tell you how many times i drove to marshalls, ross, or nordstroms rack just to check out what shoes they had in stock. not much has changed since then (except for not having the money to buy shoes, haha).

having said that, let me to introduce you to a thing of beauty... the 3sixteen duck chukka

if you find an extra $345 lying around your house, make your way over to 3sixteen.com and get yourself a pair.

you can thank me later.

intern debrief

look familiar???

this weekend i got to face my "fears" in the form of the swing i fell off a little over a year ago. i did not swing much, but it was good to be back at the same place where we had debriefing last year w/ great people. this team has been a huge blessing to my life!!!

unexpected reunion

i got to visit with a few old friends last night. one of my buddies from college, obie obien, plays in the band christafari and they happened to be touring in riga this week.

i went to the concert to see obie and after it ended i ran into my only latvian friend from biola, simona talberga. it was good hearing a little bit about the last few years of their lives and where God is taking them next!

yay biola!!!

youtube of the month: august

scared kid trying to answer questions on a roller coaster=hilarious!

camp #3

welcome to fusion camp!

fusion is a music ministry based out of the czech republic, that seeks to reach young people for Christ through the medium of music. back in february we had a team of czech students that came to riga & put on concerts in schools & talked to students about being part of a "rock choir" in riga. we wanted to gauge the interest in this form of ministry in latvia. we got a great response from students & teachers, so we decided to do a fusion camp this summer to help jump start this ministry. in the camp students had the opportunity to learn how to play instruments, sing & lead a choir, dance, & have a lot of fun while doing it. here are a few pictures from the camp...

finger sword fighting

kaspars teaching eriks the guitar

my future team member, susan patterson!

nigel & anete did an AMAZING job telling the Story of God throughout the week!

wake up scottish style

olegs is a guy that i am thankful to have met during our time at the ywam base in valdemarpils

we spent a LOT of hours in this kitchen over the two camps

morning exercises tunak tunak tun style



czech polka


terry english (pictured below) was the leader of the czech team during fusion camp & the person who has helped us to start this ministry here in riga


adam had his birthday during camp

choir practice

po & elina

gladiators

andy, the winner of "gladiators"

i got her (ieva) to smile!!!

these girls decided to come to fusion camp after being in our first camp

each candle represents a life that was changed throughout the week! praise God!!!

after the five day camp, the students had a concert at a local youth center in riga where they got to show what they had learned throughout the week

praying before the concert

every person in this picture that is playing an instrument, learned how to play it that week in camp! pretty incredible...


heres a short clip of one of the songs the czech team taught us...


edgars deksnis (pictured below) is the youth leader who is leading the fusion ministry in latvia. the "rock choir" that started with the camp, is a year-round ministry where students from the camp & their friends can continue learning about music and hearing more about Christ

please join us in praying for this ministry!

youtube of the month: july

kuldīga camp music videos

the groups made music videos for one of the english activities in camp this week. they turned out pretty AMAZING! enjoy...

camp #2

this camp was with kuldīga baptist church & faith evangelical free church in fort collins, colorado. it was a wonderful week & here are a few of the pictures from the camp...

the "hair of despair"

nigel rocks!


klāvs

egg & panty hose "gladiators"

seeing lives like hers changed during camp, makes it all worth it

ropes course

toms is a stud!


small groups

oskars name day