Few highlights from ministry this summer

I have been so happy to have opportunities to open up my apartment, and hold events here. As it is summer, everything adjusts it's schedule to allow for a more summer-freindly situation. The youth leadership meetings at the Jesus Church have also done this, and so to do something more layed back 'meeting' we had a girls fellowship at my place. It was such a wonderful time with almost all of the ladies from the leadership team able to come. We visited, watched a few movies, and had lots of snacks.

We made chocolate chip cookies during this fellowship night, because they are a favorite with everyone. Anytime I ask if I can bring something to an event the Latvians I am asking say "bring your cookies!!! Mmmm they are so tasty" It always makes me smile, because they are an American classic. I have shared the recipe a lot already, so I think they might become a common sweet here- at least within the friends I have made here.

There was a weekend called "Open Doors" for the churches in Riga, where people were welcomed into the churches to visit, and participate in activities that were planned especially for the special weekend. One of the things that the Jesus Church did was a worship night. We made 500 oragami butterflies to decorate the sanctuary with. I helped with making the butterflies for an hour or two, and I am glad there were a lot of us folding- or we could have been making them non-stop for an entire day.

This is a photo of the butterflies installed. It was a really great idea, and was a really interesting thing to see and to think about.

When I was preparing to come to Latvia a wonderful gentleman from Central Minnesota shared a faith sharing tool that he and the mens group at the church us. They are small coins that have a cross stamped out of the middle. Printed on the coin is John 3:16 "the gospel in a nutshell" we attached a little paper to it with Psalm 16:11 on it which reads "You make know to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."

Just because I think it might be interesting to see, I will share what the verse looks like in Latvian.

"Tu darīji man zināmu dzīvības ceļu,

Tu piepildi mani ar prieku Sava vaiga priekšā,

un jaukas, svētības pilnas dāvanas pie

Tavas labās rokas ir mūžīgi." Psalmi 16.11

AGELESS Drama Camp! ...

Last week was a busy week, full of acting, acting and more acting! A group of Canadian actors came to Riga for a week and shared their gift of drama with us. I had been working with their leader for months getting everything done on this side of the pond. They led a drama camp for youth, teaching techniques, basics of being on stage, as well as a number of small skits, and a short play. We did street performances on Monday and on Friday night. We also shared a few skits with the youth group at the Jesus Church. It was a great week which was very blessed.

The actors hard at work learning the script.

This isn't all of the participants, but it's the majority. Pretty good looking group!

This was a street performance of one of the skits. This is just outside of Central Station, which is the big train station in Riga.

An evening in Riga.

These photos are from an evening walk around Riga. There was supposed to be a lunar eclipse, so I went out in hopes to see it. When I realized the overcast skies made it impossible to see, I thought I might as well enjoy the night anyway.

Though it is so light, it is truly 11:30 at night. It is from the blackheads square. The church on the left is St. Peters. The beautifully lit building on the right is the blackheads building, which was the the place where all the guild men gathered for business, now it is simply an interesting place where I believe tourist information can be obtained.

The tall building in the center is used for science, and is a bit of a mark from the soviet times here. It is a building that was given as a gift to the city from Stalin. There are buildings in several other cities in Eastern Europe that are of the same style. The arched bunkers below that are a portion of the Central Market, which is a large market of fruit, vegetables, meats, fish, cheeses, along side of clothing, and shoes, and all sorts of things.

A look at Old Riga from the middle of a bridge over the Daugava river.

A look in the other direction to the other side of the river. If one was to take the river further in this direction it would lead to the Bay of Riga, and then to the Baltic Sea.

Playgroup Picnic in the end of May

An outdoor lunch. The children ate sitting at the edge of the low deck, it was cute to have them all lined up like that.

Balloon animals, a 4x4 bouncy house, face painting, trampoline, tents, basketball and a number of other toys were the source of fun and entertainment for out lovely last hurrah for playgroup this year. We look forward to another fun year starting in September!

We held our picnic at the Sink's house. Mrs. Sink is the woman who has been running playgroup for many years. Her and her husband are here in Latvia with Agape ministries. The big backyard was a perfect place to gather, and to allow the children to run and play.

Rained out... Plan B.

During one youth evening held in Ramava, we planned to roast hotdogs and marshmallows on a campfire... well, it rained, and so we made the hotdogs on the stove, and toasted the marshmallows over candles.

It worked pretty good!

Some of us thought the space heater might work even better... it also proved successful!

Some patriotic Latvian sites.

The Freedom Monument

The President's Palace

The Latvian Flag

Leading a few games...

These are photos of some of the people from the Jesus Church youth group playing a few games I led at a youth evening in the Spring, held in nearby Ramava.

Another look out my window

Before you saw a look out my window... well the view is changing. This was several weeks ago, and the tree turned green almost over night.

Easter Night

I have had a lot of trouble with Blogger, but i hope that this works. These are a few photos from the Easter night celebration at the Jesus Church with the youth there.

We talked about the passover meal, and one of the guys explained the meanings behind each food and action.

After it hit midnight and turned Easter, we celebrated, and then changed the paraments in the church, and took out all the dark decorations, replacing them with white and bright ones.

My friend Seila and I at Easter night.

Happy Easter!

or in Latvian...

Priecīgas Lieldienas!

I pray that you have a blessed Easter celebration!

Seeing a little more of this great place

A Stork between Sigulda and Riga. :)

Castle in Sigulda

Cave in Sigulda

Turaida Castle

Church and prayer/meditation labrynth in Krimulda.

The white dunes at the bay of Riga in Saulkrasti

A church in Kuldiga

River and bridge in Kuldiga

I have been quite blessed by the friendships that have developed and grown since I moved here. Latvia is a small country with a lot to love about it. Especially as the weather warms up and as the days get a bit longer, there is also opportunity to see more of the country and get outside of Riga a bit more. One friend here has been so wonderful in making this possible. She plans out an idea for a place that is interesting and we make a day trip on a free Saturday. We have done this twice now, first a trip to Kuldiga, and the second one which was just last weekend was to Sigulda. They have both been such great trips, as we make several stops along the way at various intriguing sites. I thought I might share a few photos of the adventures, and thus share with anyone who hasn't seen Latvia with their own eyes a little bit of the beautiful country that I call home right now.

Listening to God's Nudging...

Throughout the last several months the idea to start a young adult Bible study has continually been coming up. Last week especially there were several things that really made me think about it again. Then on Monday morning I got an email that mentioned a Bible study again, and I finally threw my hands up and said "OK God- I'll do it!!!" Before I had kept thinking about it, what it should be like, where it should be, what we could study, etc. etc... well- on Monday it was like God was giving that nudge a little bit harder this time, and none of those details that were getting in the way could allow me to let it be put off any longer. I began texting and facebooking people (yes- Latvia is just like the USA in that way) and Monday night we had the first of what I hope will be a weekly Bible study from here on out. It would really be great if it got to be established enough, and the people would bond together that they would continue it even after I would leave. I realized that the thing standing in the way of this happening sooner was not getting everything "worked out" and in order, but me and (though subconscious as it might have been) my lack of trust that God would be the one leading it, not me. I am really happy that things have started up, and God finally sat me down and said "Now see here, Julia!"

Our first topic of study is "Promises"... :)

Youth Evening in Dubulti

At the seminar my professor Tim Rippstein and I led on youth ministry a couple of weeks ago, we met a wonderful young woman named Ilze. She is the youth leader at a church in Dubulti, Latvia. I was filled with excitement when she invited me to come to their youth evening and speak. We figured out which Saturday it would work for both of us and thus last night I met Ilze and we headed to Dubulti. After just a short train ride, we were at the church's fellowship building and setting things up. It was a wonderful evening of fellowship, discussion, learning, and praise. We spoke about Jesus's time in the wilderness, why He did it, what it would have been like, what we can learn from it, what it means to spend time recognizing our sin, and thus even more fully understand our need for the perfect savior Jesus Christ. When we were singing at the end of the evening, I was blessed by the inclusion of English words to the songs- we would sing each song in Latvian, then in English, then the chorus in Latvian again! It was so wonderful to meet more of my brothers and sisters in Latvia, and share this special evening together. It was truly blessed.

A Supervisor Visit

As a DCE Intern I have an 'On-site Supervisor' and a 'University Supervisor'. My DCE professor Tim Rippstein is my University supervisor. Since it was spring break back at CUNE, Tim was able to fly on over to Latvia to visit and do some evaluations, check in on how things are going, and to help me to understand where to go from here. During this visit Tim and I led a seminar at the youth center in Riga which ended up being quite nice, and has already opened up more opportunities for me to contribute to the community. The seminar was about youth ministry. It presented things to consider, helpful ideas and methods for planning bible studies or messages. We also had a lot of meetings and discussions in days following. The last days of Tim's time in Latvia was in a town called Saldus. We connected with St. Gregor's mission center and both taught the lessons for the students there for 3 days and 2 of the evenings Tim did presentations on family, passing on the faith, parenting and relationships which were open to the Saldus community. We were also blessed to meet many, many wonderful people and visit a small town call Pampāļi, where a Lutheran pastor is really sharing his heart and his dreams to help the community there.

This experience was quite interesting for me. Along with participating in the events themselves, I was able to get some administrative experience before hand, as I planned and prepared in advance.

Tim getting ready to begin the presentation in the evening for the Saldus community. The young lady in black is Inese and was our wonderful translator. The pastor who is introducing the evening is from the local Lutheran Church.

Here is a photo of about 1/3 or 1/4 of the group that attended the evening presentations.

In this photo I'm at the front desk in the classroom as we took some time to reflect on and write down a few thoughts on our lesson for the day regarding love. God's love, our response to Him and then to each other, incorporating the 5 love languages.

What's that? Julia can teach? Ready and willing!

Here's a snap shot of four of the joyful little girls that we were able to spend some time with in Pampāļi. The pastor involved in this community has spent a lot of time and energy getting this children's center up and running. They have a chapel space downstairs and upstairs there is a play room of sorts where children can come after school. It is a safe place for them to have fun, be kids and in some cases escape for a little while from the difficult situations at home. The center also holds donated clothing and other items for families that are experiencing hard times. There are dreams and committed hearts to continue this ministry further with a church, more diaconal ministry and maybe even some opportunities for employment.

The View of the World Outside My Window

I thought I might share a few photos that I took today as Winter holds on, but Spring get's closer. We have been quite blessed by a lot of days of sunshine, which has been welcomed happily. These photos are taken from my living room/dining room/kitchen/office. The snow is beginning to melt, and most importantly one doesn't feel like a popsicle as soon as they step outside. It isn't as beautiful now as in the Summer, but this way you can see through the tree, to the buildings. I will share more photos as the spring/summer arrive and share as it transforms.

The wooden framework is from a semi-outdoor beer garden that was used this fall. It had clear rubber/plastic around the outside and a tent top. They had heaters, a stage, a counter and tables throughout, but as the really cold temperatures came, less and less people were brave enough to go.

The tall clock tower you see on the left is the city hall. The entrance to city hall faces the city square that is shared with the occupation museum (where one can learn all about the foreign occupation in Latvia, like the soviet time), the Blackheads building (now monumental, but was a meeting place for the business guilds of Riga, also the origination of the tradition of the decorated Christmas Tree) The bottoms of the rest of these buildings are shops, and many of the upper floors are apartments.

This is just a continuation of the view in the other photo. I wanted to share this one, because you can see the steeple of the Dome, which is the very old Lutheran cathedral that we have an English worship service at every Sunday. I do like this view, and being able to read the clock on the Dome, but I am looking forward to having leafy branches filling my window as well!

There you have it...

The view from my window.

A Sending...

This post is in honor of Kathleen, the intern who preceded me here in Riga.

We had about a half year of overlap, for which I am very thankful for. We have known each other for 6 years now, and I am blessed to call her my friend. Kathleen has helped me to learn the culture of Latvia, shared some of her favorite things, introduced me to many people, and is now in the last moments of the final "handing off" of the role of DCE intern to Riga to me as she prepares to move back to the US. I know people will be thrilled to have her back, but I wouldn't mind keeping her here for a little while longer either. It's really not that I am unsure about being the only intern here and having to much to do-that i will all be just fine... I'm just going to miss my friend. Please keep Kathleen in your prayers as she transitions back to life in the States, as she says goodbye to many people here that she loves deeply, and as the next chapter in life awaits.

There and back again...

After my long "silence" on this blog, I post today February 16th- my nameday! I mentioned in the last post about a Latvian tradition of celebrating names days, and figure I might as well explain a bit about it as today I celebrated mine. This is a tradition many European countries observe in various degrees or have in the past. Many countries used to celebrate name days in connection with Saint's days, though this practice is not found as much any longer. Each country has it's own variation of the concept but for Latvia it goes as follows... The most common names in Latvia are assigned to specific dates which remain the same every year. If your name doesn't have a day then you celebrate it on the day that is for all the other names that don't have days. On your name day, the tradition of getting flowers, sweets or small gifts are possibilities, or you may get visitors and the fun part about names days is that the visit can be without invitation or even warning! Today I was given a beautiful flower from my dear friend and co-intern Kathleen, various well-wishes from friends here, I baked chocolate chip cookies and then in the evening I went to an art class and did an oil pastel drawing of a musical instrument still life. It was my first time actually making any art around other people besides my family since studying art at Concordia. What a great day!

This post is titled "There and back again" for two reasons. The first is that I love the book "the Hobbit" and second is that I had an excuse to us that name because I was briefly back in the United States for the DCE midyear conference and a short, but lovely visit with my family.

The conference was for all of the interns that are out right now and served as an opportunity to reconnect with other's in similar ministry settings, have meetings about our futures as full-time educational church workers, cover some technicalities of church work, as well as debrief, evaluate and refocus on the ministries that each of us are connected to. My visit with my family was very nice, though of course it was hard to say "see-you-later" again, and I could not believe how quickly the time passed. This time coming to Latvia it was easier on my heart because I knew that I was coming back to people that I missed and that I love as well. It is not exactly warm in Latvia, though it is warmer than it was in Minnesota- but the sun has begun to share it's face with us once again. I am so happy to have the sun shining through my window and on the streets. It puts a smile on my face and joy in my heart. So, there you have it an update on what I have been up to... a journey "there and back again".

A great weekend!

This last weekend I was blessed to join the leadership team for the youth group at the Jesus Church on a planning retreat of sorts. We drove North to stay at a house near a town called Tuja. The town is right on the sea about half way between Riga and the Estonian boarder. During our weekend we had great fellowship, did planning for the next semester worth of youth evenings, spent time in God's word together, went to a nearby place for a church service, and I even got to experience a wonderful authentic wet sauna for the first time. It was a blessed weekend. I am happy to have had the opportunity to get to know this great group of people better. There is something about cooking and eating together, and everyone lending a hand that bonds people. The gents were continually making trips outside to get water and firewood and keep thing going for us wonderfully, while the ladies took care of meals and dishes and such. It was a very positive community experience!

Bible study, and planning.

Seila (the girl in the pink) had a birthday, and a number of others in the group had recent birthdays or names days (a Latvian tradition) so we sang happy birthday, had a cake and some other treats.

Nothing much new right now...

Hi everyone! I just wanted to post again, make it clear that I haven't forgotten about this blog and send a greeting your way! I don't really have anything new happening right now, but things are beginning to get back to normal after the Christmas season. Our children's/parents play group is meeting again, and with that a bit more of a "normal" schedule has returned.

An interesting tidbit that I didn't realize until living here is that within the Orthodox Church, Christmas is celebrated at Epiphany. There is a significant Orthodox Christian following here in Latvia, so it was quite obvious that Christmas was "spread out" more than it seems to be in the States. The Christmas markets are being taken down, and things are beginning to just look like plain old winter. We have had a LOT of snow within the last couple of months but as of recent, our snow has been melting! I must say I welcome the just-above-freezing weather with open arms, and am glad that the snow is disappearing. It was getting hard to shuffle through. This will make room for the next snow that falls!

Some of you might remember me sharing about Latvia and it's geographic location. With that the discussion about the length of days also frequently came up. Well, I have now experienced the "short days" where the sun rises at 9:30/10 am and sets at 3:00 pm. It was surprising to me how much I could notice the change, and how rapidly the days shortened. Now we are on the lengthening side of the calendar and the sun is sticking around longer and longer each day. I'm sure I will have something to share about the extremely "long" days during the summer, but for now I am just happy that my brain isn't telling me I should go to bed at 5:00pm!