Seeing a bit of Rīgas

Riga is known for it's great number of buildings that use Art Nouveau style architecture. Riga is noted to have "The finest collection of art nouveau buildings in Europe". A lot of buildings have sculptural elements such as figures, portraits and organic forms like leaves, flowers and such. This photo gives an example of all of them, though there are certainly buildings with much more, and much less extravagant work on there exteriors. Just a little taste of the streets or in Latvian "ielas" of Riga

Dome Square and the Harvest Festival

To the left of the photo of the buildings and vendors you will notice the BIG brick building. That is the Dome Cathedral. This is where I go to church. There is an service in English held here weekly. It was a joy to worship with fellow believers here in Latvia! (And to understand it!) The tents were set up because it was the Harvest Festival in Riga this last Saturday. The band is one of many performances. Other's included traditional dance, song, and more music-most of which also included the traditional Latvian dress. What a fun way to first experience Riga!

Arrival!

I am here safe and sound and am busy learning and soaking everything in. The people I have been meeting are great, and I look forward to getting to know them better. At this point in time I am mostly tagging along to see how things work here, and to observe. Eventually I will become more active in ministry. I arrived on Friday afternoon after 4 flights finally ending in Riga, and was greeted with hugs and smiling faces of the mission team that I am joining here- Pastor Mark and Rose who are career missionaries here as well as Kathleen who is also a DCE intern. I learned one Latvian trend already within the airport-it is that there is always an occasion for fresh cut flowers (they are very common to get for special occasions, or just because!) It is a beautiful practice!

Thus far I have...

*Eaten some Latvian food a few times, and thus far have not had anything that I don't like.

*Learned usage of "Thank you", "Yes" & "No"...and I'll work on building a larger vocabulary.

*Successfully purchased groceries! This may seem like no big deal, but with the help of Rose and Kathleen, it was easier than I thought it would be... though I did play it safe, and stuck with staple items.

*Gone to the Harvest Festival (held right outside of my temporary apartment!) and seen traditional Latvian dances, heard various types of traditional music, and seen some of their local handicrafts.

*Gone to Church! We have an English service at the Dome Cathedral, which is great! Pastor Krause leads it, and the rest of us help with set up (i just watched this time) and take down. Afterward everyone at the service is welcomed to join us for lunch out somewhere inexpensive and have good conversation, learn about each other, where we came from and how we ended up in Riga. Today we went as a group of 11!

Riga is a very beautiful city, and the weather has been abnormally warm. Tomorrow it is supposed to get cool again, which will be normal. I have really not done too much exploration of the city as of yet. This is a VERY musical place, in fact right now, outside my window there is a young man playing Greensleeves on an accordion!

I must quit writing for now, I am headed to a BBQ. I look forward to sharing more, and photos will be added (hopefully) by later today!

Departure

After working out a number of things, I have my date for departure set and it is approaching quickly! I am leaving for Latvia on the 23rd of this month!

Now my attention to details becomes sharper... Do I have everything worked out? Is there anything else I need to do before I move? What do I pack for a year and a half? What resources should I bring along? Am I over thinking this? How am I going to carry all of this? :) I normally pack very light when I travel, but I don't usually have to plan for multiple seasons, either. In the end, I will have 2 suitcases packed, and will have more than I probably need.

Along with the excitement of getting to Latvia also comes the goodbye's or as I like to call them 'see-you-laters'. My home congregation is having my sending service this next Sunday, and after that there is a free will spaghetti and/or Bratwurst lunch (or dinner, depending on your use of the terms-noon meal) social and a silent auction. I am excited not only for the event, but also for the opportunity to say see-you-later to my home church family.

God has been sooo faithful through all of this, and I am so humbled and blessed by Him, and His work through my brothers and sister in Christ! I can't wait to share my first blog entry with photos from Latvia!

Green Light!

Exciting news!!! I recently received an email informing me that I have a "green light" for departure to Latvia sometime in September! This means that I have reached 70% of the first year's worth of financial support. I have many people to thank for that and ultimately all of this comes down to a faithful God who provides abundantly, and raises up His children to do His work. This also means that I have about $20,000.00 more to raise, which might seem impossible, but every contribution makes a difference, and it is important to know that I or we cannot raise it, but God can! I am inexpresibly grateful to everyone for their support in all ways- prayer, sharing the word, financial- everything. Thank you! I will be sending out my first email newsletter in the near future. If you are interested in getting it, please email or facebook me with the email address that you would like that sent to. I pray God's blessings and His peace for all of you! Once more I must share the excitement- I get to leave soon!!! :D

The summer is ending... WELCOME AUTUMN!

I don't have too much new to post about, but still feel like this needs attention given it. I am still in the process of raising support. I am getting ever closer though! Between the work that Mission Central has done, and the financial support that has found it's way through various other efforts I am almost at a point where I will be able to move over to Riga. Of course I will be awaiting the "green light" from World Mission, ever so eagerly. There is still a lot of work that will need to be done, as this really means that I am about 1/2 way funded. A HUGE thank you to everyone that has been praying for me and/or has financially contributed as this journey has begun to take flight. I can't wait to get to a point where the blog entry reads something along the lines of me being able to get plane tickets, but for now I am blessed to be at home with my family. Please pray that things continue to go well, and that paper work and other details get worked out quickly, but thoroughly. I thank God for everyone of you, and I pray that you are all well!

Support!

It is almost August! Where has this summer gone? Each time I speak with someone about the mission work God has laid in front of me in Latvia, the question always arises: "When are you leaving?" To this I always say "I don't know! :)". Well, when I head over to Latvia all depends on when I have reached a certain point with support. I have been in contact with churches, pastors, family and groups like a camp I used to work at (Lutheran Island Camp), the LWML, Minnesota North District, and most recently Mission Central. I guess that is what I have been doing this summer. :)

I want to ask all of you to participate in supporting God's work in Latvia through me. There are 5 ways that I want you to consider... PRAY- pray for me, the missionaries already there, and the people of Latvia. TELL- tell others about this work, and about missions in general. You are a missionary too, so of course share Jesus with others too. GIVE- financial support is needed to make this happen. also, give of your time, friendship and thoughts. Send letters, emails, facebook me, post on this blog, whatever it might be, it will be very appreciated. SEND- Whether you can be at my sending service or not, please join in sending me. I go as a missionary to a foreign mission field on behalf of those who cannot go now. Having support at home as I go with God is very important. CELEBRATE- celebrate with me as we see God's hands at work in all of this. When something joyful happens celebrate and thank God with me.

I am praying for, and am so thankful for each of you. God's PEACE!!!!