It's been another beautiful day here in Talsi, Latvia. We had 54 kids at camp this morning and things went very well. I introduced Justin Hull to the kids that I am discipling. Justin is our outstanding video guy who, when our portion of the trip is over will be returning to Talsi to continue the ministry to these young people long-term. Justin is a great young man and I am excited to see what God is going to do through him here in Talsi.
Today is the first day that every minute hasn't been scheduled, so after lunch, I came back to the school and took an hour long nap. I have been staying up till 1AM every night getting my blog posted and my pictures up, etc. So the nap was a wonderful thing. When I got up, our hostess, Inguna, took our team and the VBS team that is here from Texas out to a campground for a little getaway.
The place was beautiful, but then again, I've been using that word alot this week. It was located in a birch and pine forest and had several small lakes with several nice cabins scattered around. The cabins each had a large sauna and the plan was for Inguna to fix shish-kabobs for everyone and then we could use the sauna. While the shishkabobs were grilling, we went on a little tour through the park that was focused on the life of bees. We even got dressed up in a beekeeper's "costume" and the keeper showed us the hives and the whole process of honey production.
It was interesting. It would have been nice if they had given us the costumes earlier, because the mosquitoes were terrible. They even carried off a few of the young children. :0)
The meal was amazing. The meat was wonderfully seasoned, and the bread was excellent, and there was smoked chicken and these little bread twists that were slightly sweet and it was all fantastic. One of the ladies in the other group asked me to pass the smoked chicken and I said, "You know that it's not chicken, it's stork." One of the other ladies eyes got as big as hubcaps. She had eaten about four bites of the chicken and was convinced that I was telling the truth. It was hilarious.
After dinner, the youngsters in both groups put on their swimsuits and got in the sauna. I refrained, because I was sure that there was no one that wanted to see me in a swimsuit. The sauna is a part of Latvian culture. They sit in the dry sauna with the temperature at about 180 degrees, then they run outside and jump in the cold water of the pond. They say that the sudden change in temperature is exhilerating, but I just took their word for it. Besides, the little pond that they were jumping into was very small and kind of marshy.I had the chance to sit down with Inguna for a little while and hear her testimony and the story of how she came to start a Christian school and how it is supported, etc. She and her husband Maris are amazing people that God is using to do a tremendous work. I have invited them to come speak at our church in November.
Tomorrow is our big day. We will be giving the invitation to follow Christ to the 40 or so campers who have not accepted Him. Please pray that God will move in a mighty way. It will all be happening between 1AM and 4AM Grove time, Wednesday morning, so I'm sure that you will all set your alarms and spend that three hours in prayer. :0) Ummmmm, or at least pray for us before you go to bed tonight that we can see a great harvest of souls here.
I have fallen in love with the people of my team. I only barely knew any of them when we started on this journey together, but I have seen their hearts this week and I am glad that god allowed me to be a part of all this. And after tomorrow, we will only be half way finished. Thursday morning it's on to Lithuania!
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