Latvia (Day 6) - Tears on Earth, Rejoicing in Heaven

Okay, so the kids probably didn't understand why I was crying.  I was standing in the gym watching them go from coach to coach and asking for our autographs on the balls and t-shirts that we had given them, and it was all I could do to keep the tears from rolling down my face.  What I had witnessed in the previous hour and a half is still causing goose-bumps as I sit here seven hours later writing this post.  Today was the last day of our camp here in Talsi. Each day, we have shared a small portion of the Gospel and explained it as best we can to each group of kids who either weren't in the camp last summer or just didn't make a decision for Christ.  The first couple of days, we spoke of God's game plan for their life and the problem of sin.  It was evident that some were grasping what we were saying, because yesterday one of the boys, said, "Is today when we hear the good news?"  Well, this morning we brought each group into one of the locker rooms so that we could have a little privacy.

The first group was made up of 6 middle school boys.  When Joel asked them if they would like to ask Christ into their heart, all six raised their hands, all six prayed to receive Jesus, and all six became our brothers in Christ.  I left the room with the feeling  that this day was going to be very special.  So that every coach would have the opportunity to witness the impact of our work here this week, we rotated with each group so that each coach had a chance to sit in while the invitation was given to a small group of campers.  By the end of the day thirty-five campers prayed to ask Jesus to forgive their sins and be their Saviour.
When I heard the final results, I just couldn't hold back the tears.  5000 miles, thousands of dollars in travel expenses, time away from family and church responsibilities, all for a little basketball coaching???? Nice vacation, Pastor, have fun on your little basketball trip.  Well, today is what it is all about.  This is why we came.  There may be tears here in Talsi, but they are tears of joy, and they are nothing compared to the rejoicing that is going on in heaven right now.

Latvia (Day 5) Basketball, Bees, and Shish-kabob

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!

Latvia (Day 4) Riga 500

Today was an exciting day at camp.  I taught a lesson on feeding on the Word of God and the kids really  responded well.  We gave Bibles to all of the kids who made decisions to follow Christ at last year's camp.  The groups were arranged a little differently today which allowed me a couple of free segments to do some coaching.  I really enjoyed that and I think the campers did too. 

After lunch we loaded up the vans and headed to Riga, Latvia's capital and site of their airport.  The last member of our team arrived this afternoon, so we took it as an excuse to visit this wonderful old-world city.  Located on the banks of the beautiful Daugava River, Riga's central district holds all of the classic charm that you can imagine.  The 13th Century Riga Cathedral is a wonder of medieval architecture and it contains the second largest pipe organ in Latvia.

The Cathedral is set in the middle of a gorgeous piazza filled with shops and restaurants, with a soundtrack provided by street musicians of every variety, a talented young woman on a violin, playing a classical piece, a young girl in the market deftly playing a dulcimer, three teenage girls singing their version of a modern pop song as one of them strummed her guitar, and an old bearded man producing a hauntingly beautiful sound that flowed from his saxophone and echoed from the brightly colored walls of the courtyard.  Against the backdrop of an azure sky and snow white clouds, it gave you the feeling of an old romantic movie scene.

After our visit to Old Town Riga, we made our way to the airport to pick up Gary.  We dropped three of our team off at the terminal just a few minutes after his scheduled arrival time with the intention of making the circle a couple of times and saving the 2 Lat parking fee.  This is where our story enters the "Sounded like a good idea at the time" Zone.  Apparently Gary purchased the ticket that allows your luggage to visit all of the historic European capitals and Riga was well down on the list, so while we waited for him to find out that his socks and underwear may just get to see Springtime in Paris, we made enough left turns to qualify us for the next race on the NASCAR circuit.

We had dinner at a great restaurant in Riga and then made our way back here.  We are finding that this country is a study in contradictions; tremendous natural beauty, wonderful people who have endured great oppression and come out on the other side as survivors, and yet they are groping in spiritual darkness.  Please pray for us as we share the gospel these next couple of days.  We have almost 40 unsaved kids coming to camp everyday.  They are hearing a simple presentation of the Gospel that is progressing each day.  On Wednesday, we will bring them to the place of decision and we would ask that you pray very vigorously that they respond.  The basketball is fun, the sightseeing is awesome, but the reason we are here is to see kids saved.  Let's bombard the throne of God over the next 48 hours.

We have a great video guy with us on this trip. Justin has put together a short video with pictures from each day of the camp.  You can find them on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/user/thewaysports#p/a/u/0/YwNK6Ob1_1c

Latvia (Day 3) Talsi Baptist Church and Day 1 of Basketball Camp

Sunday morning in Talsi, Latvia was a beautiful thing.  The sun comes up at about 3:00 AM and by the time we left the school and walked the three blocks to Talsi Baptist Church, it was a balmy 61 degrees and a beautifully sunny day.  Our group and another group of foreigners (Texans) who are here to do a VBS at the school joined with the regular crowd to fill the little church to capacity. 

The church looked like it usually runs around 100 in attendance.  They had a wonderful Choir and several extraordinary instrumentalists and they did hymns and praise songs that we were familiar with, although the lyrics were in Latvian, making them a little hard to follow.

God had been working ahead of time to prepare the way before us today.  While we are here in Latvia to present the Gospel to a Gospel-starved people, we found ourselves in the midst of a wonderful church full of Baptist people who know and worship the same Lord and Saviour that we do. And not only that, but the guest speaker today was a young Latvian preacher who went to Denmark to start a church.  He spoke of many of the same struggles that we experience back home; the struggle between ritual and relationship, the division between Christians over music and standards, and the loneliness of ministry in a difficult place, relieved by the visit of praying, encouraging friends from home.  As I sat in the service listening to him preach in Latvian and hearing a sketchy translation from one of our new Latvian friends, it made me aware of how those that we have come to minister to must feel when we speak to them of their need for Christ when they know nothing about him.  We have come to be the translators of the Gospel to their darkened hearts. 
The church service was a real blessing and it got our day off to a great start.
After lunch we made our way to the Gym for the first day of our Basketball Camp.  This is a holiday weekend here in Latvia, so we didn't have as many as we expected for the first day.  We had 42 kids show up, less than half of them had been at the camp last year.  The kids were very enthusiastic about learning basketball.

My main job at the camp this week will be to help those kids who received Christ at last year's camp to grow in their walk with the Lord.  Today, we reviewed what they had learned last year and introduced the things that we would share with them over the next three days.  I had 14 kids today and was able to converse with more than half of them in English.  My young friend, Janis, our host's son, served as my translator with the rest.  It was exciting to see their continued commitment to the decision that they made last year to follow Jesus.
We even had a slam dunk contest on a slightly lowered goal and I competed with the kids and made it through the first two rounds, so I guess I didn't embarass myself too much.
When the camp was over for the day, I had the opportunity to Skype into our services back home.  Even though I have only been gone a few days, it was great to see everyone there.  It is amazing to me that we can be 5,000 miles apart and be able to see and hear each other live. 

Supper tonight was a hotdog from a local gas station, which normally wouldn't seem like a very appetizing prospect, but the bun was really unique, almost like a French Bread that was hollowed out for the hot dog.  The filled the hole with ketchup and mustard and then slid the dog down into it.  Very nice and neat, and also very tasty. 
Well, it's only 11 o'clock, so I must be making progress on getting this blog posted.  Keep praying for us.  God is working and lives are being changed; our team's as much as anyone.

Latvia (Day 2) Stripping Wallpaper For Jesus

Today was a beautiful day in Latvia.  We got up and had a wonderful breakfast that featured scrambled eggs, a very interesting toast with melted cheese and garlic that was awesome, and more fresh strawberries with something that was called Russian creme.  I later found out that it was just sweetened condensed milk, so I have a new thing to try when I get home.
One of our team is going to stay here in Talsi as a missionary to disciple the young people that we see come to Christ through these camps.  After breakfast we went to the apartment that they are preparing for him to live in.  We spent most of the morning stripping wallpaper and moving furniture and painting ceilings. 
After doing as much damage as we could, we came back to the school for a little nap.
When everyone was refreshed, we went to a pizza place for dinner and then for a short tour of the town.  The menu of the pizza place was very interesting.  I have to say that it is the first place that I have ever seen beef tongue on the menu for a pizza. 
The town of Talsi is a beautiful little village whose archetecture reminds you of a WWII movie set.

We saw a family of swans walking down the middle of the street holding up traffic. Later in the evening, we saw a hedgehog walking around the school grounds.  Fortunately, we had one of our hosts there to tell us that they were very gentle animals, so I took the opportunity to pet one.

I'm a little sweaty because a couple of us had to show some of the young bucks around here how to play basketball.
We ended the evening with a long planning session for our camps which start tomorrow.  I will be in charge of discipling the kids who came to Christ in last year's camp.  The station where we share the Gospel will be divided into two sections this year.  Joel will teach the basic plan of salvation and I will teach some basic discipleship stuff.  It is looking like we will have a much better turnout than last year.  We are looking forward to a great start tomorrow afternoon.  Pray for us.

Latvia (Day 1)

World travel in the post-9/11 era is always an adventure.  Thursday around 12:30 PM, I headed for Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport.  If you've never been to NWA, let me tell you, it doesn't exactly exude "International Terminal."  It is simply a few buildings out in the middle of a farm field equipped with x-ray security equipment and a host of pleasant TSA employees. I arrived two hours prior to my scheduled departure time, met up with four of my team members, and quickly found out that there was something wrong with our plane that would result in an hour-long delay in our departure.  As it turned out, they found it necessary to delay our flight for an hour because one of the overhead lights was malfunctioning, which could have forced one of the passengers to take a short nap instead of reading the two-day old USA Today that they found in their seatback.
After an uneventful and well-lit 45-minute flight, we arrived in Memphis just 35 minutes before our scheduled Transatlantic departure.  When all was said and done, the tension of the early portion of our journey didn't have a major impact on our arrival in Amsterdam.  When I found my seat on the second leg of our journey, I met a young man named Robert.  He was an IT professional for the Hilton Hotel chain whose job took him regularly back and forth to the States from his home in Glasgow, Scotland.  His wonderful Gaelic accent made for a fascinating conversation and it wasn't long before the details of my trip and our ultimate goal of presenting the Gospel in a place that was darkened toward it came to the forefront.  Robert was very curious about my faith and as I shared the plan of salvation with him, he asked many very perceptive questions.  We discussed the problem of sin, the tendency of religions to fracture and fight, the fact of his spiritual hunger, but the absence of regular religious practice.  He listened carefully as I shared the details of God's simple plan of salvation and immediately drew the conclusion that if I believed what I was telling him, then I must believe that all mankind should follow the path that I was presenting.  But wouldn't God be sympathetic to the man who lived a good life and followed the principles of Buddha or Mohammed?  Our conversation emphsized one impication of the Gospel after another as the moments flew by.  After a full two hours, Robert apologetically said, "I really need to get some rest.  I have a big day tomorrow, so I am going to try to sleep."
When we reached our destination, I just couldn't bear the thought of seeing Robert step out of my life without one more opportunity to receive Christ.  I took my New Testament and wrote my name and phone number in it and I said, "I want to give you something.  This will answer the questions you have about your spiritual life.  Since you are in America so often, I've put my name and number in the front so that if you ever have a question you can call me."  He said, "I have a two hour layover, I think I'll start reading it right now.  Thank you very much, you've given me a lot to think about."
Our work in Latvia doesn't begin for a couple more days, but God has already given me the opportunity to share the Gospel with one searching soul.  Pray for Robert, a young man in his early 30's, with a six-year-old daughter, who knows that he has a need.  Pray that God will use our time together to only cause that hunger to increase until he comes face to face with the One who loves him enough to die for him.
Well, there is a lot more to tell, but it's time to hit the hay.  We are sleeping in the classrooms of the Talsi Christian School, a wonderful ministry in this small town that is doing a tremendous work in reaching young Latvian students for Christ. Tomorrow, I'll post a few pictures of this quaint little town and the wonderful uniqueness that I've already seen.

Perspective

Before the winds that blow do cease,
Teach me to dwell within Thy calm:
                                                   Amy Carmichael

WOW! Sometimes God allows us to step back for just a moment and get a perspective on the things that really matter. Over the last few weeks, I have heard myself say on several occasions, "I just haven't been able to get to that yet.  I have been sooo busy."  In the past few days, God has shown me that if I'm too busy for some things, then I'm just too busy and I need to reset my priorities.  Let me explain.
On Friday, I had a visit from a couple of old friends.  They had been members of the church I pastored in Oklahoma City.  While they were very dear to our hearts, their family was a constant source of difficulty.  Sin, pride, abuse and turmoil were their family legacy and as their Pastor, I was right in the middle of it. The strife impacted three generations and the consequences will continue to be dealt with for years to come.  I had only recently received a call from their present pastor about new turmoil and the possibility of more problems.  Then last week, I got a call that the father had been diagnosed with a terminal liver disease and that he had only 3 months to live.  When I called to console them, they asked if they could come for a visit.  They wanted to share with me what God had been doing in their life recently. 
As the day of their visit approached, I wondered what I would say.  The hope that we find in Christ is wonderful, but it is easy to seem callous or flippant when we disregard the obvious turmoil that death brings.
Heaven is real and the relief from suffering that it offers is sweet, but we are often conflicted by the pain of separation that those who are left behind will have to endure.
When the couple arrived at our home, I was surprised to find them upbeat and joyful.  As they shared with me the events of the past couple of months, there was a peace that I had never seen in their eyes before.  They told me of the work that God had been doing in them even before the diagnosis had been given and of how the Lord had worked things out so that their family could face this trial with grace rather than with dread. 
Longstanding hurts and unforgiveness had been dealt with.  The father, whose prideful self-will had brought about a controlling harshness, had acknowledged not only the sinfulness of his outward actions toward his children and his wife, but also the underlying spirit that continued to wound those that he loved and cared for.
What I saw when I looked at this couple were two people who were rejoicing in what God had done and trusting Him for what the future holds.  When the subject of his impending death came up, the answer was simple, straight-forward and confident.  "How can we be sad about the fact that He is going to be with Jesus?  His sorrow and pain will be over."
The two of them left on Saturday intending to take the backroads home and find a romantic spot to spend the evening and just enjoy some of the time that they had left together.  I found myself encouraged by their visit. 
Just over 24 hours later, the storms blew in.  A small tornado hit just south of our house and a horrific tornado took almost 1/4 of Joplin, killing at least 116 people.  The first news that I received about the Joplin tornado was that St. John's Hospital had taken a direct hit, that the top two floors were gone, and that the entire front face of the building was devastated.  One of our beloved church members, Ann Hickman, was in ICU, on the third floor of that hospital and her room had a front facing window, so immediately I began trying to find out what had happened to her.  I would not know until late the next day that she had survived and had been moved to a hospital in Springfield. 
This morning, 36 hours after the storm hit, sitting in my office with the sun shining outside, I am struck with the contrasts between the events of the past few days.  In the case of the couple that visited us, the storm that struck their life gave them time to contemplate their actions, their heart attitudes, and their relationship to God and to each other.  The spectre of death was bounded by the awareness of God's promises and His blessings even in the storm.  The result in their life and family was ultimately a blessing.  Their attitude reminded me of the old Jake Hess song, that Ron Fisher asked be played at his funeral, "Death Ain't No Big Deal."
In contrast, I see the massive destruction of the tornado, that descended on its victims in a moment, with very little warning, and left turmoil, devastation, and suffering in its wake.  This morning on the radio, I heard the voice of a man whose mother and his toddler son were in the path of the tornado and had not been heard from since the storm.  The desperation and panic in his words, as he pleaded with anyone within the sound of his voice, "If anyone knows anything, please contact us as soon as possible."  I see pictures of the survivors, wandering through demolished neighborhoods in stunned silence, their shock-numbed senses struggling to bring order to the chaos of their world.  And as the hours and the days pass, the stories will be heard of the lives cut short, the opportunities snatched away in a swirling whirlwind, and the long-road to recovery and restoration.

It is in this vast contrast that I hear the still, small voice of the Lord saying, "Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."  Life is uncertain and if the Lord tarries His coming, death awaits us all.  But we don't have to live our lives in fear.  We can be prepared.  The Lord told Hezekiah, "Set thine house in order..." I am sure that there will be those who, in response to this storm, build a storm shelter.  But I would encourage you to also prepare for the storms of life now matter what form they take by making things right with God and with those whom He has placed in your life.  That way, no matter what happens, no matter how strongly with winds blow, you can be at peace.