CHILDREN'S DAY

I'm not really sure how it translates but 'Children's Day' is close enough. It a day of celebrating the end of school, start of summer, being a kid, etc.

There were games, inflatables, carnival rides and music events throughout the day in the park near the castle. A couple of 'our' teenagers performed a great singing duet and we were able to see a lot of our friends out with their children.

Latvia is known as "The Land That Sings" and tonight was a showcase for the future of their country. The concert held in Castle Park featured boys' choirs from schools throughout Latvia. There were over 1000 boys in this combined choir from about 8 years to 14 years old. It really was an amazing sight and beautiful to hear.

Also, two other legends performed. Latvia's premier composer, Raimonds Pauls played several songs on the piano and was accompanied by the choirs. To finish up the night, Brainstorm, Latvia's best known pop group entertained before the fireworks closed every thing out.

I am constantly amazed at the talent here and how proud the young people are to perform. There is no embarrassment or hesitation; they are great performers.

 

Toms and Elizabete singing away....

 

The parade march starts at the soccer stadium and stretches to the Castle Park stage...

 

Each choir represents a public school or music school...

The boys are usually accompanied by one or two teachers ....

 

 

Finally, they make it to Castle Park and start filing in...

It is going to be a tight squeeze to get everybody on stage...

 

Finally, every body is in and ready to go...

Not only did they sing beautifully, they had synchronized movements with flags and banners.

WELCOME CHASE AND FAMILY

Chase, Laura, Maddie and Nate have made it safe to Cesis and we are happy they are here to help minister for a few days. Chase is a full-time youth evangelist from Texas that has become our good friend in the last few years. He has a great way of speaking with kids and he certainly has a heart for what God wants young people to hear.

Chase will preach during Sunday service and then also speak at the Youth Concert on Sunday night. We have the Latvian muzika grupa "Man-hu" presenting the concert and we are hoping for a large turnout.

On Monday, Chase and I will return to Riga where he will speak at an Inter-Varsity event at one of the universities.

Tuesday we are taking him into the prison with us and we will also have lunch with the prison chaplain and minister from the area of Latvia that is very close to the Russian border. We are trying to determine a way to work closer with two of the churches that Pastor Misha is responsible for.

Wednesday is our Youth Night and Chase will present the night's program.

Thursday is reserved for sightseeing and resting.

On Friday we are scheduled to meet with our pastor, Olegs at this other job, the Christian Leadership College.

Another trip to Riga is on line for Saturday where we hope to take part in a Latvian Cultural Fair (whatever that may be!).

Chase has been a vital part of the summer camps held here for at least three years. He is not going to be able to make it this summer, but was fortunate enough to schedule a trip and bring his family. It is nice to see familiar faces and get a new perspective on how to overcome some of the obstacles we face here.

Plus, he just got a new camera that I'm just crazy to play with. Here are a few random shots I took today before he wrestled it away from me.

You can never have enough wood. People have to gather wood here all year to be ready for the winter.

 

Our windows are the first two on the bottom (brown building).

 

Beautiful flowers ... spring here is really just now taking off.

 

 

There's just something about a tattooed bearded lady.

DESIGNATED FETCHER

In the world of pickup games, sandlot baseball and P.E. classes, the smallest kids always get chosen last. It's always a bad deal when teams are picked and you are the last one to be taken.

Believe or not, inside the Cesis Boys Prison they have conquered that problem. Yesterday after chapel, I went down to the recreation area. The boys had a couple of soccer games going as well as outdoor basketball and volleyball games. I looked over and there was one little kid quite a bit smaller than the rest and he had on a reflectorized, green safety vest. Some places the vests are orange but here they are a glowing green.

So the little kid is just standing out there by himself between the soccer field and basketball court wearing this goofy vest. I thought maybe he was being disciplined or something because the odds of him being run over by a truck or something were pretty slim seeing as how he was in a prison recreation yard.

Next thing I knew, a soccer ball had bounced through the first barbed-wire fence. They really have three fences, first is barbed wire, followed by a type of ribbon wire which is very, very sharp, then there is a solid wooden fence about 14 feet high, topped by wire.

When the ball bounces over the fence, the kid in the vest is the ONLY one permitted to go through or near the fence. A guard comes over and raises the wire just enough for the designated fetcher to go through (that's where the lack of size helps), get the ball and come out.

Now the little kid is a big hero because the game can continue and every body is happy...guards, players and the designated fetcher. It all looked like a pretty good plan to me!

BUSY SATURDAY

We are just about finished with a busy Saturday in Latvia.

First, we left out on the 8:15 bus for Riga. There are Prayer Days each month for the young people of Latvia. Vilandes Baptist Church was the host this month and our friend Samuels Thomas was the speaker. There is always good music and a great group of young people. We had three of our kids go with us.

When we returned to Cesis, we attended an outdoor concert. Every 5 years Latvia has a Song Festival. They were even able to adapt it so that they could participate during the Communist years. You can not imagine how big a deal this is. The singers are always in their national costumes, some even in their village colors. We are talking about the Super Bowl of choir festivals. They hold it in a huge stadium complex in Riga  during the first week of July. Over the entire week they will have several hundred thousand people attend different parts of the festival.

It does not look like we are going to be able to go this year (some of our group went 5 summers ago) but tonight's concert was a great look at what we are going to be missing. Tickets are extremely hard to get and very expensive so they are having these 'rehearsals' in the different towns.

I don't know a thing about music but they sounded very good tonight. The group 'Auli' is an instrumental folk group that plays drums, bagpipes and a bunch of other traditional instruments. They are one of our favorites and we try to see them every chance we get.

Tradition is such a big thing here. No one is embarrassed to dress up in their national costumes and they don't mind singing the songs of centuries past. It is really enjoyable seeing their pride in the past.

Here are a few photos. In Cesis, the outdoor stage is at the foot of the castle. It makes for an impressive display. (As always, you can double click and the photo will open in a larger window.)

Ata!

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUNE 1 - MUSIC CONCERT AND CHASE BOWERS SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT

CADILLAC WEDDING

Cesis is often the site of many weddings in the spring and summer time. Who wouldn't want to be married in a 600 year old church (St. John's Lutheran)? Plus, for a small additional fee you can motor off into the sunset in your very own chauffeur-driven Cadillac convertible!

The tradition is to go to the traffic circle in the center of town and drive around the circle for a few spins as everyone else waves, honks their car horns and generally makes noise.

There aren't very many American cars in Cesis but this Cadillac surely stands out.

END OF THE SEASON

Basketball games start here in late September. This weekend the boys' teams will finish their season. Add in a month of pre-season training and these guys have been going at for a long time.

This weekend we are hosting the EYBL championships (European Youth Basketball League). In town for the tournament are teams from Belarus, Sweden, Estonia and Latvia. These all play a pretty good brand of basketball.

The teams in Cesis truly play a multi-national schedule as I have seen teams from Lithuania, Uzbekistan, Russia, Finland, Estonia, Poland, Belarus and Norway. As most games are played on Saturday and Sunday, it is not unusual to leave school a little early on Friday afternoon, travel several hours across national borders and play two games on the weekend.

This is a picture of the Belarus team. They were well-coached but are about to lose on a last second shot. Cesis plays Sweden today (Sunday) at 12:00. I will be able see them play the final game of the season before our church starts at 2:30p.

 

MUSEUM NIGHT

Museum night is a tradition in Cesis that allows everyone to enjoy the museums and activities free of charge during one night. Of course when your town is built around an 800-year old castle, there are lots of things to see.

Last night we enjoyed a few of the highlights, starting at 10:30pm. Why so late? Probably because it does not get dark until at least 10:15 or later. One of our favorite traditional Latvian music groups is 'Auli'. They performed on the walkway over the moat that leads to Cesis Castle. It was a great mini-concert and we enjoyed watching the people as well.

It is still a big thing here for people to dress up in native costumes. Monks, fair maidens, court jesters, priests are walking around in very period correct dress.

It was kind of sad (in a funny sort of way) as the main announcer was introducing everybody and explaining the different events that were about to take place. He was droning on and finally we heard 'zupa' (soup) and 'pancukas' (pancakes) ... about the only two things we understood besides 'good evening' and 'good night'!

It was a fun evening and since everything took place within a block of our flat, we heard them still going strong at 2:00 this morning. This photo is of the Cesis Castle and 'Auli' performing.

 

LAURA'S ADDRESS TO CESIS BAPTIST CHURCH

Pastor Olegs asked one of us to speak about our trip to the States and the upcoming summer plans. Laura did a great job, so I decided to pass it on here:

 

[Presented by Laura Wimberley to Cesis Baptist Draudze - May 11, 2008]

It is great to be back, especially to be here with our Latvian family whom we love and feel such a part of. We are still dealing with time change. It seems that one of us is sleeping or not sleeping at all times of the day and night. This morning at 2:30 my eyes were wide open, and words were whirling in my head. Sometimes we are asked to speak, and I do not feel that there is anything I need to say. Then others, it feels like God is saying, “I want you to speak, and this is what I want you to say.” This morning at 2:30 was one of those times.

Yesterday, we went walking around the town and saw many friends. We met a girl on the sidewalk who was excited about what God is doing in her life. She invited us to a meeting and we went and enjoyed some great Christian music and it was so encouraging to see how God was working in the lives of the people there. They were from another church and did things a little differently, but that’s ok. We all love and serve the same God. So many times, I have the feeling that we are standing on the edge of something more wonderful than we can imagine. That God has chosen to do a work here.

It was hard to leave home this time. We had a good time there and just wished we could stay longer. When it was time to leave tears were shed. We miss family and friends and church and the familiar. But God sent us here and we knew it was the only place we belong now. People say, “Why do you come?” That is not the question to ask. The question is, “Why has God sent us?” Why are we here? Why do people feel God calling them to give their money to support this ministry? Why are people led to pray daily for Cesis? Why has God called Chase Bowers to come back and bring his family? Why do groups of Americans come here every summer? Why has he sent you one of the best pastors Latvia has to offer? There can be only one answer: God has a vision for Cesis! He wants to do something big here! And the thing is: You are a huge part of it! We need you! We cannot do it alone. We have events planned beginning the first of June. We need your help. We have begun a prison ministry. We need you to be a part of it. We hope to begin a mid week Bible study and prayer meeting. We need you to be there and invite others. We need teachers. It doesn’t matter if you never taught before. God will lead you.

We need helpers for vacation Bible school. One person has already volunteered to take 2 hours off from her job to help, we need more like her – youth, adults, men, women willing to say yes.

When God called Mark and me to Cesis, we could have said:

"We need to work a few more years first."

"We want to wait till the boys marry and leave home."

"I can’t speak to people. I have panic attacks."

"We want to stay and take care of the older members of our family." Mark’s 90 year old aunt is in the hospital now. When we left, we wondered if we would ever see her again.

There were so many reasons to wait or say let someone else go.

But God wanted to hear only one answer, “Yes, I’ll do it.”

I know God is asking something from everyone of you. Will you say, “Yes”? He has said yes to you so many times:

Yes, I’ll heal you.

Yes, I’ll answer your prayer.

Yes, I’ll bless you.

Yes, I’ll love you.

Yes. I’ll die for you.

Say yes to him. Let’s see what God wants to do in our lives and the lives of the people of Cesis. You will never regret following his lead. It is one of the greatest things you will ever experience. Don’t be afraid, trust him. Say YES.

HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN, JIGGITY JIG

We have made it back to Cesis with very few problems.

It was a great trip and we had a super time with our friends and family. The hardest part of living here is not getting to see our family as often as we wish. Our relatives are getting on up in years and of course, we are missing out on some of our sons' important days. But, we are still committed to our mission here and we firmly believe that God wants us here, doing what we can with His help.

It is certainly greener than when we left about three weeks ago. The nights are cool but the days are really great, about 65-70 degrees.

We've go a lot of things planned. We'll keep you informed on what's happening as we head into a busy summer.