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.

AUSTIN AND CENTRAL TEXAS

We are spending a few days in Texas getting ready for the summer. We made a quick trip to Austin to visit Laura's family and check on some official paperwork for our next round of visa applications.

These pictures are for our Latvian friends. Central Texas is a beautiful place, especially during the spring time. But, the tradeoff is a huge traffic problem.

We're back to East Texas for a few more meetings, summer ministry planning and house repairs.

So long for now....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HOME TO TEXAS

Laura and I are enjoying a few days in Texas ... catching up with family and friends, taking care of Uncle Sam's April 15 paperwork and planning for the summer's activities.

Here are a couple of unusual cows that were grazing the Amsterdam Airport and then a big bear we found while taking our son Adam out for Mexican food in Dallas.

 

 

VIJA'S 70th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION!

One of truly gracious ladies of Cesis Baptist is Vija. She has been so kind and helpful to us in every way and it was our honor to be invited to her 70th birthday party.

Vija has six children (see picture below) and all of them were in attendance. In view of the seventy year mark, she was given seven cakes! Latvian birthday cakes are a little different from the US.

Her big present was a digital camera, which she was already putting to good use by the time the party really got going. Pictures of the cat, pictures of the door, pictures of the kids, pictures of over-stuffed Americans full of good Latvian food...

One of the neat things here is that they include Laura and me in nearly everything (even if they forget to tell us ahead of time "Oh yeah, we are having a birthday celebration right after church...You are coming aren't you?") So, we show up, presents or not, and get to participate in another culture's traditions.

By the way, I hope I am able to do the things that Vija does daily when I get to be 70.

 

 

 

 

BASKETBALL TRAVELS . . .

One of the neat things that I get to do here is to travel with the boys' basketball teams. It is very different than when I was coaching in Texas for all of those years.

First, we basically take five teams on the trip: 7th, 8th, 9th, JV and Varsity (although it is broken down by ages, not grades here). We put all these boys on the SAME bus with two coaches and myself. The last travel was an overnight trip to Ventspils and Kandava. I would have never taken these different age groups on the same bus but they really don't think anything of it over here.

When I was coaching, I often would invite a Special Education student to serve as a manager, helper, etc. I often would assign an older, responsible player to be in charge of the Special Education student when we were on the road. He was to make sure the other student was on time, knew where we were leaving from, what time we would eat, etc. Now, I'm the one that feels like he's a Special Education student on these trips. I have to have one of the players that speak English to translate what the coach says in regards to schedules, meetings, etc. The coaches speak very, very little English, so I have to rely on someone else to get me where I'm supposed to be. The coaches surely don't have time to babysit me with their other responsibilities.

The coaching here is good but most of the coaches are not teachers in the school system. There are no organized athletics in the schools. They have a physical education program but all competitive athletics are only offered by the Sporta Skola, which is completely separate from the academic schools. They also have Music Skola and Makslas Skola (art) which offers instruction in the fine arts.

So, we take a two day trip to the other side of Latvia for the basketball games. We traveled four hours, played five games, got back on the bus, and traveled two more hours to Kandava.

When we arrived in Kandava, I found my dream gym. This Sports Halle had a small cafe to feed the teams and an attached hotel. I could literally hear the horn in the gym from my hotel room. From the door of my room it was exactly 21 steps to a seat in the bleachers. Now that is a nice set-up...nice bleachers, nice hotel (think Motel 6) and some good basic Latvian food in the kafenica. I could have stayed there for days: eating, sleeping and watching basketball.

The kids all took care of themselves and each other. We had no problems unless you consider the 7th grade boys that brought hair clippers and shaved each other's heads. Other than that, all was good.

I never missed the bus, never made too big of a fool of myself in trying to speak Latvian and never once told the Latvian coaches how they should coach. It was a great trip that I truly enjoyed. The Latvian kids are well behaved and accept me pretty much as just an old, weird guy hanging around the gym ... which is exactly what I am.

DIGGING OUT!

After about four days of snow, the sun is SHINING! For an East Texas boy, this is more snow than I've seen in my entire lifetime. According to the locals, it is about three months late. We have had snow off and on since November but I think this storm surprised even the Latvians. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

LATVIAN COMMEMORATION DAY - March 25

March 25
Commemoration Day of Victims of Communist Terror

On this day in 1949, a total of 43 000 people were deported from Latvia to Siberia - mainly prosperous peasants, regarded by the Soviet occupation regime as alien to communist ideology and the principles of collectivism.

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There was a short ceremony today unveiling a plaque on a building near our flat. Basically, it states that starting in the 1940's this building was the location of the Soviet secret police "Cheka". There were numerous people tortured, humiliated and killed there.

We sometimes wonder why the Latvian culture seems so different to us. When you see and hear of the things that went on during the 'Regime', you understand a little better.

I knew that the street we live on had some type of importance during Communist times but I wasn't exactly sure to what degree. I will try to find someone to help me understand more of the history of this location.

Today, this building is used for the prosecutor's office of the justice system.

 

 

The plaque that was unveiled:

EASTER HOMESICKNESS -- EASTER LATVIAN STYLE

Although we miss Texas and our family, it is not often we get homesick. But, the holidays always seem to make us more prone to really wanting to see our boys and be back in a familiar place. We were lucky enough to spend Christmas and New Years with them but we have missed out on Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and now Easter. Our family is all in this adventure together and they have never once complained about the sacrifices they have to make with us being in Latvia. So, we hope they have a good Easter weekend and that they know we wish we could be with them and celebrate this holiday with them. We love you.

We are noticing several differences in the Latvian Easter celebrations. Not too many major differences, just some minor things such as:

• No egg hunting outside ... since there is already about 2 inches of snow on the ground and it is supposed to snow most of Saturday night, it is kind of hard to effectively find the eggs! The city-wide egg hunt for kids is scheduled (inside) for the Kultura Nams (Culture Hall). Forecast on Sunday is for a high of about 29 degrees.
• Worship service at 5:30am ... yes, 5:30am! Many churches world wide have 'sunrise' services. Since Cesis Baptist Church shares their building, the owners get first crack at the sunrise service. So, the Lutherans will be celebrating a sunrise service and the Baptists will be celebrating a 'pre-dawn' service. We will have regular service at 2:30pm also. It will be interesting as I don't think I have ever been to church this early. Walking to church, in the snow, at 5:00 am on Easter morning ... who would have thought this Texas couple would be doing that?
• Since flowers have not made an appearance here, there seems to be less emphasis on greenery and flowers in the decorations.
• No Easter ham, deviled eggs, ice tea, mash potatoes, black-eyed peas, sweet potatoes, fried chicken or soft dinner rolls BUT we will eat at our friends' house and I'm sure we will have cabbage salad, boiled potatoes, black bread, pickles, karbonade, hot tea and honey cake for dessert.
• Last but not least, I'm thinking I will see a lot more fur coats, ski jackets and parkas rather than Easter bonnets and spring dresses.

Even with the differences, the Christians here have a very strong sense of the meaning of Easter. They understand that the entire Christian religion points to this one holiday as the make or break idea behind our beliefs. We look forward to celebrating Christ's resurrection tomorrow no matter how different the surroundings. Maybe with less emphasis on the standards of man-made success we can focus more on the true meaning of this special day.

We hope you celebrate a glorious Easter with your friends and family.

DIGNITY AND THE SOUP KITCHEN

The soup kitchen in Cesis is staffed by three churches, taking a month's rotation each. March is Cesis Baptist Church turn so we have been helping there during lunch. There are usually between 10 and 20 people there, all at different stops on life's road. Some are struggling mightily with alcohol, some with mental problems and some with age related or health problems.

As a man, I see us provide them soup, a warm place for an hour or so and maybe an orange for dessert. I know it is not enough but I am almost overwhelmed when thinking what else could we do for them with our limited resources.

Thank goodness Laura does not think like a man! She looked at the people and saw the same things but she looked deeper. She saw that these people not only need food but also a band-aid on their dignity.

She bakes cookies now for them each day that we serve. Of course, they just loved them. Then she went even further. She decided we needed to 'class' up the place a little. She worked it out so that we could brew up tea and coffee for each of them. You cannot imagine how that small act was appreciated.

The first day the ladies' table was just sitting there, drinking their tea, having a big conversation about something. Inese started laughing and told us one of the ladies said "Now, this is my style! Drinking tea and eating cookies...this is living!".

We take so much for granted in our own lives and we can't even begin to understand the problems that these people face. Yet, every day they don't leave without telling us 'paldies, paldies' (thank you, thank you). It doesn't matter that we don't speak the language ... they are going to talk to us in Latvian anyway! Today, one woman keep chattering and I could understand 'sirds' which means 'heart' and pointing to me .... that about says it all!

I'm so glad that Laura can see beyond what I see ... and that she could understand that dignity is just as important as food.

Have a good weekend!

MARCH SNOW #2

MARCH SNOW

An early March snow storm blows into Cesis. The 'birthday girl' is hanging on in some snowy and windy conditions!