A swollen hand, and 9 toe nails later….

…A bug of unknown figure or name bit me! And my hand blew up like a balloon, and I decided to kick a stump and lost my toe nail, well almost it is still “hangin in there” :D just a few of the fun things during “tent camp hell…oh so much fun!”

We are back from our first camp! 5 full days, one shower, sleeping in tents, freezing my booty off, getting bit by things that I did not know even existed, mud, sun, clouds, rain, snow… just kidding;)
And best of all over 50 kids from the age of 8 to 12!!! Oh, was it a camp to remember! It was definitely full of adventure and no doubt filled with the power of Christ, because let me tell you… this 27 year old body could not do it with out HIM helping me every step of the way.
I cannot remember any time throughout that week that I did not have someone on my back or running from that activity to another or swimming in freeeeeeezing cold water, or doing all that pre teens just thrive on!
I am tired, but blessed!
I had a group of 5 young girls and 2 girls who were my tent leaders (in training you can say) both of which I had the blessing of meeting as campers three years previous in the same camp! What a blessing to be serving alongside them now! That is the beautiful thing called Discipleship!!! Ahhh I cant get over it!
The 5 girls that we had in our tent all professed that they were not Christians and did not seem to have much desire to know about him or really want to go deep at all. If I am honest I was relieved by this, just for the fact that it was not a show with them. They did not give the good ole religious answers and try to please us by their knowledge of who this Jesus we were talking about is. They were real to the core, which burned a fire inside of me for them and their souls!
I would love to tell you that by the end of the camp they were transformed. I would love to say that they have given their life’s fully to the savior of their life! I would love to share with you a change in their hearts. But all I can say is that God is at work in their hearts. I can see little lights of hope. I could see through out the week the battle for their souls! And it got me excited yet again for what Jesus is doing here in Latvia.

It was a great start to a crazy summer!

Our next camp is starting next Tuesday and we will spend this week creating our English curriculum for the next two camps, which will be English camps, and for teens. I am stoked!~

We spent the weekend celebrating “Jani” which is the mid-summers-eve celebration here in Latvia. It was just the Interns chillin at the beach… it was a great day of fellowship and bonding! (just an artsee picture of the interns)

My plan is to write a actual update letter this week so be lookin out!! ;)

Check out pictures here:

In Liepaja for Ieva’s Graduation
Outreach in Madona
In Riga for Graduations
At our First camp
Chillin for “Jani”

Leaving for “adventure camp”

Today we leave for adventure camp in Ergli for a week! It is raining and cold for the first time in over a month!!! Go figure, the week we are to be I tents and out in the wilderness with 8 to 12 year old kiddies...and it is cold, wet and muddy!!! Yes!!! Well it will call for some good pictures I am sure of that!!!
So I ask that you pray hard for our team this next week! We all have felt a determined attack from satan spiritually and physically this past few days.
One of which was how I had my wallet stolen right out of my purse on the way home from our out reach this past Thursday! All of my credit cards and cash and drivers license GONE! Yep! He is out for blood!! Haha, and I think it is quite funny because he is so sneaky and yet not at all!!!!!!
And on top of that we have all felt a sense of tiredness and being drained that should not be.
Can you please pray for spiritual renewal and strength as we enter this crazy hard, crazy fun week?
May we all rely completely on Jesus in us and not us just going to “share” Jesus!

Thank you. Love you all!

If you read this can you try an leave a comment…sometimes I feel like I am writing these for no one but the random web surfers!
I would love to know if these entries are helping you stay connected in anyway! Thank you all!!!

Back from training...

Estonia was great!
The team came together in ways that I can only praise God for. He defiantly met us there!
We spent a lot of time relaxing, swimming, sauna-ing (not a word, i know!) and getting know each other, planning, and praying. It was a beautiful location and a wonderful time of community.
Now we are back in Latvia starting the planning of English classes and lessons, and preparing for camps.
Tomorrow we head out for two days of outreach, then back for the weekend…

Click here to check out some pictures thus far.

Whip um' into shape...

Hey there,
Well I have not gotten to the schedule yet… but I do want to quickly update you on a few little but real cool things!
First all of our Interns have arrived for the summer ministry and we have already had some great times of getting to know each other and “bonding”! this team is quite unique and I can already see that God had his hands all over the selection of every member of this team this year!!!
It is sweet to know that you are sitting in the middle of a group that will be used to set the mood for the whole summer!!! Yeah this Intern team is tha bomb, I gotta say!
We have two guys that just finished a bible school in Sweden ( the same one that Susan and I attended a few years ago) and then we have two female Latvians, one of which is Lelde oue secretary, and much more!!! And then we have a girl that randomly/divinely joined at the last minute, Linda, and she is flippin; sweet!!! And then of course a joy for me is Ashliegh Klimike, a student from Red Mountain Community Church in Arizona, my home church and town, and Ash has become such a joy to live out life with Christ, so it is more than a blessing to have her here as well!
So all in all this team is dynamic and down right… “bad- … to the bone”… gay!! (I did not want to swear!)
;)

so we are on our way to Estonia for Intern training for 5 days tomorrow morning! Pray for us and that the Lord would work in us and that we could form into the body of Christ in a way that will shine the light of Christ and the church to this generation here in Latvia!!!

I’m out…

Hugs all around