Week 3

Thursday I spent most of the day at home – quite reluctant to go outside because it’s so icy. Washed clothes, cleaned and kept the fire going. The girls went to do other things. In the evening Liene, Katie (and baby Esther) came over to join us for prayer. We prayed, talked, and prayed more for about two hours. I was responsible for leading the group this time and I enjoyed breaking things up a bit (I could understand more) by taking it in sections – Praise, Thanksgiving, confession, and requests.

Friday Dave drove me to Riga in the morning. We left about 8:00 and arrived at the Partners Office about 11:00 which was really good time.

I went with Vineta to the immigration office so I could turn in the papers with my invitation from the Baptist Union, starting the process of getting my permanent resident permit. The woman told us that we couldn’t turn it in because the Baptist Union had not turned in the right paper from the tax office stating that they didn’t owe any taxes. Oh the joys of bureaucracy. Now I will have to try again next week. In the mean time Vineta called Solveiga and they will see what they can do first thing next week.

The second thing I really needed to do while in Riga was to order a piece of glass for our stove. The shop is not really far but I needed someone to go with me and it didn’t work for Dave to come over and take me and no one else was available to go with on the bus. So, didn’t even get that much done.

Everyone went home and I stayed over night at the office again. Couldn’t really get the computer to receive emails there either so am really not sure what the problem is.

When I woke up it had snowed which made the room quite bright even with no lights on. So, the trip home in the snow took about and hour or so longer than the trip in. Aija A came with us and we had a nice conversation. Really appreciate all of Dave’s driving. He says he loves going to Riga so it’s no bother but I still appreciate it.


Playing games on Youth Night

We got back just in time for the outreach event for the Vectilza people. I think we had over 30 people many of whom were kids. The games, songs, introductions, etc. seem to make everyone feel comfortable. The meal was good – and lots of it – which I think the folks appreciated. Things got a little hectic and crazy in the Yellow House after dinner but not terribly unexpected. I’m hoping the adults felt comfortable and glad to be there. I know the kids ended up having a great time. It seems that Liene and Kaspars are very happy about how it went.

On my way to the church Sunday

Sunday: I left early (9:00) to walk to church and made it there in 30 minutes. Guess I am finally getting into this walking. The day was beautiful. It was snowing some but not too windy. It wasn’t quite as slippery and I was able to find that one of my pairs of shoes works rather well in the snow.

The Tilza River, just about frozen

There were only 9 of us at church this morning but I was very happy that most were Latvians – from Tilza. It was great to see a couple of girls (Elina & Laine) who haven’t been to church much lately. Elina talked about wanting to be a lawyer when she finishes school and wants to live in Riga.  But I can understand. She’s in 9th class now! She also told me that she likes to go bowling! So I told her that maybe we should build a bowling alley in Tilza!! One of the guys from the boarding school came also this morning. Apparently Lolita is his “teacher” or housemother and she told him when the church service was so he came! Dave chatted with him a good bit. He is the one who received Christ last Sunday. Katie also told me he came by to visit yesterday and to get some materials to read about Jesus.

After lunch I went to visit Lolita and the girls. Had a very good visit. Lolita said she would come to church next week. I really will be praying that she does. She talked about having me come over for a meal so I said we would invite them too.

Week 2

Mondays apparently are the days when we are a little bit lighter on the activities. I guess this is normally when we will have some personal time.
Tuesdays are when we meet with the Ergli team to plan combined events for youth and long-range ideas.
Wednesdays we spend most of the day preparing for the evening meeting. This includes cleaning the Yellow House and preparing for dinner, getting stuff for games and activities, as well as preparing the lesson/Bible Study
Thursdays – Aija & Liene teach simple English to a kindergarten in Tilza and one in Vectilza. Katie is having a bookkeeping class at the Yellow House. The women meet in the evening for prayer. David has English classes on Thursdays and Fridays.
Fridays – Kaspars leads a Bible Study in Balvi

Important events this week:
Our septic tank needed to be pumped – Inita mentioned it on Saturday and we could all tell that it was full – water coming out the top. So, I called Katie (Dan had told me yesterday that she would know who to talk with) and we made the arrangement that I would go stay with Jonathan who has a temperature while she went over to school and talked with the boy whose father does the pumping. On the way, I met up with Kaspars who told me he has already asked the guy this morning about doing theirs. The man was still at Tik Tak and so Kaspars made arrangements for him to also come by our place later in the day. So, all is well. It cost us 6 Lats.

Aija’s mother (right) and sister (left) visit us

Aija’s mother, Natasha, and sister, Kristine, came (on the bus) Monday morning for a visit. They brought Aija a pretty gift (candle) and delicious cake. We all ate lunch together then they went back to Balvi on the 1:00 bus. While in town Aija picked up a video and we watched it in the evening on my computer. First time I had really tried to do that and I didn’t know how to make the movie go the full-screen. So, with only a 14” computer anyway, this was tiny. But we had fun. We ran it in English and had Russian sub-titles.

First meeting in Ergli Left early Tuesday morning for Eagles’ Wings Camp. The camp is new and still being built but it’s used regularly already. It was a beautiful day with sun shining on the snow and ice. We had our combined meeting of the two teams (Ergli/Madona and Tilza). Besides the 6 of us (Katie and Liene were in Tilza), Dustin and Kristine were the only ones from their team who could come this time. After a time of devotion (which Kaspars led) we mostly discussed the previous activities of the combined group.

The Christmas Valley guys joined us for lunch. Sounds like they are getting quite a bit done on one of the other buildings – sheet rocking, etc.
After the meeting we drove home with a stop in Madona at the Rimi store. I ended up buying a new cell phone. The other one I had was just borrowed from the partners office.

Upcoming outreach event We had a meeting about Saturday’s outreach event for Vectilza people. I need to go to Riga on Friday so will be back just in time for this event on Saturday afternoon


Our house is the red brick one on the right

On my way home I fell because it was so icy. Didn’t really get hurt. But I am a bit hesitant about going out now. Later in the afternoon, Dan and David came in and looked at our stove, which has a cracked glass, and said it was not immediately dangerous but we do need to order a new piece of glass. So, Liga took the measurements and now we can see how to order it from Riga.

At 4:00 I got a ride back to the Yellow House for the Youth meeting. Some of the kids were already there.

Just over 30 kids came. Most are between 8th and 12 grade. Many came because David Baker was there to visit. Two things were a bit different than last week. It didn’t go quite as smoothly but this time the kids weren’t nearly as rowdy and noisy. Several of us talked with one of the boys about his decision last Sunday, to follow Christ. After asking if he had told anyone about his decision he told me that he had talked with one of his teachers who was happy about it. Katie talked with another boy tonight who said he wasn’t ready to make that decision.

The Past Few Days

Day 6, Thursday, January 18, 2007
My throat was sore all night – sucked on some lozenges and drank water but felt rather tired this morning. Instead of going with Liga and Aija to the kindergarten classes in Tilza and Vectilza, I stayed home and worked on language learning, put the words for things on the objects in the kitchen, and practiced saying them. Washed another load of laundry this morning and since I kept the fire going, most of the things got dry by this evening. Kept drinking tea and water today and taking Tylenol.

Liga came home about noon and later fixed lunch – rice with a mushroom sauce and salad (tomatoes and cucumbers).

Scouted around the front porch today and found some items that we can use – old paper for starting fires, a small box for my drawer to organize things, a bit larger box for the small pieces of wood I brought it to help start fires and some larger pieces, did a bit of chopping to see if I could make some slivers for fire starters.

Dave came over and brought me an old desk that wasn’t being used in the Yellow House – he cleaned it up a bit first. It works perfectly for what I need. A good place to store papers inside. A nice space for the computer and a light on the top. The cord situation isn’t perfect but maybe I can find a way to cover it up so I don’t trip or have to keep moving it each night before bed.

We girls, including Katie, met at our place for prayer in the evening. I will look forward to these weekly prayer times with the women on our team.

Am having a hard time keeping the cat out of my room again tonight so closed the door but that also keeps most of the heat out too.

Day 7 (Friday, January 19, 2007)

Got our first real snow -- a couple of inches -- during the night and it’s rather windy this morning, but a lot melted during the day and now we have ice. Makes it hard to walk. I walked to the store by 8:00 to get a few important items that we needed. Still not feeling very well – coughing, which I think is my allergy-induced asthma, so I started using my inhaler.

Looking outside my back door. Dan and Katie's car.

Katie got me hooked up on their internet (Latnet). We also got our phone working. Spent a good deal of time with Katie helping to prepare for the company we are having this weekend. Five of Dave’s friends from Scotland and 5 guys from Christmas Valley will all be here. I helped Dave put sheets, blankets, pillows, and towels in all the rooms we needed and then just had to come home. I’m really needing to get some sleep.

Now have a child’s tape recorder that Aija and Liga helped put a few sentences on so that I could start my learning program a little more efficiently. It was really funny listening to them try to use such an odd recorder but they finally figured it out and got the sentences on several times.

Day 8 (Saturday, January 20)

Couldn’t sleep much so when I got up about 3:00am I decided to see if Katie’s email would work with our phone since it is now hooked up, and it did. We will be charged for the phone call from here to wherever the Latnet office is. We will just have to pay by the minute which I guess can be expensive.

Worked a little more this morning on language. After the girls left I bundled up and went to the post office and several stores to practice what I had been learning. Right now I can say “Hi, my name is Paula. I am learning the Latvian language. I will live in Tilza for two months and I want to meet all the people.” On the way to the post office I asked two young boys where it (the post office) was and one gave me some instructions which I didn’t really understand but I did recognize something about ‘cars in front’ so I thanked him and went along. I actually knew where it was but wanted to talk to someone. It was cold and snowy again so not many people out on the street.

I was able to use part of my “spiel” at the post office (where four ladies were present). I started with my name and that I would be in Tilza for two months. The first lady said she knew that and did I want my mail at the church. I said no, I am living on Brivibas Street # 46. She said something like “OK”. Then I said my bit about wanting to meet everybody and they each responded by giving me their names. It was such a fun and friendly conversation. And I did buy two stamps. Had a few other conversations on the way home.

After lunch at home I went to Katie’s to see if I could help her with dinner for the crowd in the evening. We didn’t know exactly how many to prepare for. I really was feeling poorly but knew that I needed to keep going. Inita came by and we spent some time talking and working for the dinner. When we started taking food over I met everyone. Sorry that I didn’t take my camera with me. After dinner I got some advice about how to take care of myself and Dan ended up bringing me home.

Aija’s friend, Mara (from Balvi), was here and I thought I recognized her. She was in my group during 2002 camp! She speaks English well and we caught up a bit. I was too tired to talk much.

Day 9 (Sunday, January 21, 2007)

Slept well last night. I was thinking that I would just stay home and rest today. But once I got up I realized that I felt quite well – except that it seems I have a cold.

Aija, Liga, and Mara went on to church earlier than me. It took some time for the church to be prepared for service. The building was warm thanks to Calle’s work this past week – and late last night – in getting the wires redone. Not sure what all that entails but I am really grateful for his abilities and willingness to help. Praise the Lord for gifted people.

The Catholic church is 'on my way' when I'm walking to Tilza Baptist Church

By the time everyone was there we had 27 adults and 5 children. We were about half and half English and Latvian speaking – with some who could do both. The worship was good, and we sensed a blessing from all being together.

After church we all went to the Yellow House for lunch. Only two of the girls left and one other young guy came over. So, we served about 30 including children! What a good time we had. Earlier we had thought Sunday School would have to be cancelled because the kids from the Boarding School couldn’t come, but at the last minute it was on again. So, while that was taking place, the Christmas Valley guys helped me do the dishes then they went for a walk, the Scottish folks went to observe Sunday School, Kaspars took care of his kids, Katie and I talked with Melanija, Biruta and Pavils who were waiting for a ride back to Balvi. When Sunday School was over Kaspars took the Balvi people home. Dave took his friends to Riga to catch the plane. The girls had gone home after teaching Sunday School. After Dan arrived home from preaching in Madona he brought me back to my house. Then I went over to Maija’s. David Baker and 3 Christmas Valleu guys were there. When they left, I stayed briefly to finish my tea with Maija and Jolanta. Maija said she hadn’t been feeling well for the last three days. Inita had come over to our place so we visited awhile. She is going back to Riga in the morning.

First Week in Tilza

Arrived in Tilza on Saturday, January 12th at a little after 4:00p.m. – while it was still light. Kaspars, the Tilza Baptist pastor who came to get me, said we would not be stopping at my place (which we drove right past), because Liene, his wife, was fixing dinner for all of us - Kaspars, Liene, their two boys Davids and Daniels, Aija Fedodova (one of my roommates), Calle from Sweden, David Kingdon, from Scotland (both of whom do a lot of work around here), and me. Had a typical meal of potatoes with gravy, meat balls, sausages, and salad with drinks – juice and tea.
Kaspars Donis - Pastor

My roommates: Liga is on the left and Aija on the right.

Dan and Katie Roth are in England for a bit of a holiday – until Tuesday.

At about 6:00 Kaspars and David went to fetch a bed for me while Aija got some linens. We then came here to the house where Aija and my othter roommate, Liga Avotina have been living. I had already heard the story that there was a fire here in the kitchen due to a poster coming off the wall and hitting a candle. But things have been painted since then and it’s not obvious. Aija and Liga are now sharing a room and I have the other bedroom. There is one chest of drawers (white) and several white shelves. A very sheer curtain is over the window – but it does need a real one. There is no closet, lamp or desk as yet. So there are a few things we need to get tomorrow or in the near future.

Probably the most troublesome thing is that there is a cat living here. “Simba” is her name and she is young and quite frisky. But I don’t like cats in the house – getting on and into everything. Not sure how we will work this out. Can keep my door shut so she can’t come in but that also means that it will get cold in here at night.

Day 2
Fell out of bed some time in the night. It seems that this is a rather narrow bed and when I turned over I found myself on the floor. This morning I moved the bed against the wall to keep it from happening again! Woke up early and made a cup of tea but went back to bed as there was nothing really to do (it’s dark until about 8:00). Listened to my music all night – 9 hours worth. Not sure why I did that but it was rather comforting, somehow. Spent some time reading the Word. At about 9:00 Aija fixed breakfast – scrambled eggs with some kind of sausage and onions. I added a little cheese which I brought from Riga. At about 9:25 we headed for church. Church was at 10:00. David led us in singing – I knew the songs’ melodies but few of the Latvian words. What surprised me was that I did sense the Spirit touch my spirit. We used Psalm 40 to pray through and pray about. Kaspars led us in a devotional on Acts the first part of chapter 9 – through verse 21.

It began to snow while we were eating lunch. Aija started soup for dinner. I finished cutting potatoes and carrots and cleaned up and put a little more wood on the fire, while Aija headed to church for Sunday School which starts at 2:00. About 2:15 I headed over and was wondering if anyone would be there because it was still snowing and rather a cold walk. I was soaked by the time I got there. Liene has the younger class which had about 20 kids and I spent my time with them. These kids are all from the boarding school and it’s quite easy to see that they love to have the attention of anyone who smiles at them. It’s obvious that Liene really loves the teaching and helping these kids. Aija and David have the older class and there were about 7 or so in that group.

At 3:30 I went to Kaspars’ place to send an email to the church since at our place we won’t have any internet access for awhile. Talked with Kaspars for a bit. He was looking after the kids while Liene was doing Sunday School. I walked home about 4:30 and it was getting dark. The walk didn’t even seem as hard this time but it wasn’t raining or snowing.

Got home in time to put more wood on the fire – I will have to learn how to go get it. It’s out in a shed in the back. Aija started cooking the soup when she got home (and she brought me some blankets and a curtain which I put up with thumb tacks that I happened to find in my room) and I went to invite Maija and Jolanta for supper. I set the table and made sure we had a few things needed for guests. But I learned that we don’t have any napkins because they got burned in the fire. Aija didn’t particularly seem to think that we needed them. Our guests came over about 6:15 and we had a nice time conversing. After dinner we played cards. I lost every time. Really not quite sure how to play even yet.

Day 3 (Monday) January 15, 2007
We went to Rezekne, a small city about an hours’ drive from here. Liene needed to go there to take some tests for school, David had to pick up some equipment being repaired, I needed to go to the bank and Aija needed to do some shopping. We picked up Liga, my other roommate there. She came by train from Riga.

When we got home Liga immediately started cleaning up and cooking something for dinner. It really felt good to have her here and made things very pleasant. I went to the shop here to get an extension chord with three plug spots and a lamp. Didn’t have enough money (as I had only planned to buy the chord) so walked back home and went again. It still isn’t what I would call easy walking but certainly better than a week ago. We had dinner and a “house meeting”. We talked about cooking, cleaning, food buying, schedules, spiritual encouragement for one another, etc. I also mentioned that I would like to ask them lots of questions about Tilza, being Latvian, etc.- for them to be my Cultural Insiders.

They told me their schedules but I doubt if I have it all down. They are busy with ministry a lot already. Most of the day on Tuesdays and Wednesdays are taken up with planning for, preparing and carrying out the Youth Program. Both girls teach other classes and help with Dan & Katie’s family or ministry needs. The women will all get together to pray on Thursday evenings at 6:00. Saturday is typically free I think and Sunday is church, Sunday School and sometimes going to the Balvi worship service.

Things I learned today:
* Time is a different entity here. It doesn’t exactly have the same meaning to me when I have no real control over my schedule, can’t drive myself anywhere, etc.
* Vehicles are so important but not in the way they are at home. You need one that can take a lot of abuse (holes in road, dirt, ice, rocks hitting the windshield), and can keep going even if it isn’t in perfect condition.
* Weather doesn’t stop people from doing things. You go anyway, people walking along the road, etc.
* That one always needs to plan for not having a WC (toilet) very handy.
* Take my flashlight at all times.
* Always save bags, ties, and other such things because you never know when you might need them

Day 4 (January 16, 2007) Tuesday
Woke up at 4:00 and restarted the fire. Went back to bed and slept till about 7:30. Aija fixed “porrage” called Mana for breakfast. It was good and I’m sure I’ll fix it for myself sometimes, too.

Liga told me yesterday that she is 25 and Aija is 20. I can really see maturity in Liga and I am really enjoying them both. Aija has quite a reputation for being a very good cook. We have prayed together before meals and in the evenings which has been good – even if I don’t know what they are saying.

We met up with Kaspars and David for the Youth Program Planning meeting which went until a little after 12:00. We started with a bit of a devotional from Micah, what does the Lord require of us – to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with Thy God. Good discussion.

Had some pretty good interaction around the subject for tomorrow’s Youth group. Think it should be good. Spent the next couple of hours at Dan and Katie’s trying to get my email to work or at least get on the squirrel mail and couldn’t. Maybe they can help me tomorrow when they come home.

When I got home Liga was working on a part of the activities for tomorrow night.
I got some more wood then fixed (heated up) dinner – which was leftovers. Afterwards we talked about them being language helpers for me. Not sure either of them has a chunk of time to really do it justice but I may do a shorter version of the LAMP stuff. Read the first chapter and the activities for Day 1 and got some thoughts on cards tonight. Will see what they can help me with tomorrow. They say they don’t want to be paid. Maybe we can come up with a creative plan.

Washed a load of clothes tonight. They had warned me of putting colors with whites but I did it anyway thinking that none of my stuff would fade and, of course, the white things came out pink. Now things are hanging everywhere to dry. Guess we don’t need a dryer:).


Day 5 – Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Worked a bit on what I really want to learn for my first sentences then Liga wrote out the first ones. I also got lots of words for things in the kitchen and plan to put the names on each thing with a 3x5 card.

Liga and I left about 10:30 to go over to Dan & Katie’s. Was able to catch up a little then Aija, Liga and I went to the school to invite kids for Youth Group in the evening. We put up a poster and we also talked to a few kids. I saw Natalie, Madara, Ginta, Ieva, and Laine (youngest of Lolita’s girls).

Three of the boys from Youth meeting

Madara and Ginta
Had lunch with the Roth household – which today consisted of their 5, Aija, Calle and me. I tried again to get to my email on the web and couldn’t – can’t seem to get Calvin’s webpage either. About 3:00 went over to the Yellow House to help get it ready for the evening. The first kids started coming about 3:30 – mostly boys for the first hour. The meeting actually starts at 5:00. By 4:30 about 15 kids were there. During the meeting (5:00-6:30) we probably had close to 30 – though some came and went. I tried to take pictures of everyone and will try to get names to go with all of them.

Ieva

Playing a game of "Electricity"

The meeting went well with lots of fun activities to catch their attention and to illustrate the subject (importance of the Bible). Aija, Liga, and Dave each led some of these things. Kaspars did a good job of teaching the lesson. As Aija said, it was a bit hard to teach or lead activities with so many but I would say having a lot of kids added some excitement. Tea and cookies were available on each table grouping as we started. Dan translated for Dave and me. There was free time from 6:30 until about 7:15 when we had dinner for anyone who was there and which Aija, Liga, and some of the girls helped fix. Some participated in table games after dinner which was fun to watch. They mostly played cards. Others then played games in the game room.
An illustration for Bible Study!!

New Adventure in Riga

January 12, 2006

Last night, as I was chewing, one of my gold crowns came off. I immediately e-mailed a few people at home and asked them to pray for getting it fixed quickly and with little trouble.

This morning Vineta called her dentist’s office and they said I could come in at 10:30. This dentist was only about three blocks away and up two flights of stairs! She was able to re-attach the gold, commenting that I probably should have my dentist look at it when I get back to Corvallis. Vineta translated, of course. We were finished in one half hour and back to our plans for the rest of the day! I praise the Lord for His provision. Cost? Seven Lats (almost $13.00) So far, it feels just fine, and just like nothing had happened.

My dentist in Riga and me

From Latvia!

January 11, 2007

I made it to Riga on a fairly short flight (hour and a half) from Dusseldorf, Germany on Monday (Jan 8). After getting my bags I took a taxi to the Partners Office where I was greeted by Vineta, Lienite, Estere, and Maris. They took me to lunch (at an Italian place) and we spent the rest of the afternoon catching up and talking about details of my plans to live here. Without the Partners Office none of this would be possible. I am very grateful that they have been so kind and helpful.

Since then Vineta and Lienite are working on the process of getting a Permanent Resident Permit for me. It is somewhat complicated but we are also receiving lots of help from the Baptist Union. I walked to that office yesterday and got lost by several blocks – turned the wrong way (and was going to say that I am none worse for wear but that’s not the truth). I never walked anywhere in Corvallis, now we go most places by walking and even if we take a bus we have to walk “just a little ways” to get there. That means lots further than I’m used to and my feet are telling me that they want a rest. I know it’s good for me so I keep going – even if it’s a lot slower than everyone else would go.

Partners office staff L-R Vineta, Lienite, Estere


Most of the nights I am staying in the Partners office – equipped with beds, shower, kitchen, and all things necessary. Stayed last night, however, with Kristine Andrupe who is living in Riga and finishing her dental school training. She will graduate this June and plans to stay in Riga. She is from Tilza and we have known each other since I started coming here in 1999.

I will be going out to Tilza on Saturday. Pastor Kaspars is making a trip to Riga for some church business and will pick me up. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone there.

Please continue to pray for my ability to learn Latvian. I have begun to try as I go out each day but not everything has come back that I thought I knew before.

Paula

P.S. There are lots of contrasts on the streets of Riga. I walked along the street close to where I’m staying and found these sights.