LATVIA 2009 - Trip Across Eastern Europe DAY #5

Valdemarpils, Latvia
Friday, June 19, 2009
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Trip Across Eastern Europe DAY #5
Drove to the YWAM base in Valdemarpils from Juris and Kristene’s house in Jurmala this morning. It was about a two hour drive. Jurmala is on the west coast of Latvia and we drove northeast to get to the YWAM base, though it is not on the Baltic coast. When we arrived we were greeted by the friendly YWAM staff. They had lunch waiting for us which consisted of rice and rabbit (tasted really good actually…and all of us liked it).
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They were having a graduation ceremony at 7:00 pm for a couple of schools here at the base. We thought dinner was at 6:00 pm, and stayed in the dining room until about 6:45 pm, waiting as students and their families arrived, realizing we must have misunderstood what time dinner was. We really didn’t know anyone, and couldn’t communicate as we don’t speak Latvian (except a few words we’ve picked up). As we observed the tent where the ceremony was taking place couldn’t fit everyone who was there, so that there was standing room only, we didn’t want to take up the space with our family of five, and headed back to our room to make peanut butter sandwiches.
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After dinner, we felt really led to spend time worshipping, praying and listening to God together as a family, as our family devotions have been thrown off a bit on this trip. Wow! We spent a couple of hours just praying and worshipping. We spent time praying for the students who were graduating and for all of Latvia. God gave a few of us some Scripture passages. Then, as our family began to just wait on God and bask in His presence, some of us began to hear the voice of the Lord clearly, and began to see angels in the room with us. There were other visions seen as well. It was another one of those awesome times of worship together as a family. There are many things happening here in Latvia of tremendous importance, which we are blessed to be a part of, and we feel that this time was more confirmation of that. This Tuesday through Wednesday (all night long Tuesday night) we will all be a part of a prophetic worship event out in the woods that is a very grassroots event. A guy named Valdis, who is sort of the father of Latvian Christian music, has had the vision for this event. It will be taking place on summer solstice, which is a completely pagan holiday here, where partying and all kinds of wickedness happens in this country (and in other countries I think). There is only about an hour of darkness this far north on that night, and we believe that there is a shift taking place in the heavenlies. Many other churches in Latvia are having prayer meetings on that night as well. I will be leading worship in English along with other Latvian worship leaders that night. We would love for you to pray with us around this event.
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Christian Young

LATVIA 2009 - Trip Across Eastern Europe DAY #4

Liepaja, Latvia
Thursday, June 18, 2009
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Trip Across Eastern Europe DAY #4
Once again we woke up to sunny and not particularly warm weather, but it was a beautiful day to head to the next destination of our Latvia trip. The city of Liepaja is on the west coast of Latvia, a beachside city with a thriving arts and music community. After a lovely three hour drive from Jurmala we arrived in Liepaja. We were met by Juris and Kristine, YWAM staff who had invited us to come and stay in their home for the night. It was wonderful to get to know their family, the city, and more about YWAM ministry in Latvia. To say that Juris and Kristine are talented artists would be an understatement. Art simply flows out of them and touches every aspect of their lives. Their home is in a 100 year old building that was more or less a ruin when they purchased it. After 7 years of hard work and creativity they have transformed the space into a beautiful home that combines their artistic talents and still allows the charm of this old home to shine through. They run art camps for children in the city as well. The kids had a great time playing with their children, Kalis and Katrine. The girls were also very happy that they have a very friendly Chihuahua and cat.

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Upon our arrival they (I didn’t mention yet that Juris is also a very good cook) fed us a fabulous lunch of chicken and rice with curried vegetables. We then set off with them into the city to see the sights. We drove first to a beach, an interesting area with crumbling military buildings and old foundations for heavy machine guns slowly falling into the sea and being eaten by the waves of the Baltic. We passed blocks and blocks of old communist apartments which had been left empty shells because the Russians took even windows and heating units with them when the Soviets withdrew their forces. In the middle of this military compound we came upon an old Orthodox church, amazingly ornate, and looking completely out of place in its Spartan surroundings. Kristine told us that during communist times it was used as a cinema for the soldiers.

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Our next stop was down by the river where boats were docked. We saw everything from what looked like a small pirate ship to a big military ship, left over from a recent festival. We were extremely curious about the next destination because we had been told we would have to guess what the building had once been. We arrived at a long brick building, lined with large windows, but without any remaining roof. We had passed many buildings that had once been part of a military academy, but we couldn’t figure out what this building might have been used for. After a few unsuccessful guesses we were told that it had been a horse arena for the soldiers to practice their drills in during the winter. This building at one time had a glass roof and must have been very beautiful.
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We drove on to the city center and saw the charming heart of the city where the art and music side of Liepaja is apparent everywhere. We had a chance to relax over cappuccinos and smoothies at the rock café, a trendy place that features music and memorabilia from Latvian as well as international artists. From there we headed to the home of Simone and Guntis for tea and we got a chance to get to know yet another couple from YWAM. We had a pleasant evening with Juris and Kristine and their kids. Juris made us crepes for dinner, we had a time of worship together, and then they very kindly gave up their bedrooms for us when it came time for bed. In the morning, after Juris made us a delicious breakfast we went down the street to visit Katrine’s pottery class at the University of Liepaja. We were able to meet her classmates and watch them at work, sculpting masks, pots, and figurines. We said goodbye to their family for now (we will see them again on Tuesday) and headed off for the YWAM base in Valdermarpils.

LATVIA 2009 - Trip Across Eastern Europe DAY #3

Riga, Latvia
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
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Trip Across Eastern Europe DAY #3

We dropped the car off at the mechanic to have it checked out this morning. They said nothing was wrong and that water probably got splashed up underneath. Thank you, Jesus. We also had a chance after we got back from Riga to meet with an awesome guy named Viktor, who I will be working with this Saturday evening, leading worship at an inter-denominational gathering in Riga. We went over what the night usually looks like and talked about many other wonderful things of God. Man, God’s favor is really upon Viktor as he travels through Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and beyond as a missionary. God has blessed us so much in the people we have been able to meet and minister with.

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Christian Young

LATVIA 2009 - Trip Across Eastern Europe DAY #2

Jurmala, Latvia
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
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Trip Across Eastern Europe DAY #2
We slept in a little bit this morning. Then we got up, had breakfast, and took off to the grocery store where we withdrew some Latvian money and bought groceries for the week. After we got back and had some lunch, Cheryl took us to the beach which is just a short walk from her house. There we walked along the Baltic Coast, scanning the water’s edge for any amber that had washed up on shore. All we really found were some pretty-colored sea shells, which the girls had fun playing with. Then we headed up toward a walking path that is lined with many small shops. The kids got some ice cream while we got lattes. We found out how to so thank you in Latvian from the girl who made the coffee for us. Then we hung out on some steps, drinking our coffee and listened to two girls play instruments for money along the walking path. Came back and grilled up some chicken, ribs and sausages and hung out with another couple who are friends of Cheryl’s. We had a great day of relaxation and fellowship.
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Christian Young

LATVIA 2009 - Trip Across Eastern Europe DAY #1

Jurmala, Latvia
Monday, June 15, 2009
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Trip Across Eastern Europe DAY #1
Well, our car made it all the way to Cheryl’s house, although it is still making that new noise, not that diesel motors aren’t noisy enough. But we were so thankful to have made it without breaking down. Latvia is a Baltic language, like Lithuanian, so we continued to not be able to understand the signs, except that as we crossed into Latvia, we began to notice some things in English, which we at least mostly understand. =)

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As we were traveling through Latvia, we were texting Cheryl to let her know our ETA. She mentioned that we would need to stop and get some Latvian currency, especially a “one Lat coin” to pay the toll in order to drive into Jurmala. We couldn’t find one gas station on the main road to Jurmala, but were happy to see that where you actually pay the toll, there was a booth with an ATM machine, as well as a machine that made change. The problem is, the ATM machine didn’t work, so I couldn’t get the coin I needed to pay the toll. I finally got the guts to walk up to another car that was paying the toll. The poor lady didn’t speak any English, but was very nice, and gave me a “one Lat coin” (about $2.00 US) so that I could pay the toll. I gave her 10 Polish złotych (about $3.00 US) as a token of my thanks, which she probably won’t know what to do with. Oh well. We paid the toll and drive made it to Cheryl’s house by 10:00 pm. Jurmala is right on the Baltic Sea. The beach is actually only a ten or fifteen minute walk from Cheryl’s house, so we may attempt to go there tomorrow, after a good night sleep. In fact, I am exhausted and will write more tomorrow.
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Christian Young

LITHUANIA 2009 - Trip Across Eastern Europe DAY #1

Kaunas, Lithuania
Monday, June 15, 2009
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Trip Across Eastern Europe DAY #1
We finally made it to the Lithuanian border after a long journey through northeast Poland. Although there were guards at the border, we made it through without being stopped. The scenery changed once again. The one thing we noticed right away was the different language on signs. We have been able to learn some conversational Polish since we arrived in Poland, and feel that we can even read and understand signs in Polish. But Lithuanian is completely different than Polish. Polish is a Slavic language whereas Lithuanian is a Baltic language. So we had absolutely no idea what these signs said. We also noticed that people were driving much slower. Some of the architecture looked different, and even the traffic lights worked differently as we drove through towns. We did notice that our car began to start making a new noise, which was cause for concern. But we knew we wouldn’t be able to do anything about it there, as we wouldn’t be able to communicate with the people, and we were also hoping to make it to Cheryl’s place in Latvia before 10:00 pm. So we continued on, praying that our car would make it to Latvia, where we could have a mechanic take a look at it. We also prayed as a family for Lithuania as we drove through this country as we listened to worship music from our iPod. It actually didn’t take us long to make it through Lithuania to the Latvian border. Again, we are so thankful to have our GPS with maps of all of Europe.

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Christian Young

POLAND 2009 - Trip Across Eastern Europe DAY #1

Piotrków-Trybunalski, Poland
Monday, June 15, 2009
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Trip Across Eastern Europe DAY #1
The time has come for us to once again leave Poland, and specifically the Schengen Territory in order to have our passports stamped, enabling us to remain in Poland until we leave for Mozambique in September. We have been wanting to connect with a friend of ours from YWAM in Latvia, Cheryl Harrison, for quite a while. So things have sort of fallen into place, once again, for us to stay in Latvia for a week and a half, spending time together as a family, and doing some ministry as well.

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We ended up leaving a little later than we had hoped this morning. Then when we got to the main road that goes to Warsaw, traffic was stopped on it, as though a really bad accident had happened. Since we were already behind, we decided to trust our GPS and start navigating through side roads through forests to try to get ahead of the accident. Not a great idea after one full day of non-stop rain. Our little Audi is just not fit for the kind of roads we took it on. I am really surprised that we didn’t get stuck in the middle of nowhere. Anyway, after about an hour of nail-biting four-wheel driving in a European two-wheel drive station wagon, we made it past the accident and headed toward Warsaw.

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We have been to Warsaw a few times in the past, but never really traveled north of Warsaw. So as we journeyed out of Warsaw toward the Lithuanian border, we notices that the scenery changed a little from the part of Poland we have spent most of our time in. One thing we noticed in this area were women in very skimpy clothes waiting on the side of the road every so often. At first we thought it was just a coincidence, but then we realized that these were more than likely prostitutes. In such a Catholic country, we never thought that this sort of thing would be so out in the open. We prayed for these girls and for Poland as we continued on.

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Christian Young