More Snow...

Hello Everyone,

Well... we have officially survived our first real winter storm in Latvia! For about 12 hours, Sunday afternoon to Monday morning, there was heavy blowing snow with near white out conditions. Here are a couple of shots of the door leading to our balcony.




The snow was very thick and there were a lot of drifts that were a few feet deep. When we got up looking out the window the roads looked pretty bad. However, Riga is a city that is used to winter and snow. The city recovered quickly and everything was running smoothly, if slowly, by mid-morning. My tram ride to BPI was a little longer than usual when a tanker truck tried to make turn onto a small road and got stuck straddling the tram track.

On an up note, I got some new Nike's. Just so you understand I am also attaching another picture. And for those friends who are in warmer climes I thought you might enjoy the line up of our new standard footwear.



One final note regarding our "little man" Nate. In celebration of Latvian Independence Day Nate's preschool had a concert. We were told that the required dress was "concert black apparel". After several attempts at understanding European sizes we finally found, I hope you will agree, just the right outfit. Here is a picture of Nate on the morning of the concert.



I hope this finds that all is well with you! Thanks for your prayers and encouragement!

Paul, Kathy & Nate

Snow, Snow, Snow

Yes everyone - we have snow! Last night into this morning we had our first snow. When we woke up Nate was so excited to see the blanket of white on everything. All he wanted to do was go play in it. On the way to school he said (several times), "We've never had snow like this!" or "This is a really snowy day!" This afternoon after school he got his chance and had a good time playing in the snow in the woods.

We spent the weekend in Tallinn, Estonia. Some of the BPI students had met some leadership from Estonian churches at a conference in the Czech Republic. Those leaders arranged for all of our students to be invited and hosted for the Willow Creek Association Global Leadership Conference in Tallinn. The Estonian churches paid all of our conference fees, provided lodging for the students and covered the lunch meal that was not part of the conference. It was a great conference and they even took up a special offering to assist Latvian churches to have a Leadership Conference in Latvia.

I would ask you to pray especially for Latvia this week. Yesterday Latvia celebrated the 90th anniversary of becoming an independent nation. Apparently Old Riga and the surrounding area were packed with people. As the snow fell there was a huge fireworks show. I would ask you to pray that a wave of true freedom, freedom from sin and freedom of eternal life, would sweep through this nation. Only in Jesus Christ will the Latvians find peace and fulfillment.

Seeking to serve,

Paul, Kathy & Nate

Treats or Jokes

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to write today about imported holidays here, one in particular. As we moved through October we noticed in Rimi, a sort of mini super Wal Mart store, where we do a lot of shopping, a few costumes, make-up and ceramic pumpkins. Of course we knew what this was about but not too many Latvians seemed to know, or for that matter be very interested.

On the night of the 31st we had just sat down to dinner went he doorbell began to ring frantically. I went to the door and was greeted by one of the children that I had seen around the complex dressed like a princess. She began to explain to me in Latvian why she was dressed that way. There were three other children in the hallway one of which was dressed like a bunny. Bunny was holding the one basket that they all seemed to be sharing. When I got that "I don't have the slightest idea what you are saying" look on my face, Bunny held up the basket and very seriously said, "Treats or jokes!" Then Princess said, "It's Halloween night!"

Fortunately Kathy had purchased a couple of packages of Skittles to do a project with Nate. I went to the cabinet, got the Skittles and when I went back to the door, dropped them into the basket. "Paldies!" Princess and Bunny said in unison. Since we are at the end of the hallway after my contribution they all ran toward the elevator.

As I returned to my dinner I wondered what I would see on the next imported holiday, "Valentine's Day"!

Hope the fall has been good as we celebrate the Lord's blessings.

Seeking to serve,

Paul, Kathy & Nate