Every tongue and tribe will praise Him

We are sitting in our apartment listening to the rain beat down on the window.  I have to admit it is rather cozy feeling and the perfect back drop for a Sunday afternoon nap.  Our day is almost over here so we have already been to Worship service.  I was thinking of how the bible talks about every tongue and tribe will praise Him.  Listening to the worship in other languages and knowing God is being worshiped is an awesome experience.   Our friends here speak 3 or 4 languages each, and fluently I might add.   We have trouble with the one we speak.  LOL

Today we ministered at the Salvation Russian Church in Jelgava.
The Church is an old time Pentecostal Church and very traditional in one sense. Many of the women wear head coverings and no makeup.  The younger women have not adopted this custom though.  The service started with a few traditional hymns led by an older sister, followed by a brother who shared a scripture from Romans 15:3 and then expounded on it for about 15 minutes.

This was followed by the choir  and worship team singing

The harmony was incredible and we were able to truly enter into worship.

They had chosen several songs we knew. King of Kings, and then Sing Hallelujah, that always helps.

Then they prayed for the children.  

Then PW preached from Mark 6:45-52 about Jesus in the storms of life and how he gets in the boat with us.

After the offering then Danny got up and preached and confirmed the things that PW had preached.
So that made 3 sermons in one service. How many of us would sit through that and actually listen and enjoy without looking at your watch?  This is normal here.  The people are hungry for the truth of Gods word.  You should hear them pray.  Oh my, it is beautiful as they all pray at the same time crying out to God for whatever is on their hearts.  The Church was almost full for the pre service prayer time.

The culture of this Church is similar to the Czechs, while you preach they show no emotion or response and one would think the message is falling on deaf ears.  Until the invitation at the end when you can see the fruit of your preaching as they come down the aisles for prayer and repentance. Many were crying and we had the privilege of praying with them.

After service we were blessed to eat a delicious mean prepared by one of the ladies of the Church.
It has been a good day all in all.

Here are some of the houses that the communists built which now surround the Church.

Tomorrow we begin week 2 of our teaching. Please pray for us to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and to have his anointing as we teach. Pray for the students hearts to be open and for the conviction of the Holy Spirit in their lives.  We have already had some testimonies from some about how as we taught the Lord was pinpointing things in their lives that needed to change.  All glory and honor to Him who is the Wonderful Counselor.

Pray also for our moms and family. The final days of our trips are always the longest to them.

Much love,
PW and Sherry

Day of Rest - Saturday

Wow today was a much needed day of rest.  We slept until almost 10 , had a lazy breakfast with fresh fruit salad and toast, listened to music, worshiped, and had time with God then cleaned our little apt. and did laundry, had dinner with two of the students and now are getting ready for worship tomorrow.  I love days like this once in awhile.  And it snowed.  Yes snowed.  Not much but when you click on the picture below you can see the pellets on the ground and falling from the sky. It made is so much easier to stay indoors.

If double click and you will be able to see the snow

A pretty spring sky. The sun was shining for part of the day.

PW is preaching at the Russian Church tomorrow so please pray for him tonight as you go to sleep. We are asking God to anoint his message and to touch hearts producing change.  Also pray for Pastor Bill as he fills the pulpit at CCF tomorrow.   

Thank you for praying for us. 

Much love, 

PW and Sherry

Friday

Fridays are always bitter sweet for us at the BSM since usually we are leaving to go home. But this year we are excited to stay one more week to train the students in Biblical Counseling.  Today we finished up with the teachings and then spent an hour doing a role play where the students counseled Sherry. It is always fun to see what they come up with when asking questions. There were quite a few who we could tell have a real gifting in this area and we pray they will pursue more training.

After classes we had some appts. with students who wanted to talk and then we walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner.

I took a few pictures today of some of the students to share with you.

Auce and Vilnis - Married last year

Pastor Allans and Elizabete - Getting married in May

Selfies are popular everywhere

This is a Brother from Norway, who is in Latvia ministering to the gypsy people.  

With a Latvian translator, in the same room at the same time his message was being translated into Russian and English.  It is an interesting experience to hear all these languages at the same time. 

This is faith in action.  Our sweet Veronika is from Estonia and this brother is in charge of getting her wheel chair up and down 3 flights of stairs each day. Can you imagine being in the chair?  She has the sweetest personality and is always smiling and full of joy in spite of her handicap.  She is going to be working with orphanages in the future and hopes to foster a few children.  Meanwhile she is a tailor and sews wedding dresses for a living out of her apt.  

Tomorrow for the most part will be a day of rest so we hope to sleep in and then study. The only scheduled thing we have is an appt at 5. 

Thank you so much for our continued prayers. Pray specifically for us this week that the teaching will be anointed and that the homework assignments will equip and help the students practise what they are learning.  

Much love, 

PW and Sherry

Healed

HEALED, all glory to God. 

Thursday - Let us rejoice together

God is faithful and true. Our provider, savior, comfort, and healer.   He is never late, always on time and His ways are beyond our comprehension.  So come, let us rejoice together.

Need I say more?

Much love, 

PW and Sherry

Wednesday

Today started off much better than yesterday. I asked the Lord to wake me by 6:30 if I was rested enough and so He woke me up but it was 6:10.  That gave me and extra hour to prepare for our first class at 8:15.  Did I mention I am not a morning person?  So 3 cups of coffee and a wonderful time with the Lord and I was good to go.  I had the first class and then PW taught the rest of the day so I could meet with a young woman from our class last year. It is always good to catch up and hear all the Lord is doing in the lives of those you have taught.

Sometimes you just have to give a visual of what you are trying to say to make a point.  LOL. Can you guess what I am doing?

After our first two morning classes we had the joy of going to chapel and hearing a group of students from Sweden. The blessings was they sang and spoke in English so we were able to participate better than with a translator.  

Here is one of the Swedish students preaching with Klaus translating.  

The weather here has been very similar to that of home in that it is cold and rainy and rather gloomy.  It is a good excuse to stay indoors. We are hoping for a few sunny warm days before we leave for home which would be wonderful so we could go out and walk.

Please continue to pray for PW. His back continues to cramp up and give him trouble, but God's grace is sufficient.

Our moms are doing well and we want to thank those of you who are reaching out to them and keeping them busy until we get home. It does make the time go faster for them and gives us a sense of peace knowing they are enjoying themselves.

We both sensed an impartation of life to the students today. We are so thankful for all of your prayers on their behalf and ours.  God is hearing and answering.

We are very excited to see what God will do tomorrow.

Much love,
PW and Sherry

Tuesday

What were they thinking scheduling a class at 8:15 in the morning? Didn't they know that I am NOT a morning person?  Didn't they know I NEED my coffee and quiet for at least an hour before I interact with people?  Didn't they know that I CAN'T think before 10?  Well the answer to all of the above is NO they did not know and probably did not care. LOL

The one I have learned on the mission field is that Gods grace is sufficient and He makes a way. So we stepped out in faith this morning and trusted God to do what He does best, speak to His children, even crabby ones like Sherry.

We started at 8:25 and ended at 5 today.  After class we walked to the store a few blocks from her to pick up our dinner and met two of our students so spent a few minutes talking with them. Tomorrow we do not have as many sessions since two days a week local teachers come to teach on going classes,  but we do start at 8:15 again.  Please pray for me, Sherry, that I will be awake enough to communicate the subject.  We will deal with Getting to the heart tomorrow. It is a powerful teaching that PW does.  

Would you also pray that Sherry will have just the right role plays for Fridays classes.  They are fun and we like them to be practical so that the students are able to practice what they have learned.

Here are some pictures from today.  

 This is Mauro and Yulia Martinez.  Mauro is the School administrator and his wife is a translator.

 You can see Sherry is not quite awake.  But at least you can see she is here in Latvia with PW.

 Wayne teaching.  The wall came in handy as a resting spot when his back would get tired. 

Students enjoying a game of Uno after dinner.  

Much love to you all, 

PW and Sherry

Monday

We arrived at the school today around 11:15 in time for our first class at 11:30. We always love the first day since we get to meet the students we have prayed for all year. We were not disappointed in the least.  We have 29 students most under 28 years old.     Today was a short day since we only had 3 classes but that was a blessings since we had to get settled into our apt. and do some grocery shopping. One sure does not want to be hungry while working.  LOL

Here are  a few pictures from today.

 Wayne teaching with a former student named Klaus translating

 Part of the class

 The other part of the class

If you have ever been to a Eastern European country you understand this sign perfectly.

Sorry but a picture is worth a thousand words.  LOL

PW's back is still sore but better than yesterday and so we are praising God for that.  Please continue to pray. Having done all we stand and wait for God to finish the healing work. 

Tomorrow our day starts early. Our first class is at 8:45.  I will find an excuse to not be there that early, but PW will teach anyway so that is fine.  Actually I will be working on next weeks role play counseling assignments.  This is always fun since we get to see how much they learned by actually putting them in a counselor role to see how they do.  Pray for us to use the right role plays for this particular class.

We have already scheduled several appts. this week with students from last years class. It is always a blessing to reconnect with those we spent time disciplining.  Please pray for these times to be filled with life and hope. 

I promise you that I am here and will post some pictures to prove it tomorrow.  At least that is if I can get PW to take a few.  

We still have a bit of jet lag so are off to bed early.  Hopefully the posts will be more inspired as the week progresses. 

Jen, only 13 days left.  

Much love, 

PW and Sherry

Sunday

Well today was our last day of rest and tomorrow we start working.   Below is the view from our window. As you can see there is not much to see.

We did attend service this morning at Gateway in South lake Texas and then again at CCF via Facebook Messenger. It was fun to see our peeps and watch them worship. The sound connection was weak so the music and the sermon kept going in and out but we stayed the course and felt like we were at home.   PB we will listen to the sermon online later on.  

When service was over the prayer team met in PW's office and called us and prayed for PW's back.  There are no words to describe how much this ministered to us both.  It is wonderful to be covered in prayer by folks who believe God heals and who will stand in the gap for us while we are gone.  We love our Church family so much and miss them. 

We did venture out in the mist for dinner.  Can you guess who chose the place we ate tonight?  

This Pizza is called a diablo and has kick to it. The olives had the seeds in them. Found out the hard way. LOL

 Even in a beautiful city like Riga you will find graffiti on some of these old wood buildings.  

 This building was on the way to our dinner and we found it interesting. 

 Same building with a Buddha like idol on the top of the door. 

And then on the same building was a masons symbol. I guess they could not decide who was going to use the building. 

I was so proud of PW, he walked 12 flights of stairs each day. You can see how short the steps risers are which makes you work a bit harder.  Talk about an aerobic workout. There was an elevator but we needed the exercise more.  

We will be picked up by our driver tomorrow at 10 to go to the Baltic School of ministry where we will be ministering for the next 14 days.  We will have 3 hours of teaching tomorrow and then start on Tuesday at 8:45 til 5.  Please keep us in prayer.  We are asking for life to be given not just facts.  It would be a total waste of time if all we did was give them more stuff to fill their heads.  Our hearts desire is that the Holy Spirit will pinpoint areas in their lives where they need to experience freedom and that He will speak to them in special ways.  Life life and more life.  

Much love to you all,

PW and Sherry

A lazy day

Today has been a lazy day.  Between the jet lag and PW being in pain and the rain, we have stayed indoors and napped and studied and generally just allowed our bodies to refresh so we are ready to teach on Monday.    Exciting huh?

We did have one special thing happen though, we went down to dinner in the Hotel restaurant and sat at a two seater table and a few minutes later another couple were seated not even 1 foot from our table.  After they overheard us talking for a few minutes the man said "excuse me, I could not help but hear that you speak English" and then we proceeded to get to know each other sharing our stories and what we do for livings etc.   Dave and Jane are from England and were here for a holiday for 3 days and wanted to tell us all about Riga which then led to other places they have visited and talking about Jane and her stroke and the problem with Socialized medicine etc etc etc.  They were delightful.  Felt like old friends. We solved all the problems in our respective countries, wished each other a good trip home and said good bye.  That is one of the joys we have when we travel, meeting folks from around the world and finding common ground.  Please pray for them since they do not know the Lord but seeds were planted.

Tomorrow we will worship via the internet and spend the day in study since Monday our intensive schedule begins. We will post the specific teaching schedule when we get it.  

Praying for all of you as you gather to worship tomorrow.  Go with expectant hearts and watch what God will do in your lives.  HIs Spirit is doing marvelous things in this day and age and we long for each of you to experience the fullness of all He has for you.

Please continue to pray for PW's healing.

Grace and Peace and Much love,
PW and Sherry

On the Ground in Latvia

We had a special blessing at the airport in Chicago. We had been given two free passes to a United Club lounge.  So our 3 hour layover was spent sitting in the lap of luxury. They not only had these comfy leather chairs, but showers, free beverages and food, free wi-fi, nice relaxing music and quiet.  The view was amazing since it was surrounded by windows and you could watch the planes.  We stepped into our plane refreshed and ready to go. 

The second blessing the Lord gave us was on the plane.   The plane was half empty so in our section there were rows of empty seats and the attendants told everyone to grab a row so we could stretch out and sleep for a few hours.  What a difference that made.  Our jet lag is not nearly as bad as usual as a result. 

The third blessing was during my quiet time yesterday morning, I had been reading from Psalm 29: 3-4 which says that the voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord is over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful, the voice of the Lord is majestic.  The part that jumped out at me was the voice of the Lord upon the waters.  I sensed that He was going to speak to me during our flight and as we flew over the ocean He did just that.  I am filled with wonder at His grace to us and how He always speaks to us when we are seeking Him. As a result I am excited about the upcoming 2 weeks.   

Last week a friend said that her intercessor group had been praying for our trip and sensed that the Lord wanted PW to announce the Kingdom of God had come when we set foot on the ground.  We did this in faith and today at breakfast our friends said the teachers at the school this week are teaching on the Kingdom of God. Coincidence?  I don't think so. 

This is the Riga PK hotel where are spending a few days getting over our jet lag. We stay here each year because we know it is clean, the breakfast buffet comes with the room and the neighborhood is safe and it is quiet.  

This morning we were trying to operate the new coffee maker.  In years past they provided electric tea kettles and instant coffee  however, this year they have upgraded to the Latvian version of a Keurig.  The only problem is that it looks and works differently and there are no directions.  We are just tired enough that everything is funny so as we both took turns trying to shove the thing in the slot we laughed hysterically.  It was a comedy worthy of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo.   We never did figure it out.  LOL  One would think that the little pod would fit in the slot on the top, NOT.  

So tonight on our way out for dinner we decided to ask at the desk.  The handsome "young" man looked at us and smiled a very smirky smile and said, you have to open the pod and there is a little package inside that has the coffee that you drop in the hole on the top.   Needless to say we felt rather old, but it was a good laugh to say the least.   We came back and actually got it to work .  Small miracles from heaven. LOL

We ate dinner at a restaurant named Double Coffee.  The food is consistently good and the atmosphere is nice.  We tried pasta dishes tonight.  Wayne had the lasagna which was excellent and I have no idea what mine was but it was tasty.  

PW has been battling pain once again from his back.  Last Sunday when our Church prayed for him the pain totally left and stayed gone until we hit the ground here yesterday afternoon.  Poor guy was so miserable. We called on our intercessors to fight for his healing once again.  This afternoon it is thankfully feeling a bit better and we will continue to pray and trust God for total relief.  

There has been some heavy warfare with this trip so we are anxious to see what God has planned.  

We met our friends Danny and Damaris for breakfast today and talked about the upcoming 2 weeks. Beside our teaching at the school, PW will be ministering in the local Russian Church two times.  One Wed. night and then on Sunday morning.    

We will begin our teaching on Monday morning and will use tomorrow and Sunday to finalize our preparation. Please pray for us to impart life not just facts. Our hearts long to see lives changed as a result of our being here.  We are doing two weeks this year instead of our usual one week so will be able to cover additional topics that hopefully will equip them in helping others.  We will add a session on overcoming self - harm like cutting, burning etc. and one on overcoming addictions.  

And last but not least I just wanted to share how blessed we are that so many have stepped up to offer to keep our moms company while we are gone.  The house will be filled with friends and family every day and we are praying that it will make the time speed by for them and for us as well. It is such a blessing to be apart of a wonderful Church family who care for one another.  Thanks to our Associate Pastor and his wife Edie, we are able to leave and not worry about the Church. 

Please pray for healing for PW, Anointing on our teachings, Lives to be changed, and health and safety for our mothers and our family and for the Church.  

Much Love, 

PW and Sherry

If the Lord wills

We have learned to say that before making any plans.  So If the Lord wills, next week this time we will be in Riga Latvia getting ready to begin 2 weeks of ministry at the Baltic School of  Ministry.

The warfare the past month has been intense, but we are learning to walk by Faith not by sight.  When we are weak He is strong.  HIS STRENGTH is made perfect in our weakness.  

There have been challenges with our health,  and many who are in deep pain and asking for help.  All of these have been allowed by our Father to train us and prepare us for the upcoming ministry. We are excited to see what He is going to do.

Please pray specifically for safety for us as we travel to Europe.  With all that is going on in the world, this is a very real concern. If we did not know that God was sending us, we most likely would not go.  Also please pray for us to minster life to the students. When teaching our topic, biblical counseling, it would be easy to just give facts and how to's.  Last year there was a real sense that God was speaking to hearts and the responses proved it. So we ask once again for God to impart life through us to the students.  And of course pray for our moms to stay healthy and that the time would go quickly for them.  Add our Daughter and her family and our Church family to the prayers also.

We are looking forward to seeing our friends and catching up with them.  God has been so gracious to us to allow us to experience a global lifestyle and to learn from people all over the world. This is our Fathers world for sure.

We will post daily once we arrive on the ground.

Grace and Peace,
PW and Sherry

Countdown begins

 I love when the ball gets ready to drop on News Years eve and the count down begins. The tension mounts, expectation is in the air because all are wondering what the New Year will hold.

Well that is how we feel as we get closer to our next mission trip to Latvia.  We have had the privilege of going to Latvia and ministering at the Baltic School of Ministry every April since 2010. We teach a course written by our friend Joe Propri called Basics of Biblical Counseling. This year we are going to do the second course so will be staying for a second week. We are also going to be doing a seminar with the local Pastors and leaders on the Saturday between the two weeks. To say we are excited is an understatement.  The students each year are different, but the sense of destiny is always in the air.  Over the years we have developed friendships with the staff and many of the students and we follow them on FB and rejoice when they get married or go on to another school or ministry position.  We are so honored to be apart of their discipleship, for all we know we are speaking into the life of the next Billy Graham.

So please pray for us if we cross your mind as we prepare our hearts and minds for this upcoming trip.  Both of our moms are in their 90's so that is always a concern when we go, but go we must since  the Father is sending us.  We trust Him and know that His plans are perfect.

God bless you all,
Sherry

IT REALLY WORKED

That was what the lady said Sunday morning before service as she ran up to me at Changepoint Church in Poughkeepsie, New York where we had conducted a seminar.

She and her husband had attended our Marriage Toolbox Seminar Friday night and Saturday.  We had been teaching on Communication tools and ways to Resolve Conflict.  She shared that when they got home on Saturday they had a huge argument and were slinging the "well I can see you got a lot out of the seminar" statements when all of a sudden they stopped and thought we need to try the techniques and see if they work.  Surprise - it really worked. She said they were able to resolve an issue that they had not talked about for the past 25 years because it was such a sore spot.   Praise God is all we have to say. He is so faithful.

All in all the seminar was a huge success. The comments afterward were encouraging and we could tell that people had taken to heart the truths taught and that it was going to make a change for them.

Sadly we had to leave and rush home because Sherry's 91 yr old mothers youngest sister who lived in California, had died and poor mom was heartbroken and quite distraught as you can imagine. We were just thankful that we were so close to home and not in Europe.  Our daughter stayed with her until we arrived home around 11:30 p.m.  So please keep Sherry's mom, Dorothy,  in prayer as she grieves.

This is the kind of thing that everyone who travels for ministry dreads.  But isn't that like life?  We never know what a day will hold. In James  3:13-15  it says "Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit. Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or that.

So dear brothers and sisters, live today like it is your last, make a difference by being faithful to God and preach the gospel to everyone who will listen.

Here are some pictures of our seminar.  Much love, PW and Sherry

One of the brothers leading us in anointed worship

One half of the room

  

Wayne teaching on the tool of understanding the purpose of marriage

The other half of the room. :>)))