Adventures in Art - the ArtExperiment

Maskava Forstate, the region of Riga, in which I live claims to be one of the roughest and most impoverished area in the city. I don’t believe that is the case, or maybe God has given me a glimpse of His heart, and what could be if people would see that they can be a part of the solution to this happening.

The last week in July, the dream to run a day camp for the children of this area came to fruition. With the help of several others, God opened the doors, gave us favour in the neighbourhood, provided a place to hold the camp, and threw in some amazing weather for good measure.

We had 13 children attend regularly, with upward of 25 when we took the camp to the local parks. They were from different backgrounds – Romani (gypsy), Latvian Latvians, and Russian Latvians…and me…they Yank!  A bit of a picture of the Kingdom, I reckon.

Indoors, outdoors, in the yard/garden area of my apartment building, in parks, in our little studio/classroom, we were everywhere. The use of story-telling, singing, and poetry served to inspire the imaginations of all of us, giving scope for our compositions. Some of the best stories came from the kids themselves. It was an amazing time!

Now…we are faced with what to do… This could open up to a full-time ministry in an instant. If we are honest, none of us feel called to work specifically with children. So, would you join with me in praying that God would bring a person (or small team) of people that would come to Riga to establish this facet of Impact Art to minister to children.

Until that time, the ‘Little Gallery’ will be open during school holidays.

Have a look at the photos in the previous post and see for yourself what we did. Also, the photo above is the poster advertising the ArtExperiment.

Photos from Adventures in Art - the ArtExperiment

Photos from Challenge Camp 2 - Teaching art to adults with physical disabilities

My World...of late...A World of Contrasts...Random Thoughts

...summer is here - 20's (70's). sunshine. UK outreach team this week. IMPACT ART summer studio set upopen. fragrance of flowers. This is the day that the Lord has made, REJOICE! Will my Mac be fixable? Lord, please heal it. beach today. good time with God. grateful that my residency permit interview went so well...


Summer has finally come to Latvia. Warm days like this are rare in the northern climate of the Baltic State. It's a welcome thing, indeed. Long hours of daylight, and warmth. Summer is also a time of things going differently. If the sun is shining on a YWAM Riga staff meeting day, we will move our meeting outdoors. The 'routine' of the other seasons is altered by camps, outreach teams, and team-building outings that can't be done in the colder, darker months.

Next week we will be hosting a missions team from the Sheffield, England. The IMPACT ART summer studio will open, and preparations made for the art classes/day camp the following week. The variations in my work are so life giving. I often think of how often I thank God for my calling, and exclaim (mostly silently, but sometimes audibly), 'I love my life!'.

Last week, my computer became a casualty of one of the worst wind/rain storms Riga has ever seen. A window blew open and formed a lake in my livingroom. The driving rain, drove clear across the room, and met my laptop. It's in the Apple hospital, awating a diagnosis of whether or not it can be fixed. I've been praying for it's recovery, and trying not to fear the worst.

For the first year, the application process for my residency permit has gone smoothly. All the required documents were acceptable and received. This has been a bit of a team effort - letters from YWAM, invitations, rent agreements, medical examinations, and on it goes. It's all good, and will once again be granted a Latvian residency permit in 30 days. Woo hoo!

In the midst of it all, the ups and downs...little things all around remind me that God is near, involved, loving...a relaxing, beautiful day at the beach with friends, awakening to the sound of birds singing, sunshine, the fragrance of flowers, truth that God's word speaks right into the depths of my heart, His provision in everything...

Challenge Camp 2

Another amazing year of camp with adults who have physical disabilities has come. There are some new faces and some familiar faces. As I drove up to the place where the camp was run, I was filled with varying emotions. Excitement to see those familiar faces and meet new people, joy from the expectation that grew, knowing God would be touching lives, and sadness for the loss of two participants who have died since last years camp, all filled my thoughts and heart.
For some, this camp is the one of the few times each year they are away from home, experiencing new things, interacting with people other than their families. However, for all, it is a time of rich fellowship with God and others. It is a time to meet and overcome new challenges. 

Kaspars and Evelyn Apinis, who are a part of YWAM Riga staff run the camp. It's my privilege to work with them, and teach art in the camp. 

Teaching art these days has been great! Lots of laughs, lots of paint, and beautiful creations. Genesis 1 tells us that, 'in the beginning, God creates...'. We also read that God created man and woman in His image. There are aspects of who God is, that we are. We have a will, intellect, emotions, and we are creative. Everyone is creative. Our challenge is to find HOW we are creative. I explained that some are creative with painting, drawing, music; some with food, some with decorating, some with photography, writing, with technology. The possibilities for our creativity are limitless. So our time together began with the challenge that, indeed, we are creative! 
We used out of the ordinary ways to create our paintings...hands, leaves, flowers, sea sponges, feathers, and crumpled plastic wrap as our 'brush'. Some creativity came as participants looked around the room and out the windows to see what kind of 'brush' we could use, others displayed their creativity in what went on the canvas. Others still, with the wit and humour used during our sessions. 
Once again, it has been a great camp, and hopefully this will mark another highlight in my year. 

Now I'll be getting ready to open the summer gallery / studio for a few weeks, starting next week.

More photos to come!

It's Official...Summer is Here!

Summer is officially here in Latvia, marked by the summer solsctice celebration, which has come and gone.  The summer solstice is technically June 21st, but Ligo and Jāņi ('mid-summer') are celebrated on the night of the 23 into the 24th in Latvia. Spring ends, summer begins, the days get shorter, the nights get longer. This same type of celebration happens in various ways throughout Northern Europe. I never truly understood it's significance, until living up here on the 57th parallel where the sun goes away to hide for months on end, only to come up a few hours in November and December. 

Yes, the days are beginning to get shorter, but they are still very long. The sun shines and it is quite warm (for Latvia). Summer is here and it's affects are far reaching. As often as we can, we will have our staff meetings outdoors, or do outdoor activities together. If we are to meet someone, even to discuss business, it happens at an outdoor cafe., park, or whilst taking a walk. Indeed, the light and sunshine are welcomed.

Another side of the mid-summer celebration is marked by pagan traditions and practices. Instead of worshipping the Creator, the creation is worshipped - he sun, and the pagan gods. People stay up all night 'so that the sun will rise the next morning.  Large bonfires are made so the wondering sun can find a light once it approaches. There are countless songs sung and dances done around the fire, speaking of these things. 

However...this year brought a different way of celebrating in Latvia.

The vision of one Latvian worship leader, who owns property in the countryside, was to run an all night worship and prayer gathering on this night. So, on the 23rd - 24th, non-stop worship, and prayer went up from the nation of Latvia. People from all denominations led times of worship and were there participating. Truly a unified body of Christ.  Also, this night, throughout the nation, people from all denominations gathered to pray for Latvia. 'Prayer Nights' have begun to pop up all over the nation on a regular basis, specifically to pray for Latvia. 

Yes there was singing, maybe even some dancing, and there were bonfires to cook our food. We stayed up all night (well some did). However, the songs were in praise of the Creator of the universe, the Light of the World, Lord of heaven and earth. This was a most significant night in the history of Latvia, and has set the foundation of more celebrations like this. 

As for me...

I did get about 45 minutes sleep...

ate some amazing barbecued meat...

got to be a guest percussionist for one of the bands...

was so refreshed in God's presence...

then, came home and took a 3 hour nap that afternoon...

Now that summer is officially here, it's the season for camps, hosting outreach teams, having our own outreaches into the city and elsewhere, and taking IMPACT ART to the streets and the countryside. It is an exciting time to be in Latvia to co-labour with God in seeing His Kingdom more firmly established here. 

June Art Night Photos

BLIR - BLog In Review

I've been taking a bit of time to look back and think about all that has happened since the Journey re-began. Perhaps it's been inspired by the countless rainy and cloudy days. By simply having a look back, my faith has been encouraged and moving into the things which God is calling me to seem to become more 'possible'. Although, they are only dependent on my obedience, not my ability.

We've had some intercession teams come and we as YWAM Riga have prayed into the area in which we live. In this time, we've seen a drug dealer move out of the building, much of the drug activity has moved a few blocks away. (So, we still pray for the healed and transformed lives of the addicts and dealers).  The general atmosphere of the neighbourhood seems lighter and easier. Doors continue to open for me (and others) to connect with people living in the neighbourhood and build relationships. A girl also living in the area will join me in prayer walking in this area.

Several Art Nights have taken place. Great discussions of creativity, expressions of artistic outlet have created beautiful things, and markable strides in people coming closer to following Jesus and experiencing God's love as never before. 

There is a place for IMPACT ARTS to have an arts centre in the neighbourhood in which I live. We will open it 2 days a week and have art classes and workshops for the childern in the area. This is a short-term project for the summer.

God's provision for me to keep paying rent and live in this amazing little apartment in this area of the city has come each month.

These are just some of the bigger, more tangible, more measurable things that have come to mind...but what about those interactions that are immeasurable? What about the fruit of a giving a smile, taking time to listen to someone, doing a random act of kindness, helping with translation, etc.? There have been many things like this that I've done, but also others have done for me. To me their value is priceless. I therefore assume, and hope that this is the case for others. 

Just some random thoughts, as I spent some time today remembering what God has done!

I am grateful!

Another Road on the Journey

In the midst of man's search for truth and ultimate reality, I sometimes find myself standing, a bit disoriented, in a place that is so familiar and so foreign to me.  We are in the midst of transitioning from modernity to post-modernity whether we like it or not.  Each holding differing values that challenge us, we tend to label them as 'good' or 'bad'. We in the western church are greatly affected by modernism and have grown comfortable with that. We may not even realize it.  Now the world is changing around us, transitioning into post-modernism, another paradigm with another set of challenges. In the face of this transition, I find myself repeating the thought of Francis Schaffer, 'how then shall we live?

During the Enlightenment, one of the ways the church responded to a new way of thinking, and ultimately living, was by retreating within the walls of the church, opting out of society, running away from the hard questions it was throwing in the face of faith. Will I respond in the same way? St. John Cimacus c.525, one of the early church fathers offers this.

"Let us charge into the good fight with joy and love without being 
afraid of our enemies. Though unseen themselves, they can look at 
the face of our soul, and if they see it altered by fear, they 
take up arms against us all the more fiercely. For the cunning 
creatures have observed that we are scared. So let us take up arms 
against them courageously. No one will fight with a resolute 
fighter." 

The prescription is meeting these with joy and love, not fear. We must meet the challenges and questions that come to us through our lives of faith, through the Word of God, through the wisdom of those who have gone before us - the 'great cloud of witnesses'.  Paul reminds us in Ephesians that we are no longer foreigners or aliens, but citizens with God's people. We hold dual citizenship, and can't forfeit one for the other. We pray...'Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven' (If we're praying in the King's English). We are to co-labour with God in seeing His Kingdom established - in our thinking, our actions, our families, our communities, our workplace, our favourite cafe, our recreation, in every facet of our lives, in everything we 'touch'.  Peace has been made, through the cross of Christ, to reconcile all things, whether on earth or in heaven, to God. 

^"13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. ¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. ¹⁸He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. ¹⁹ For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, ²⁰ and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven."    Colossians 1:13 - 20

Thoughts From the Garden

Sometimes it's a good thing to shake off the city dust, change your surroundings for a bit, take advantage of the sunny, warm afternoon, and head to the countryside. Dobele, home to the northernmost fruit-bearing apricot trees and an amazing garden, which hails over 200 species of Lilacs, was our destination. We headed out, leaving our cares behind.

This garden was stunning. I have never seen so many tones of violet on one palette. Indeed, each tree was an amazing expression of God's artwork. The different fragrances from the variety of Lilacs was exhilarating. It caused one to want to touch the groups of flowers, feel the texture of the small petals, and look more closely at their structure and their design.

My friend told the story how, in her childhood, they would look among the small flowers for one with 5 petals, pull it off, eat it, and make a wish. I succumbed to this notion, not because of the wish, but out of curiosity about the taste of a flower with such an exquisite smell. Odd, I will agree, but why not?

My sense of sight, smell, touch, and even taste were stimulated by these beautiful Lilacs. I could think of nothing else but the greatness of God, His infinite imagination, His awesome power...and at the same time...His attention to detail.  

Creator God is not somewhere far away, devoid of relationship with His Creation. He is outside - above, greater than, yet intimately involved with that which He has created. He is transcendent and imminent. Romans 1:20 reads, "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.". If we will take the time to look, we can see things that point us to who God is, His character, His nature, in what He has created. 

Walking through this garden, I felt both the awesomeness and closeness of God, and thought, if He has taken so much care for the things that surround me, how much more does He care for us...for man...those created in His image. I was led to a place of worship, of gratefulness, of adoration for God.

Now, I'm back in the city, and life is going on as usual...staff meetings, small group, blog writing, etc. But I'm the better for getting out and being reminded anew how great is our God.  

Thoughts Through The Day

Bright sunny day, peaceful morning, God's faithfulness, the smell of chocolate in the dish from last nights small group, go to Latvian lessons or not, plans for the day, the weekend, missing my family, art evangelism outreach, good coffee, beautiful flowers, is there a good op shop in Riga, God's love, grateful for 'daily bread', must get a haircut soon, no meetings today, yay...  

May Art Night Photos Part I

May Art Night Photos Part II