Labdien!

Hello friends!

I'm safe and sound here in Riga, Latvia! It's beautiful here, but really cold. It's been down to -6 degrees farenheit, which means I've had to wear about 6 layers plus my coat! It's pretty crazy. The city is beautiful, it's incredibly rich in architecture, and everything seems to have a story. It's funny because in America, everything is so new, all the buildings are modern, the streets are perfectly paved, etc. But here, all of the buildings have been around for ages, the streets are cobble stone, and there are lamp posts here that look like they could come straight out of Narnia. We've been expecting Mr. Tumnis to pop up somewhere ;)

Ministry here has looked quite different than when we were in Sydney. Because we have a contact here now, we have a pretty tight schedule of what we're doing everyday. It's different but good. We're working with the YWAM team here, and partnering with their ministry of Freedom 61, which ministers to the prostitutes in the area. They have a cafe that allows them to invite the girls for a cup of coffee and a welcoming chat. We've been going on lots of prayer walks at night which has been really good. It's been freezing and exhausting, but I think sometimes that's where God works the most--where you're at a point in time that you can't physically or emotionally do anything in your power to change the situation, God brings you through it. We've prayed for brothels, which are under the name of strip clubs or bars, because brothels are illegal here. The interesting thing is that street prostitution here is legal, so we've seen quite a few prostitutes walking around the streets at night. They area we've been praying in we've seen a lot of sketch things, like men in taxis waiting to deal drugs. It's been really eye opening because back in the states I'm so sheltered and I don't ever see things like this happening. It's a whole new world out there really. The other really cool thing we've been able to do is go to a day center for kids that have neglected or abuse backgrounds. The day center I went to is located in a 3 room apartment and is run by this incredible woman, Leeana, a pure Latvian woman! She watches kids 5 days a week for 8 hours a day. When I went, I went with Katie and Manu, and when we arrived, we helped her finish making dinner, then we all sat down with the kids and ate a meal together. It was incredible. Such a small thing, but it made me feel like I was at home, and I'm sure the kids felt that way too. Then we helped her clean the house a bit while trading off playing with the kids. The kids spoke a tiny bit of English, but not well enough to be able to effectively communicate with them. Somehow though, I was still able to understand them and feel their desperation for love and attention. I fell in love with 3 little girls named Laura, Elsa, and Patricia. They were the sweetest things and gave us hugs when we left. I'm excited to go back and spend more time with them. When we walked to the bus station after that day in the dark, I felt a sense of depression. I think God reminded me of times in my past where I struggled with depression and anxiety, and just a feeling of lonliness even when I was surrounded by people. Then I thought, this is what these kids must feel when they walk home, when they aren't at that day center. A lot of them come from terrible homes, so the day center is really the only happy place they can be. I prayed for them all the way home. God is in the process of breaking my heart for these children. It's hard but amazing.

That's what this week has looked like, and our team is really excited to see how God uses us to reach His people here.

In other news, the food here is amazing! We get fresh bread from a bakery every morning (which is like a dream to me) and the fruit here is so cheap and delicious. Food here in general is pretty inexpensive. I love it. It's been really fun to cook with Manu here. I feel fine eating really well here because we've been walking so much ;)

Another thing I'd like to share with you guys is just how much I've noticed my excitement for life since being on a DTS. When I was in high school, I was really just going through the motions and not craving to learn anything new, or experience anything new. But since being on my DTS, I'm so excited for my future. I'm excited to get back into school again and learn new things, I'm excited to one day have my own aparment and decorate pinterest style, and I'm excited for lots more things. I've decided I want to learn how to play some instruments, and I'm going to learn German as well, and I kind of want to learn how to beat box (I know, it sounds crazy), and how to do some accents well. I'm just excited for life! And I'm excited for God to be alongside with me the whole way :)

Well, it's time for me to sign out, but I'll talk to you soon. Love you heaps.
xoxo,
Laura.

Living like Jesus: loving the prostitutes, homeless, drug addicts, and cross-dressers.

The first week of outreach is complete! It’s hard to even begin to describe how incredible this week was and how much God moved through our team. To make it easier for both myself and friends reading this, I’ll try to go day by day and give you a highlight or two!

On Friday, our team of 8 (Fearless leader Kathryn, Katie, Josie, Manuela, Emma, Savannah, Haley, and myself—and Jessica will join soon!) left for Sydney early that morning after saying bittersweet goodbyes to a few friends at the base. From the beginning, God spoke to our team that we would be a team of joy and laughter. After so many obstacles we’ve overcome, we were certain that those two things would be the glue for our team. To give you a bit of background, we were originally supposed to go to Amsterdam for a week before Latvia/Moldova, but because of the price of plane tickets, we weren’t able to. After we crossed that disappointment, we found out that our team leader, Talea, wouldn’t be joining us due to health reasons. When we found out, we were all pretty upset, but after taking some time to process and pray, we felt privileged in a way (even though it sounds strange) that the enemy would be trying to throw so many impediments in our way because he obviously felt threatened by our team’s ability to serve Christ well. Anyways, after lots of walking and searching, we found the house we were going to be staying at for the week. When we walked in, we were instantly charmed! It’s a beautiful and quaint house that we lovingly named Martha. We rested for just a bit then we headed off to the grocery store to buy heaps of groceries for the week. My friend Manuela and I are in charge of food for this outreach, which includes meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking. It’s been fun thus far :)) Not much happened the rest of the day, but throughout the day we continued to pray for joy and laughter and God definitely blessed us with it!

We woke up refreshed and excited Saturday morning for the day, and we spent time in prayer, intercession, and worship, asking God what He wanted us to do that day. We all felt like we were supposed to go to Bondi beach to pray, worship, and talk to people. While we were there, we worshipped as a group on a staircase and while we were, people would give us strange looks and smiles, but we could just feel that we were impacting the beach just by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God! My highlight of the day was being able to talk to this little Egyptian man named Antonio. Manuela and I started talking to him and he just shared with us his culture and heritage and how much he loved God and it was really amazing. We got to pray for him and were encouraged my him praying for us in return. We got his address and told him we’d send him a picture of our team for him to have. That day, God really showed up and blessed me with a great conversation after feeling defeated and that I hadn’t impacted anyone yet. God is a God who keeps His promises!

On Sunday morning we woke up to go the church, and we were excited to see what God had in store for us that day. We went to church, and Manuela and Katie shared their testimonies in front of the church, and one of the testimonies lead people to tears. It was incredible. My highlight of that day was when we were in the market place that afternoon walking around and blessing people with flowers, and Emma and I came across a beautiful woman sitting down on a bench and we felt led to give a flower to her. Emma started the conversation and while she was telling her that we wanted her to know God loved her and that she was beautiful, her face was really perplexed. She then told us that she didn’t know much English and that she was French (so automatically I was drawn to her because I love Euros).  So I repeated what Emma said and she just lit up and smiled so brightly. I told her “bonjour” and she replied with “merci!” It was a beautiful moment for me. God is a God who loves to show His children He loves them!

We woke up Monday morning feeling encouraged for the day and ready for God to move! We prayed, interceded, and worshipped just like we do every morning and earnestly asked God what He wanted us to do. He told us to go to King’s Cross (which is the red light district of Sydney) and pray and minister to people. I was especially excited to go. Once we got there and split up into partners and started praying, most of the team got a strange feeling come over them. It turns out we were on the opposite side of the street we were supposed to be at, but nonetheless, we were already starting to feel the spiritual attacks coming on us. I personally felt like I was just walking around in a dream, like I wasn’t in the real world. It was a strange feeling and I don’t even think I could explain it to you if I was staring at you in the face. Katie and I were walking and praying and suddenly we came across a super sus place called “The Tunnel Club”. It was in an alley way and was painted black and had signs that said “24 hour security” and “guest list entry only” and I saw up above barred windows with tattered curtains in them. We were pretty sure that it was a brothel as well, and as soon as I saw the windows, I envisioned a bedroom with a girl trapped in there against her own will, in her own living hell. We prayed for that and walked around the corner and all the sudden it was bam bam bam! All of these night clubs, adult stores, strip clubs, and shady stores. We were shocked at it and felt sick to our stomaches. We were praying more than ever, and we saw multiple prostitutes walk by, some more obvious than others. We saw one of the more obvious ones in a risqué bra and track pants, with eccentric makeup on and trashy hair. We automatically felt like we were supposed to talk to her but we didn’t know how. Anyway, we ended up talking to her and we heard her story, her heartbreaking story, and we asked if we could pray for her, and at first she said no, but then something broke in her spirit and she complied. So Katie layed hands on her and prayed for her, and she started sobbing. We then said goodbye, and she gave Katie a sweet hug, and when I went in for a hug, I felt like to give her a kiss on the cheek, and she did the same. I had a kiss mark on my cheek and I didn’t ever want to take it off. I felt like I kissed Jesus that day. She was beautiful and I will always remember Xena. That day changed my life. God is a God who loves the unlovable.

The next day we felt to go back to King’s Cross. But before, we decided to worship in the market place a bit. While we were worshipping, we were approached by a homeless looking man named Tom, and we got to have a really amazing conversation with him about life and eternity and God. We got to pray for him and when we did, he was crying. It’s amazing to see how much God works when we ask for people to talk to. We then headed off to King’s Cross. When we got there, the atmosphere was a lot heavier than the day before. There were a few fights breaking out between prostitutes over drug deals and things, and a few of the girls were approached and mistaken as prostitutes, and a lot of us were rejected by people we tried to talk to. I was to give away my water bottle to a pot dealer which was really sweet. But besides that, we were all feeling pretty defeated. When we were getting ready to head out, Emma and Manuela walk up with a really thin and ragged looking woman whose legs looked like they hadn’t been shaven for months and had missing teeth.  We started chatting with her, and for some reason, God spoke to me about giving away my purity ring to her. I was shocked and I was like, “heck no, God. That’s weird. I want that ring. It’s special”. But I asked her what sort of jewelry she liked and she said rings. I told God, “ok, God, I got it”. So at the end of our conversation, I gave her my ring and it fit perfectly on her finger. It was amazing. I was moved so much by that and I think  I was blessed more by Anita than I blessed her. God is a generous God who loves for people to be the same.

The following day we woke up feeling really heavy and defeated and when we went to worship in the market place, we felt a lot of spiritual attacks. We came back to the house early and shared our hearts and prayed for each other. After that, we went out to pick up trash and talk to people. For me, I wasn’t able to talk to anyone, but it was a good day of letting God ministering to me. God is a God who wants to refresh his children.

On our last day of ministry, today, we felt to go to King’s Cross one last time and give  a backpack full of toiletries, clothes, encouraging words, and food to Anita. Although that was really sweet to be able to bless her with, there was one other incident that stood out to me more than that. As we were worshipping on a corner in King’s Cross, a transvestite came and sat down a few feet away from us. While we were singing, he started getting angry and tried to throw newspaper at us (which obviously wouldn’t work haha). Before he did that, Manu and I felt like we were supposed to go talk to him. After that happened, though, I felt really scared. He started walking over to us, and I just started praying for God’s protection and an invisible force field around us. He walked up and asked us if we were Christians and we said yes, and then he said, “me too!” really enthusiastically and gave Emma a high five. He then asked us to sing Amazing Grace for him, so we did. Then after that, he asked us to sing Father Abraham. Though strange, we did, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Manu and I went over and talked to him, and we had a very interesting conversation. I can’t really explain it, but I’m pretty sure he had a demon inside of him. He knew about Jesus and some scripture, but he kept saying that he was a black angel and dabbled in black magic. It was also like he was on drugs, but I truly think it was a dark spirit inside of him. We didn’t really get to pray for him or share the gospel with him, but I think that just talking with him made an impact, because we were “normal people” actually enjoying talking to him. God is a god who honours His children.

Overall, this  week has been incredible. It’s only the first week and we’re not even in Europe yet! God wants to do so many amazing teams in and through our team and I can’t wait to see what He has in store for us. Keep praying for our team and we look forward to updating you more! J xoxo,

Laura.