back at home
here are some pictures resa and krister took on the trip
hope you enjoy!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Back home at last. Many thoughts.
1800km exactly, Sollentuna, Sweden
This morning we finally arrived home after eleven days of traveling and meeting people. As we literally fell over the threshold of our apartment, we are met by our friend Henrik who not only has cleaned our flat, but also baked us a smörgåstårta. Thank you God for good friends.
It feels good to be home. Our trip through Latvia and Lithuania feels finished in every aspect of the word. There are no lose ends. We did everything we were supposed to do. A good feeling.
Resa and I weren't really sure what to do with the last two days of our trip. We decided to take it easy, so from Jurmala we traveled up the west side of the gulf of Riga. Driving along we kept seeing cars pulled over by the side of the road. Curiosity won, and we pulled over as well to find out what this was all about. What we found was a forest of blueberry bushes. We filled a plastic bag as quickly as we could and dodged vicious mosquitoes left right and center.
We spent the night on a peninsula by Engure overlooking the gulf of Riga. We had some well-needed time to just relax and reflect, and for me, to look at the sunset with a cigar in one hand, a beer in the other and a beautiful woman by my side. Bliss.
The next morning we traveled up to, Kolka, at the peak of the west coast. We walked down the beach and stood at the very tip of the country and turned our backs towards the sea and prayed inwardly, for Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and Russia, that God would raise these nations up and be all God has ment for them to be and for them to find their true identity (among other things). We then turned around (facing Sweden) and prayed for the Nordic countries and that bridges would be built between these nations. Quite heavy stuff.
We found a nice spot to camp right by the beech for the night in Kaltene. The following day was a rainy but generally uneventful, as we boarded the M/S Regina Baltica to Stockholm.
This trip has been great and... well "varied" is the best word I can find that fits. Everything from getting a feel for Riga while walking around the city and looking at its art and people, to praying on roof-tops and playing with kids in Ruzina, as well as connecting with salvation army people looking to connect with 24-7 and meeting Tom in Vilnius who wants to see a rhythm of 24-1's and a genuine Lithuanian expression of church. So many things, and so little time. It seems God is sending us out to connect the dots of what God is doing around the nations of northern Europe.While the vision is still blurry, the picture is clearer than ever. Exciting times lie ahead.
This morning we finally arrived home after eleven days of traveling and meeting people. As we literally fell over the threshold of our apartment, we are met by our friend Henrik who not only has cleaned our flat, but also baked us a smörgåstårta. Thank you God for good friends.
It feels good to be home. Our trip through Latvia and Lithuania feels finished in every aspect of the word. There are no lose ends. We did everything we were supposed to do. A good feeling.
Resa and I weren't really sure what to do with the last two days of our trip. We decided to take it easy, so from Jurmala we traveled up the west side of the gulf of Riga. Driving along we kept seeing cars pulled over by the side of the road. Curiosity won, and we pulled over as well to find out what this was all about. What we found was a forest of blueberry bushes. We filled a plastic bag as quickly as we could and dodged vicious mosquitoes left right and center.
We spent the night on a peninsula by Engure overlooking the gulf of Riga. We had some well-needed time to just relax and reflect, and for me, to look at the sunset with a cigar in one hand, a beer in the other and a beautiful woman by my side. Bliss.
The next morning we traveled up to, Kolka, at the peak of the west coast. We walked down the beach and stood at the very tip of the country and turned our backs towards the sea and prayed inwardly, for Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and Russia, that God would raise these nations up and be all God has ment for them to be and for them to find their true identity (among other things). We then turned around (facing Sweden) and prayed for the Nordic countries and that bridges would be built between these nations. Quite heavy stuff.
We found a nice spot to camp right by the beech for the night in Kaltene. The following day was a rainy but generally uneventful, as we boarded the M/S Regina Baltica to Stockholm.
This trip has been great and... well "varied" is the best word I can find that fits. Everything from getting a feel for Riga while walking around the city and looking at its art and people, to praying on roof-tops and playing with kids in Ruzina, as well as connecting with salvation army people looking to connect with 24-7 and meeting Tom in Vilnius who wants to see a rhythm of 24-1's and a genuine Lithuanian expression of church. So many things, and so little time. It seems God is sending us out to connect the dots of what God is doing around the nations of northern Europe.While the vision is still blurry, the picture is clearer than ever. Exciting times lie ahead.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Off Roading and Beyond
1426 kilometers, Jurmala, Latvia
Since Vilnius, recovering from food poisoning and leaving our new friend Tom, we traveled through Lithuania and spent the night in the forest (after never being able to find the coast.... cities can be hard to drive in when there is a lack of signs) we crossed into Latvia again and headed north along the west coast to Ventspils.
What adventures we had yesterday! We took Blues on a little off-roading adventure to find the sea and a lighthouse that was marked in our atlas. We couldn't believe that the roads were even on the map, as some were just dirt/sand and at times we wondered if Blues would make it through to the next town. Just before the road gets better, and despite Petra's excellent driving, Blues gets stuck in the sand. We dig and find logs to try and create some traction in the middle of a swarm of mosquitoes, we push and pray but to no avail. Then two vans seem to be headed our way, but they see us stuck and turn around. We hadn't even seem a house in ages... then a lady comes by walking her bike and Petra has a chat with her in her best Latvian. Suddenly two German ladies who had their bikes on top of their small four door car came driving by. We had seen them at the lighthouse and they saw us stuck and stopped. They offered helpful suggestions like taking more weight out of the van and using the rubber floor mats under our rear tires to get traction in the sand. It took a few tries and we were all pushing as hard as we could, but finally Blues started moving and left a pile of our backpacks in the sand as he made it onto the slightly better road. We thanked the German ladies profusely and there were hugs all around. We decided it was best to stay together until the next town, where we exchanged email addresses with our new friends who were definitely an answer to prayer!
After a night by a beautiful lake, an amazing dinner and a slow starting but comfortable campfires we headed to Jurmala this morning where we dropped Petra and Brett at the train station. They head home today. Was sad to see them go as this trip has been quite an adventure. One more day and then we're on a ferry home to Stockholm. This is a trip I won't easily forget.
Since Vilnius, recovering from food poisoning and leaving our new friend Tom, we traveled through Lithuania and spent the night in the forest (after never being able to find the coast.... cities can be hard to drive in when there is a lack of signs) we crossed into Latvia again and headed north along the west coast to Ventspils.
What adventures we had yesterday! We took Blues on a little off-roading adventure to find the sea and a lighthouse that was marked in our atlas. We couldn't believe that the roads were even on the map, as some were just dirt/sand and at times we wondered if Blues would make it through to the next town. Just before the road gets better, and despite Petra's excellent driving, Blues gets stuck in the sand. We dig and find logs to try and create some traction in the middle of a swarm of mosquitoes, we push and pray but to no avail. Then two vans seem to be headed our way, but they see us stuck and turn around. We hadn't even seem a house in ages... then a lady comes by walking her bike and Petra has a chat with her in her best Latvian. Suddenly two German ladies who had their bikes on top of their small four door car came driving by. We had seen them at the lighthouse and they saw us stuck and stopped. They offered helpful suggestions like taking more weight out of the van and using the rubber floor mats under our rear tires to get traction in the sand. It took a few tries and we were all pushing as hard as we could, but finally Blues started moving and left a pile of our backpacks in the sand as he made it onto the slightly better road. We thanked the German ladies profusely and there were hugs all around. We decided it was best to stay together until the next town, where we exchanged email addresses with our new friends who were definitely an answer to prayer!
After a night by a beautiful lake, an amazing dinner and a slow starting but comfortable campfires we headed to Jurmala this morning where we dropped Petra and Brett at the train station. They head home today. Was sad to see them go as this trip has been quite an adventure. One more day and then we're on a ferry home to Stockholm. This is a trip I won't easily forget.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Vilnius
unknown, Vilnius, Lithuania
We are currently sitting in our newly made friend Tom's apartment in central Vilnius. Because of lack of internet access we haven't been able to blog, so this will be a very short run-down. After a 4 hour drive we arrived in this little village (550 inhabitants) outside of Rezekne where we met the rest of the team. Levi is a random man who runs this former cafeteria now turned into a prayer-discipleship-gathering place. We dumped all of our clothes and toys we brought there and they were graciously received. Had a great time, and much more to tell about that visit, but no time at the moment.
A 5 hour journey to Vilnius followed (now a smaller group of Resa, myself, Petra and Brett) in Mr Blues (who has been doing a surprisingly good job so far). We hooked up with Tom, a random contact, who has been giving us endless cups of tea and bucket loads of hospitality. accidentally he pointed us in the wrong direction when it came to parking, so when I went to check on Mr. Blues this morning it had a wheel-lock and a sticker on the window. 100 lits later the lock is off. Ouch. Tom was very apologetic, but after another round of tea we forgave him. This evening we are heading to the coast. Wish us luck!
We are currently sitting in our newly made friend Tom's apartment in central Vilnius. Because of lack of internet access we haven't been able to blog, so this will be a very short run-down. After a 4 hour drive we arrived in this little village (550 inhabitants) outside of Rezekne where we met the rest of the team. Levi is a random man who runs this former cafeteria now turned into a prayer-discipleship-gathering place. We dumped all of our clothes and toys we brought there and they were graciously received. Had a great time, and much more to tell about that visit, but no time at the moment.
A 5 hour journey to Vilnius followed (now a smaller group of Resa, myself, Petra and Brett) in Mr Blues (who has been doing a surprisingly good job so far). We hooked up with Tom, a random contact, who has been giving us endless cups of tea and bucket loads of hospitality. accidentally he pointed us in the wrong direction when it came to parking, so when I went to check on Mr. Blues this morning it had a wheel-lock and a sticker on the window. 100 lits later the lock is off. Ouch. Tom was very apologetic, but after another round of tea we forgave him. This evening we are heading to the coast. Wish us luck!
Monday, July 23, 2007
Leaving Riga
28 kilometers, Riga, Latvia
after a few really interesting days in Riga we finally met our fellow travelers last night. Three finnish girls and an Australian had to melt in the Latvian sun while i tried to navigate the endless one-way streets of downtown Riga. Twice did parking guards destroy my humble attempts at parking. After some confusion (Krister: "I'm waiting at the front of the bus station". Everyone else: "No, we are at the front of the bus station, where are you?") we finally united for icecream and stories. The evening ended with a sampling of the local brew and Resa having the most unforgettable hot chocolate you can imagine. If you want to get her talking ask her about Latvian hot chocolate.
Today we leave for the little town of Ruzina where we will unload blues (packed to the brim with clothes, toys, games, medicine and bibles) at a children's home. As much as we have liked Riga it will be good to move on to other parts of the country. It will also be sad to leave the family we have been staying with. They have taught us so much about Latvia, Riga and themselves. We have fallen in love with their two kids and their cat (who we considered smuggling back to Sweden).
So off we go.
after a few really interesting days in Riga we finally met our fellow travelers last night. Three finnish girls and an Australian had to melt in the Latvian sun while i tried to navigate the endless one-way streets of downtown Riga. Twice did parking guards destroy my humble attempts at parking. After some confusion (Krister: "I'm waiting at the front of the bus station". Everyone else: "No, we are at the front of the bus station, where are you?") we finally united for icecream and stories. The evening ended with a sampling of the local brew and Resa having the most unforgettable hot chocolate you can imagine. If you want to get her talking ask her about Latvian hot chocolate.
Today we leave for the little town of Ruzina where we will unload blues (packed to the brim with clothes, toys, games, medicine and bibles) at a children's home. As much as we have liked Riga it will be good to move on to other parts of the country. It will also be sad to leave the family we have been staying with. They have taught us so much about Latvia, Riga and themselves. We have fallen in love with their two kids and their cat (who we considered smuggling back to Sweden).
So off we go.
Friday, July 20, 2007
First night out
25,8 kilometers, Riga, Latvia
The last week has probably been one of the more stressful ones in my life. Never has it been so difficult to leave a country, and never has so many things just not worked. But somehow it did. I guess God wanted us here after all. And Blues is still running...
The ferry over was just what Resa and I needed to wind down and relax. We were met at the port by Reinis, our couchsurfing host for the next two nights. He has been teaching us alot about Rigas history and the legends surrounding the place. This place has more than meets the eye. A depth I have rarely seen, and that I cannot define (and a good thing that is). So i'm excited to be here. And quite tired from tromping around old town and the "museum of the occupation of latvia" Meeting a contact tommorow by the freedom monument. That has lots of potential, don't you think?
The last week has probably been one of the more stressful ones in my life. Never has it been so difficult to leave a country, and never has so many things just not worked. But somehow it did. I guess God wanted us here after all. And Blues is still running...
The ferry over was just what Resa and I needed to wind down and relax. We were met at the port by Reinis, our couchsurfing host for the next two nights. He has been teaching us alot about Rigas history and the legends surrounding the place. This place has more than meets the eye. A depth I have rarely seen, and that I cannot define (and a good thing that is). So i'm excited to be here. And quite tired from tromping around old town and the "museum of the occupation of latvia" Meeting a contact tommorow by the freedom monument. That has lots of potential, don't you think?
Thursday, July 19, 2007
And we're off again!
0 kilometers, stockholm, sweden
For the third summer in a row we are off, this time by van and ferry over to Riga where the journey begins. Riga is where we'll all meet... Brett from Australia via Finland, Petra from Turku, Anne Maria and Terje from Norway and me and Krister from Stockholm.
We'll be visiting a children's home with lots of things to leave with them that others have given in our various countries. We'll also be going to a prayer house and then traveling around Lithuania seeing what God is up to.
Watch this space!
For the third summer in a row we are off, this time by van and ferry over to Riga where the journey begins. Riga is where we'll all meet... Brett from Australia via Finland, Petra from Turku, Anne Maria and Terje from Norway and me and Krister from Stockholm.
We'll be visiting a children's home with lots of things to leave with them that others have given in our various countries. We'll also be going to a prayer house and then traveling around Lithuania seeing what God is up to.
Watch this space!
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