Made it to Riga...Praise God!

We made it! Even though the flight was much shorter today, it was still a very long day filled with jet-lag. Riga is beautiful... much like Alaska for those of you who can relate.

When we arrived in Riga we loaded up into three taxi's and the Runzo's two cars. Our driver spoke no english and Cindy and I could only hope that he rememberd the address Scott had spoken to him in Latvian. At the Runzo's home in Riga we met some of the interns and JV staff...had a bar-b-que and Scott briefed us all on the plans for the next week...English camp for high school students. He also challenged us all to think hard about what we really want to see God do in our lives as a result of this trip. I think it is much easier for us all to think indepth about such things now that we are actually here.

Yesterday after getting to the hotel, we all walked around Hyde Park and made it over to the palace. That was about 4-5 miles of walking and it finished everyone off after a long plane ride. We are looking forward to touring London on the way home.


We will post more photos tomorrow...

Curtis

DAY 1: Made it to London

The team has made it to London with no problems. We are here for a one day layover and will be in Latvia tomorrow. There are some pictures below. Keep up the prayers!

On the ground in London waiting for the bus to the hotel. 

Security check with the wand! 

Leaving SkyHarbor 

Download "Skype" and talk to the team for free!!!

...www.skype.com and a headset/microphone are all you need. Skype is a free software that lets your voice travel over the internet so you can speak to anyone on the team for free! How cool is that! It also has instant messaging software built in as a bonus.

Praise God !!! The team is almost fully supported  

Fellowship 

Cook Out 

"...Will my hair-dryer work over there?" 

Air Travel Itinerary

British Airways BA 288 Tuesday, June 28, 2005
From Phoenix / Sky Harbor Int'l (PHX), Phoenix, Arizona USA 7:15 PM
To London / Heathrow (LHR), London United Kingdom 1:05 PM
Terminal: 4 (Wednesday)

Hotel- Lancaster Hall http://lancaster-hall-hotel.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)20 7723 9276
Fax: +44 (0)20 7706 2870

British Airways BA 880 Thursday, June 30, 2005
From London / Heathrow (LHR), London United Kingdom 10:30 AM
Terminal: 4
To Riga / Riga (RIX), Riga Latvia 3:10 PM

British Airways BA 881 Saturday, July 16, 2005
From Riga / Riga (RIX), Riga Latvia 3:55 PM
To London / Heathrow (LHR), London United Kingdom 4:50 PM
Terminal: 4

Hotel-The Imperial London Hotels Ltd
66 Russell Square
London
WC1B 5BB
UK

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7278 7871/2/3

British Airways BA 289 Monday, July 18, 2005
From London / Heathrow (LHR), London United Kingdom 1:20 PM
Terminal: 4
To Phoenix / Sky Harbor Int'l (PHX), Phoenix, Arizona USA

BIG THANKS!

A BIG THANKS to Madison and Pastor Dale for their encouaging posts @ "Meet the Team"...Keep them comming everyone. Your thoughts and prayers mean a great deal to all of us...MADISON-YOU ROCK THE BLOG!!! Don't forget to sign up for a day to pray on the prayer calendar...

English Camp for Latvian Teens

"Revolutionary"
That is the title for the english camp that we will be doing for the teenage students while we are in Latvia. There are right now 80 Latvian teens signed up for the camp. During the first week each morning we will be teaching english to the students. Each afternoon we will be hosting recreation and each evening we will be conducting a worship service where Christ will be shared! There are only a few... very few christian teens in Latvia. The doors are wide open for God to move the young generation there and we're excited that He has chosen to use us to help! Please pray that many, many Latvian teens come to know Christ and a christian revolution happens in Latvia!

Sign-up On The Prayer Calendar Link Today!!! Pick-A -Day, Sign-Up, Then Pray...--------------------------->>>>

We need your prayers and encouragement! By clicking the "Prayer Calendar" link in the "Links" menu, you will be able to select the days you can pray for the teams needs. Just use the "comments" link on that day's post to let us know you are praying for us. We will comment back as prayers are answered!

Meet The Team

Learn more about the team members by clicking the
"Meet The Team" link on the links menu to the right,
or navigate to www.teamaz2lv.blogspot.com

Accommodations in Latvia

The photo below of the Limbazi Baptist Church is where the team will be staying while working in Latvia.

Limbazi Baptist Church  

VBS Planning

The team has been busy planning and brainstorming ideas for the vacation Bible school. Cindy and some of the students met last night at the ministry center with Beverly and others to get down to the dirty work of making the "Latvian Lava Lava Island" come to life. They will be working today as well.

Arizona Hills Goes Global!!!

Well its official...The tickets are purchased and there is no turning back now. A team of high school and college age youth, along with Jon Hatch and the Aylward family will be leaving on the 28th of this month. They will spend approximately three weeks in the tiny Baltic state of Latvia. Their purpose is to work with a Christian misions organization called Josiah Venture, teaching English and vacation Bible schools in the town of Limbazi.

This BLOG will be one of the ways we keep in touch with all of you back home. We hope to update the site with pictures and reflections durring thr trip. We would love to hear from you as well.