BYF Newsletter No. 4

Church Planting Conference - 19 and 20 April

On 19 and 20 April, the Church Planting Conference will take place, with around 200 representatives from the churches of the Baltic states participating. The conference will offer churches a fresh view of work with new Christians, and will also invite churches to think about mission by planting new churches. As the Baltic Youth Festival approaches, it is important for churches to prepare in good time both for work with new Christians and for the possibility of planting new churches in the future. The conference will be attended by LELB Archbishop Janis Vanags, LBDS Bishop Peteris Sprogis, Dr. Tom Phillips (BGEA), as well as lecturers Magnus Persson, Helge Standal, Jan Gossner, and Oyvind Augland. The main conference topics are: loving God - loving people; discipleship among youth; how to reach people outside the church; relationships in today's culture; why plant new churches.

In April the FM419 training course begins in churches throughout Latvia

The FM419 training course, specially adapted for young people, takes its name from Christ's call to the disciples in the Gospel of Matthew: “Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). This training encourages Christians to renew their faith and live according to it, and also to testify about their faith to others. In March a seminar for teachers of this course took place at Mateja Church, but beginning in April the training will take place in many places in Latvia, and everyone who wants to grow in following Christ is invited.

From 23 April to 11 May the course will also take place in five locations in Riga: the LELB Youth Centre, Agenskalns Baptist Church, Riga Salvation Temple Baptist Church, “Prieka Vests” church, and the youth rooms of St. James's Cathedral. Detailed course times, as well as information about its locations throughout Latvia, is available on the festival website WWW.BYF2012.LV, where this information will be regularly updated during April. Course participants will also be offered the opportunity to become volunteer counsellors in order to help those young people who decide to follow Christ during the Baltic Youth Festival.

Worship and Prayer Evening - 27 April at St. James's Cathedral

So that we may all together entrust Latvia's young people and the upcoming festival to God's guidance, every month until the festival we are invited to gather for Worship and Prayer Evenings, which take place in churches of various denominations. This time it will take place on 27 April at 19:00, at St. James's Cathedral in Riga. We know that only God can give blessing and success to all our efforts in organizing the festival - therefore let us pray for His blessing and guidance both in organizing the festival and in its course. We remind you that every evening at 22:00 we invite everyone to unite in prayer for the youth of the Baltic states - your support and prayers are very significant for every young person who has not yet come to know God!

5000 seats already reserved in Arena Riga

We are glad to report that by the beginning of April more than 5000 places had already been reserved for the Baltic Youth Festival at Arena Riga! Among them are more than 4 thousand young people in groups who will come to Riga from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, while almost 1000 festival visitors have reserved seats individually. We thank you for your responsiveness and invite everyone who has not yet managed to do so to reserve their places! Both youth groups organized by churches and individual visitors can reserve places at Arena Riga on the festival website, WWW.BYF2012.LV. Considering the broad response from visitors, the festival organizers plan to provide everything necessary so that the festival can also be fully followed outdoors next to the Arena Riga building.

Be our friend and win valuable prizes!

How can you get the newest CDs by festival musicians, get the best seats in Arena Riga, or win a pizza so big that you cannot eat it alone? First, become our friend on social media - Twitter, Facebook, and Draugiem.lv. Second, follow our updates and participate in the contests announced by the festival! It is your opportunity both to get involved and become a festival ambassador, and to pass festival news on to your friends. And who knows - perhaps you will be
the lucky one who wins the opportunity to be photographed together with one of the festival stars!

THE PARACHUTE BAND

The members of The Parachute Band first came together in 1996, when a few people were asked to perform at the Parachute Festival in Hamilton, New Zealand. It is a four-day music event that gathers more than 25,000 listeners. After the performance the “parachute team” decided to continue making music, and after a short time released their first album, which gained international recognition. The Parachute Band spend most of their lives travelling around the world and performing - both in huge stadiums and concert halls, and in underground youth gathering places. The music they perform is filled with new, unusual sounds - pulsing rhythms and mismatched guitar sounds with a strange synthetic shade, which together create the band's distinctive indie-rock sound. In terms of musical style, the band has been strongly influenced by Sigur Ros and Bon Iver. As passionate advocates for children's rights, The Parachute Band have become involved in the international aid organization World Vision, becoming partners in the “Tubenhoneza” Area Development Project and helping attract hundreds of supporters for children in Rwanda, South Africa. The musicians continue to spread news about this aid project wherever possible. The band has released 12 studio albums, and in 2008 The Parachute Band received the People's Choice Award at the New Zealand Music Awards for 120,000 albums sold in New Zealand. “Our name in itself has no meaning - my mother came up with it, because at that time that was the name of her favourite clothing store,” drummer Sam de Jong admits, explaining the origin of the band's name.

Members: Omega Levine (vocals), Sam de Jong (drums), Jeremy Gregory (guitar), Callum Galloway (keys), and Elliot Francis (bass guitar).

Albums: You Alone (1997); Always and Forever (1998); Adore (1999); The Collection V1 (2000); Love (2000); Amazing (2001); Glorious (2003); All The Earth (2005); Roadmaps and Revelations (2007); Technicolor (2008); Love Without Measure (2011), and MATINS: VESPERS (2012)

Website

BALTIC YOUTH FESTIVAL: 9 JUNE 2012, ARENA RIGA

NEWSBOYS / MICHAEL W. SMITH / THE PARACHUTE BAND / REBECCA KONTUS / FLAMMO PATLIS BAND / GYVAI / VESTNIECIBA / VALDIS INDRISONOKS & BAND / EX ANIMO /

WWW.BYF2012.LV

FESTIVAL CALENDAR

APRIL:

Church Planting Conference: 19-20 April, Lacplesa Street 37, Riga

Worship and Prayer Evening: 27 April at 19:00, Riga St. James's Cathedral

FM419 course in Latvian churches, schedule: www.byf2012.lv

MAY: Worship and Prayer Evening: 18 May at 19:00 at Riga Old St. Gertrude Church

FM419 course in Latvian churches, schedule: www.byf2012.lv

BYF April newsletter PDF format