latvia3

Dear Friends and Family, My loved ones all

I have spent a lot of my time here writing to you and I have sent out 180 messages so far by e-mail and many letters by post. I've tried to include each one of you in this wonderful adventure. As I write each day and share the events, you each have an idea of what is happening here. But now I will go back over the days since I last wrote to you on the 22nd of July that long, long letter. I will try and tell each of you what has been going on.

I feel so very blessed by God in allowing me to come over here and to share in what He is doing in this Country and I want you each to feel that you are a part of it. As indeed you are.. Without your prayers I would not be able to do anything. Physically I haven't been this well in the past at least 10 years, and spiritually I've never been this well. God is so good and is blessing more than abundant.

When I look back over this past two years since Pat died ( July 5th ), the changes in my life are amazing. I wasn't able to walk for months after he died and now I'm getting out and around and even managing all these stairs. One day I kept a record and climbed over 1000 stairs. I think there have been days when there have even been more trips up and down. I'm even walking about 6 blocks to the grocery store and carrying back what I need. All last winter I counted on my grandson to go and get my groceries for me. Does God still perform miracles in our time? Oh Yes! I've seen so many in this past 8 months that my spiritual eyes are wide open and now I pray, not only asking for miracles but expecting them and just waiting for them.

So What am I doing here ? So far there have been times when I've wondered that myself. But God's plans are really starting to unfold and even as I write I'm preparing to come back again in 2002. I will tell you about that later.

I spent the first weeks here learning my way around and coming to know everyone. I now know everyone by name. I may often mispronounce them, they are still trying to teach me to roll my tongue around some of the strange sounds, but I do know them and what everyone is doing. I have met every leader in the Country and know where they are from and they all know me. Some speak some English, the others communicate with a translator if one is available, but more often by hugs and kisses and great big smiles. I'm even getting to know the soldiers and many of the young people. We have a lot of youth work going on in the territory. A wonderful young woman from England is Youth Leader. Her grandfather, Commissioner Simpson, was a pioneer of the Army's work in the Country back in the 1920's. The young people are all so talented. Most play the piano very well and sing and dance, interpretive dancing, something new to me and very beautiful and spiritually uplifting. They are beautiful young Christians and I'm enjoying them.

I have spent quite a bit of time at the Leontines Gorksas Children's Home. There are about 30 children there and I have come to know them and the staff. I find this a bit more difficult in that there is very little English spoken there. Two of the staff can translate but they are often out or just very busy with their duties, so the children come and climb all over me and by sign language we communicate. I have done devotions there and my words were translated for them, but they didn't translate anything back to me in English. Because they are afraid of saying something wrong, they don't like to try. There are some older boys there. The work started as a boy's home back in the beginning years, probably close to 10 years ago and some of the boys have been with us since the beginning. They are supposed to leave at 18 but because they have no where to go and no jobs, they are still there and help around the home and with the younger children. Most of these boys speak English, but they don't hang around much.

One of the interesting things that I have noticed, the children love to colour and because of the expense of colouring books, we photocopy the page they want from the book and they colour that. I think of how many books I've thrown out half used..

I have learned to drive back and forth to the home now. At first it was very confusing as everyone that took me went a different route so I had to get a map and figure it out for myself. There are many one way streets and that makes it harder. Also as I've said many times the streets are very congested. Several lanes of traffic, but no lines to keep between. It's every man, or woman, for themselves.

I've learned my way around the building now, At first I found it confusing. It's a large building and there are 3 different flights of stairs going to different areas.

And I'm finally getting my directions around Riga and even to the different Corps around Latvia.

I've taken part in meetings, traveling around and also here in Riga. I've had the opportunity to speak and to share in many wonderful things that are happening. The meetings are joyful and real expressions of the love of the people for the Lord. I just wish I spoke Latvian. On Sunday I did the message and the only words I understood were what I said myself. I sing along in Latvian but without knowing the words and understanding the meaning you miss out on so much. However, as I told the people , although I didn't understand all that was said, the one thing I knew for certain was that the Holy Spirit was with us as I could really feel His presence with us.

Right now is vacation time and everything is supposed to be closed for the month of July. However, the commitment of our people surprises me completely. Inetta, the young secretary, has been in everyday this week working. She left yesterday afternoon to go away with the young people until Sunday. She will be back in the office late Sunday afternoon and I already have messages on her desk from phone calls this morning, that she will have to take care of. Some holiday !!!

Also, Monday morning when I came down to the office I was surprised to find the door unlocked so called out ' Hello' only to hear Edvins' voice from his office. I said 'I thought you were on holiday' but he said he had work he needed to do. He was in again yesterday and worked the full day. Henrik Andersen ( The Regional Commander ) had already said that many evenings he has to really get firm and send them home. Certainly not clock watchers.

I am spending quite a bit of time in the office. I have a few projects underway. One will make you smile, as I get a laugh out of it. I am praying for the Lord's direction as I do it. Lisbeth Andersen has 14 large binders full of letters. They go back several years and there are a lot of things in there that don't need to be kept so I'm cleaning out these files.. Now at least 99% are letters written in Swedish or Latvian. Interesting... I'm supposed to keep anything that looks 'important'. I am sorting everything into 3 piles that she can quickly thumb through when she returns. One I think is garbage.. The other looks old but like it should be kept and then the most recent or 'important looking'.

But again God provides. Next week I will have unexpected help to check what I've done.

We have a Latvian girl in the Training College in Sweden and her summer appointment is back here. She is staying in the flat with me and next week she is supposed to be working but has nothing to do. Before she left for College she was the Commander's Secretary so for a few days I will use her to go through those files. This week she is in Liepa with the young people.

Sarah, the youth worker, along with her new husband, who is a Baptist fellow working with the Navigators, teaching Bible studies and training in the churches in Latvia, have had about 15 young people together for a seminar on evangelism. They spent 5 days here in the building. They slept in sleeping bags on mattresses on the floor and prepared their own meals etc. They spent 5 intense days in prayer, bible study and teaching in the mornings, and then in the afternoons preparing for kid's clubs and outreach programs for the next five days in Liepa where they are putting into practice all they learned. I spent a bit of time throughout each day with them. Again I was so impressed with these beautiful young people, they are so intelligent and so bright and happy. It's fun to be with them. One afternoon 2 of the young women went with me to a grocery store to help me shop. With not being able to read the labels it's hard to always find what you can use. Then they brought the heavy bag back and carried it upstairs for me. I was so grateful for their help.

I want to share two more things with you. The first is about a visit we had in the office one morning. Henrik and I were sitting talking when Jana, the Envoy in charge at Britannia Corps, arrived. Jana is an older woman, a retired nurse, but she looks about late 40's. She was very flushed and upset. She said to Henrik, " We just have to have a car, any old junker will do, but please we can't carry on much longer without one." Henrik said, 'yes I know you need one but there just isn't any money for one. We can't buy an old car because of the expense of keeping it on the road and a new one is out of the question, but we will see what we can do.'

After she left, I asked some questions. They carry on a feeding program, where they feed over a thousand people each month, plus they have opened up their building and provided a home for 10 street kids. For 5 years now they have been traveling by tram to the grocery store and carrying heavy bags of groceries back 3 times a week. Not only is this extremely hard work but also very time consuming.

I said to Henrik, surely something can be done and then he explained that not only do they really need a car, but Fjodors from Daugavpils (near the Russian border) really is hampered in his work because of the lack of a vehicle.

So again I started to pray.. I have been completely awed at how God answers our prayers but I also think God expects us to pray and also to do something when we can.

I thought, I come from an automotive city, "What can I do?" I don't know who to contact so of course, when you need a job done, you always ask a busy person to do it. I wrote my niece's husband, Fred Raiger, who works for Chrysler, and asked him who he knew that we could contact. He told my daughter Vicki, "Now your Mom is asking for Miracles" . And yes I'm asking and believing..

I was talking to Vicki last night and she tells me she has written to.. Oprah, Rosie, Ross Perot and Reba McIntyre... WOW..

So now people... PRAY !!!!!!!! I know the Lord will answer our prayers..

I was talking to Sara's husband on the bus going to Sweden about how God answers prayers. I said he answers in 3 ways, "Yes, No, and Wait". "No" Aivis said, " he answers in 4 ways".... What I asked... and he replied

sometimes He says, " You're kidding ??"

I'm really praying this time He will answer "Yes".

I think of the verse from James chapter 4 that " You do not have , because you do not ask God."

Now I will tell you what I'm excited about. When I got here I found out that the work of the League of Mercy, or it's new name Community Care Ministries, is unknown here or in the Scandinavian Countries, so of course I talked quite a lot in those first days about it and my love for the work.

Lisbeth was invited to go to Sri Lanka for a conference and because of lack of good communication she really didn't know what it was all about. Something to do with 'AIDS' she thought. She really didn't want to go, but like all good soldiers, off she went, traveling almost 24 hours each way, on her own, into a completely foreign environment. She was nervous and we prayed for her. She arrived at 4.00 a.m. at a large airport and no one to meet her. She had to find her way to the hotel on her own.

By the time she got home a week later she was very ill and spent almost a week in bed, finally needing intravenous solution and doctor's attention. Then on Thursday morning she came looking for me, all excited. Guess what ??? the conference was about Community Care Ministries. It has just commenced in Sri Lanka and has really caught on and is growing and many people are becoming involved. This is a visitation in the community into private homes. Not to give out humanitarian aid but to reach out in love and caring support. Lisbeth was the only European Delegate and she is supposed to carry the vision back with her. She had a wonderful week and as she listened she thought of me and what I had been telling her and couldn't wait to get back and work with me to commence the work in Latvia.. WOW !!!!!!!!! Is God Good ?????? My real love and I thought I had given it up to come here when really I have just moved with it to another Continent.

God is revealing His purpose.. One step at a time..

I have contacted Major Maxena Wilson to give me a copy of a training program she prepared for the Province of Nova Scotia when she was Divisional League of Mercy Secretary. This was approved by the N.S. Government. So Major Laurie Wilson has been busy for the past few days, photocopying and preparing to mail this information off to me.

I have been working on a file of information and ideas to have ready for Lisbeth when she returns from her vacation.

Unfortunately, I have no resource material here and have tried through the Internet both at THQ and at IHQ to find resource material and have come up with nothing. So friends, those of you who have been LoM workers,, send me whatever help you can, even stories of your work and how the Lord has blessed the work and the workers. I would like to have some concrete plans ready by the end of July.

As usual, this letter is very long, but I hope will give you different areas on which to focus your prayers.

The most important support you can be to me and to the work here in Latvia is constant prayer support.

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