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| Hello again my Friends and Loved Ones. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Is it really possible this will be my last newsletter home. How quickly the past 4 months have flown by. This has been such a wonderful time in my life. Every day has been different. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| As I write this, my heart is heavy for the events at home. At times the fears come and I sing over and over again to myself , " I will Trust Thee, I will trust Thee, all my life Thou shalt control". | |||||||||||||||||||||
| I have been reading the news on the Internet and have had many messages from home and have spent some time up at the Andersen's watching CNN. There have been moments when I've wondered how and if I will get home. But then I remember, God knew that this was going to happen while I was here. He knows the end from the beginning. And I believe with all my heart that He sent me here and so I believe He has this situation for me under control. So whatever happens, " I'm in His hands", and I feel secure there. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The day after I last wrote was a very long and very interesting day. As I told you in the last letter I spent the day with Dianna, her mother Rasma, daughter Santa and the translator Evita. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| We did some sightseeing, through a National Park at Legatne, very beautiful. Then drove to the reconstructed Araise Lake fortress from the 9th - 10th Century. A community built on a very large raft of tree trunks. Little houses, little furniture etc. ( Must have been quite small people. ) They built on a raft just off from the shore for protection. They have discovered a few of these settlements in the Country. They had been submerged but they were able to figure out from what they found, what was originally there. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| After our lunch we drove once again to Drusti, where I conducted a Bible Study for 13 people. I wasn't sure how it would go with a translator. How would the people respond and be part of this? I had used several different portions of scripture and had them translated and printed up to save time looking them up, so I thought. The people all read the shorter ones in unison and I had the longer ones read by different people. We studied the first verse of the 23rd Psalm. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The Lord is my Shepherd... And because of that... I shall not want. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| After we had finished the people asked if they could keep the handouts and I said yes and they carefully folded them up. Dianna thanked me and said they were so appreciated as most of the people do not have Bibles. Some have the New Testament with the Psalms. A lot of the readings were from the Old Testament. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| I'm going back this Sunday to do the meeting and am taking 10 Bibles with me. These cost about 3 lats each. $ 7.50 Canadian, not much by our standards but a lot of money to those people. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The hour went by so quickly that we were all surprised when I said we had to quit. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| After a cup of wonderful tea, made from dried berries and flowers, we headed to the nursing home. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| I wrote last time that I was really dreading this but it was a wonderful visit. The Lord is so good and answered my prayers, and yours. Thank you | |||||||||||||||||||||
| We parked out front and as we turned the corner and I saw the people sitting in the sun I was able to react in just the most marvelous way. The Holy Spirit took over and gave me the right words to say and the right things to do and I enjoyed myself more than I have done anywhere else in the country. It was shocking to me to see that almost 100% of the men had lost one or both legs due to gangrene but I easily spoke to everyone and shook hands, hugged them, etc. The Social worker who spent the time with us was a wonderful young man and the people all love him. They are a very happy group of people and I felt the time spent was very worthwhile and wonderful. Many of the old women were in bed some were blind and deaf but I stood and stoked their arms and faces to let them know that someone was there with them. The ones who were alert were so thrilled to have a visitor from Canada. I am so glad we went. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| After the visit we went to another building to the offices and he showed us around and served us coffee and sweets. We had a wonderful conversation. He quizzed me about the nursing homes in Canada and I asked lots of questions about them in Latvia, his particularly. I told him I thought he was excellent with the people, they all responded to him in such a way that I knew he was good to them. When I told him what we paid for Madge at Oak Park his mouth dropped open and he took his fist to close it. The most they get for a resident is 50 Lats a month.. $125.00 and they don't always get that and they have a long waiting list . | |||||||||||||||||||||
| I took some pictures to bring home. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| On the way back into Riga they told me they were stopping at the grocery store and for me to stock up and they would carry it to my flat. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sunday shopping ????? But then I thought I have such a hard time to get groceries and carry them up the 92 stairs.... SO.. late Sunday night after such a full day I found myself grocery shopping. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Finally arrived back in the flat at 11 p.m., exhausted but very happy. What a wonderful sense of fulfilment and satisfaction. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| As I wrote in that serious letter home, the next week was full of stories of what the people of Latvia have gone through in the past 100 years. I was so sad and yet felt that my ministry was very important as I was speaking to people individually and listening and then had some important conversations with Henrik, Lisbeth and Sarah about all that I had learned and what I felt they should really be feeling as they deal with these people. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Lots of time put into Sermon preparations etc. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Lisbeth, Evita as translator and I spent an hour or so with Oskars. The 90 year old Salvationist who is the Artist. What a great time in his studio as we selected a large painting for the office and 3 medium size ones for the Conference Centre. These I brought in memory of my aunt, Marjorie Isaacs who passed away just after I arrived here. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| I went back today and brought a very small one for myself and took pictures of him and of some of his paintings. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, Sarah and I went to meet with two women (Occupational Therapists) from the States for a seminar on the benefits of Occupational Therapy for Children. This was conducted at the Children's Home for their staff and also the staff of the Mother and Baby Clinic here in our building. I found this a very interesting seminar although so much was new to me. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday was a trip into Lithuania. Lisbeth and Edvin's wife, Gunta, and I went for the day. Unfortunately it poured rain all day, at one time so hard we had to pull over and wait. We drove to the Hill of Crosses. The story wasn't quite what I had heard. From Ancient days this was considered a sacred hill and there were crosses on it. During the Soviet time it was cleared but the people replaced them. This happened many times each time adding to the number of crosses. Today there are countless crosses there. On each cross people hang more crosses until you can't count the crosses on each cross. I did buy a couple of little wooden crosses to bring home, they are crucifixes. This whole area is very Roman Catholic. As I walked all around this area I contemplated the importance of the Cross and its significance. All too often we dismiss it without the proper respect and appreciation it deserves, except at Easter time. The memory of that hill of crosses will remain in my mind. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Of course we did some shopping. The prices were ridiculously low. For one Lat we brought 6.50 Lits. One Lat is worth approximately $2.50 Canadian. The lunch for the three of us was under 25 Lits. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| We each had a salad and a pair of Zeppolinas and a cold drink or tea. Gunta asked if we wanted regular restaurant or traditional Lithuanian, which we decided to try. These Zeppolinas are extremely large doughy potato dumplings, filled with a pork mixture, swimming in a greasy oily sauce and served with sour cream. Lisbeth and I almost ate one but both had upset stomachs after. Gunta felt hurt that we didn't like them. We both reassured her that they were tasty but just too much food to eat. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| I brought some linens to bring home. Beautiful handwork. One small piece was all embroidered and was just 14 Lits. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday was a day of mourning in Latvia for America. Every building in Latvia has a flag holder on the front of it and on specific days it is the law that you must fly the flag or you will be fined. So Thursday every building was flying the flag and had black ribbons tied to the top of it. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| I went out and took pictures. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Friday I had the staff Devotions and instead of singing I just talked to the staff. I spoke about recognizing the voice of God and being obedient to it , and the rewards of obedience. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| During our fellowship time I gave out little gifts from Canada to everyone. Souvenir type gifts, spoons, key chains, pens, bookmarks etc. Vicki had sent these over for me and also Maple Sugar Candy which everyone loved. She also sent a map of Windsor and several really nice post cards. We left them out all day and everyone enjoyed them. Most were shocked how close my home was to the USA. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| After lunch as I said we visited Oskars again for me to take pictures and also to buy one for myself. He lives in the far side of Riga in a very old area. I wish I had taken a picture of the roads. There are so many holes in them. I don't really mean holes, they are more like craters. I said to Lisbeth that if your wheel went into some of them you would never be able to drive out. Unbelievable. You drive from side to side all over the roads trying to avoid them. She said that when she and Henrik first visited Latvia 6 years ago all the roads were like that. Some were so deep that there would be a stick driven down and standing up in the middle of the hole warning you not to drive there. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| This afternoon was our Adult Fellowship meeting but most people didn't come. They are very upset over the events in the states and as it is a time of mourning, stayed at home. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Before lunch the staff held 3 minutes of silence at 1:00. This was done all over Europe. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Each day we start with private prayers in the Andersen's flat, Henrik, Lisbeth Sarah and I. What a wonderful start to the day as we have open prayer, each praying for the work and the workers here as well as our personal prayer concerns. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Then at 9:00 we have devotions with the staff and then a time of fellowship together over a cup of coffee and a snack, before heading off to our own work for the day. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| I will really miss this when I come home. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| If all goes as planned I have a busy day planned for Sunday. They are picking me up at 9:00 a.m. and we are going to the Crisis Centre at Cesis for me to tour their facilities. Then from there to Skangall to see the work there. This is a large Agricultural Centre and School Home for children. We are having lunch there at 1:00 and will see around there before heading to Drusti for the meeting. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday I'm doing the Home League at Iecava and Thursday the Home League at Bouska. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| I hope to get a couple of suitcases packed and away next week also. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The following week is the Leadership conference at Jurmula from Wednesday until Friday noon. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Then I have the final Adult Fellowship group meeting at 4:00 Friday. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| I leave for Scotland the next morning at 8:55 am. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Two more weeks before I leave this wonderful Country. These are truly gracious and lovely people. They have received me so openly and with such love. I will miss them all so very much. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| How can I ever thank God for sending me here. The reward of obedience has been beyond anything I could ever have imagined. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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