Hi everyone! I just wanted to share a few things that are on my heart and mind...hope you don't mind reading.
The church I'm affiliated with has several sister churches around the world. The purpose of those relationships is to encourage and help each other grow in our relationship with God and Christ, whether it be by spiritual encouragement or physical help. Since February of this year, our church has been planning a trip to visit our sister church in Riga Latvia, the Vilandes Baptist Church. This church building itself dates back to the 18th century, so just visiting the church will be fun! But visiting the people is what is really tugging at my heart right now. For those of you that don't know, Latvia was formerly occupied by the Soviet Union, but since the early 90's has been struggling to fit back into their independence. So much of their language, history, traditions, and customs have been buried deep into the memories of the elderly. The rebirth of the Latvian life is exciting, although the country is still struggling to find it's place in this world. The purpose of our trip is several fold. There are 6 teams of people going, some people overlapping into more than one team:
English-as-a-second-language (ESL Team) - Latvian is the primary language in Latvia, second is Russian. There is a huge segregation in the community between the Latvians and the Russians. Not surprising, as the Russians occupation of their country is not a distant memory, nor is it a fond one. People there are hungry to learn the English language, as they see it as an opportunity to gain even more independence as well as attain a better lifestyle for themselves and their families. This team's purpose is to teach them basic conversational English. We are expecting dozens of people to attend, mostly adults, but probably children as well. There are day and night classes.
Vacation Bible School - This group will be hosting a week-long day camp to teach children about the Bible and how it can be fun to have a personal relationship with God. The theme will be Jungle Journey. They are taking t-shirts for all the children participating, as well as props such as binoculars, safari hats, flashlights, and magnifying glasses. They are planning scavenger hunts for the children to go on. Sounds like fun!
Construction Team - This group will be helping the members of our sister church with rebuilding and remodeling some of their facilities. In 2000, the construction team helped build a brand new wood floor. The church was so old and so delapidated from the treatment of the Soviets that people would literally fall through the floor. We are hoping to remodel a portion of the basement to some living quarters for the pastor (who does not get paid!) and his family. We are also planning on expanding some of their current office spaces.
Music Team - This team is heading up some music seminars for the members of Vilandes. Music is a huge part of the Latvian culture and this church will more than likely teach us a thing or two. But the purpose our our music team is to teach them how to encourage formal participation with the local church communities music groups. There is actually a huge non-demoninational music program the last Sunday we're there, where our music team will be guest performers. Several hundred are expected to attend!
Youth Team - We have two high school graduates that are heading this group up. The youth in Latvia are in a very precarious time of life. Underground gangs and crime are a big part of the society there. Usually they recruit the youth of the community as they are typically feeling independent and are wanting to spread their wings. The purpose of our youth team is to show them a better lifestyle is out there. Through the Bible they hope to encourage people to live by principles that give them a better future. They are also hosting a Youth Cafe night on one of the nights we're there. It will be much like an environment of the tv show "Friends". It will be located in a local coffee shop with live music performed by our music team. It gives the youth in the community an opportunity to visit casually and just get to know each other as friends.
Business Development Team - This is the team I'm involved in and I'm thrilled to be a part of it! I've had experience in my church's children's ministry and can't sing tune to save my life, so this group seemed more up my alley. (I am in sales in my job and had a few skills that might come in handy for this group.) We are meeting with several banks, businesses, and schools to get an idea of what it is like to start a business in Latvia. We have prepared some seminars on several aspects of starting a business. The three seminars we are giving are: Accounting Practices, Business Ethics, and Creating a Business Plan. The latter is a seminar I will be facilitating with the help of my translator Jekabs. Jekabs is a student at Truitt Seminary in Waco, Texas and has a degree in International Business. He is also originally from Latvia, so he is personally interested in helping his country's economy. Our audience will be people in the community of Riga that have expressed interest in starting their own business. We have about 12 people registered, but are expecting more than that to attend. Although this is a church mission trip, I am especially excited about this team's efforts as we feel we are "teaching a man to fish" so that he can eat for a lifetime. It is with this skill that can teach a person to gain a desire to provide a better life, physically AND spiritually, for those they love.
I've felt "called" to mission work for several years, but didn't really know what that meant. All I ever knew is that I have a passion for helping people better themselves and their lives. Whether it be spiritually or physically, I don't care. But with my life experiences I feel like this is a wonderful opportunity to try out some of those new skills. I truly believe that God is taking care of me and is happy that I'm so happy. I think that's what he wants for ALL OF US, no matter what belief system we may have.
I'm leaving early tomorrow morning for Riga and plan to be there until July 15th. We return to Dallas on late Monday July 15th. I will have very limited internet access while I'm there. I'll miss y'all and all the great posts, but will hopefully be so busy, that time will fly. For those of you that pray, please keep this group of people in your prayers. Not just those from our church, but for those actually in Riga. Pray that we ALL have a good time forming new friendships and can accomplish all of our goals and that we all travel safely. We will be in New York City on July 4th, which is a little intimidating. For those of you that don't pray, please just wish us well and keep us in your thoughts. We appreciate any prayers, well-wishing, positive vibes that we can get. Most of the team I work with knows about many of you here. Haha! They here me talk about you like you're family!
My thoughts and prayers will be with you, while I'm gone. But if you ever care to get a glimpse of what we're doing, we have a website. Please see www.latvia2002.com for updates. The site will be updated daily with photos and explanations of what's been accomplished throughout the day from the various teams. (You can see the pictures off all the people going on the trip, including me and Neil's dad Tommy Weathersbee.)
Take care of yourself and be good to one another!
Love to you all!
Andi