VIM teams at Straupe and Liepa
Dearest Friends,
I know of no adequate words to even remotely convey to you how much your presence, hard work, prayers and Spirit-filled presence meant to the Hope Center and to the Liepa congregations.
I truly pray that God will equally bless you all for all of your sacrifices. The money was also a God-send, coming exactly when I had no idea how to proceed with God's assignments.
The last VIM team member left yesterday morning on that early plane. I am amazed at how quickly summer is coming to a close. I remember that when I picked up Holt at 5:30 am to take him to the airport, I was so happy that it was already light outside. With each trip, it became less and less light. Yesterday morning at 5:20 am it was already pitch black. The short summer nights are rapidly disappearing and the long winter nights rapidly approaching.
I have much news to update you on, but am still trying to catch up on all of the church related items I put on the back-burner. I want to use this post to update you a little with some pictures that I have of the girls and the facilities.
I know of no adequate words to even remotely convey to you how much your presence, hard work, prayers and Spirit-filled presence meant to the Hope Center and to the Liepa congregations.
I truly pray that God will equally bless you all for all of your sacrifices. The money was also a God-send, coming exactly when I had no idea how to proceed with God's assignments.
The last VIM team member left yesterday morning on that early plane. I am amazed at how quickly summer is coming to a close. I remember that when I picked up Holt at 5:30 am to take him to the airport, I was so happy that it was already light outside. With each trip, it became less and less light. Yesterday morning at 5:20 am it was already pitch black. The short summer nights are rapidly disappearing and the long winter nights rapidly approaching.
I have much news to update you on, but am still trying to catch up on all of the church related items I put on the back-burner. I want to use this post to update you a little with some pictures that I have of the girls and the facilities.
posted by gita mednis | 12:49 AM
1 Comments:
This comment comes from Charlie Clark, a member of the VIM team from the Virginia Conference's Peninsula District:
Our mission trip to Latvia was different from any trip that I had ever been on before. After we arrived there, I didn't feel that it was so much about the work we were doing, and we did work hard but more about the Hope Center and the future of the 'Girls" and their babies who will be living there. The 'Girls' come from orphanages in Ltvia and the orphanages call and ask if Gita will take these 'Girls.' There are five girls nd two have babies; one is two weeks old and one is three months old. Two of the girls will have babies in November. The future for these "Girls" and many like them is very dim, but with Gita's vision and deep faith in God's help and the help of the people in the Latvian United Methodist congregations, many good thigns are sure to come about in the near future. These are new churches started after the Russians left. The Russians had done away with the then existing churches.
I think our interacting with those who live there especially the "Girls" meant more to us and them than anything else. We had the opportunity to worship with four congregations while we were there. After the services we were able to mingle and talk with three of the congregations as best we could. Even though we couldn't understand mst of the words, the feeling of God's presence was felt by all. No matter the language barriers, all seemed as one people with God. Two of the congregations worship in an old apartment building. The space they have to call church is smaller than our fellowship class room. That is for both; they have no other at present.
We also had a get-together for the "Girls", some members of Gita's church, a Methodist mission group working there from Kentucky and Indiana and our group. It went great for everyone. That may have been the best thing the 'Girls' had ever had and one of the highlights for us. The whole trp was very emotional and inspiring for me; one that I will never forget. I cannot really put into words what it truly meant to me. There is no way you can get the full impact and feeling through words from another person. You must be there to see and experience everything for yourself.
By the way we did get a lot of work done. We got the sheetrock in five bedrooms, the kitchen and living area taped, almost finished and and ready to paint. The 'Girls' want to paint the bedrooms. We got the windows, 36 of them, sanded, stained and most of them put in. Doors are ready to be hung as soon as the floors are finished. A man who is a plumber and his wife from a Methodist Church in Denmark were there. They joined our group, worked, stayed and ate with us. That was also a plus for us. They had been there a week before we got there.
This is my account of our trip and what it meant to me. And I want to thank the hcurch for making it possible for me to go. - Charlie Clark
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