Month 4 has been in the beautiful little town of Saldus, Latvia. It’s a quaint little town about 120 kilometers from Riga, the nations capital. Over the past 2 months being in Estonia and Latvia, I have come to love the Baltic states very much. The oppression and trials that these people have faced are gut wrenching and sickening, yet God is doing something here in the Baltic’s, the Christians here are full of love and hope! Both Latvia and Estonia are still young in the renewal of their nations as independent states. Both are less than 25 years free. Can you imagine? We are so blessed in America. The stories we’ve heard of families shipped off to Siberia due to Soviet oppression would break your heart. Or the nauseating truth of Rumbula and the murder of over 25,000 Latvian Jews… Yet, again, there is hope. This hope is the love of Jesus.
I have mulled over what to write to best portray all that this month has held, so here goes…
We are working with St. Gregor’s Christian Missions center. Our week usually includes, cleaning the center, doing home visits, working in a local youth center, teaching and loving kids at a crisis enter, and working with several youth groups. We have met some pretty awesome teenagers, these guys love people so well. St. Gregor’s is home for several missionaries here in Latvia and the women and men who work and live here, are beautiful, amazing people! But why, the devil child, ginger Jesus and the dancing lady?
Devil Child:
A particularly difficult ministry for me this month has been to Zante Crisis center, in Zante, Latvia. The center is a place where kids come for a month at a time because their home situation is bad. They stay in Zante until the legal system can deal with their parents, and then the kids either go back home, or they are put in a home. Zante fights for kids, but Zante is full of broken kids. After our first night at Zante, I felt like I’d fought a night in Vietnam, ran a marathon and got electrocuted all at once. Our team time that night included getting un-boogered-sticky and germ free along with mentally processing everything that happened. To say these kids were wild would be an understatement. I watched a young boy (age 9) get angry with his younger brother (age 7) throw him on the floor and proceed to kick him in the ribs. I jumped up and separated them, but I was shocked. I was furious, and I was broken hearted. Why? Because this behavior is learned. These boys know only violence, and it showed. Once particular child, a young boy we aptly named, “Devil Child” (not that we call him that now, but our first night, he kinda earned that title) is about 2, and on our first night, he went over and motioned for Brooke to pick him up. After smiling and holding him a while, he touched Brooke’s face, then dug his nails in her cheek, the whole time smiling and laughing, as she tried to pry his little fingers from her skin. She corrected him and put him down, but the damage had been done. She’s ok now and you can’t see the scars on her cheek, but it will be a forever memory for all of us. I wish I had some sort of definitive or thought provoking ending to this story, but in all truth, I can’t even figure out how to finish this sentence. Zante is a reminder of just how relentless the devil is, in attacking God’s creation. To steal a child’s purity and innocence makes me sick. It makes me angry, it makes me want to fight and run away at the same time.
Ginger Jesus:
But there are also kids at Zante that despite the cruelty of their situation, are the sweetest kids ever. We have been in charge of running the programs there. So a night includes, arriving, singing some fun songs, introducing ourselves, teaching a story from the Bible and then playing with the kids. Since Easter was this month, we told the story and significance of Easter using resurrection eggs. My teammate Michelle and I had the little ones this time. We told the story, and then did a bracelet craft with them along with a coloring craft. The coloring craft was a picture of the risen Jesus and Mary Magdalene. A young boy who was new to Zante quickly became my favorite. He was attentive during story time, was helpful and sweet and just hugged for no reason. When we passed out the coloring pages, Michelle nudged me and goes, “I’ve never seen a ginger Jesus” and sure enough, my little guy had made Jesus a ginger. 🙂 At first I just thought it was cute, but as I think about it now, I am struck by how we each interpret Jesus in our minds. To some, we may be the only version of Jesus they will ever see. To my little guy, Jesus was a redhead, at least for that picture.
Lastly,
The Dancing Lady:
Now we all have that one woman in our church. You know, the one that as soon as worship starts, she is off in her own world, dancing and spinning around, with a huge smile on her face. That lady that if you arrive to church late, you have to watch her like a double dutch rope to see when you’re free to walk by and find a seat. Yes her. We have such a woman here in Saldus. AND I LOVE HER! Her name is Dianne and she is so in love with Jesus! From the moment we arrived, she greeted us with a warm smile and a huge hug. She is never without a smile and a word about how good God is. What struck me about her, was her heart. She went to Zante with us last Thursday, and she loved on the devil child, and she loved on my ginger Jesus artist. The naughty and the well behaved were loved equally, and without reservation. Yet at one point, during craft time, when I was observing my boy and his ginger Jesus, I saw Dianne talking to one of the mothers. Next thing you know, she’s praying with this woman to ask Jesus in her heart!!!! Dianne is the epitome of a woman changed by love. Not just normal human love, but love divine.
I was challenged so much this month. My patience was challenged. My gentleness was challenged. My prayer life was challenged. You know what I discovered? The truth in John 15:4-5
“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”
