Carelinks | Latvia

The daily feeding scheme is now in full swing, with very good attendances of between 50 and 90 every day. We begin each session with an hour where the hall is open for coffee and where the visitors can chat and some read Bible Basics, copies of which are freely available; and then a one hour Bible study, followed by the meal. We’re also distributing clothing and firewood and assisting with heating bills.

We had Bro Norman Stock and Sis Jackie Sprigg with us, and also Bro Maxim from Ukraine whose help has been invaluable. We have the schedule more or less covered until the period Feb 10 – March 10 2018 God willing, and we’d appreciate anyone moved to come over and help then. The work isn’t heavy but there’s plenty of it. We invested 135€ in a wall mounted dicer which is a great help - there’s been so much cutting and chopping of vegetables that it’s by God’s grace that we all still have our fingers intact.

Bro Maxim busy chopping onions with the new chopper

Nothing much has changed for the large Russian ‘minority’. Even if they worked all their lives, they receive no pension if they worked in Soviet times, and the Soviet idea that the state would provide for you has ended now that ‘the party’s over’. So elderly Russian folks with no family to care for them are left living in the dreaded night shelters, where they can stay only about 300 days / year. They must be out by 8 a.m. and only allowed in around 7 or 8 p.m., and have to carry their few belongings with them. It’s a sad way to have to end your life, especially if like some of them, you have decades of work behind you in your earlier life. But to the poor the Gospel is preached.

The folks who come attend regularly and faithfully and many have already been baptized by us. Hearing one hour of Bible teaching every day, they have good exposure to the teachings of the true Gospel. We were pleased this week to baptize Maris who has been attending for over a year. He was raised as homus sovieticus, and was an enthusiastic Communist, going into the Red Army and still has the tattoo of his regiment visible. When burying his mother a few years ago, he says he reflected how the USSR was taught to be ones’ mother, and how biological mothers were just a physical channel through which we entered the world. He recounts a bit on the video how looking at his mother’s dead body he saw how wrong this was, and began searching for God. Like many ex-professional soldiers, he feels not much welcome in the new Latvia, and so was glad to attend our meetings and have the Bible explained.

No food is ever wasted, any leftovers are all taken away by the brothers, sisters and visitors in plastic containers to eat later

There are some wonderful success stories of people whose lives really changed. Soon after we began our present soup kitchen about 8 years ago, we encountered Yuri, a hard core, on the street alcoholic. He was baptized, and quit drinking. He then met Rita, who is a German Jewess, born in East Berlin in 1945, a real survivor, and who had been a regular attender at the Riga synagogue. After her husband’s suicide she found the Rabbi’s explanations not satisfying, and heard there was a group who studied the Bible for an hour every day. So she attended, for the teaching not the food, and was baptized - and married Yuri a few years ago. They are a great example of the radical transformation of human life in practice by the power of God’s word and Spirit. Sister Rita and brother Yuri are pictured at the top of page 29 at the front of the queue, following the Sunday meeting.

We put together a brief video of the food purchase and preparation, Bro Maxim using the wonderful dicer, the baptism and clothing distribution at: https://tinyurl.com/carelinks-latvia

We really would appreciate donations for this work in Latvia. The heating bills for the hall are major, up to 800€ a month in the coldest parts of Winter, not to mention water, breakages, the required hygiene inspections and the roughly 2000€ a year land tax which is due in January, together with plenty of other expenses. Please pray for the great work ongoing.