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Carelinks | Riga ~ Winter Welfare
ings. One thing I did seem to notice about
the society, not just the poor, is that they
seem somewhat dour. They rarely make eye
contact, when they do they quickly look
away and usually down. Their faces appear
sad, sometimes even a bit angry. If you nod
to them as you walk by they almost never
nod back or reply. I’m not certain if that’s
just a Latvian or Eastern European way but it
seems a bit sad. There’s a gloom in the air
that feels somewhat disconcerting but not
threatening.
Working in the Bible Centre has been so very
fulfilling. Most days involve going to a
market called “Maxima”, which is a large
superstore much like a super WalMart, with
groceries and department store combined
but more heavily proportioned to the
groceries than dry goods. Most days so far we
make Borshch soup. It’s a comprehensive
meal that includes a balance of vegetables,
meat, dairy and
liquid. It’s quite tasty
and the guests enjoy it
very much and almost
always come back for
refills, usually several
times. Tomorrow we’re changing things up
with some Split Pea soup. I’ve been ladling
out the soup each evening at 6pm (after an
hour Bible Study) and they consume about 50
litres per night, sometimes more. Typically
there’s between 60 to 100 souls to feed (spir-
itually and physically). At first it didn’t seem
like they ever smiled much but in the last
few days as they’ve seen us there a few
times, they seem to warm up to us and show
much appreciation for the efforts made for
them and finally a warm appreciative smile
on their face makes our day. Anne helps by
handing out the bread and spoons. When
they arrive there’s always plenty of hot
coffee and tea to warm them up.
The language is a barrier that can be
overcome. Sometimes it’s frustrating and
sometimes it’s downright amusing. We spend
a large amount of time with Maxim, a
wonderful brother from the Ukraine who has
problems with military service there. He
speaks Ukrainian and Russian and almost no
English, although he knows more English
words than we know Russian or Ukraine. He
attempts to teach us some key Russian words
but we don’t seem to retain them very well.
We can usually sign something to indicate
what we want, other times we make use of
Google Translate, which works pretty well
but not always perfectly, sometimes
providing a rather
amusing interpreta-
tion of what we said.
We also spend a lot of
time with Hannah, a
lovely young sister from New Zealand staying
here for her Summer (southern Hemisphere)
break, three months. She’s quite energetic
and cheerful and so very pleasant to be
around. Together with Maxim, we prepare
the food from raw ingredients each day,
preparing, cooking and cleaning and sani-
tizing. When we’re done, the kitchen, dining
hall, meeting room and washrooms are all
clean, sanitary and ready for another day.
I can’t close without mentioning how nice
Duncan and Cindy (and their three little chil-
dren) are to be around. They constantly open
their home to us all for fellowship, prayer
and encouragement in the scriptures. They
make a significant difference in countless
lives every day to help advance the Gospel
message. The work being done here in Riga is
a very special mission and well organized in
accordance to the word of God.”
“The time here has its challenges but none
that match the fulfillment one feels by
helping out their brothers and neighbours
in need.”
In just a few minutes first, second and sometimes third
helpings are served up to anywhere between 60 - 100+ people