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Carelinks | Riga Winter Feeding Scheme | Latvia ...continued ~
ourselves explaining this change to our
Latvian sister Anna who speaks English as
well. She spoke Latvian to sister Sondra who
speaks Latvian and Russian and Sondra trans-
lated into Russian for the other helpers. Once
all the Russians heard, then they all had opin-
ions and started chattering in Russian. Mean-
while Jim and I just stood there stunned while
all this went on. It reminded us of an old game
called ‘Telephone’ where you are all in a
circle and someone starts a message around
the circle. Each person hears the message
then repeats it to the person on the other side
and when the last person gets the message
they repeat it out loud. Usually there is much
laughter since the message often sounds
nothing like the original. It all worked out and
the new set-up has been very functional but I
will never forget that night. Since one of my
concerns before we came the first time was
how to manage when we knew nothing of
Latvian or Russian, it was quite a relief to find
there was almost always a way to communi-
cate - one of my favorites is to find a young
person and ask if they speak English - many
learn it in school and enjoy the opportunity
to practice.
I have to confess that most of my concerns
about coming here have never been a problem
and the rewards are overwhelming. I had no
idea that this trip would change my outlook
in so many ways. I thank God continually for
the experience and the spiritual growth he
has brought into my life.
Sis Anne Barton
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Carelinks | Ukraine
T
he economic situation in Ukraine continues
to go downwards, and the war in Eastern
Ukraine is claiming many lives and limbs-
despite the Western media going quiet about
it. Infrastructure is breaking down, and the
nation faces a real risk of descending from the
‘second world’ to effectively a third world
country in Europe. Pensioners are especially
hard hit. Inflation is rampant but pensions
remain the same. So perhaps it is not
surprising that we had a bumper attendance
of over 70 brothers and sisters at the? Winter
Bible School? this year, where we enjoyed the
company of Bro John and Sis Margaret Green-
wood from the? UK. There were visitors
attending from throughout Ukraine as well as
Russia, Belarus, Moldova and Poland; one
sister came in from Eastern Ukraine, making
a huge journey from Eastern Ukraine into
Russia and thence back into Ukraine proper to