29
~ continued ...
Carelinks | Italy
Bro Peter, pictured above right, and Sis Dae Ventresca from Canada spent
a very useful three weeks in Italy during October, holding multiple pastoral follow up meetings
and Bible studies etc., with the African brethren baptized there and also distributing
leaflets in English and Italian. Always great to see spiritual growth in those baptized.
Carelinks | Latvia
I
n Latvia in early December temperatures
were down to -15C, i.e. 15 degrees below
freezing. This is no fun for those living on the
street, or the elderly folks in night shelters.
They have to be out by 8am and are only
allowed back in at 8pm. Most night shelters
don’t allow them to leave anything there, so
in the day time they must trudge the streets
with their bag of belongings. We provide sev-
eral hours where they can come in to the
warm, have unlimited coffee, and have a Bible
teaching session followed by a nutritious meal.
We really appreciate your ongoing support
which allows this to happen. The majority of
those attending are now already baptized and
there are always new people getting inter-
ested. They gather outside the hall well
before opening time, and no words can quite
describe the feeling when we open the doors
and they all flood in to the warm. This is really
a very, very hard life and we are, with God’s
help, making a huge material and spiritual
difference. We made a short video, taken from
the outside of the hall and then from the
inside as the doors open, to try to give you an
idea. Please view the link below:
Many of these folks have worked, but because
they are ethnic Russians they receive no
pension nor medical support. Family life was
largely destroyed in the Soviet years, with the
idea that the state would always provide. But
that has all ended. They had no pension sys-
tem in those years, and so now if they have no
family to live with, they are on the streets. All
these people have different stories.
Sister Inara was baptized at the end of
November. She explains in her baptism video
how she grew up as an atheist in Soviet times.
She got married and then became very ill but