Christmas in Latvia

Hello Everyone,

We’ve spent our first Christmas season in Latvia. It is interesting to see how different cultures celebrate the holidays. Here there are similar decorations: trees with ornaments and lights, wreaths, etc. However, many people decorate trees outside so they also still prominently sell wax candles and candle holders with which to light your trees. Most trees are much smaller because so many people live in apartments. Fresh trees are available generally the week before Christmas as many have a tradition of decorating their trees on Christmas Eve.

Here are some other Latvian traditions:

- Family gatherings are usually held on the day of Christmas Eve and gifts are
opened then.

- Christmas music is playing in all of the malls. We often heard English tracks,
including Bing Crosby’s rendition of White Christmas. We recognize many tunes even when the lyrics are Latvian. They also openly hand out liquor samples in grocery stores as you are shopping.

- Santa looks the same, but when he shows up at a party here in “the land that
sings” (as Latvia is called), each child must sing a song to receive a gift from
Santa. Nate sang Jingle Bells (wonderfully of course) in English when Santa was at his preschool party.

- Gingerbread houses and cookies in all shapes are the featured baked goods.

- You cannot find boxes of Christmas cards. Christmas cards or postcards are sold individually – a testament to the cultural norm of tight and small circles of friends.

- There are very few nativity sets or scenes or even Christmas books about the first Christmas.

At the Reed house on Christmas Day, we were able to share our meal with some colleagues from Russia who came to Riga while trying to resolve some visa issues. Although we didn’t know them prior to this, we were so glad they had Christmas with us instead of spending the whole day in a hotel room.

We had a beautiful white Christmas and Nate has thoroughly enjoyed his first experiences with sledding.

It’s been a different season for us, a less frenetic one because we haven’t had all of the Christmas production rehearsals and performances, parties, socials, and other festivities that usually filled our December calendar. However, the salient theme of Christmas remains the same regardless of our location: celebrating the birth of a Savior, Christ Jesus our Lord!

Living in Our Hearts

Paul was gone the night of November 21, 2008. He was attending a retreat for prospective students interested in the Baltic Pastoral Institute. Nate and I were going through his normal bedtime routine: pick up toys, go potty, get into pajamas, brush teeth, read 2 books, read a Bible story and pray. However, this night Nate had a question right after we finished reading the Bible story. The conversation went like this:

Nate: “Mama, does Jesus live in Daddy’s heart?”
Mom: “Yes.”
Nate: “Does Jesus live in your heart?”
Mom: “Yes.”
Nate: “Does Jesus live in my heart?”
Mom: “Not yet.”
Nate: “I want Jesus to live in my heart, too.”
Mom: “Then you need to ask Him to come into your heart.”
Nate: “Mommy, can you ask for me?”
Mom: “No, honey. You need to ask Him to come into your own heart. First, you have to admit that you do things that are wrong, things that God doesn’t like. Then you ask Jesus to come in and change you.”
Nate: (immediately) “Thank You, God. (All of Nate's prayers start with Thank You, God.) I know I do things that make You sad. Please come into my heart and make me a good boy.”

Then he paused for a long moment, smiled, looked up at me and declared, “He came in.”

Now I don’t pretend to understand all of what was going in on the heart of our little boy. This was an unexpected exchange. Although talk about God and Jesus is a regular occurrence, we had not at all stressed any kind of personal decision Nate had to make. We’re not even sure where he got the phrase “live in your heart”. I’m grateful Jesus can read Nate’s heart and knows exactly what he is thinking and believing.

Jesus taught that you must receive the kingdom of God like a child (Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17). That child-like faith is precious. We’re not sure how much Nate understands but we believe that this is a significant spiritual event for Nate. It is obvious to us that God is at work in our young son’s life and that is a cause for rejoicing.

How would you answer Nate if he asked you, “Does Jesus live in your heart?” Becoming a follower of Christ is the most important and eternal decision a person can make. If you would like to know more about making this decision please contact us. We count it a joy and privilege to walk alongside those who choose to follow Christ.

Praising God for His love and grace,

Kathy (for Paul & Nate too)

A Busy Couple of Weeks

Hello Everyone!

It has been a busy couple of weeks for me in Latvia. One of our key leaders who does a lot of teaching for BPI was scheduled to teach four sessions at the end of November. Some things came up that caused him to remain in the States during that time so I was called on to teach during those four sessions. I taught two sessions of Understanding World View and two sessions on Understanding Other Faith Belief Systems. I enjoyed teaching and got good feedback from the students.

I also spent two days with perspective students for our next class at BPI. It was great to meet these men and get to know them a little bit. It appears our next class will be a little smaller but I believe that we have some great men coming in. It looks like we have at least three men who have expressed a call to church planting. Two of these have already identified places they believe God is calling them. Both of the towns they have talked about are high priority locations in the Baptist Union’s plan for church planting.

On December 1st I led a one day “Transition Retreat” for our current students. These students will complete their first year of BPI on December 18th. They will transition to full time ministry in January. I wanted to highlight some of the ministry that they will enter into. One of our students will immediately begin working on a new church plant. He has a vision to see 10,000 people hear the gospel in 5 years! Two other students have been called as pastors to “revitalization” work in churches that have a strong history but have declined significantly in that last few years. One of these students also plans to start a home group next summer in another part of Latvia. He hopes that a new church plant will be launched out of this home group in 2010. Another two students are beginning a ministry called “Another Option”. Their vision is to work in partnership with a local church to reach 14-18 year olds in the neighborhood. Another student plans to work through his position as a youth pastor to develop a region wide youth network aimed at reaching unchurched young people. Another student will be directing the Baptist Union’s Resource Center. This young man plans to work through the next several months to strengthen the existing Latvian churches by making church resources available. These are just some of the things that our students will be doing.

An area of prayer is that over the next six weeks or so I need to meet with each of these students. During the December 1st retreat they outlined a transition plan. In essence this is a strategic plan for the next 6-12 months. I will be working with them to develop these plans and begin to implement them. My desire is that God will make His plan clear to them and they will be encouraged to follow that direction. This first class of BPI will be the beginning of the work toward a church planting movement in Latvia. I hope to walk alongside them, especially during these first few months as they begin ministry.

On the home front all is well. We enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving meal with some colleagues. We are looking toward a good time at Nate’s 4th Birthday Party on Saturday. We have invited five kids that Nate has met to come over and join us. There was an exciting development in Nate’s spiritual life that I will ask Kathy to write a post about in the next few days. I return to Budapest for a follow up with my surgeon on the 18th. I still experience pain everyday which makes it difficult to function at times. We continue to work through what this means and what adjustments we need to make in life and ministry.

Hope all is well with you and that the holiday season has begun with a sense of God’s peace and presence.

Seeking to serve,

Paul