The Easy Way and The Hard Way

It is a cliche from Hollywood cop movies. A policeman is interrogating a suspect. The policeman leans forward and says; “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” We have experienced this when it comes to learning about and living in a new culture. We experienced doing things the “easy” way, by reading, watching and spending time with friends. We have also experienced that sometimes we learn the “hard” way.

Our hearts sank as we approached our parked car and saw yet ANOTHER ticket on the window. Just as in the three previous occurrences, we had no idea what we had done wrong. (Would you know, for example, that you cannot park across from a T-intersection??) Finding out is completely humbling – we show our ticket to a Latvian friend or colleague and ask him/her to explain what it says. Then we take the ticket to the post office, where we pay all of our bills, and smile politely as the clerk processes our payment. We can only imagine what is said after we leave!

We have some American friends who were publicly chastised for letting their children run on the grass in the park. Who knew that you were supposed to keep your children on the sidewalks, in a park, with wide expanses of inviting green grass? So, in an urban environment dominated by apartment buildings, where ARE children supposed to run and play if they can’t run on the grass in the park? We still wonder about things like this and are so grateful God provided an apartment outside of the city center so Nate can run in the woods behind our apartment building.

We had arranged to meet some friends for dinner on New Year’s Eve at a local complex with a huge restaurant and amusement center. We were surprised by the lack of traffic which enabled us to arrive a half hour early. As we walked around while waiting for our friends, we noticed the lights were being turned off. Everything was shutting down at 6 pm! We called our friends and they suggested we meet at a nearby McDonald’s. Two minutes later our friends phoned back and said that McDonald’s was also closing, so we should rendezvous back at their apartment. These folks have been here nearly 10 years and they had no idea that most establishments closed so early on New Year’s Eve.

It was Christmas Eve and we had intended to go to the only English Christmas Eve service in the city. Our hearts sank again as we approached our parked car, in our secure underground parking facility, and saw that the car had been vandalized. The front passenger window was gone and shattered glass was everywhere. Our plans immediately changed once we saw the car. How do you handle things like this here? What police bureau do you contact? In this culture everyone celebrates Christmas with their family on Christmas Eve, so how do you even find answers to these questions when you don’t want to intrude on someone’s holiday?

Yes, sometimes we learn about culture the hard way. Many times this happens through some violation – either by us or to us. In either case, it is a rough way to gain knowledge. However, God continues to demonstrate His grace in even these situations. This was evident on Christmas Eve when Paul went back down to the car to take photos and an inventory of what was stolen. An English-speaking neighbor, who happened to be down there at the same time, noticed him doing this. It turned out that her car had also been broken into. She had already contacted the police, officers had already been on-site, and had noted the damage to our vehicle. She provided the police station phone number and said the police were awaiting our call. Sure enough, when Paul called and got an English-speaking person, he heard, “Oh, you’re the owner of the Honda!” An English-speaking police officer came with the detective to lead us through the reporting process. With both the neighbor and the police officer Paul was able to demonstrate God’s grace and forgiveness as he focused on the blessings of the season.

These experiences remind us of our walk with Jesus Christ. We often have opportunity to learn and grow the easy way, through reading the Word and taking to heart the example of others. We also have the opportunity to learn the hard way. Sometimes this is due to our own ignorance or foolish choices. Sometimes this is due to actions and circumstances beyond our control. Whether easy or hard, we must strive to remember that in every circumstance, in every situation, God will “cause all things to work together for good, for those who love Him, for those called according to His purpose.” Not every situation or event will be good but we can confidently claim God’s sovereign grace in them all. This allows us to be joyful and thankful in, and in spite of, all that this life brings us.

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

More Snow...

Hello Everyone,

Well... we have officially survived our first real winter storm in Latvia! For about 12 hours, Sunday afternoon to Monday morning, there was heavy blowing snow with near white out conditions. Here are a couple of shots of the door leading to our balcony.




The snow was very thick and there were a lot of drifts that were a few feet deep. When we got up looking out the window the roads looked pretty bad. However, Riga is a city that is used to winter and snow. The city recovered quickly and everything was running smoothly, if slowly, by mid-morning. My tram ride to BPI was a little longer than usual when a tanker truck tried to make turn onto a small road and got stuck straddling the tram track.

On an up note, I got some new Nike's. Just so you understand I am also attaching another picture. And for those friends who are in warmer climes I thought you might enjoy the line up of our new standard footwear.



One final note regarding our "little man" Nate. In celebration of Latvian Independence Day Nate's preschool had a concert. We were told that the required dress was "concert black apparel". After several attempts at understanding European sizes we finally found, I hope you will agree, just the right outfit. Here is a picture of Nate on the morning of the concert.



I hope this finds that all is well with you! Thanks for your prayers and encouragement!

Paul, Kathy & Nate

Snow, Snow, Snow

Yes everyone - we have snow! Last night into this morning we had our first snow. When we woke up Nate was so excited to see the blanket of white on everything. All he wanted to do was go play in it. On the way to school he said (several times), "We've never had snow like this!" or "This is a really snowy day!" This afternoon after school he got his chance and had a good time playing in the snow in the woods.

We spent the weekend in Tallinn, Estonia. Some of the BPI students had met some leadership from Estonian churches at a conference in the Czech Republic. Those leaders arranged for all of our students to be invited and hosted for the Willow Creek Association Global Leadership Conference in Tallinn. The Estonian churches paid all of our conference fees, provided lodging for the students and covered the lunch meal that was not part of the conference. It was a great conference and they even took up a special offering to assist Latvian churches to have a Leadership Conference in Latvia.

I would ask you to pray especially for Latvia this week. Yesterday Latvia celebrated the 90th anniversary of becoming an independent nation. Apparently Old Riga and the surrounding area were packed with people. As the snow fell there was a huge fireworks show. I would ask you to pray that a wave of true freedom, freedom from sin and freedom of eternal life, would sweep through this nation. Only in Jesus Christ will the Latvians find peace and fulfillment.

Seeking to serve,

Paul, Kathy & Nate

Treats or Jokes

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to write today about imported holidays here, one in particular. As we moved through October we noticed in Rimi, a sort of mini super Wal Mart store, where we do a lot of shopping, a few costumes, make-up and ceramic pumpkins. Of course we knew what this was about but not too many Latvians seemed to know, or for that matter be very interested.

On the night of the 31st we had just sat down to dinner went he doorbell began to ring frantically. I went to the door and was greeted by one of the children that I had seen around the complex dressed like a princess. She began to explain to me in Latvian why she was dressed that way. There were three other children in the hallway one of which was dressed like a bunny. Bunny was holding the one basket that they all seemed to be sharing. When I got that "I don't have the slightest idea what you are saying" look on my face, Bunny held up the basket and very seriously said, "Treats or jokes!" Then Princess said, "It's Halloween night!"

Fortunately Kathy had purchased a couple of packages of Skittles to do a project with Nate. I went to the cabinet, got the Skittles and when I went back to the door, dropped them into the basket. "Paldies!" Princess and Bunny said in unison. Since we are at the end of the hallway after my contribution they all ran toward the elevator.

As I returned to my dinner I wondered what I would see on the next imported holiday, "Valentine's Day"!

Hope the fall has been good as we celebrate the Lord's blessings.

Seeking to serve,

Paul, Kathy & Nate