Latvia Report Overview

Tracy, Lienite, Shelly and Beth in Riga, Latvia

A week ago today I was flying home from 10 full days of ministry in Latvia.  The trip home was long, long, long!  It was SO good to see Glen standing at the Denver Airport waiting for me!  I literally collapsed onto our bed when we got home after going 28 hours from door to door with almost no sleep. Looking back on that return trip, the things that grated on my weary jet-lagged nerves were actually quite funny and I have had some good giggles over them now that I’ve gotten some rest!

How to summarize our time in Latvia?  It was exceedingly, abundantly beyond all I could have asked or imagined on multiple levels.  For an overview:  I spoke 10 times in 10 days and counseled 12 women one-on-one.  The Monday Kitchen Table Counseling Seminar was 4 sessions. I spoke 5 times between Friday and Saturday and then gave the Sunday morning message at a local Methodist church.  Besides that, I spoke briefly at another church our first Sunday and participated in a leadership meeting of the conference planning team.  Of those 12 women, I met with several multiple times to counsel and encourage.  God worked deeply in women’s lives and my team and I established good relationships that we hope to build on in the future. 

Feedback coming from Latvia has been significant.  The woman who coordinated the registration wrote this: "I have received many emails saying thanks to the conference, saying how deep and helpful it has been."

Another lady wrote saying that she “has won back the love for the Lord that she had lost.”

Lienite in her Vanna White pose

From Lienite, the dynamic woman who had the vision for the first interdenominational women’s conference:  “I am so amazed of God's work during your visit in Latvia.  Feedbacks from women were wonderful. God did some special things in their lives…You brought the fragrance of Jesus.”  She also told me that getting to know me has helped her be more free to be herself.  We discovered many similarities in our exuberance, joy for life, love and compassion for people, etc…  She, like me, has been sometimes misunderstood in the sober culture she lives in.  I was thrilled that my uniqueness and the fact that I have found peace with the Lord in that ministered to her!  Her potential for future Kingdom ministry in Latvia is deeply significant and it was such a privilege to encourage her!

It was also a blessing to be able to meet with many pastor’s wives to address their hurts and challenges.  They have no safe place to share their pain and it was very humbling to have them come and share.  There were several who did not speak English and we had to scramble to find a translator who wasn’t a part of the normal church community but who could understand enough biblical concepts to be able to translate what I said.  I had more than one Pastor’s wife tell me that she needed to get more into the Word after our time together.  I found these women to be all over the map spiritually. One asked me to teach her principles of spiritual warfare and we spent several hours on that!  There were several with a deep hunger for more depth with God, but a number of others whose lack of spiritual depth and limited understanding of the Word and God’s work in their lives was very distressing.

Tracy by the organ at the Lutheran Church

One of the two women who travelled from the US with me was Tracy Meola.  I met Tracy when we ministered in Chile with Women of the Harvest.  Tracy had led worship for the retreats in Chile.  We reconnected when, for her Master’s program at Denver Seminary, she asked me to be her mentor for ministry.  We met together for a year and a half.  During that time, I watched her develop a significant understanding and curriculum of worship through an in-depth study of the Old Testament tabernacle.  Last year she came down to Colorado Springs and gave it to some of the women I mentor and it was fabulous.  I also recommended her for a retreat at which she also shone!

Tracy raised her support for the Latvia trip even though it was unclear what, if any, public role she would have.  Before we travelled, she began an e-mail relationship with one of the young, talented Latvian worship musicians (who also is a popular secular artist) that, by the time we left had turned into a mentorship that will continue.  Tracy met and rehearsed with the worship team for the conference, gave a testimony twice AND did two hour-and-a-half long seminars on worship which were, in the words of one attendee, “Life-changing!”  Tracy had never worked with a translator before.  She did a wonderful job and I believe that because of her investment, the face of worship in Latvia was deeply impacted!

Long-time prayer partners, Shelly and Beth

Beth Travis also had significant ministry through her testimony and two hour-and-a-half seminars on loneliness and singleness.  She lives and breathes the truth that our Maker is her husband and she encouraged many.  At the end of the conference, Beth, Tracy and I, along with the conference leadership team made ourselves available for one-on-one prayer and counseling.  All of us were inundated with women waiting in line!  It took several hours and the three of us were completely poured out when it was over but it was, without a doubt, worth every moment!

We all came away enchanted with Latvia and her people.  We carry a new burden as well.  There are three times more women than men in Latvia.  Many women do not know what it is to be truly loved.  They carry deep wounds from childhood that are often aggravated by the church.  Many have no self-concept, crippling fears and self-image issues. I found that there was a desire to know God but in many cases, little depth of personal experience.  In fact, at the Kitchen Table Counseling seminar which was for women in leadership, I was compelled to explain what a personal relationship with Jesus requires.  Some of the pastor’s wives I counseled seemed to have an impersonal relationship with Christ and the Scriptures.  Most remarked on how refreshing it was to be pointed to scripture and that they were touched by my obviously well-loved Bible!  The fact they wanted to talk with me was wonderful and I know that each lady came away from our time together wanting to know Him more deeply.  


Shelly

That’s my heart cry, my life goal:  My passion is to help women find out who God is and what difference He can make in their everyday lives.  The Lord, in His goodness, allowed us to accomplish that on a scale beyond what we could have hoped for while we were in Latvia.  Thank you for your prayers and support!

For more detail see the posts I made from Latvia prior to jumping into the busiest part of the week.  I managed to send reports until Thursday of our week there!  This blog lists the newest posts first.
If you'd rather read the Latvia details all together and in chronological order, start with the first Latvia post, and follow the links to the "Next Latvia Post."

Read about my next international opportunity.