Bridge Builders International
We build living bridges to Latvia...in Latvia...and from Latvia
Bridge Builders International
We build living bridges to Latvia...in Latvia...and from Latvia

By Mike Rinkin, Director of Compassion Ministries
Compassion Ministries of Corvallis, Oregon, recently sent Mike and Judy Rinkin, Barbara and Ray Ellis and Kent Schnake to teach an intensive one week course at Baltic Pastoral Institute in Riga.


Just a few weeks ago, our ministry team of four returned from Latvia. The team consisted of a Christian psychologist, an adult client, my wife and me. We conducted 3-90 daily presentations for 4 days at the Pastoral Baltic Institute. Each session was on a different mental illness subject. It was our understanding we would be speaking to the seminarians. To our surprise, there were other church leaders invited. We had lively discussions on the difference between demon possession and mental illness, personal sin not causing this illness, and many other subjects.
There were many private sessions of class members talking about their involvement with persons with mental illness. One such person was a thankful mother in tears who had a son who was 27 year old with mental illness. Three women shared they had people in their church with delusional thinking, that they thought they were directly hearing from God. These women wanted to know how to help without being intrusive with individuals of their congregation. An American, living in Latvia for 16 years, with a prison ministry wanting to know how he could better minister to persons with mental illness he encountered.
From my view, these are just a few of the highlights. To say the least, this was an intense and gratifying ministry in Latvia.
Learning About Mental Health & Illness
19 October 2009
“We had lively discussions on the difference between demon possession and mental illness, personal sin not causing this illness, and many other subjects.” - Mike Rinkin
Partnership Report from Compassion Ministries
From left to right, Vesma Sandberga, a fabulous interpreter, Kent Schnake, Mike Rinkin, Judy Rinkin, Barb Ellis and Liva Fokrote, Academic Dean of BPI
Here are a few of the twenty pastoral students who study at BPI.
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