Pastor Janis Smits, after years of exile, left a successful pastorate in Canada and moved his extensive family back to their homeland of Latvia. His church, Salvation Temple-historically important as a center of evangelism and pastoral training-now was a broken and abused building, serving the very poor in a neighborhood of deep needs.

A center of evangelism and pastor training in the 1920s, Salvation Temple's effectiveness in missions was cut short by 50 years of Soviet occupation of Latvia. This year, the church celebrates the passing of 75 years since its construction.

I had a special place in my heart for Salvation Temple. It was there that my grandfather, Charles Singer, was trained for ministry by the legendary Latvian Christian statesman, William Fetler. In the 1920s and 30s, Salvation Temple was one of the most prominent churches in the Baltic nations. It was the home of Latvian, Russian, and Polish congregations. Its 2,000 seats were often all occupied when the Bible was taught and the Gospel was preached. Further, Salvation Temple was a missionary sending center. Over the years, countless Latvians and Russians went out from Salvation Temple as missionaries to unreached regions in Latvia and as far east as Siberia.


Dr. Fetler was a remarkable leader. A prodigy of Charles Spurgeon himself, Fetler was a scholar, linguist, musician, poet, and visionary leader. He was the founding pastor of the first Baptist congregation in St. Petersburg, Russia, and later started the first Baptist church in Moscow. He was also the founder of the Russian Bible Society.


Fetler was the most important mentor in my grandfather's life. And my grandfather was my most important mentor. In a very clear way, I can trace my own spiritual roots and ministry vision to this unique church planted in the desperately impoverished region of Riga known as "Little Moscow."


In another way, I can trace my physical roots to Salvation Temple. For it was in that sanctuary that my grandparents were married in 1929.


When the Soviet communists occupied Latvia in 1944, the pastor was sentenced to Siberia. William Fetler had left Latvia briefly before the occupation, but his brother, Robert, who succeeded him as pastor, was never heard from again.


The Soviets closed the church and disbanded the congregation. They then transformed the facility into a multi-purpose athletic center. The sanctuary was turned into a basketball court. For almost fifty years, the church's doors were closed to the preaching of God's Word and compassionate ministry to the people of Riga.


Shortly after Latvia regained her freedom in 1991, the church was returned to the Latvian Baptist Union. It was, like everything the communists touched, in horrible condition. An energetic evangelist/pastor, Gunars Lagsdins, poured his heart into starting a new church in the old building. He was a wonderful man who deeply influenced numerous people to come to Christ and serve Him. Many who are in Christian service today point to Pastor Lagsdins as their spiritual mentor. However, in God's wisdom, Lagsdins died suddenly shortly after he began the new church. That was when the Latvian Baptist Union invited Dr. Janis Smits to return to his homeland and assume the pastoral leadership of Salvation Temple.

Chuck Kelley and Janis Smits have been friends for 20 years.

Back to my 1996 conversation with Pastor Smits. "Will you find a sister church for us?"


The BBI ministry was still young when Janis and I spoke of his hopes. Most of the American churches I was recruiting for partnerships were in the area near our Oregon office. However, I was drawn to speak about Salvation Temple's plight to a church that already had plenty on its plate at that time-Calvary Church of Los Gatos, California. I visited Calvary several times in 1997 and 1998 and explained BBI's sister church vision and the powerful potential of impacting multitudes of people through meaningful international church partnerships. The leaders were very receptive.


They were also cautious. Calvary was about to embark on a major building program. This would seem to be a bad time to propose beginning a long-term relationship halfway around the world. Yet Calvary also was and is strongly committed to world missions.

In 1998, Calvary Church and Salvation Temple leaders met for the first time during the BBI Partnership Latvia conference. (Left to right: Mike and Sandy West, Bob and Bennie Hooker of Calvary Church; Pastor Janis Smits of Salvation Temple; Chuck Kelley of BBI; Roger and Linda Draves of Calvary Church)

In May of 1998, three couples-Pastor Bob and Benny Hooker, Pastor Roger and Linda Draves, and Elder Mike and Sandy West, visited Latvia as members of one of our sister church trips. These three couples connected in a deep way with Pastor Janis and several key individuals in the church. They came home and recommended that the partnership be formalized.


Calvary Church responded enthusiastically and, in a remarkable outpouring of love, earmarked half of the missions offering raised during their capital campaign to meet Salvation Temple's pressing needs.


Oftentimes, I'm asked what is the effect of partnerships on churches in Latvia. But this question is equally valid to ask of a partnership's effect on the American church. Here is Calvary's "living history," a history that continues to be created in season and out, through church and personnel changes, faithful to God's calling.


The partnership began in May 1998 as a result of a BBI-led trip that began in Sweden, at a mission center specializing in the former Soviet Union, and continued on in Riga with the Calvary team spending a week with Pastor Janis and his congregation at Salvation Temple.


During the fall of 1998, when Calvary was beginning its major building project, the church decided to invest the first fruits of their construction capital campaign back into world missions. This decision was remarkable in itself. Half of the committed amount was earmarked for Salvation Temple to help rebuild its church foyer and the main restrooms, which were absolutely despicable after 50 years of Soviet Occupation neglect. What a blessing this gift was and continues to be!


This monetary gift was hand-delivered by Senior Pastor Fred Wilson, Global Impact Chairman Paul Thimsen, and Mike West in February 1999. This visit was the first for both Paul and Fred, who have each returned several times in subsequent years.


Two other important events happened during that visit. First, the Calvary team joined Janis and his assistant, Guntis, at the Hope '99 Pastors Prayer Summit. Those three days of fellowship and prayer were used of God in historic ways in tearing down ethnic barriers between Latvians and Russians. Secondly, plans were made for "Bridging the Gap," an outreach of Calvary's youth department.


"Bridging the Gap" took place in the summer of 1999. More than 50 high school students, youth ministry staff, and pastoral staff invested ten days in Latvia. They were involved in music outreaches at Salvation Temple and parks, and in children's ministry and sports ministry. Pastor Fred preached at Salvation Temple as well as other venues.


BBI arranged for the group's practical needs (housing, food, and local transportation). We also provided cultural training and fund raising consulting with the team in Los Gatos while it was preparing to go. During their outreach, BBI Vice President, Mike Parker, lived with them and served their project any way he could.


Two months later, several from Calvary participated in Hope '99 with Luis Palau. Hope '99 was the most comprehensive and fruitful saturation evangelism undertaking in the history of the Baltics. More than 5,000 publicly professed faith in Christ.

During Hope '99 Calvary Church's Walt Wilson taught at the Hope '99 mini-school on the future of the internet.

Hope '99 had an educational component, offering mini-courses on Christian leadership to all who wanted to attend. Pastor Fred Wilson, Pastor Bill Allison, and elders, Mike West and Walt Wilson, taught various segments in the mini-school. Walt and Mike also met with and ministered to numerous Christian business professionals and students at the Stockholm School of Economics.


In October of '99, the church brought Pastor Janis and Ruth Smits to Los Gatos. It was a wonderful opportunity for the congregation to get to know this fine couple as well as to deepen partnership plans. During this visit, Janis was given first-rate medical treatment through contacts in the church.


As a result of special gifts from members of the congregation and from the budget, Calvary Church provided another major capital gift to Salvation Temple, this time to replace the terribly inefficient coal heating system with a modern system. What a blessing it was for the congregation, especially the elderly people who had been enduring winter temperatures of 50 degrees and colder in the sanctuary.

Calvary Church's Mike West greets President Guntis Ulmanis during his visit to the Media Arts Group Thomas Kinkade Studio.

In February 2000, in partnership with Luis Palau, BBI brought President Ulmanis to the U.S. for three weeks. This included several days in Silicon Valley. Mr. Ulmanis was thrilled when a special choir greeted him with the Latvian national anthem during the morning service at Calvary Church. He was blessed by Fred's sermon and thoroughly enjoyed the worship band and contemporary music, as well as the singing of hymns in the second service.


Following the visit to Calvary, the former President took part in very special meetings over several days with Christian senior executives in the Silicon Valley and at Stanford. These meetings were put together by Walt Wilson and were attended by Mike West and Ted Odell. They were a great encouragement to Mr. Ulmanis, not only in the valuable content, but in the spiritual framework.


During the spring of 2000, when Pastor Smits' family experienced the sudden and tragic death of one of their boys, Calvary responded with extraordinary love.

Latvian students, Sami Smits and Edmunds Kalnins received scholarships from San Jose Christian College as part of a three-way partnership between the college, Calvary Church, and BBI. Calvary Church provided summer internships and included Sammy Smits and Edmunds Kalnins in the life of their church. Left to right: Sami Smits (Pastor Smits' son); San Jose Christian College President, Bryce Jessup; and Edmunds Kalnins.

In the summer of 2000, BBI organized a basketball ministry in Latvia. Calvary was very helpful to us in the process. Rodger Oswald of Church Sports International came to Oregon and provided sports ministry training to our team. Miki Masuda, Sports and Recreation Ministry Director, participated as a counselor and trainer. A couple of the church's students also took part. "Latvia Hoops 2000" was a great success.


For the next year, several from the church returned to Latvia for ministry purposes. This involved the Wilsons and Thimsens.


In the spring of 2000, the church brought Miriam Smits to Calvary for more than a month. She lived with the Wests and interned in the church office, learning from several of the staff members about matters related to office support and management. Calvary sent her home with a good laptop computer. She can now better serve as her dad's secretary at Salvation Temple.


Also in 2000, Mike West introduced me to Dr. Bryce Jessup, President of San Jose Christian College. A few months later, Bryce offered to provide full tuition scholarships at San Jose Christian College for up to three Latvian students, with the understanding that they would be involved and mentored at Calvary. In the fall of 2001, Samuel Smits and Edmunds Kalnins enrolled. After finishing their first year, they experienced a meaningful summer internship with the youth ministry staff at Calvary. They are currently enrolled in their second year at SJCC and are still being mentored at the church.


What a great example of a partnership with a church, a Christian college, and a Christian mission!


In the summer of 2001, Calvary sent another team to Salvation Temple, this time to do Vacation Bible School. Kelli O'Gorman led the team and returned with a heart burning for Latvia. She has since tirelessly kept the needs of the children of Salvation Temple in front of the Calvary congregation. The Christmas shipment of backpacks filled with gifts was a huge blessing.

An important aspect of church partnerships is extended time of personal fellowship. Bob and Bennie Hooker and Janis and Ruta Smits enjoyed such fellowship on a recent excursion to a beautiful Latvian national park.

In 2002, the Hookers and the Thimsens visited Latvia again. Relationships were deepened and future plans discussed..


After many months of intensive planning and training, Calvary's Latvia Go Team returned to Latvia in July 2002 and ministered with Salvation Temple members in a well-attended VBS. The lives of many street kids and their parents were touched.


Calvary Church's partnership with Salvation Temple has been broad in scope, rich in love and fruitful in results. May the Lord continue to bless it richly.

Claudia Berry and Kelli O'Gorman worked day and night at Salvation Temple during the remarkable week of Vacation Bible School (VBS).

This was Tara Eichinger's 3rd ministry trip to Latvia in connection with the Calvary-Salvation Temple partnership. She absolutely loves little kids and never passes up the opportunity to show them love.

Every day neighborhood kids packed the VBS room at Salvation Temple. They sang with great enthusiasm. The church's Sunday School attendance since this summer has grown considerably because of the successful summer ministry.