 
loved them before I came and now I love them even more." These sentiments were shared by Pastor Jim Gurney from Sisters, OR as he and a team from his church were in the middle of an exciting time of relationship-building and ministry with his sister church in Ogre, Latvia. The Sisters group was one of the American teams who journeyed to Latvia as part of BBI's "Partnership Latvia 2003".
The Americans were eager to meet with their church partners and begin their two weeks of ministry together. But first, there would be two days of orientation and training provided by Bridge Builders International and Partners Foundation Latvia. Although fighting jet lag, most of the participants listened well and learned much about Latvia's culture and history. After the training time, the teams left with their Latvian partners to the locations of the churches where they would minister for the week.
As part of BBI's staff, it was my privilege to travel to Latvia with the American church teams. During the week, I visited the four teams at their ministry sites. Along with Partners staff members Peteris Eisans and Rinta Bruzevica, we met with both Latvian and American team leaders and asked them about their week. What a joy to be able to see and hear how God was and is working in each of the church partnerships!
The nine-member team from Lake Tapps Community Church in Sumner, WA (near Seattle) spent the week with their church partner at Mersrags Baptist Church, located on the coast west of Riga. This was the third time a team from Lake Tapps has visited Mersrags. They spent most of their time building three playground structures for the church, a local school, and a school for handicapped children. Jeff DeMarre, of Lake Tapps, was inspired by the seriousness of the faith of those in their partner church. "They have a genuine desire to know God closer. They want to place their best efforts in serving Him. God has given them outreach to people who need help; people in despair. They also show God's love in ways we would not in the US. They are able to do this with an inner strength from a strong relationship with Jesus Christ. We pray that we would somehow be able to bring that emotion and knowledge of the importance of relationship with Jesus Christ to inspire those in our church."
On the other side of Riga, in Ogre, 14 people from Sisters Community Church of Oregon were very busy with a variety of ministry projects at their partner church, Trinity Baptist Church. The team visited an orphanage, held Bible clubs and a basketball camp, performed a mime drama, and met with city leaders. Pastors Elmars Plavins (Trinity) and Jim Gurney (Sisters) both expressed their deep love and care for one another. But this was not new. Jim Gurney said, "I loved them before I came and now I love them even more." Elmars Plavins agreed, "This summer is special because these people are friends. I feel the same as Jim was saying - the same way. I feel that they are part of my heart and I feel very free to work with them."
These teams have learned that the most important thing in their partnership is not the projects they do - though those are good things - but that the relationship is what matters most. They have worked hard on good and clear communication, not only with e-mail, but making sure they have opportunities to meet face-to-face, sometimes in Oregon and sometimes in Latvia. They are excited to dream about the future of their partnership together.
There were two new partnerships established during this Partnership Latvia trip - both with the same church. The Hub youth ministry of Philomath, OR began a partnership with the youth ministry of Matthews Baptist Church in Riga. Immanuel Baptist Church of Highland, CA started a partnership with Matthews Baptist Church as a whole. (Read about Immanuel's new partnership in an article on BBI's website titled, "A New Partnership is Born." [LINK]) Both teams spent their week developing relationships and discussing future partnership projects.
The 14 members of The Hub team covered a lot of ground with the Matthews youth in Latvia - including a visit to Lithuania! They helped to lead worship at the Thursday night youth services at Matthews church. They ministered at a military base, a baby orphanage, and shared a service with the youth at another church in Ventspils. The team shared testimonies and gave a powerful mime presentation, both in churches and on the streets of Riga. Now The Hub and the Matthews leaders will make plans for their future partnership ministry together.
Immanuel Baptist Church sent two of their leaders to Matthews Baptist Church to meet with church leadership and discuss their partnership. The Matthews team kept the Immanuel guys very busy getting acquainted with many of the church's ministries as well as meeting many of the families of the church. Immanuel Baptist is very excited about the potential of this new partnership and the things they may be able to do together in the future.
In addition to these teams, there were over 60 others from 8 churches who participated in BBI-assisted partnership projects in Latvia. There were teams from: Athens (17), Canton (9), Houston (27) and Richardson (6), TX; Renton (6), WA; and Bend (4) and Corvallis (10), OR. Their ministry in Latvia included construction projects, summer camps, sports, VBS, evangelism, English language instruction, and leadership training.
Partnership Latvia 2003 brought 36 people to Latvia - some to renew friendships and expand partnerships, others to begin the relationships that will lead to fruitful ministry together. It was a blessing to be a witness to these events and to see how God is working and using each person and each partnership.
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