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Longview, TX
December 28, 2004
t was just about a year ago at this time that a series of providential "circumstances" begin to unfold that would ultimately culminate in one of the most meaningful experiences of my life. Actually, God laid the groundwork for this event several years ago by placing in my heart a yearning to serve Him in a new and perhaps more meaningful way than I had ever known before. Although I've been a Christian since I was six years old and have participated in Choir Tours, Mission Trips, etc. all of my life, God suddenly placed a longing in my heart to do more. Since that time I've seized every opportunity to make myself available to His calling. Through working with our Youth in Disciple Now Weekends, World Changers and teaching Sunday School, I begin experiencing exactly what God intended for me to do in terms of literally being "hands and feet". It's amazing how much He can do if we just make ourselves available to Him and then get out of the way. Then, came one of the most dramatic examples of God's perfect plan being revealed that I've ever known.
A couple of years ago several members of our Mission Committee at First Baptist Church Longview begin researching new short term international mission opportunities for us to pursue. They quite naturally looked fairly close to home first, focusing their efforts on Mexico, Guatemala and other parts of Central and South America. Any of these would have made a lot of sense for us and without question, the needs were great in all of those countries. However, no matter how hard they tried to make things happen, doors just wouldn't open for any of these projects. At about that same time, we begin having conversations with our friends at Buckner Orphan Care International about joining them on one of their trips. As the months went by, our direction began to be diverted to Eastern Europe and Russia. The needs in Latvia, a former Soviet Block Country on the Baltic Sea first crossed our radar through BOCI's newly initiated programs in Latvia. In the meantime, on a parallel course that only God could have devised, after over a year of searching we called a new pastor to fill our pulpit; Tim Watson from FBC Canton, TX. Shortly after calling Tim we learned that he had led a group from Canton to Latvia, and, through Bridge Builders International, had established a sister church relationship with a church in Riga. After months of searching for a new pastor, it was certainly more than coincidence that the man God had revealed as His man for our church also had a heart for Latvia. We also learned that Chuck Kelley was serving on the Board of Directors of the BOCI operation in Latvia and was both familiar with and supportive of that entity's efforts there. Without question God was revealing His perfect will for our church and all the rest, as they say, was in the details.
A little more than a year before these events begin to unfold, our son, Ben, dedicated his life to vocational ministry with a strong inclination towards Foreign Missions. In discussing his calling with several minister friends, including Dr. Ken Hall, President of Buckner Benevolencies (Parent to BOCI) all suggested that we expose Ben to as many mission opportunities as possible in order to allow the Holy Spirit to truly reveal God's perfect will for him and his ministry. So, when the folks organizing the FBCL Latvia Trip approached us about going, there was very little hesitation in our acceptance. My wife Julie, a second grade teacher, wasn't able to make the trip due to its overlapping with scheduled preparation for the new school year.
Once we were committed and the rest of the group was put together we begin to see again how God was working in this effort. First, of the 26 people in our group, just about every age group, vocation and interest was represented. We had a doctor, a lawyer, a banker, retired businessmen and teachers and several students. Our experience on mission trips ranged from one lady that had been on over 40 to first timers. The one thing that we all shared was a love for the Lord and an absolute determination to be obedient to whatever calling He had for us. As for Ben and I, we prayed from the beginning and every day and night after that God would find a way to use us as His hands and feet every minute of every hour of every day, to make us USEFUL, in fulfilling His purpose for our lives and in winning others to the kingdom. We certainly weren't disappointed. God is faithful.
The purpose of our trip, broadly, was three-fold:
1. To serve with Buckner as they begin a ministry for
Buckner Orphan Care International in Latvia.
2. To work through BBI in establishing a sister church
opportunity for us in Latvia.
3. To seek whatever other ministry needs God
might make reveal to us in Latvia.
As planning for the trip unfolded, one big change occurred that could have discouraged us if we weren't so absolutely certain of God's direction. Originally, we had planned to undertake several much needed construction projects on some of the orphanages that we were to visit. After having participated in World Changers in various parts of the Southeast through the North American Mission Board for several years, Ben and I both were very excited about the prospect of using our World Changer experience in Latvia. However, about a month before we were to leave we learned that the logistics of getting construction materials and tools to the areas in need was going to be too difficult and complicated to accomplish in the amount of time that we had available. So….what were we to do? The answer from the Buckner folks was, quite simply, hold babies, love on kids and, most of all, be available to the movement of the Holy Spirit. Well, I LOVE kids, any kids. I've been working with kids all my life, big kids, little kids, red and yellow black and white kids…but to go half way around the world to play with kids? Was that REALLY what God had in store for us? O.K., Lord, in for a penny…you just show us what you want and we'll be there.
Replacing our tools with toys, our materials with games, we begin shifting gears towards making provision for a full-scale, old fashioned Baptist Vacation Bible School to be delivered to multiple age groups in multiple settings with an indeterminate number of children. Jane Ann Crowson, Julee Rachels and Susan Henry did an incredible job of working through the logistics and planning for games, crafts, bible stories and multiple methods of sharing the plan of salvation with different age children speaking multiple languages in indeterminate settings with no real idea how many participants to expect. Once again, the Holy Spirit worked through these ladies and we were well prepared for all that we encountered on our various mission sites. Supplies for the VBS, along with medical supplies, hand made quilts for the orphanages from our church's Busy Hands ministry, bibles, backpacks, toys, balls and clothes were packed into more than 20 large duffel bags that were distributed among our group before our departure.
So it was that on the morning of Thursday, July 22, 2004 we boarded a bus at our home church to begin what was to be a 30 hour journey to Riga, Latvia via Dallas, Chicago and London. We were greeted by our friend, Chuck Kelley at the airport in Riga at 11 p.m. and under his able tutelage, cleared customs, collected our bags and retired to our hotel. Chuck met us again at the hotel the next morning (Saturday), along with missionary Bill Shultz and his wife, and started our trip with an invaluable orientation to the country of Latvia, its people, its customs and its climate. It should be noted that this session was actually a follow up on a previous orientation meeting Chuck had conducted with us a month or so before in Longview. Both were extremely helpful in getting us acclimated to our new surroundings. Following that meeting, we split into two groups for a tour of Riga. Chuck led the group I was assigned to and he had arranged for a local guide to lead the other. We spent the rest of that day and the next touring Riga, visiting local orphanages, and worshiping with The Matthews Church in Riga, the largest Baptist congregation in the country with approximately 1000 members.
This was the view that we were greeted with our first morning in Riga. At the time we didn't know that Thomas Kinkade had painted virtually this exact scene from the same hotel the week before.
It was Sunday afternoon that I begin to experience what God's true purpose was for me on this trip. You see, like many of my brethren and perhaps many of the readers of this article, I had a burning desire to serve God in whatever capacity He directed, but I REALLY wanted to do it on my time and on terms that I understood, hence my initial disappointment over the cancellation of our construction projects. Then, through the tender heart of a beautiful little 3 year old child, God revealed the first of many lessons I was to learn on that trip; trust Him and He would show me the needs He intended for us to address.
After church at Matthew's and a quick lunch, we headed for the Plavnieki Baby Home in Riga. As the name implies, Plavnieki is intended for children from birth to age five. Before I go on, I must express both my admiration and appreciation for the workers in Plavnieki and the other facilities that we visited. Without realizing it, I had prepared myself for cold, uncaring institutional employees reminiscent of my Western stereoptypical image of guards in a gulag. On the contrary, what I found was an incredible group of loving, nurturing women working long hours in very difficult circumstances. The average worker is responsible for 45-50 children, again, many of whom are under the age of five. The babies have more workers than the older children, but none of the areas that we visited were anywhere nearly adequately staffed by our standards. Consequently, these wonderful women are constantly on the move, feeding, correcting, teaching, cleaning, bathing, changing and, to the extent that they have any time at all, loving these children; all this for the princely wage of approximately 0 monthly. Obviously, under these conditions, the children's physical needs must be attended to first, with understandably little time left at the end of the day for hugging, loving, nurturing. That was our job; love on these children.
The picture below is of me holding a precious little girl just about a year old. According to one of the workers (through our interpreters) she had suffered from an upper respiratory ailment for several months and was having a difficult time breathing even as I held her. The various medicines that we left with the home would certainly be of benefit.
Shortly after this picture was taken, our group split into smaller groups and begin visiting individual wings of the Baby Home to maximize our coverage in the time allowed. Ben and I, along with the other men in the group, soon learned several methods of helping the children warm up to us. First, it was apparent that these kids didn't have much exposure to men and our voices seemed to frighten them. Easily fixed; speak softly. Also, especially with the toddlers, we learned to minimize our height differential by sitting, crawling and, in some cases, rolling around on the floor, literally getting on their level. Another revelation; bubbles are a universal icebreaker with all children of just about any age. Some of our group had had the foresight to bring small bottles of bubbles with them. Once they broke these out, the kids swarmed us, warming immediately to us, eagerly accepting and absorbing all of the love and attention that we had to offer. Needless to say, we were having a blast with these kids. God was blessing us through His children in ways that I could have never imagined.
It was in the last of the living areas that we were to visit at Plavnieki that I notices a beautiful little blonde haired, blue eyed girl watching me warily from across the room. Her 2-3 year old mates (15-20 total in this group, all of whom slept in tiny wooden beds lining the walls of their sleeping quarters) had responded incredibly well to our bubbles, funny faces and puppets, and both Ben and I found ourselves literally overwhelmed with children swarming all over us. The sound of their laughter warmed my heart like I could have never imagined, but I was stricken with the somber countenance of the little blonde across the room. Despite several attempt on my part to cajole her into joining the group (including my patented "fish face" and offering to let HER blow the bubbles) she kept her distance. Then, just as it was time to go and I begin bidding my new little friends goodbye (with their familiar "Atta, Atta" which roughly translates to our "bye bye" I felt a new set of arms wrapping around my legs from behind. I turned to find my little blonde friend sobbing uncontrollably as she clung to my calves. When I picked her up, she buried her head in my shoulder and continued to cry. With the rest of my group long since departed and the workers gently trying to unwind those sweet little arms from around my neck, I tried my best to comfort the little girl, praying God's peace and watch care over her while telling her of Christ's love for her in English. After several minutes of trying to comfort her, her sobs begin to diminish and she settled into my arms comfortably, trusting, but the grip around my neck stayed strong. After praying over her one more time I looked her in the face and combining my best East Texan with the only Latvian that I knew, I said "I've got to go now, sweetheart. I love you and Jesus loves you. Atta, darlin', Atta.." With a trembling bottom lip and new tears threatening to spill down her still damp cheeks she replied "Neh, Atta, neh Atta", which I didn't need the interpreter to tell me meant "No bye bye", and clutched my neck with a renewed sense of desperation. I should say that over 75% of the orphans in Latvia are social orphans whose parents simply can't afford them. In a country still struggling to understand the concepts of free enterprise and suffering from high unemployment and a generally poor economy, these homes are full literally to the point of overflowing. In some cases the parents try to come back to visit the children, but in many cases they don't. I would guess that this little girl's daddy probably looked a little like me and she was reliving a painful parting with him that had occurred in the not too distant past. With the help of a loving worker, I returned the little girl to her playmates and slipped out of the room, unashamedly shedding tears of my own over the obvious heartbreak of this precious little child. "Suffer the little children to come unto me…." With that encounter God revealed to me with stunning clarity that He was indeed in control of this trip and all that we were to do there. He also dispelled any notion that I might have had regarding the relative significance of "building" physical structures and sharing the Love of Christ with these tiniest of His creation. In a word, I was filled with a sense of purpose and direction that I'd rarely experienced before and the Holy Spirit continued to work through me and the rest of our group in similar fashion throughout the week.
I could fill volumes with similar stories, as could everyone else from our group, but for the sake of this writing, I'll limit the anecdotal discussion and attempt to focus on our vision for our continued work in Latvia through BBI and the Pavila Church in Leipaja.
As previously noted, one of the primary objectives of our trip was to establish a sister church in Latvia. Through the tireless efforts of Chuck Kelley and his BBI co-workers, we were introduced to the Pavila Church in Leipaja. Leipaja is a port city on the Baltic Sea approximately 140 kilometers West of Riga. Prior to the fall of the Soviet Union, the city was the home of a large Soviet Naval base that housed nuclear submarines and, undoubtedly, missiles. As a military base, Leipaja was a "closed" city with special permits required to visit or work there. No one entered the city without the prior approval of the local Soviet officials. Once the Soviets withrdres and abandoned the Naval base, the barracks were turned into the equivalent of government housing for the poorest of the poor. Located approximately five kilometers from the main part of Leipaja, many of the residents are cutoff from the rest of the city both geographically and economically. Buckner employees in Latvia had identified the children of the Naval Port area as really needing what we had to offer them; fun and the love of Jesus Christ.
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