What a great way to begin a new year! On the morning of January 8, 2008 a special gathering took place in basement of the Latvian Baptist Union house to dedicate the first day of school for the Baltic Pastoral Institute.
Peteris Sprogis welcomed everyone and began with prayer. BPI was originally his vision and he was thrilled to see this day come.
	Here are six of the students, Janis, Viktors, Andris, Janis, Miks and Dave, each with a different background...from IT specialist, to policeman, to boxer, to concert promoter, to music teacher, to youth worker from Scotland.
Dr. Ilmars Hirss, founder and director of the original Baptist Seminary in Riga, gave warm greetings. He will be teaching New Testament.
	Viktors Abramovs is Director of Russian Baptist Churches in Latvia. He is also involved with the Riga Bible Institute which has provided training in Russian for pastors.
Alvis Sauka is the Director of the Reformed Seminary in Riga. He encouraged the students to be serious about their studies of the Bible.
	Lutheran Bishop Pavils Bruvers encouraged all with his warmth and positive spirit.
I gave a brief message focusing on Jeremiah 9:23,24, verses that I believe are foundational to all good theological education. My good friend, Peteris Eisans, vice-bishop of the Baptist Union, interpreted.
	Several years ago Thomas Kinkade gave me this painting of Sunrise for the purpose of giving it to a ministry in Latvia. I was pleased to present it to BPI. It now hangs in a central place in the library.
Tommy Weathersbee, Minister of Missions at the First Baptist Church of Richardson gave warm greetings from Texas and a couple of new laptop computers which are already being used continually. Tommy is also the Chairman of the BBI Board of Directors.
	At the end of the morning the students came to the front and introduced themselves.  The oldest is 39, from a small city, and the youngest is 19, from Riga. What an interesting mix!
Perhaps the highlight was when older leaders laid hands on the heads of each student and took turns praying for the specific students as well as the Baltic Pastoral Institute.
	Janis (left), a former policeman, is a pastor in a small city and Maris is an IT specialist and youth worker in another small city.
All together. A happy way to end the dedication. Now...to the work.
	From the dedication we went to the first orientation session led by Liva Fokrote who is the Dean of Academic Affairs. A native Latvian, she serves with Josiah Venture and has significant experience as an educator and administrator for Bible Schools. The importance of her role cannot be overstated.
During the second day of class, Dr. Don Richardson came to BPI to introduce the students to what he will be speaking about at Mission Days. All BPI students helped with and attended Mission Days. They also wrote reaction papers on Richardson’s lectures and book reports on Peace Child. It was part of the course “Introduction to Missiology”.
	When Peteris Sprogis asked Dr. Richardson to pray for the BPI students he gladly complied. Then the students all lined up to ask Don to autograph their copies of Peace  Child, which was just put into the Latvian language.
Because of a bursitis attack in my left heel, I couldn’t walk much for about a week, including to my first class session. So the class came to me. I taught my first lesson on “Introduction to Theology” in my Old Riga apartment. The students were eager learners.