Thursday Morning
We spent all day Wednesday with Kristine, the Associate Pastor of Second Riga. Her family has a rich history with the Methodist Church in Latvia... her grandmother and father are both Methodist pastors, and both were here through the Occupation period. Her father was pastor at Riga First, and is now the head pastor at Riga Second. This church is one of only two in the country that actually look like churches. It was taken over by the Lutheran Church during the occupation.
Kristine shared with us some of the challenges of their church. Right now they are having a generation gap in that older members want to maintain the traditions, while younger members want to adjust to be able to attract more young people. It's an age-old problem.
I have to keep reminding myself that only about 20 years ago this country was, for all practical purposes, still in the 1940's. They've come a long way in a short period of time. I don't recall if I mentioned this, but Gita was telling us the other day that the drivers here used to be horrible. When they gained freedom in 1991, many of the people in the countryside were still using horses and carts. Then you give them all cars, and no one knows how to drive! I guess they're doing a little better... John says, "At least they have traffic rules." They don't stay in lanes very well though. :)
Back to the day... after our visit to Second Riga, we went to a great place for lunch called Lido. They have a spread like you wouldn't believe (think Eatzi's and Golden Corral combined) of authentic Latvian food, plus some other typical fare. It was interesting to get to see all of the food before you chose it.
Then it was on to the Occupation Museum. We had a wonderful tour guide who gave us a history of Latvia from its beginnings. Because of their location along the Baltic sea, they were constantly being invaded or controlled by someone. They were on the losing end of the crusades. They were governed by German land barons, or annexed by Russia, or invaded by Sweden... seemingly never-ending. The native people were treated as slaves.
They first declared their independence in 1918, after World War I. That lasted until World War II, when they were invaded by the Soviets, and then the Germans. Our guide shared about the deportation of large numbers of people to Gulags in Russia and to Siberia. You could be sent to Siberia for owning a Bible or for talking about Jesus. In the post-WWII Soviet era, deportations continued all the way up until 1986. Our guide recalls that she was baptized as a child... in secret. They would cover their windows and quietly celebrate Christmas by candlelight. You could be sent to the "Corner House" (i.e. KGB) for interrogation if they caught you. You may or may not ever be seen again.
It's hard to believe how recently this country was completely cut off from the outside world. Because they are so recently free, though, they have a lot of newer construction. One of the towns we went through the other day, Segulda, looks very much like any American suburb. They have accomplished much in the last 20 years.
Yesterday we also visited the open-air market, where people sell the produce and flowers from their farms, handcrafted items, cheese, milk, baked goods, etc. There's also, of course, a large section of imported "junk" goods.
We walked through Old Riga, which was standing in ruins at the end of World War II. It's a beautiful place, and appears to be completely restored.
We saw the freedom monument that was erected in 1922. Amazingly, it survived the occupations... primarily because the Latvian people simply refused to allow it to be torn down. This is an incredibly proud people. Proud of their heritage, of their freedom, of their country's ability to bounce back after horrible atrocities. And well they should be.
Kristine shared with us some of the challenges of their church. Right now they are having a generation gap in that older members want to maintain the traditions, while younger members want to adjust to be able to attract more young people. It's an age-old problem.
I have to keep reminding myself that only about 20 years ago this country was, for all practical purposes, still in the 1940's. They've come a long way in a short period of time. I don't recall if I mentioned this, but Gita was telling us the other day that the drivers here used to be horrible. When they gained freedom in 1991, many of the people in the countryside were still using horses and carts. Then you give them all cars, and no one knows how to drive! I guess they're doing a little better... John says, "At least they have traffic rules." They don't stay in lanes very well though. :)
Back to the day... after our visit to Second Riga, we went to a great place for lunch called Lido. They have a spread like you wouldn't believe (think Eatzi's and Golden Corral combined) of authentic Latvian food, plus some other typical fare. It was interesting to get to see all of the food before you chose it.
Then it was on to the Occupation Museum. We had a wonderful tour guide who gave us a history of Latvia from its beginnings. Because of their location along the Baltic sea, they were constantly being invaded or controlled by someone. They were on the losing end of the crusades. They were governed by German land barons, or annexed by Russia, or invaded by Sweden... seemingly never-ending. The native people were treated as slaves.
They first declared their independence in 1918, after World War I. That lasted until World War II, when they were invaded by the Soviets, and then the Germans. Our guide shared about the deportation of large numbers of people to Gulags in Russia and to Siberia. You could be sent to Siberia for owning a Bible or for talking about Jesus. In the post-WWII Soviet era, deportations continued all the way up until 1986. Our guide recalls that she was baptized as a child... in secret. They would cover their windows and quietly celebrate Christmas by candlelight. You could be sent to the "Corner House" (i.e. KGB) for interrogation if they caught you. You may or may not ever be seen again.
It's hard to believe how recently this country was completely cut off from the outside world. Because they are so recently free, though, they have a lot of newer construction. One of the towns we went through the other day, Segulda, looks very much like any American suburb. They have accomplished much in the last 20 years.
Yesterday we also visited the open-air market, where people sell the produce and flowers from their farms, handcrafted items, cheese, milk, baked goods, etc. There's also, of course, a large section of imported "junk" goods.
We walked through Old Riga, which was standing in ruins at the end of World War II. It's a beautiful place, and appears to be completely restored.
We saw the freedom monument that was erected in 1922. Amazingly, it survived the occupations... primarily because the Latvian people simply refused to allow it to be torn down. This is an incredibly proud people. Proud of their heritage, of their freedom, of their country's ability to bounce back after horrible atrocities. And well they should be.
Comments
Post a Comment