Our new friends, the Matheny's, invited us to join them for church yesterday and we were so excited to be able to go and to worship with other Christian's here in this country that has seen so much suffering and is really still just beginning to trust in God. A very small percentage of the population here are Christ followers, but we were blessed to meet with 40-50 of them yesterday. We walked in to the sound of contemporary Christian music in English and I was already excited! The spirit of worship throughout their service was so amazing and I was overwhelmed by a feeling of joy in hearing them worship through songs in Latvian. It is such a beautiful language, but most of all, I was amazed to realize that God hears millions of people worshiping Him in thousands of languages all around the world and He understands every single one. What a beautiful beautiful sound He must hear!!! I am so glad that we went and I am so glad that the pastor's daughter was willing and able to sit behind us and translate the service for us. I loved how their service moved so freely and with so much "structure", there would be talking, then song, talking/prayer, then song, etc....it lasted for nearly 2 hours, but no one was looking at the clock! I'm sure that you can tell just how much I loved it! Also, they announced that next Sunday, will be baptism and we are so excited for Lilia to experience this. Even right now, we are having the most amazing discussion about what this means. She has never heard of this before and we love being able to share with her what it means to a Christian. Her heart is so open to the things of God and what the Bible teaches!
Yesterday we also enjoyed Christmas in Doma Square. Old Town is coming alive with the Christmas spirit and it is beautiful! We tried to go to a First Day of Advent Christmas concert at St. Peter's Cathedral, but they had run out of room so we strolled down the street to Doma Square to enjoy all of the Christmas festivities. Lilia had her first candied apple and our family shared a bowl of traditional Latvian soup that had been cooked over an open fire. We saw Santa Claus and the kids were so excited! Even Lilia followed him around and smiled so big. She had her picture taken with him and then he kissed her on the cheek. She was so embarrassed and later asked, "Why did her kiss me? " We told her that he loves her, he loves all children. She said "NO!" It is so hard for her to believe that she is loved and special, but she's beginning to understand. Last evening after we got back to the apartment, I heard her say "Me is a special girls". I was so glad to hear this from her! She finished off the night with a very special "first"...her first time taking a bath! The other day at the market we had bought her a bath soak (the ones you drop in and they fizz and turn the water colorful and scented). I lit a candle, turned on music, and she soaked for a long time. She loved it!
 |
| Tabita, our translator with the kids |
 |
| Rigas Baptistu |
 |
| Christmas in Doma Square |
No comments:
Post a Comment