 |
 |
 |
Each time I am in Latvia I stop at Baldone to visit the church we helped renovate in 2002. At stop at the disabled children�s hospital and school and sing for them in Latvian. Here is a young student I have been corresponding with, Marina. The difference this trip was that for the first time I preached during Sunday worship at Baldone
 |
Once again I was honored by an invitation to the Archbishop�s annual dinner for pastors of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church. His international secretary invited me to be a part of their group photo. This year it was held at a beautiful �palace� that was very similar to our big plantation estates.
 |
 |
I also preached at my �home� congregation. My good friend, Janis Saulites, is the pastor there now. In addition to preaching at Sloka, I preached later in the day at his second church in Kemeri, before flying back to Sloka for afternoon Sunday school.
 |
 |
I finally made it to the Latgale region in the southeast of Latvia this trip. It is the only part of Latvia I had not seen. The one who first introduced me to Latvia in 1992, Levi (Ivars) Graudins has sold all his Milwaukee real estate and moved to Latgale full time to set up a major Christian center there. He is working on the fundraising to convert his abandoned building into a multipurpose Christian retreat center. Latgale is a region of beautiful lakes and woods. It was a relaxing way to close out my trip to Latvia.
