Friends, my heart has been broken this week as I have watched the news coverage of the tragedy in my favorite European city. As many of you know, Riga, Latvia was hit with a disaster of major proportions. Any time there are loved ones that perish it is devastating. But for Latvians, this is such a heavy blow.
Let me explain.
In this small, and sometimes isolated country, many do not even know it exists. I have experienced this firsthand the last three years since we first announced we were going to Latvia to help with the work there. “Where?” I heard that so often, and so did my extended family,enough that my mother finally told people I was going to Russia.
Close enough. She was weary of trying to explain and she didn’t have any idea where it was either! She just knew I had told her it was only a few hours from the Russian border.
This tiny country has only been totally free, in their known existence, dating back to at least the 12th century, (and there were vikings in the country even before that), for a combined total….brace yourself…of 40 years.
Now think about this. They have been a country for a thousand years and have only been FREE for 40 of those years?! Twenty of those were right after WWI and the rest have been since the end of their occupation with Russia in 1991. The three Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania managed to fight for their independence with such non-violent means of resistance like joining hands and forming a live human chain from Tallinn via Riga to Vilnius and sang their way to freedom.
You can watch the trailer of the film about that wonderful story here. It is a masterpiece. There is another shorter version here. Please do, it is amazing.
The capitol city is Riga, which is where we lived, and it is also the capitol of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (it also happens to be smack dab in the middle!). Most all of the young people come in to the city to either further their education, or more likely, to find work. So for the country to have a combined population of two million?
The capitol city has 700,000 of that two million!
This week one of the name brand grocery stores, or markets, the Maxima, has faced horrible tragedy when the roof collapsed. We shopped in either a Maxima or Rimi; sometimes we would splurge and visit the Stockmann grocery, hoping to find some American items! There were dozens of them throughout the city, small and large, very convenient because so many rely on public transportation, the markets are plentiful.
This particular market was in Zolitude, which was not in our neighborhood, but was in our friend’s “back door”. They frequented it quite regularly especially to get fresh bread. And some of our friends that are there now live very close to it and go there often as well.
It seems they were putting in a playground and garden of some sort on the roof of this store and the builder had stored all of his equipment and a large load of sand in the middle of the roof. They are speculating the heavy load and maybe coupled with the rains, it was too much for the roof to handle and it collapsed, trapping many customers inside.
While the firefighters were inside helping to rescue the victims, even more of the roof fell and some of the rescue and three members of the firefighting team were also killed.
As of this post, 52 total have been known to have perished in the disaster. You can read about it here.
The next few pictures you will see are of the Soldiers Memorial in Riga Centre, taken by one of my favorite missionaries over there, Kyle Christian. This is where we did a lot of our evangelism and outreach singing. Several of our now established members of the church in Riga we actually met right there in this area around the monument. This is where people go and leave flowers in memory of loved ones who have passed away. Usually of soldiers, but definitely in a tragedy that affects the country like this.
This is so sad for the Latvian people.
Would you pray for them?
Would you help us pray that they would turn to Him in this tragedy?
That they would not be bitter but would seek comfort from our Savior?
That those that are over there with Truth would be able to reach out and minister and be the hands and feet of Jesus in this dark hour?
And if you can leave a short comment of support for them to let them know you are praying, that would be an added blessing. Many of them will see this blog post and be touched by this outpouring of love from their friends in the States!
Thank you so much. I dearly love this country and these wonderful people but Jesus loves them even more.
To our Latvian friends, brothers and sisters far away but near to our hearts: We are praying for you all in this time of sorrow that the Lord Jesus would give you strength, peace and comfort in the days to come.
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Shelby Sarah, how exciting is this!! Latvia has our heart as does the entire Baltic region. Isn’t it almost magical? The Old Towns just captivate me, I sincerely adore Riga and Tallinn, Estonia. Oh my. Miss it all the time. We lived in Riga for a year, in Tallinn for five months, helping to establish house churches and now “regular” churches. We have a great team in Riga and resident missionaries in Tallinn as well. I have not heard of Josiah Venture but I am thankful they introduced you to Latvia. And how even more exciting that you are going full time. Would love to hear who you are working with and introduce you to our friends as well. ♥
Hello, I found this post today and was amazed to find such a beautifully written piece about my favorite place in the world. I am in college right now and have gotten to go to Latvia twice (in 2012 and in 2014) to do English Camps through a non-profit Christian organization called Josiah Venture! I loved reading about your love for this place and these people and feel like we are in very similar shoes, as I will be returning there in 4 months to be a full-time missionary! I would love to hear more about your time in Latvia!! Thank you for this beautiful post, and I am praying for the people there alongside you!
Dee! How wonderful!! I read some of your blog about your daughter…how precious she is! I will be back for more. God bless you and your family and Merry Christmas!
How wonderful Dee! So happy you stopped in and shared with me. I love Latvia and the people there. We have many friends and make new ones every time we go. What a blessing for you! Please don’t be a stranger 😉 Merry Christmas!
I adopted my daughter from Latvia. It is a beautiful country that will forever be in our hearts and a part of our lives. I pray for their healing!
When I was in Jr Hi WAY back in the late ’50s, there was an event at our school, and everyone was supposed to stand to a Russian event One of our class members refused to stand. I discovered she was from either Latvia or the other 2 countries and she and her family had arrived in Tacoma a few years earlier. The anger towards Russia was significantly buried in her. I left Tacoma a few months later, so certainly would never have truly known her, but she had a very strong heart filled with sorrow. Anyhow, you opened that part of my heart and memory today. Know it’s had so many tough situations in that general area. Friends were missionaries in Belarus. It was tough for them, too. A blessing to know the ones who are/have been reaching out and touching so many. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for sharing their plight at Inspire Me Monday; Lativa is in my prayers!
Thank you so much Holly and for sharing it as well. Sorry I am so behind in responding! Blessings friend! ♥
So sad! Praying for them!
Praying Nannette!!
Breaks my heart to hear about it….
Love and peace to all!!
♡♥♡
Thank you Holly!! Appreciate your prayers!! Happy Thanksgiving friend! ♥
I so hear your heart for this nation in your post! It’s lovely to see your compassion through your words. Praying as I read. Thanks for linking up to Testimony Tuesday!
What a beautiful country – and how sad a tragedy! Thank you for shining a light on it. Will be praying!
I am of course willing to send my prayers up with yours and the others who are asking for that peace that passing understanding. I am very sorry to hear the news.
Thank you so much! Appreciate your comment and prayers. Blessings friend!
What a beautiful prayer Sharon! Thank you dear friend for taking the time to pray and to leave your sentiments! I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving with your family and friends. Blessings ♥
Thank you Christina! Wonderful to meet others who have a link to the Baltics. And thank you for your beautiful prayer. We loved our time there as well, we just returned from a three week trip in September and October visiting our “kids” that were in our house churches and our missionary friends. Love that part of the world. Blessings to you friend. ♥
Thank you for sharing.
I will lift up the people in prayers. Definitely seeking comfort and peace and not a hard heart.
Dearest Lord, our Almighty God and gracious Savior,
Please be with the dear people of Latvia. What a tragedy, what sorrow has hit their hearts. I pray that Your presence and peace will surround them. I pray that their hearts will be turned toward You, not away. I pray that You will bring believers into their lives so that they will hear about the hope that You offer. That they will know that we live in a fallen world full of terrible sadness, yes, but that there is so much more to the story. May You bring great good out of this terrible accident, and may You, as always, be glorified.
For You are good, all the time.
AMEN and GOD BLESS.
P.S. I just linked back to this post from my blog, in case people want a more personal perspective than CNN’s.
My husband shares your very personal concern for those suffering in this disaster. He took short-term mission trips to Riga in college and hoped to move there to serve long-term.
May the Lord protect any still alive in the wreckage and those working to rescue them. May the Lord bring forth revival and an outbreak of faith in Christ through this. May He comfort the believers with His Spirit and Word and give them words for every soul who asks the reason for their hope. I plead Jesus’ mercy and grace over this whole situation and everyone involved, in His precious name. Amen.
Thank you for sharing. Praying!
Thank you Teresa, I am sure they appreciate our prayers. Love all of my sisters on SRT!! Have a Blessed Thanksgiving friend! ♥
Thank you Lyli! Appreciate your prayers. ♥
I hadn’t heard about this, Nanette! You’ve got my commitment to pray for these people! Thanks for sharing your love for them here–not forgetting where God began a “good work” in you and by you and your hubby. Praying God brings that good work to fruition in a crisis like this.
Praying for the precious people of Latvia. I enjoy your frequent posts on shereadstruth.com.
Nannette, praying in agreement tonight. Hugs
Thank you Janis…wonderfully put. God is able to do just that. Blessings friend. ♥
Praying for the people of this country that they would find Jesus and those who have lost loved ones would be comforted.
Thank you so much Sue! What beautiful thoughts…so appreciated. We trust God in ALL things. I said to another reader that they do not experience much in the way of natural disasters, i.e. tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, all of those are foreign to them. So this is huge! Not that it wouldn’t be to us too but it has affected so many. Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you will come back!! I would love to make your acquaintance. Blessings. ♥
What a beautiful little country, and to be hit by this sadness. It is incomprehensible to me. My husband is Eastern-European, and this hits a little close to home for me. But I just have to thank God, even in this sadness, because He is not a God of mistakes or uncertainties. As I lift these people in prayer, I hope that the beautiful people of Latvia will feel our love and concern, and know that even though they are on the other side of this planet, we care, and consider them our brothers and sisters.
Candace Jo, what a beautiful woman of God you are to open our eyes to something that I might not ever have even heard about. Thanking God for you.
Thank you so much Donna!! How kind! I know they appreciate this outpouring of love. Blessings to you friend. ♥
I have added the people of this tragedy to my pray list. My thoughts go out to all those affected.
Thanks Mom! So sad, my heart breaks for them…
Thank you Joanne…received more news today that one man that is in critical condition needs desperate prayer now. He is facing serious complications IF he lives. Blessings to you friend. ♥
Thank you Amy…it is so sad. They do not have a lot of natural disasters such as we have so this is a big blow to them. ♥
We will pray for these family’s, who have lost loved ones. Praying for you and Doug to, I know your hearts are heavy.
Oh, Nannette! I had no idea! How tragic! Prayers lifted for everyone! What a beautiful country… that last picture is breathtaking!
Prayed for this country & these people before commenting. I cannot imagine the loss for a country so small & in need of so much. May they find Jesus in the midst of overcoming. May He comfort them at this time.
Blessings,
Joanne