In the middle of June, the Latvian government officially lifted most of the restrictions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. We had been praying for this for many weeks, and are so thankful for how the virus has been handled here in Latvia and that we are now able to engage in worship services and ministry activities in-person once again.
As soon as restrictions were lifted, we began planning for our summer weekly Children’s Bible Club. We have now had 5 weeks, with great participation each time. We are now meeting at a playground in our apartment complex and have had around 15 children each week, many (sometimes most) of whom are not a part of a church. We have also been so encouraged by a number of our own church members who have stepped in to help, provide snacks, and participate in leading. We are using the Jesus Storybook Bible to go through the life of Jesus. The morning usually consists of games, Bible story, crafts/activities, snacks, and then games again. We are also planning an end-of-summer family outreach.
In addition to children’s ministry, both Luke and Patty have had the opportunity to begin meeting in-person again with the men and women of our church. Luke went on a two-day hike/camping trip with a number of the men and older boys.
Christopher only joined for the starting out picture! 
After the men went on their camping trip, the women decided we also wanted to do something adventurous! We all stepped out of our comfort zones and rented SUP boards (Stand-up paddle boards) for an evening and headed out to the river in our town. We finished off the evening with several hours of conversation at the local cafe.
In addition to planned ministry, we have also been enjoying the wonderful summer weather by grilling out with many friends and neighbors. We are so grateful for these long beautiful evenings and the opportunities they have given us to build relationships in our community.
During the month of July, our church decided to hold our worship services on Wednesday evenings, as many of them go out of town on the weekends to help with the family farms/gardens in the countryside. Because we’ve had our Sunday mornings free for the first time in our lives, we decided to take advantage of the opportunity to visit some other churches. Over the past several weeks, we have visited three very different churches. The first was an international church in Riga, where one of Luke’s classmates from the Baltic Pastoral Institute serves. The following week, we attended a worship service at the Evangelical Lutheran church in our county, a beautiful old building that is a picturesque landmark in our community. We were very surprised at how formal and almost medieval the service was. It was like stepping back into the 1500’s with the clergy’s dress as well as the style of music. This past week, we were able to visit a sister Latvian Baptist church in Riga where our colleagues serve.
Finally, Luke has been asked this summer to help lead a new initiative to help Latvian pastors and ministry leaders be more missional in their communities. This has been a wonderful opportunity for Luke to become more connected with current church leaders around the country, and be able to lead and encourage them to engage their communities with the gospel. For now, this is taking place online, but they hope to have in-person meetings in the future.
