Happy Easter - Priecigus Lieldienas

Priecigus Lieldienas! Happy Easter! This morning a group of twenty youth and adults from Fairview UMC in Tennessee and the youth from Riga’s two Methodist Churches boarded a bus for Jurmula. We traveled out to the coast of the Baltic Sea for a sunrise service on the beach. When we arrived in Jurmula there was a light dusting of snow. However I (Court) was completely amazed and surprised to see the whole beach covered in snow. Although it makes sense if it is snowing on the road than it would also be snow on the beach – but somehow the presence of snow just brought more attention to God’s glory. The group huddled together in a circle surrounding the cross made from beach candles for a Service of Light. As we sang, prayed, and read scripture – I noticed a great peace and warmth on this Easter Sunday. The restoration brought by the empty tomb became real and tangible to me there on the beach standing in the snow. We talked about the light of Christ – how we receive it and are told to share it with one another. Through out this week I have been strengthened by the witness of the youth - both American and Latvian. They are Christ’s light in the world.

May the joy, hope and peace of Jesus’ resurrection be tangible in your life today.

Was that in Latvian?

Kind of indicative of my (Dan's) day and week so far - I heard this phrase in Latvian language class today. I had asked, in Latvian, what a certain word meant that I had heard many people use. The teacher looked a be in a befuddled manner and replied, "Is that Latvian?" I said, "Yes." She said, "I mean is that a Latvian word your saying?" Again, I said, "Yes." After two more attempts at the word she said, "Oh, do you mean...?" (which was only a fraction of a sound off of what I had said). I said, "Yes..."
So that was my little joke that helped me laugh through the day and all that is has been... Even when we try our best or even do our best, people are going to look befuddled - and make us wonder "What am I doing? Should I even be here? Maybe I should just do something else....

A Tribute...

I (dan) received some sad news on Saturday. My Uncle Joe (my grandma's youngest brother - by 17 years, and to my knowledge her only surviving sibling) passed away. I didn't spend a lot of time with him, yet the time we did spend was memorable. The dry cleaning shop we would visit on summer vacations off the boardwalk in Atlantic City - the Italian food - the gold chains... I just wanted to say that Uncle Joe D'Amico will be missed.

The photo shows me, Uncle Joe, Uncle Flav (my mom's brother), and Auntie Alice (Joe's wife).

some of our recent work...

As I said in an earlier post, this past weekend we attended (and helped to host) a Diaconal Conference for the Northern European United Methodist Churches. [Diaconal work encompasses the work of the Deacon, which in the UMC most often means working to feed the hungry, visit the sick and imprisoned, assist the poor, etc... for an example look in the Bible in Acts chapter 6 when the church chose seven people to look after the needs of the brothers and sisters.] At the end of this meeting we drafted a statement that the Bishop's office will send to all the churches under his jurisdiction, and ask that it be read to those congregations. I thought I would post it here as well...

Humility, Mercy, and Justice: a call for holistic ministry in every community

Poverty affects all of our communities, whether we encounter a poverty of physical resources or a poverty of tenuous connections.

We, representatives from the Nordic and Baltic area of the United Methodist Church and its institutions, gathered in Latvia in March 2008 to share from our stories – our joys and our challenges – in ministry, specifically in the areas related to children and vulnerable families.

We acknowledge that poverty results from scarcity – whether a lack of physical resources, a lack of spiritual formation, or a lack of emotional nurture – and this poverty affects all of our communities.

We believe that our rich Biblical heritage and our Wesleyan theological and spiritual tradition challenge our lives, congregations, and ministries to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly (cf. Micah 6:8) among the children and the vulnerable both within our immediate milieux and throughout the entire world.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reminds us that the Kingdom of God is open to all persons, including the child, the outcast, the enemy, and the vulnerable.

We encourage Acts of Piety (celebrating the sacraments and participating in the life of worship) and Acts of Mercy (meeting immediate and tangible physical, spiritual, and emotional needs), yet we also acknowledge that these two remain incomplete without Acts of Justice (cf. James 2:14-17).

In our Wesleyan tradition, salvation involves the work of reconciling humanity’s broken relationship with God, and salvation in Wesleyan tradition also means that those who engage in Acts of Piety, Acts of Mercy, and Acts of Justice participate in God’s holy and salvific work of healing the world.

To this end, we would want to challenge our Methodist brothers and sisters, as individuals and as congregations, to engage in dialogue (Christian conferencing) around our Social Principles in order to see the children and vulnerable anew and to hear a fresh challenge of engaging the unjust social structures that adversely affect the children and vulnerable throughout God’s creation.

Joy in a Purple Bus

I have ridden on a variety of buses over the past 10 years. In Europe, travel by Coach (i.e. a really nice bus) is a popular way for groups to get around or see sights, etc. I stepped into one this past weekend and thought I had landed in Barney's playhouse. The entire bus had a purple motif - from the voilet seats to the deep purple upholstered walls - everything had a purple hue. A bit of a shock at first, but I got used to it...after all, it was just another bus.

This past weekend we attended (and helped to host) a Diaconal Conference for the Northern European United Methodist Churches. [Diaconal work encompasses the work of the Deacon, which in the UMC most often means working to feed the hungry, visit the sick and imprisoned, assist the poor, etc... for an example look in the Bible in Acts chapter 6 when the church chose seven people to look after the needs of the brothers and sisters.] On Friday we took a group of 50 people to see one of the Hope Center buildings. [The Hope Center is a home for vulnerable single girls (literally, as they are usually around 15 years-old when they arrive) who want to keep their babies, yet they have no support network. Most of the girls got pregnant while in an orphanage or by being ravaged on the street...]

We took the girls and their babies with us to the other Hope Center building - on board the 'normal' purple bus. One girl stepped onto the bus with her baby and her eyes grew as wide as saucers. "Wow - this is soo pretty. This is sooo cool." This was also the nicest bus on which she had ever traveled.

I started to think about how many things I take for granted - a been there, seen that, done that mentality. I'm thankful that I took time to marvel at the double rainbow later in the day, along with the burning sunset ringed by rain clouds... I need to take time to wonder and marvel every day - even to see joy in a purple bus.

Looking Back...

(I started writing this on the 20th of February, because six years ago on that day I (Dan) started on a wonderfully exciting journey.) I left Colorado to work in Northern Afghanistan for about three months and then went on to return to Kosovo (I spent time there in 1999 and 2000) to work for another three months before I returned to the US to begin working on an M.Div. at Duke. In between these two places I visited some friends in Kazakhstan for about a week.

This morning I sat with a cup of tea remembering some of the amazing moments of God's provision and guidance during those six months. In doing so I had to ask myself, "Where is my reliance on God now? Do I still trust as intensely as I did then? Do I try to control circumstances more now?" I asked more questions, too. ... (I didn't know where this thought would end up, yet it just ended.)

Those six months held exciting times, difficult times, dangerous times, lonely times, uplifting times, searching and questioning times, times of community and friendship and sharing... Looking back now I can see that in all of those times God was present - I may not have always 'felt' it or 'seen' it, yet at other times God's presence was obvious and tangible.

This is a good reminder in this season of Court's and my life in Latvia - God is always present. It's the hope we hold onto when God seems anything but present, involved, loving, etc... The sky may be grey, yet that doesn't mean that the sun has stopped shining. The sun is always shining - we have to believe that even when circumstances seem other than that.

Even though it is an overcast day as I write, I don't feel my heart is overcast - and that is a good thing, a marvelous thing, a freeing feeling.

May you know hope and joy amidst whatever circumstances are out your window and in your heart.
PEACE.

Frustrating (and inefficient) Beauracracy !

After numerous visits to the office of foreign affairs in Rīga we still do NOT have our residence permits for Latvia.

In order for us to submit our paperwork, the UMC's District office here has to submit paperwork. We checked the internet site of the foreign affairs office here, printed those instructions, and then went to the office just to make sure the information corresponded. We spent time asking detailed questions about which forms and how many of each, what letters need to be written and whose signature needed to appear, etc...

A few days later we returned with the proper documentation and we were told that one of the letters was wrong (even though it was exactly like they told us a few days before). We left and returned two days later with the proper letter (in two various formats to anticipate a change in plans) and they told us we had the correct format but we lacked a signature (one that they said was not required on the previous trip).

We went to that office only to find that they were moving - we phoned them and the lady said, "Come tomorrow, no problem, we'll sign and stamp the letter for you." (She said this even though they were moving. I have to say this office has been the only helpful one in this entire process!) So the next day I brought the letter and they signed and stamped it - no problem.
We brought this letter to foreign affairs and they said it was in the wrong format (even though they approved the format on the previous visit) and that we had to put it in a different format and get a new stamp and new signature. - Thankfully the office that was moving complied once again and helped us out by signing and stamping the letter.

During this entire process, I held on to a conversation I had with the Latvian Embassy in the U.S. (D.C.) before we arrived. I asked, "Where do I need to send my forms to have them processed? D.C., New York, somewhere else?" The cordial reply, "You can submit them to any embassy, or, if you happen to be in Riga, you can submit them to the proper office there." Astonished I asked, "Really, some countries require one to submit an application outside of their country - I can really submit them in Riga?" Again a pleasant voice, "Of course you can submit them in Riga - it is no problem."

So, imagine my surprise the other day when, after they finally accepted the District Office's forms and letters, they told us, "Now you know that you cannot turn the applications in here - the closest places are Estonia or Lithuania. You will have to schedule an appointment with the Latvian Consulate in those countries."

Here is the process - we travel to Estonia, meet with the official in their office, submit the application and pay the fee for that application (because of the long delay in this process, we now have to pay for expedited processing). Then we have to pay an additional "Consular processing fee" (because we submitted the application outside of the country (yet they won't accept the application within the country!) and they will send the applications via courier to the office in Riga where they will end up on the same person's desk that I could hand it to in person. Remember, at this point they don't read or process the applications - they simply take them from us, ask us what we plan to do in Latvia, and then place them in an envelope.
However, since they only send a courier twice a month, if we want to have the applications expedited, then we have to pay a courier fee on top of the expedited fee.

Frustrating and inefficient beauracracy!!
-just thought we would share the insanity with you...