A Special Day

Special needs require special people and today we had the privilege to minister to children at the Liepaja Baby Home. The children at this home stir the soul, they range in age from 1 month to 18 years and are here because they need extended care. We split into two groups and one group toured the facility, while the other got to cuddle, dance and play with the kids. The building for the baby home looks worn on the outside but the inside is gorgeous, the custom made wooden beds and cribs, the bright colors, the play areas and medical care areas make this a real home for the children. The staff 's love of their jobs was evident as we took the tour. From a little special needs baby getting a massage to youngsters at play, the care was first class. The director of the home showed us almost every room on three floors and they were all perfectly spotless. The ladies that held the children did so with loving affection. It was a moving experience for me to see these innocent young children, I did my best to hug those that I could and say a prayer that the love that they were shown by the staff would prepare them to receive God's Love in Jesus Christ.

But now the fun! The kids were special not only in need but special to hold, special to dance with, special to put stickers on! Did I say "special "enough, because it was! Our group of missionaries really enjoyed the interaction with these children, It reminded me of how Christ told us to come to God as little children. They were so open and enthusiastic that the Holy Spirit seemed to use them to spiritually build us up. The music in the background turned from a fast pace to a slow one and I had the opportunity to dance with one of the young girls, as the song ended it was neat to twirl her under my arm.

As we left the staff workers had tears in their eyes, as did we. They told us how grateful they were for the supplies, medicine and kindness that we had shown the children. We left shoes there to give to the children and did not put them on ourselves because of the special situations at the baby home.

Refreshed from a quick lunch and riding high on the wings of the Holy Spirit we headed back to navy town, that depressed area we visited yesterday. This time we were headed not to an orphanage but a correctional school for children, some of whom whom had been in jail or been sent here because of discipline problems.This looked to be the opposite of the innocence we saw this morning.

Our well honed vbs machine, now in top form was upto the challenge and we charged through the doors with shoes, tshirts, markers, fabric paint, ski caps and Armor of God illustrations as well as young people to translate our words into Latvian.

Thank God we were only vessels to carry the work, and that God does the real work because these older children seemed a little bit hardened and not as outwardly receptive to our message. They enjoyed the shoes and the girls seemed to enjoy the crafts. Mark, "the goalie" Zimmerman and Ray "the scorer" Hashley connected with the older boys by playing basketball and soccer. All the missionaries seemed glad that God had lifted us up in the morning so that we could be effective spokesmen in the afternoon.

A long day of ministry continued as we visited a navy town mission run by Pastor Sergey. His job is to provide a mission of hope in the navy town area. In two rooms in an old dilapidated building he has built an effective ministry to local children. As we walked up two flights of stairs we were greeted by a group of singing children. One song was done in English for us. Pastor Sergey is an example of what God's love can do to people. These underprivileged children were happy loving and receptive as we put water based tattoos on their hands, gave them glow stick bracelets and just had fun together. Each child received a pair of new shoes. Hopefully our acts of kindness will help Pastor Sergey's ministry as he shares the Good News of Jesus Christ with people in this neighborhood. Susan our Buckner Orphan Care representative from Texas was reunited with a young girl that she had ministered to last year. It was very special for Susan as well as the little girl.

After another delicious Latvian meal we concluded our long but rewarding day with a devotion by Andrea, one of the young ladies on our trip from Chattanooga Tenn. We sang with Kristina, one of our Latvian guides as she played her guitar. We look forward to tomorrow as we let God recharge our batteries with a good nights sleep. We will travel to an orphanage in the city of Jelgava and head back to the Radisson Hotel in Riga.

Mark and Jackie