Friends Of Latvia

Out of the Ashes - Gift Paraments

RandyT — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 18:14:00 GMT

……….OUT OF THE ASHES

There is a creative lady in my Apple Corps Sunday School class named Betty Gent. She is a long time quilter and is a semi-finalist in the ongoing contest "she who dies with the most fabric wins."

Unfortunately, in November 2006, Betty’s home was hit by lightening, and the subsequent fire totaled the structure. Her quilt room was untouched by actual flames, but the smoke had permeated her coveted stash of material, rendering it useless in its current state.

To assist a sister-quilter, the Peacemakers Quilt Group offered to make some sense of the sewing room. Betty, emotionally distraught and physically exhausted, gifted the quilters with many black garbage bags full of fabrics. We washed, dried, pressed, folded and looked for storage, wondering WHAT we were going to do with the hundreds of pieces we now owned.

We first took out any yardage which could be utilized by the Visual Choir, working with the altar each week to enhance the Worship lectionary Text. Finding a finished quilt top in the bags, we made it into a wall hanging for Betty’s temporary apartment and presented it as a thank you from the Peacemakers.

Then an opportunity presented itself from half way across the globe. Our sister church, First UMC of Riga, Latvia, was sending a choir to visit, and the Martin Latvian Committee asked if altar pieces could be made for the Latvian church’s newly renovated worship space. Of course! We had lots of supplies. Then a quilt member suggested that we use some previously donated baby fabrics, in conjunction with the ‘fire fabric.’ to provide blankets for the Hope Center which First Riga had established for young women and their babies. We sent the choir home with 60 new baby blankets.

We have a Lord’s Acre Harvest Festival, and we began planning our quilt for the auction using Betty’s material. We have always donated a quilted item and looked forward to seeing how successful it was each year. We designed and made a wall hanging for another church. Each member of the group has also selected fabric pieces for herself and had many opportunities to make baby items, quilts, placemats, etc. for her personal needs and gift giving.

Our creativity has soared with Betty’s generous gift of quilting fabric. After each project is completed, we make sure she sees it, and we express appreciation again. She always asks, "You need more?"

We have been able to make items for our missions at no cost to the church budget, and, with the addition of loving labor, Betty’s fabric has provided us the opportunity to minister far beyond our wildest dreams. The friendships formed have been deep, and the knowledge shared has helped those of us with limited skills learn from more advanced quilters. Surely God blessed the ‘fire fabric’ as a special creative ministry for us.

Mimi Nimocks

Peacemakers Quilt Group

Martin UMC

September 2007

Welcome To Exit- welcome to UMC Jelgava

Ansis Paukshis — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 00:17:00 GMT

One famous evangelist told as all creations was born only with natural needs, if somebody hungry, he can find food, if somebody is cold, he can find warmest place. But if you can not satisfy your needs in this world, You are from another world, you belong to Heaven. So, welcome to Exit. Exit is unofficial name of our congregation. On the pages of this blog you will find how we live, get some news about activities of our congregation.

To see more go to http://web.mac.com/vilze/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html

Annual Report of UMC Congregation of Jelgava

Ansis Paukshis — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 23:58:00 GMT

The congregation of Jelgava

Jelgava congregation of the United Methodist Church in Latvia is continuing to develop its work in several directions: youth and children ministry, social outreach and establishment of the fellowship of the congregation.
There are 26 congregation members and worships are attended by 14-21 worshipers. Last year we started work of the children group attended by 8 to 15. Beginning with November 2006 we started to organize contemporary worship.
Worship we hold every Sunday 1 p.m., every morning children and teenagers come to Christian drama program, than in afternoon have fellowship meeting- discussion, sheering. Children and teenager take part in worship- with song and drama. Musical part of worship is led by our Music leader Gaida Sele. Children group is leading by Zhenja and Sanita, but children and teenager is leading by Ilze Bleidele. Every Saturday or evening of Sunday has leader meeting. Usually, on Saturdays we have activates in congregation, if there are guest visitors or there are holidays, as well as ministering outside the congregation.
There is a law in Latvia stating that only from age 18 one can become a member of any congregation. If not so strict legislation, we would have more congregation members. So there are 26 congregation members, plus 15 new generations.
Other ministry is held in social center "Zemgale" for elder people. Participants of the children group brought tee and draw paintings as well as greeting card and sent to other social center for elder people with mental problems. On irregular basis we have services in other places.
We have got our web page!!!
http://web.mac.com/vilze/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html

Vision of Jelgava congregation:
In autumn we will have teenager club, where will be activities for them.
Also, we will start English language club.
Leaders of Jelgava congregation planning calibration worship service for parents of children?s in our congregation.
Develop idea about music group and keep going.

The work of Jelgava congregation has developed and it is not easy work in rooms as small as 43 square meters. By raising the level of inflation we have to pay rent per month 100- 132 Lats out of 300$ we receive as support for work of the congregation. This is connected with different utility expenses, what together with other necessary expenses exceeds support we receive.
In order to have successful work the congregation, we would have other room for congregation activates or separate building, because we gather on the 3floor of huge building, we do not have separate entrance, and around us there is sewing factory. On the 2floor there is café, where alcohol is sold, and people are allowed to smoke.
We will pray for wisdom, how is possible better and better work, how we can rich out more people. Prayers and God blessing in every step in the journey for God and for soil saved.

Pastor of Jelgava congregation Ilze Paukshe.

The place where we are

Ansis Paukshis — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 19:53:00 GMT

Some of our friends was in Jelgava, some not. For that reason I publish the map of Latvia and the picture of building where our Church have a space to be. The city marked with red is Jelgava. If you are in Latvia, you are welcome to visit us.

In Christ,

Ansis

The congregation of Jelgava

Ansis Paukshis — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 19:27:00 GMT

Dear Friends of Latvia. We are really appreciated for this possibility to have a blog here, and also for your interest and kind support to United Methodist Church of Latvia. This place is relly good place to meet, share ideas how to improve the ministry and develope our Church. Thank you for your love an friendship.

God Bless You!

Ansis Paukshis, the leader of UMC congregation of Jelgava

Training-Understanding Mental Health Issues in Latvia & Lithuania - Aug 20-21st -Davidson UMC

RandyT — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 07:24:00 GMT

Women Reaching Women: Understanding Mental Health Issues in Lithuania & Latvia and How We Can Help Davidson United Methodist Church of Davidson, North Carolina in partnership with the First United Methodist Church in Green Bay, Wisconsin and Centreville United Methodist Church in Centreville, VA invite you attend a training for people interested in gaining information about women’s mental health issues in Lithuania and Latvia. At the 2007 Lithuania/Latvia Initiative in Fargo, ND in April there was interest by several churches to learn more about how to help the women of their partner churches in Lithuania and Latvia. A presentation was made by Jeanie Reimer at the Initiative on the work she has been doing with the women in Pilviskiai, Lithuania regarding women’s issues and mental health. Other churches such as Centreville and Davidson are being asked by the women of their partner churches in Lithuania to help them address similar concerns. Members of partner churches in Latvia expressed similar interest. Consequently, this training is a result of a collective effort by women in the United States wanting to help women in Lithuania and Latvia. DATES: Monday, August 20 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Tuesday, August 21 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. LOCATION: Davidson United Methodist Church 233 S. Main Street Davidson, NC 28036 COST: $10.00 to cover cost of coffee, snacks, etc. Meals, lodging, etc. to be covered on your own TOPICS: History of oppression and it’s affects on women (i.e. trust issues, family responsibilities) Defining mental health symptoms(i.e. depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder) Understanding loss and grief issues Relationship between men and women Self-esteem issues Developing positive coping skills Problem solving model Cycle of violence Developing support systems – what we can do to help Starting a support group – setting ground rules REGISTRATION INFO:To register for this training, please contact Wendy Faucette, Davidson UMC: wefaucette@davidson.edu For more information regarding the content of the training, please contact Jeanie Reimer, Green Bay, FUMC: dreim44@aol.com

GBGM Approves Dan and Courtney Randall as Missionaries

RandyT — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 07:39:00 GMT

FOL Members,

It's official!!! Dan and Courtney have been approved as missionaries by the GBGM and have been invited to missionary training in September and October.

When all goes well, they are off to Latvia just after. Post your congrats and prayers to Dan and Courtney here.

In Christ

Randy

Our Mission - Workshop - Your Input Needed

RandyT — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 07:52:00 GMT

Thanks to all who have responded with ideas on the mission statement for FOL. Based on your input I propose the following mission statement in suppoort of the UMC mission "to make disciples of Jesus Christ."

to serve the body of Christ with the Latvian United Methodist Church to help them make disciples of Christ, to share the joyful witness of Jesus Christ as risen Savior, and to glorify God in all that we do.

Please feedback tweaks, concerns, additions, or deletions here by end of July and we'll finalize.

Next FOL Meeting Late 2007 - Please Post Your Preference Here

RandyT — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 06:38:00 GMT

Early October in Maryville TN is being considered for the next FOL meeting. Please post your opinion on the idea by July 15th so we can settle.

Too soon? Too late? Just right? If "go" which weekend?

To post your opinion you must sign in in the upper right corner.

Fund Raising Ideas

RandyT — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 07:47:00 GMT

Several good fund raising ideas were described at the Summer 2007 FOL meeting in Maryville. Please post those and any other ideas to share with churches considering signing on as a partner or connecting congregation. Check back often to stay current.

Humans Doing or Humans Being?

RandyT — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 08:04:00 GMT

As we grow busy with the business of serving Christ, we can quickly overlook the important relationships that become lost in the tasks. Let's all resolve to apply a few essential rules to ensure that we remain humans being rather than simply humans doing.

1. When two or more of us gather in Christ's name, we should begin with a prayer. Seems an email or a post involves two or more of us. . . and this work is for the glory of Christ - in His name.

2. Before matters of importance, pray that the Spirit will guide our hearts and minds in accordance with God's will. Most of what happens here is a matter of importance.

3. FInd a guiding scripture for your work in Latvia. Share it with other members of FOL by setting it as a signature on your posts at EDIT PROFILE > SIGNATURE > SAVE. While you're there select AVATAR and upload a 1 inch square photo of your lovely self and click SAVE.

4. Use this blog as a sanctuary to post prayers and purely spiritual matters on your heart. Visit often to know the hearts of your brothers and sisters as they express their love for Christ and for our friends in Latvia.

In Christ

Catagories and Blog Posts

eric — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 23:50:00 GMT

Randy & Steve & any others,

I will try to answer all your questions and tell you what I have done and am currently working on. First let me catch you up with some design elements and I want to apologize for taking so long to figure this thing out.

I have been working in articles (which is a fancy way of saying a new and seperate page) I plan to create them for all areas of interest. Wesley Camp, Hope Center, Committees, Congregations, VIM, etc. You can see example of my early work from the right panel of the home page for Paplaka congregation, Wesley Camp, etc. (here is a sample http://friendsoflatvia.com/content/wesleycamp.aspx)

I have created file folders under the group "Friends of Latvia" for organazation, meeting minutes, and each committee. The committee folders are accessable only to people who have a role of Board Member or that committee assigned to them. I wanted a way to store and share files that were not visable to just anyone...the example that comes to mind is pastor saleries being visable to someone in a congregation in Latvia. That is completely configurable so we can change it. There is a lot of public folders that everyone can see and you can place a file in more than one folder if you want.

I am trying to learn how to manage some content more cosmetically some of these pages I will create to add links, files, and other function.

I suggest we keep blogs and forums public as to advocate discussion. That is notto say we could not use those function with roles "Board Member" or "Committee" as well and those would be only for the members of the borad or for the members of a specific committee. There are times when we should do that I think. As to which is better a blog or a forum I am familliar enough with them to say. I think blogs are more random and forums are more specifc and have some additional features. Forums allow you to specify a subject and people have to pick a subject to comment on. It alows for more reporting features that help the moderator to know how many people commented and so on.

I will be adding a chat room feature in the near future. Once peoplehave joined the site I can create some email groups and allow people to send one email that goes to everyone that is assigned to that email group.

I would like to make a little more headway and then get some feedback from the group. I hope to get most of this done this week and then we can luanch this thing and get more participants.

Feel free to email me you thoughts or pick up the phone and call. If you are not a Skype member yet you should consider it (Google Skype and download-it's free) We can host a conference call on Skype and get everyone on here to comment on their concerns or ideas.

Thanks for all your help. Eric

Eric Knoefel eknoefel@msn.com 865-388-9459 Cell

Exciting Time

eric — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 00:27:00 GMT

We will never truly know the impact of the recent Latvian Choir Tour. We may never understand the many ways that God used that event to further his kingdom. But rest assured that lives were changed and a new spirit of hope and interest was sparked. I for one was touched by the members of the choir. As I spent time with them and witnessed first hand how this experience has impacted their lives I am in Awe!

Let's keep the spirit of all that happening alive. There are several ways you can help to do this.

1) Pray for the congregations and their members in Latvia

2) Encourage your church to become a connecting congregation to a church in Latvia. If you are already a connecting church, nurture that relationship

3) Support Friends of Latvia. Check here often for issues, stories, praises, and other ways you can be involved

Eric Knoefel

Latvian Language Website

GSFowler — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 18:48:00 GMT

Below is a website that one of Jim Hayes's team members found that is a great language helper:

http://www.languagehelpers.com/members/latvian/online/languagehelper.html

Welcome to the Friends of Latvia Blog

admin — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 19:15:00 GMT

A weblog (blog) is an online journal you can use to share thoughts, ideas, gripes, project status, or anything else you want. Blogs allow you to be a contributor rather than just a bystander.

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Creating new posts is quick and easy. If you have the ability to post you should see a link (usually on the left) on your weblog's home page: new post. Clicking on this link takes you into your blogs administration pages for creating new posts.

If you don't have the ability to post, contact the site administrator and ask for your own blog.

Happy Blogging!