MARK AND LAURA WIMBERLEY

I met Mark and Laura my first day in Cesis.  They took us to one of the best restaurants in Latvia (my opinion) for dinner.  Mark was a high school basketball coach and Laura a school teacher in Athens, Texas.  God called them to take a year off to do mission work in Latvia.  That was almost four years ago and they are still here.  Mark and Laura are doing incredible things for the Lord in a very difficult place to work.  God wants to do something in this little town and Mark and Laura are a big part of his plans.  Even if they left tomorrow (which I seriously doubt), they have already done enough to make a difference.

Mark and Laura are just regular folks.  Four years ago they were going to church at First Baptist Church, Athens, taking their annual mission trip with the church, and minding their own business.  And then God got a hold of them.  They have no special traits or talents that would set them apart.  Mark knows basketball ... and Laura knows teaching.  That's it.  How many people could say that?  I know how to do this one thing.  That's all you need to serve God.  Mark and Laura are making a HUGE difference in God's Kingdom work for one and only one reason (and it has nothing to do with talent or abilities):  they are obedient.  That's it. 

I know Mark and Laura's pastor, Kyle.  He's a great guy.  He's been at First Baptist Athens for about seventeen years.  For seventeen years he's been preaching that God calls people.  For seventeen years he's been telling folks that God wants to use them all over the world.  Mark and Laura got the message.  First Athens is one of the greatest "on-fire-for-missions" churches in Texas.  Mark and Laura are proof of that. 

I don't think there are any other Americans in Cesis.  Mark and Laura left their four sons, two of them in College, in America.  Laura cries every time she has to say goodbye.  And yet, there they are ... working tirelessly for God in a far away place.  We need to pray for them. 

God doesn't call everyone to cross the ocean.  Although, I imagine he calls a lot of people who say "no."  For that reason alone we should applaud Mark and Laura (even though they would "turn red" if they read this) ... and pray for them.  And in the spirit of their sacrifice ... go across the street and help someone in Jesus' name ... that would be a good start.

You can read more about Mark and Laura here -- http://fbcrlatvia.banes.name/?page_id=1035
You can read Mark and Laura's Blog here -- http://www.cesislatvia.blogspot.com/
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LATVIAN SENIOR CONFERENCE

The second day of our Senior Adult Conference in Cesis, Latvia went well.  We were honored by those who came and I think they enjoyed the time of learning.  It is very difficult for Senior Adults in Latvia.  Unemployment is somewhere close to 30%.  There is little place for anyone over sixty.  They are often viewed as being from another era ... an era they would really like to forget.  And they carry the psychological weight of everything they experienced under the fifty-year totalitarian rule of the Soviets.  Alchoholism is rampant ... especially among the old.  Suicide is common. There is little to live for.

I met a man who told me the story of his family.  When he was eight years old his father was a poor farmer. His family was eating dinner one night when the KGB barged into their home.  They rounded up the entire family, marched them into a train boxcar and 2 days later dumped them in a Siberian concentration camp.  It took them eight years to get back to Latvia.  I was speechless. What do you say to him?  We talk so glibly of suffering ... but we don't know suffering.

One lady at the conference took the train from Riga to be here. The train station is a one hour walk from the conference center.  She was on a crowded train for three hours and then walked one hour to get to the conference.  She's eighty years old.  Think about that the next time you complain about church going a little too long ;)

I hope we were an encouragement to these wonderful people.  I hope we were able to teach them something ... I know that they taught me a lot.