We had a great Christmas with our family and friends inTexas and are ready to tackle some new projects for 2008.Through the efforts of themembers of FBC-Athens, weare beginning to explore thepossibility of helping CesisBaptist Church construct theirown building. The situation isdefinitely in a planning stage,as it will have to be determined whether the people of thechurch are willing to supportthe effort through their com-mitment of time and finances.It will be a large adjustment forthis congregation because they have not had their own build-ing in over 50 years. Pastor Olegs isassembling a committee to begin look-ing at all aspects: where to build, thesize of building, how to finance theproject, etc.This is a large undertaking for this small church. Lauraand I believe this is the right thing to do, but it is ulti-mately up to the people of Cesis Baptist to determine if this is God’s plan for their church. We will continue toadvise and support them as they seek to shape their visionfor the future. We want to say a big thanks to the members of First Bap-tist Athens that have already pledged a large monetary giftfor this project. We know there will be others that willjoin in this endeavor once it begins to shape up. We ask for special prayers for the Cesis people as they look toGod to help them determine their future. The secondmajor project is the opening of a Christian coffee shop forthe people of Cesis to enjoy. After mentioning the possi-bility of this shop to our church, we have had some mem-bers from Athens come forward and help finance it. All we can say is, “Wow”!Our vision for this shop would be a place for young andold, Christians and non-Christians to come to a non-threatening place for a goodcup of coffee, good conver-sation and good service. We meet many people herethat are interested in spiri-tual ideas but will not enterthe church. We hope thecoffee shop will provide usan opportunity to show that Christians are not‘strange’ people but that weare just like them. We hopeto offer Christian music,lectures, craft classes, ESL classes and other activitiesthat would be enjoyed by theCesis people. The shop wouldalso be a place for our Cesis Bap-tist groups to come together be-cause the church where we meet is very cold in winter andis not a comfortable place . Currently, the young peopleand ladies’ Bible study meet at our flat, as we are already cramped and our numbers continue to grow. A coffeeshop would allow these groups to meet in a larger spaceand it would make it easier for visitors to join our activi-ties. First order of business is finding a suitable location(we have a couple of very good candidates). Secondly, wemust start a very lengthy permit process. We have beenencouraged by the Cesis people as we have explained ourideas to them. Now, we must work to get this vision intoreality, while at the same time working inside of the Lat- vian culture. Latvians move at a different pace than Americans and sometimes we have to remind ourselvesthat we are in their country and we must do things their way … not the American way. Keep watching for morenews on the coffee shop as we hope to have our locationdecided upon soon.
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ISSION
: CESIS
Volume 1, No. 7February 1, 2008
MISSION NEWSLETTER 2008
First Baptist ChurchAthens, TexasCesis Baptist ChurchCesis, Latvia
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2008: C
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Sv. Anna Lutheran Church—currentmeeting place for Cesis Baptist Church
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