Missional Church Center Latvia Update

See Milfred Minatrea's video updates from Latvia at http://www.youtube.com/missionalchurch. We are working out the technical glitches as we go.

After a good rest, I awakened this morning to find every building below my hotel window covered with frost. The appearance was totally white. In the cold and early of Sunday morning few people were moving about. Then I heard, that portion of the carol, “sleep in heavenly peace,” playing in the hotel as I went down to breakfast. It was a quiet confirmation of the Father’s presence.

Did I say breakfast? I had forgotten the bounty of the European hotel breakfast buffet that is included in the room rate. I enjoyed people watching as I ate breakfast and drank coffee. So many young adults were in the hotel restaurant and on the streets of this metropolitan center as well.

One of the students from the Empowering the Church for Mission class that I will be leading during the next ten days picked me up for worship. Martins is also a youth leader at Matthew’s Church of Riga where I worshiped. This is one of the largest evangelical churches in a nation of 2.5 million people. Pastor Peteris Eisans and I had opportunity to spend a few minutes talking. Matthews Church was the first in Latvia to seek to move beyond traditional internal focus seeking to become intentionally focused on reaching out to those who are not part of the church through incarnational ministries.

Three different worship services are held each Sunday with the last being a contemporary worship that is reaching a younger population. Pastor Eisans spoke of the significance of being part of a learning community with about 40 other pastors from Eastern Europe who focus on starting new churches. We briefly spoke about disciple-making in the church, lamenting that it appears churches around the world struggle with this central imperative. Later in the week, I hope we get to spend a little more time on this important subject.

Throughout the morning, I tried to capture some video to allow you to experience with me some of what God is doing here in Latvia. Please continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Latvia and for those young adults who are responding to God’s call to start new churches in this gracious nation.

I appreciate so many of you who have committed to pray for me while I am here in Latvia. Your intercession and support mean more than I know how to express. Thank you and until the next post…keep serving, sharing and praying!

Report from Delhi, India - Join us in Praying

I just received the following update from dear friends in Delhi, India. Please join me in praying for our brothers and sisters in India and for God’s peace to be manifest in the midst of terrorist attacks.

For their protection, I have deleted the names of my friends, replacing their names with I and S.

New Delhi, India

November 27, 2008

21:30 hours IST

It is now exactly 24 hours since the first terrorist attacks began on Mumbai/Bombay – India's first city and commercial capital. And it has not yet ended. After 125 confirmed dead – including seven foreigners – and almost 300 injured, India's crack anti-terrorist squads in their hundreds have engaged the terrorists, and armed forces troops in their thousands have been on the streets, there are terrorists still holed up in the top two five-star hotels with hostages and one house with Jewish residents in downtown Mumbai, with a curfew in force. The city is at war!

The good news is that our family is safe in Delhi. Our daughter, who was supposed to go today to lead an educational seminar in Mumbai, has cancelled it. Our families – S's eldest sister in downtown Mumbai, I's mother and younger brother's family in northern Mumbai – and friends are also safe though shaken, as are we.

Both I and S were born in Bombay (name changed to Mumbai in 1995). I was educated and had his first job as journalist in Bombay. In fact, I's office was very close to the then new five-star Oberoi Sheraton (now Trident) hotel, the scene of many press conferences. But it was with the beautiful 105-year-old Taj Mahal hotel across from the bay and the Gateway to India that I had a close association. He did regular travelogues for their glossy house magazine and had his hair - that's when he had hair - cut there by the hairstylists to Bollywood's stars. So it was very difficult to see portions of the heritage Taj hotel go up in flames last night.

I was up working on his PhD studies when around 1:30AM a CNN Breaking News email alerted him to what was going on in Mumbai. Since S woke up a little later they put on the TV and watched in horror and did the only thing they could – prayed and prayed. A call to S's eldest sister who lives not far from the Taj hotel put any fears to rest. The rest of family and friends were contacted in the morning. I stayed up till 5:15AM following developments in the unfolding macabre drama. A lot of today has been spent "watching and praying".

I and S are no strangers to terror attacks on Bombay. They were traveling out of the city, about half an hour ahead of the very first serial bomb blasts in March 1993. This was Islamist vengeance for the killing of over a thousand mainly Muslims during the earlier communal riots in Bombay. The current dastardly attackers also came by sea – possibly from overseas (Pakistan?), possibly at least trained by Al-Qaeda. Whatever their immediate motivation there is, as Vishal Mangalwadi would call it, an underlying "spirituality of hate". Ditto for the so-called "Hindu terrorists" who reportedly were behind bomb blasts against Indian Muslims in recent years. The head of the Anti-Terrorist Force who was leading the investigation against the "Hindu terrorists" was shot dead by the Islamist terrorists in the Taj last night. The only answer to tit for tat terrorism is the spirituality of love (agape). Join us as we watch and pray for India.