Journey to Riga 5

Sunday in Riga was an opportunity for me to preach in the Riga Baptist Mission Church where the conference had been for the past three days. The Pastor, Petr Samoylich,(seen in the picture below)was born in the Ukraine, but had been in the US, where he had built up a successful property development business before coming to Latvia to help the church. This is an old church, dating back to pre communist days. During the communist era the building had been commandeered by the authorities, but after independence came in 1991 it was returned to the church.


There are two services each Sunday. The morning service is more traditional, and is in the Russian language. The congregation tends to be a little older, although there were younger people here. The afternoon service is in Latvian, and tends to be freer. Petr told me that many of the older folk are not able to come to the afternoon service because they are not able to afford the transport to come in twice.


I was preaching in the morning service, as our plane was flying out in the early afternoon. Getting to the church was fun. The phone in the flat where we were staying rang, and we were told that someone would be waiting for us on the street downstairs. Lindsay was to preach in one church, and I would be in the Salvation Temple. When we left the flat and got down to the street, all we saw was the taxi which had taken us each morning to the conference, so we got into that. The driver obviously spoke about three words of English, and we spoke no Latvian. We said Baptist Church, and he went on is way, phoning someone as he did so. We assumed that he was phoning the pastor to get the directions. He drove all over the place, eventually getting to the church where Lindsay was preaching. He took me to the Salvation Temple quite quickly, and after being paid, left. In the meantime the pastor was frantically phoning everybody to find out where we were. He had been unable to park outside the flat, and was driving round the block when we took the taxi!

The church service was about two hours in length. There was a choir, which is normal in this tradition, who led the hymn singing as well as performing a couple of religious songs to aid the worship. Those who had birthdays during January were called up to the front where they were given a verse, and prayed for. The children were also greeted, and encouraged to take note in the Sunday school. One man gave a summary of the five chapters from the Old Testament that would make up the readings for the church that week. So well over an hour had gone by before I got up to preach.
I was graciously given the freedom to preach (It is not always easy for a pastor to give up his pulpit to someone about whom he knows virtually nothing). A young woman translated for me. She is Armenian, and had come to Latvia to study, and remained in the country, firstly to work for the government, and now is in a fairly high position in one a French bank which is working in Riga. She speaks about seven languages fluently – but Welsh isn’t one of them, so she couldn’t translate Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch for me!

I greeted the church in the name of Christians in Wales, saying what a joy it was for me. Over thirty five years ago when I first became a Christian I had been encouraged to pray for Christians and the church in the Soviet Union, and it was a privilege to see how God was now answering those prayers. After the service an old woman came up to me with joy in her face. Thanking me in Russian for praying, and asking me to take greetings back to Christians in Wales.

My message to them was based on Matthew 6:19-21 19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust1 destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
There is treasure on earth, but it will pass away (as has been so obvious during the recession which has affected Latvia so heavily).
What is treasure in heaven? Some think it is religion, others that it is good works. But can these things really impress God? They are all stained with sin and imperfection.
The true treasure of heaven is Jesus Christ - the One in whom the Father is well pleased. And he has given himself to us, dying for us on the cross so that we might be forgiven. Will we treasure Him as our Saviour and Lord?

After I preached the pastor got up and gave his testimony, that although he could be materially rich in the USA, yet here he had God in his heart. He encouraged all there to trust in Christ, some maybe for the first time. Two came forward at the end of the service to ask for help to give their lives to Christ – one man maybe in his thirties, and the other in his sixties.

After the service people gathered to have a meal together prepared for them in the church. This church is doing much good work, overseeing the printing of Bibles, visiting schools, organizing three conferences a year for teachers. The Pastor has great responsibilities. But God is encouraging them as they work. And He encouraged me as I saw what He is doing there.
I left Riga with a prayer in my heart for the people there. They face great economic and social problems, but the church has many faithful people who are giving themselves to proclaim Christ crucified. God seems to be at work there, and His kingdom shall prevail.