a light in the darkness
today, i returned to light of the gospel church in liepaja, latvia. pastor sergei graukusa ministers in a drug, alcohol, and gang-infested area of 8,000 inhabitants known as the naval port.
at one time, this area had 23,000 red navy and army inhabitants, and was one of the most secret locations on earth (unless you owned a spy satellite or are tom clancy).
now, pastor sergei stands with buckner international trying to turn back the tide.
one little girl stole my heart today. she’s about 9, with a wonderful smile, and a bubbly personality. she threw herself into every song, being a helper, and all the crafts – she even made a little keepsake box (with glitter)! when i left, we hugged…as i mentioned earlier, another of the dozens of ‘goodbyes’ we have to say on a trip like this. it was a great day…and then we got to the restaurant…
that’s where i learned that this little girl’s mom had died six months before. her father is unemployed, and abusive. she now lives with her grandmother…who is verbally abusive.
and so i sat in this restaurant and cried.
how can a father have so little respect for their child? how can a grandmother not embrace this precious, wounded life? how come i didn’t spend just a few more minutes with her. how can the poverty of the naval port breed such a disrespect for life?
earlier in the day, i had dace in my arms. dace is 11 years old and has severe down syndrome. there was fun all around her, but she would not stop moaning. them, i put down the 6-year-old who kept jumping on me, put down the stckers, put down the bubbles, and held out my hand…
dace grabbed it…tightly.
she sat on my lap for the next 40 minutes…holding my hand, and resting her head on my chest. the pained look and moaning was gone, and her wandering eyes kept finding mine and focusing on them for a second or 2, when i whispered her name.
2 things occured to me as i’ve been typing here:
how often am i in a race to do the things i’m scheduled to do, and forget to see the one reaching out her hand? i don’t need to ask what i should do to change in that regard…i’ve got a pretty good idea.
the other thing was something i’ve recently read from henri j.m. nouwen (i think)…he said that the best measure of the fitness of a society to continue is how it treats those in that society who cannot produce anything useful, or defend themselves.
…and election day is just 6 days away.
back to riga tomorrow…ciao for now…mz in lv
