Short term trips, 2010. Lummi: Very familiar, family atmosphere Highly structured, most time...
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Transcript of Short term trips, 2010. Lummi: Very familiar, family atmosphere Highly structured, most time...
LATVIA, LITHUANIA, AND LUMMIShort term trips, 2010
Two VERY different trips
Lummi: Very familiar,
family atmosphere Highly structured,
most time accounted for
Local church not a major emphasis, but growing
Latvia: New for Chris and
Susan (third trip for Mark)
Very unstructured and relational; much time not accounted for
Local church is major point of contact
Encouragement and support
Latvia Riga is a major city, with over a million inhabitants in the metro area
The first few days were spent in interacting with pastors and families, Carl and Becky Chaplin (MTW missionaries), getting to know our way around
A quick visit with the
President
One of Europe’s Lock
Bridges
We got to know historic Riga, and visit the Latvian Occupation Museum and learn of their turbulent history
Declared independence from USSR in 1991; “atheist” state up to that point, so country is still recovering from that
Mark gave a talk to some Latvian doctors on “Stem cells and human cloning”
Chris attended a youth group event
Susan spent some time with Becky and a British missionary, Ruth
“Family Camp”
During the Jani festival (celebrating the longest day of the year) the church has a retreat
About 125 attended; Susan helped with kids programs, Chris interacted with youth, Mark gave talk on “Stem Cells and Human Cloning”
Camp Family
Camp Family
Lithuania Susan and Chris returned on Saturday, 6/26
Mark went with Carl to Lithuania
New members admitted to Reformed church in Kaunas
Mark gave talk on “Science and Faith”
Church held a “field trip” to Kedainiai (“kə-dine-ee”); early Reformed church in Lithuania (1631); great trip!
Continued to develop relationship with Jonas Ziuka, seminary student and PhD student in plant biology
Kedainiai: Old town; one of oldest reformed churches in Lithuania
Kaunas: Church construction started in 1937, first church service in 1995
Trakai: Please pray for the churches in Latvia and Lithuania
Lummi ReservationBellingham Washington
MTW has been involved in this ministry since 1996, and our family has been involved since 1997
Was very difficult in the beginning; lots of trust issues, limited to construction
White, Strangers, Christians
Lummi 2010 (More opportunities for
ministry)
75 people from churches around the country (and Canada) were present the first week
Focused on home construction and ministry: Vacation Bible
School Working in new
neighborhood Health Fair Senior Center Stommish grounds
Construction In the past few years, Mark
has been involved in kids ministry, but this year another team took responsibility
Buzz Hart, MTW Associate Staff, has served at Lummi since 1997; was not able to attend because of his daughter’s brain tumor (she’s much better) He is typically in charge of
construction Because Mark was not
involved with kids ministry, he was able to take a leadership role in construction along with Lisa Miller, another Associate Staff member
Ministry Each year at Lummi we
have new opportunities to minister in different areas of the reservation We’ve worked in the
MacKinsey neighborhood for at least seven years; developed relationships
Smokehouse Apartments; activities in the afternoons
Health Fair takes place at the high school and involves a number of different booths
Team from Canada came to do a musical presentation
Senior center involved making different crafts
Chris’ Page
San Jose Construction Sports Ministry
Andrea’s Page
One of the best things about this trip is the relationships that are made.
Not only do we make great connections with the Lummi kids, but we make connections with each other.
It’s so awesome to work with other Christians from all over the country and to get to know each other.
Susan’s Week of Wonders
Assisting Tammy with errands and organizing
Visiting Fran and Bill James – flowers and crafts!
Spending the day with Victoria moving (with Andrea)
Ministering to Eli, Paul, his family, and Stephanie
Time for sharing, teaching, reconnecting, and drawing near to God
Christ Church Bellingham
www.christchurchbellingham.org
We were excited to meet and speak with Nate Walker and Trevor Mauss, the pastor and staff worker at Christ Church
Looking forward to working with them in serving the Lummi people.
Next year’s trip will be July 9-16.