[:en]
Hello,
Again I haven’t written for a long time, but now I’m trying to give an overview of what changes have taken place and what not (no Ukraine – not enough participants & no Denmark team) during this summer.
I (Evelyn) finished my everyday work in the office in the end of June. This gave me an opportunity to focus on my Latvian studies and to be a companion for my Estonian support-child Maks in martial arts for children with physical disabilities camp. It has been his dream for a while to learn martial arts, but because he is in wheelchair, he didn’t think it is possible. In the camp he understood that wheelchair is not an obstacle and he showed up such a passion to study, that he was gifted with a bokken (wooden sword), he got personal trainer and now, two months later, he is able to make his exercises on a chair (before he had balance problems) and his trainer thinks it is possible for Maks to train himself out of wheelchair. It is so good to see that he is making a progress and hopefully will be able to live on his own after he needs to leave orphanage.
We had vacation in August and most of it we spent in Hiiumaa, Estonia. We also shortly visited Finland. In Hiiumaa we took part in mission week and were there when the new church house was opened for my congregation (actually it is restored old one, but this house was taken from us after WWII).
Kaspars successfully finished first year in the university and is continuing his second year. During this semester he has physiotherapy four times a week and it made clear that Kaspars is not able to continue to be YWAM centre’s maintenance team leader. He is now helping in the centre just once a week, but the summer for him was really busy.
31st of August till 1st of September we organized a camp for people with
disabilities. It is not very easy to find a suitable place with wheelchair access in Latvia and for this reason this camp got a little extreme. We rented a camping ground that had temporally ramps, no toilet and washing facilities inside of the rooms and adding for this – real cold weather. Anyway people seemed to like the camp and said that contents where more important than maybe not so good exterior part. This year the camp was small – just 9 participiants – but main idea was to get together, to get to know each other, to have a fellowship, some fun and to get ideas for the next summer’s long camp. At the moment plans are, that the camp will be in the end of June or in the beginning of July in wheelchair friendly building close to Lithuanian border (it wasn’t ready for this year) and that camp will last a week. This year we organized the camp alone (with some helpers), but for next year we definitely need more help and financial support, because people with disabilities here in Latvia are not able to cover all the cost. It means if you want to join us or help in some other way, let us know. We are also planning to start small groups for people with disabilities in Riga. Most of these nine people taking part in the camp where Christians, but many of them have problems to visit church and are lacking Christian fellowship.
6th of September we moved to Pastende (very close to Talsi) to a three-room comfortable apartment to be six month “cat-sitters”. We are enjoying space, TV, washing machine, bathroom, toilet and mailing address (all this we didn’t have before). 6th of March our friends will be back from US and we would need to move out. We gave away our studio-apartment close to Valdemarpils and at the moment don’t have any idea where to go. We would like to stay in Talsi, but Kaspars’ school and our work is at the moment in Riga and there can be a need to move closer to Riga, but renting apartment there can be expensive. We really need clarity from God.
Two weeks ago I had honour to share our work in mission conference in Estonia. I met other Estonian missionaries, many pastors and got encouraged. It was really a good time to hear what others are doing and to be able to pray for others and to get prayed for.
Prayer requests:
- Thank God for changes that have happened in our lives, especially that we were able to start new ministry for people with disabilities.
- That we would get clarity where our place from March is and that we would find cheap, but good apartment
- Work among people with disabilities in Latvia – small group, next camp, equipment, and other possibilities.
- Kaspars studies
- More ministry possibilities for Evelyn
Thank you for praying!
Blessings,
Evelyn&Kaspars Apinis[:et]Tere üle pika aja!
Kiire suvi on läbi ning viimastes uudistes räägitud muutused on meie elus toimumas ja toimunud (välja arvatud misjonireis Ukrainasse, mis jäi ära huviliste puuduse tõttu) ning püüan kõigest sellest ülevaate anda. Kui midagi jääb segaseks, siis olen meelsasti nõus küsimustele vastama.
Jaanipäevaks lõpetasin oma igapäevase töö kontoris ning peale seda olen käinud abiks vaid kord nädalas. Tänu sellele oli mul suvel rohkem aega läti keelt õppida ning teha ettevalmistusi puuetega inimeste laagriks. See andis ka võimaluse olla juulis Eestis saatjaks lastekodupoisile Maksile, kes osales puuetega lastele mõeldud võitluskunstide laagris. Talle meeldis seal nii väga, et jäigi trennis käima. Tänaseks on ta tasakaal ja koordinatsioon juba palju paremad ning on suur lootus, et tal on võimalik end ratastoolist välja treenida. Maks leidis endale laagrist uusi sõpru, kes püüavad täita lünka, mis minu Lätti kolimine poisile on jätnud. Seega on tänu laagrile toimunud Maksi elus positiivsed muutused ning minu reis Eestisse läks seega „asja ette“.
Augustis olime enamuse ajast Hiiumaal puhkusel. Samal ajal aitasime natuke kaasa ka Hiiumaal toimunud misjoninädalale ning saime osaleda Kärdla Baptistikoguduse uue (vana) maja (taas)avamisel.
Kaspar lõpetas esimese ülikooliaasta edukalt ning jätkab praegu teisel kursusel. Sel semestril on tal loengud neli korda nädalas pealelõunal, mis tegi ta jätkamise NM-i keskuse praktiliste tööde juhatajana võimatuks. Praegu käib ta keskuses abiks vaid kord nädalas. Suvel seevastu oli ta igal päeval ametis ning viimase lihvi sai ka NM-i õppekeskuse maja.
31.augustist 1.septembrini viisime läbi oma esimese laagri puuetega inimestele. Kuna Lätis on suhteliselt raske leida ratastoolisõbraliku hoonet, siis meie laager toimus Riia lähedal Ropažis Läti Kristliku Misjoni kämpingus, millele rajati ajutised kaldteed. Kämping ja külm ilm tegid laagri suhteliselt ekstreemseks, aga paljud osalejad arvasid, et sisu kaalus välised tingimused üle. Osalejaid oli vaid üheksa ning esimese laagri mõtteks oligi omavahel tuttavaks saada, koos aega veeta, osaduses olla ning koguda soovitusi järgmise aasta nädalase laagri läbi viimiseks. Sel aastal viisime programmi läbi Kaspariga kahekesi ning meil oli muudeks praktilisteks ülesanneteks (näiteks toidu valmistamine) vaid kolm abilist, kuid just tänu sellele, et meid oli nii vähe, saime hea kontakti kõigi osalejatega. Osalejate soovile vastu tulles püüame Riias kord kuus hakata läbi viima kodugruppi puuetega inimestele. Neid, kes ei ela Riias, püüame võimaluse piires külastada ning otsime võimalusi, et ka nemad saaksid osaleda kristlikel üritustel. Suurimaks probleemiks Lätis kristlastest puuetega inimeste hulgas ongi see, et neil ei ole võimalik kristlikus osaduses käia, kuna kas ei saada kodust välja või kirikusse sisse. Samuti tunneb puudega inimene end kirikus teistsugusena, keda kergesti omaks ei võeta. Igatahes sai laagris selgeks, et meil mõlemal on kutsumus töötada puuetega inimestega. Kasparile oli selline laager esimene (eelmisel aastal Rootsis olime vaid abilised) ning ta ei olnud seni endas veel kindel, laagri lõpuks aga oli ta saanud täieliku selguse oma kutsumuses.
6.septembril kolisime Talsi lähedale kuueks kuuks kolmetoalisesse korterisse „kassihoidjateks“. Ameeriklastest omanikud on pool aastat oma kodumaal ning meie vaatame nende korteri ja kassi järele. 6.märtsil tulevad nad koju tagasi ning enne seda peaksime me otsustama, kus on meie koht (kas Talsis või Riia lähedal) ning leidma endale korteri. Vastasel juhul pole meil kusagile minna, kuna meie vanas korteris elab sees uus inimene. Praegusel momendil naudime suurt korterit, WC-d, vannituba, pesumasinat ja kodust aadressi – kõike seda meil enne ei olnud.
14.-16. september olin jälle Eestis ning osalesin Tartus Salemi Baptistikoguduses toimunud Eesti EKBKL misjonikonverentsil, kus mul paluti meie tööst rääkida. Konverents oli suureks julgustuseks ja õnnistuseks.
Palvesoovid:
- Tänu Jumalale muutuste eest ning et saime alustada uue tööga puuetega inimeste keskel
- Et tuleks selgus, kus on meie koht alates 6.märtsist ning et leiaksime taskukohase korteri
- Töö Lätis puuetega inimete keskel – järgmise aasta laager, vahendid, kodugrupp, veel võimalusi
- Kaspari füsioteraapia ja kehakultuuri õpingud
Aitäh eestpalvete eest!
Õnnistusi soovides,
Evelyn ja Kaspar Apinis[:LV]
Hello,
Again I haven’t written for a long time, but now I’m trying to give an overview of what changes have taken place and what not (no Ukraine – not enough participants & no Denmark team) during this summer.
I (Evelyn) finished my everyday work in the office in the end of June. This gave me an opportunity to focus on my Latvian studies and to be a companion for my Estonian support-child Maks in martial arts for children with physical disabilities camp. It has been his dream for a while to learn martial arts, but because he is in wheelchair, he didn’t think it is possible. In the camp he understood that wheelchair is not an obstacle and he showed up such a passion to study, that he was gifted with a bokken (wooden sword), he got personal trainer and now, two months later, he is able to make his exercises on a chair (before he had balance problems) and his trainer thinks it is possible for Maks to train himself out of wheelchair. It is so good to see that he is making a progress and hopefully will be able to live on his own after he needs to leave orphanage.
We had vacation in August and most of it we spent in Hiiumaa, Estonia. We also shortly visited Finland. In Hiiumaa we took part in mission week and were there when the new church house was opened for my congregation (actually it is restored old one, but this house was taken from us after WWII).
Kaspars successfully finished first year in the university and is continuing his second year. During this semester he has physiotherapy four times a week and it made clear that Kaspars is not able to continue to be YWAM centre’s maintenance team leader. He is now helping in the centre just once a week, but the summer for him was really busy.
31st of August till 1st of September we organized a camp for people with disabilities. It is not very easy to find a suitable place with wheelchair access in Latvia and for this reason this camp got a little extreme. We rented a camping ground that had temporally ramps, no toilet and washing facilities inside of the rooms and adding for this – real cold weather. Anyway people seemed to like the camp and said that contents where more important than maybe not so good exterior part. This year the camp was small – just 9 participiants – but main idea was to get together, to get to know each other, to have a fellowship, some fun and to get ideas for the next summer’s long camp. At the moment plans are, that the camp will be in the end of June or in the beginning of July in wheelchair friendly building close to Lithuanian border (it wasn’t ready for this year) and that camp will last a week. This year we organized the camp alone (with some helpers), but for next year we definitely need more help and financial support, because people with disabilities here in Latvia are not able to cover all the cost. It means if you want to join us or help in some other way, let us know. We are also planning to start small groups for people with disabilities in Riga. Most of these nine people taking part in the camp where Christians, but many of them have problems to visit church and are lacking Christian fellowship.
6th of September we moved to Pastende (very close to Talsi) to a three-room comfortable apartment to be six month “cat-sitters”. We are enjoying space, TV, washing machine, bathroom, toilet and mailing address (all this we didn’t have before). 6th of March our friends will be back from US and we would need to move out. We gave away our studio-apartment close to Valdemarpils and at the moment don’t have any idea where to go. We would like to stay in Talsi, but Kaspars’ school and our work is at the moment in Riga and there can be a need to move closer to Riga, but renting apartment there can be expensive. We really need clarity from God.
Two weeks ago I had honour to share our work in mission conference in Estonia. I met other Estonian missionaries, many pastors and got encouraged. It was really a good time to hear what others are doing and to be able to pray for others and to get prayed for.
Prayer requests:
- Thank God for changes that have happened in our lives, especially that we were able to start new ministry for people with disabilities.
- That we would get clarity where our place from March is and that we would find cheap, but good apartment
- Work among people with disabilities in Latvia – small group, next camp, equipment, and other possibilities.
- Kaspars studies
- More ministry possibilities for Evelyn
Thank you for praying!
Blessings,
Evelyn&Kaspars Apinis[:]