Latvia

I am constantly blessed by many wonderful students. This has been true through almost fifty five years. One of my students last semester [Spring 2009] is Linda Brivule. She is from Riga, Latvia. Here major is Management [Business]. She excels in athletics. She is a major competitor in the javelin. She is rated 3 in the NCAA and 25 in the world. She is awesome.

Let me share a few things I have learned about Latvia.

The Republic of Latvia borders to the north on Estonia, to the south on Lithuania, to the east on Russia, and to the southeast on Belarius. Across the Baltic Sea to the west is Sweden. Latvia covers almost 25,000 square miles. The Latvians are Baltic people culturally related to the Estonians and Lituanians. The Latvian and Lithuanian languages are similar, but not Estonian. Latvia is divided into 26 districts. The capital is Riga, and the largest university is the University of Latvia in Riga. The population of this country is approximately 2,375,ooo people.

I am personally amazed that Linda would come all the way to the United States, learn English well, do well in her classes, and excel in athletics.

Let us pray for all peoples on earth. Let us pray for the people of Latvia. God created all peoples in his image. Every person is an individual of dignity. Each person has his or her God-given gifts. God uses people in many ways. Let us encourage and empower all around us to bring us all closer to God.

How do YOU respond to Latvia? Have you ever been to Latvia? Maybe you need to spend some time in Latvia. This is God's country. Let me hear from YOU.

John Willis

Latvia has been populated since 9000 B. C. After a long history, by 900 A. D., four distinct Baltic tribes inhabited Latvia: Couronians, Latgallians, Selonians, and Semigallians. Several wars impacted Latvia over the centuries. In 1721, Russia took over Latvia. After a long period of conflict and discontent, finally, on 18 November, 1918, Latvia declared independence, and this was officially recognized on 26 January 1921.

But Nazi Germany occupied Latvia in 1941 and Russia re-occupied Latvia in 1944. Coming into our times, on 4 May 1990, Latvia again became independent, and was restored on 6 September 1991. Now, the President is Valdis Zatlers, and the Prime Minister is Valdis Dombrovskis.

The climate of Latvia is humid because of the maritime influence of the Baltic Sea. The summers and autumns are reasonably mild, but the winters are often severe with heavy snowfalls. The major wildlife is deer, wild boar, moose, lynx, fox, beavers and wolves.

The major religions in Latvia are Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia, Roman Catholic, and Latvian Orthodox. Approximately 39% of the population declares they believe in "a god." Almost 60% of the people declare that they believe in a "spiritual force" of some sort. Approximately 10% of the people do not believe any god at all exists, and many oppose Christianity.

Unfortunately in late 2008 and now in 2009, Latvia is suffering from a severe economic reversal. The whole country is in great turmoil over this.