What a wonderful summer it was! Thanks to your sponsorship many of our children were able to spend several weeks by the sea away from the problems at home and also attend church camps. Four of our older girls from the children's home were able to go to England for three weeks and another two of our older children to Sweden for a half-term holiday in October. Also in December seven of our children will be travelling all the way to Atlanta in the USA for Christmas. May God richly reward you for your personal sacrifice in supporting us in every way, the children have benefited so much from your gifts and prayers and they thank you for praying for their mum's and dad's too.

The staff and I also thank you for your tremendous support this past year and your prayers not only for us, the children and families we help but also for Latvia and its government. We have in Latvia the lowest average salary in Europe (approx $200 a month) and also the highest rate of inflation. On a more positive note though, at the beginning of October a law was passed giving more support to foster families in Riga, a real victory and something that is so needed to help reduce the number of children in big, institutionalised children's homes.

We still have a lot of work to do in Latvia though - to convince families to take children into their homes and also to support them through the difficulties of caring for such hurt children. At Hope for Children we are presently developing a team to be a support group for foster parents and also speaking in churches about God's heart towards the orphan. Again though, it will take some time to change the well-embedded attitude of, "Why take on somebody else's problem?"

Much will change at Hope for Children during the next year but we are confident that developments will bring about more, not less, help for children and families in crisis. Please remain in the fight with us and remember it's truly a team effort in which, with your prayerful and practical support, you are a valued member.

Helen Vipass, Director

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Staff Profile

Beata was working at the Salvation Army's children's home before she joined our team in October as head of our Bolderaya Day Centre for kids. She has a big heart for families in crisis since she herself has known the difficulties of bringing up a child alone and of losing your home and belongings. She understands very well how people here fall into depression and lose all trust in others.

In working with the children who turn to us for help she says she aims to be a true friend for them getting to know them, what they think and feel and want for the future. She wishes to help them by giving them comfort and security and a feeling of worth since every child is truly precious and a gift from God.

On her first rounds of the homes and schools of our day centre kids, Beata told us she was shocked by what she saw and heard. In some of the homes the children were crowded out by six or more people sharing just one dimly lit room with horrible communal bathrooms and drunken people around.In school one teacher commented that in all her 30+ years of teaching she had never seen so many kids so hungry.

"How good it is that we have this centre," Beata exclaimed at one of our first staff meetings; the children evidently feel the same and often show their gratitude for the friendship and help we give them.

 

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Family Support

 

Jusma, our family support centre head, often sits with desperate mums helping them find a place to live, find work and figure out how they can survive. What little aid we are given we faithfully give out to those who are really struggling.

One mum, for example, who has started to come to our weekly meeting is not able to work and has an invalidity allowance of 53 Lats (approx $100) per month. In addition, she is given less than half of this amount for her son to live on although the crisis minimum is calculated to be over 90 Lats a month now. Of course she has accumulated debts and of course she cannot afford the medicine she needs and is so grateful for any support we give her.

Another mum with six children was homeless for over a year and no one in State and other institutions could help her to get out of this situation. With financial help from us to get a place to rent she now has a home to call her own; even if it is only a one-room apartment it means so much.

Come to me, all you who are
weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28

 

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A New Day Centre in Skrunda

 

For some years now we have been praying specifically that we could work more hand-in-hand with local churches to open centres for children at risk.

In November this year, our director Helen Vipass answered a request from a new Baptist church minister in the town of Skrunda, approximately 150 km away from Riga, to visit his church and help start a day centre for children with them. The church is very small (only 12 members!) but every single member is fully behind the young pastor and teacher who have this vision.

For now we are negotiating the rent of a temporary office/meeting room but we really hope that a sponsor can be found to help finish renovations to the church's upper floor where we hope the centre will operate from in the future. Sponsors are also needed to help cover the running costs of the centre.

 

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A Time of Transition

 

Laws in Latvia are changing all the time to meet EU requirements and the accommodations we have for our children's home are no longer up to standard. Thankfully though they are suitable for children to live there with foster parents and so some of our staff have gone through training to be able to care for them this way.

The number of children has had to be reduced and three of our 16 yr old boys will leave us on 12 December to live in a transitional home run by another Christian charity.

Thankfully all the other children will be able to remain with us except for one little boy who has mental health problems and will remain in a special care institution and three children for whom we've found other families.

Helen Grimshaw will be 'mum' to three of our 18yr+ kids until they finish studies so there is quite a lot of transition going on even among the kids that are staying with us.

 

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Our Kid's Websites

 

Read one of our former kid's testimony and life story on his personal webpage www.okwhoami.com

And listen to the hip hop music of Vitaly (presently living with us) on www.krutaa.eclub.lv - this one sometimes takes a while to download and is written in Latvian and Russian.

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Please pray for:

• The children and staff of the children's home as it is reorganised into foster family units, for peace and a sense of security. For our three 16 yr old boys who will be transferred to another children's home.
• The development of a good system of support for Christian foster families, including the support of our former staff members in this role.
• That God would prompt more Christian families to open their homes to abandoned and abused children.
• That more churches would establish centres of support for children and families in crisis.
• The development of the new work amongst children in Skrunda.
• The staff, who can feel at times like they've just fought several rounds in a boxing ring! They need lots of special grace for a more-than-full-time job. Pray for wisdom, courage, patience, strength and lots of unconditional love for the children and their parents.
• The government of Latvia, that they wouldn't tax the poor so heavily. For Ainars Bashtiks, the minister of the special task ministry for the child and family.
• The children, for much healing in their lives.

 

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On the Matter of Giving

 

We cannot thank you enough for the financial support you have sent us in the past. There have been lots of trials for us in this area and we truly value the gifts you donate. May God reward you greatly!

To send contributions, please see "how to give."