Friday morning we said our farewell at the Novasaratovka Seminary in St. Petersburg. As we were leaving, the students who were graduating were on their way into an important meeting to discuss their plans for the future. They were meeting with the faculty and Archbishop Kruse, who is the bishop over the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Other States (ELCROS). (To correct an earlier post, Dietrich Brauer in Moscow is bishop over European Russia, and there is another bishop over the Siberian region.)
The conversations over breakfast on Friday were much more relaxed. The students had been taking exams all week and we could tell that they were over just by the decrease in the general stress! Here are the soon-to-be graduates:
Then we headed out of town to visit Tsarskoye Selo (formerly called Pushkin), the location of St. Catherine Palace and Alexander Palace. We again had a beautiful day for sightseeing, though it was a little cool at times. The entry times for individual tourists and for tour groups are separated; we spent more time waiting in line than at other stops, but it was not really very crowded. The palace and its Baroque interiors are quiet spectacular. In earlier days, the entire facade was also guilded. I overheard a guide say that in those days, it was hard to look at the building and it looked like it was on fire.
The other highlight of the palace was seeing the Amber Room, which has been fully restored since my previous visit. Just amazing.Late in the evening we took our next flight to Riga, Latvia. The flight itself was uneventful but we were quite early and had a long wait at the airport. We also found out that our flights were on an airline that charges for the first checked bag, so the check-in procedure was complicated by having to visit a separate cashier to pay the baggage fees. It was only a short flight, about an hour, before we arrived and were met by our host Dagnis. Here is a photo of him the next morning with his wife Alicia and their daughters Eliza (pronounced eh-leez-ah) and Liva (lee-vah). Alicia is wearing a prayer shawel from Grace Lutheran. Todd also presented Dagnis with a Twins sweatshirt and Ronald and I brought some Minnesota wild rice.
Saturday morning we were able to share a brief visit with Arnes, who was the pastor in Valka for many years. He moved to a new parish and responsibility as a regional dean about 3 years ago. He invited us to attend a special worship service with him in Jurmala, a resort town nearby. He is part of the planning team for a Via de Christo weekend and they were starting a day of planning with this Holy Communion service.
Later in the afternoon we were able to do a walking tour of the Old Town region of Riga. The day had turned cool and quite windy, but we still enjoyed the walk and a chance to take an elevator to the top of the St. Peter church for a scenic view of the city. I found it a very interesting blend of old and new architecture.
Then we travelled with Dagnis' family to Valka in the evening. Here, Hazel is staying with Anna and Limones, who are old friends of Grace who have welcomed visitors in the past. Todd is staying with Unda and Rolands, and then Ronald and I are staying nearby in the home of another church member named Liga. (Unfortunately, Liga had an emergency with her mother and had to leave town, so Unda and her family have been providing hospitality for the two of us as well.)This morning we worshipped at St. Catherine Church. It was wonderful to finally meet this congregation, after hearing about them since my arrival at Grace!
Pastor Todd assisted in serving Holy Communion, which was very nice. He wore the pastor's black robe which was a bit too long. Then, after the service I was able to offer a greeting to the congregation, with Dagnis providing the translation. Here is our group after the service, together with Pastor Girts and Anna. Girts is pastor for three congregations, and has been serving in Valka for about two years.
Following the service we shared refreshments in the Parish House next to the church. They served soup together with coffee and tea and a wonderful cake. We were able to share quite a bit of conversation with Pastor Girts and some other members of the congregation, thanks to the capable English speakers among us. We also were able to look at some pictures of the church history and recognized some familiar faces like Milt Ost at the anniversary celebration a few years ago.
Then we took at tour of the Kindergarten facilities in the same building, and also climbed the church steeple to view the town. Here is Pastor Todd with Unda, as well as her sons Gunars and Arnes and Christine, who is the girlfriend of Gunars.
Following all of this, Hazel returned home with Anna and Limones and the rest of us planned to take a walk and cross over to visit the Estonian side of the town, but the weather turned quite damp and rainy. So instead we returned to the house and have been sharing a nice visit with the family. The boys recently completed a "strong man" race that involved running through a collection of obstacles, and they were able to show us pictures of this. Unda and Rolands are also interested in mountain climbing, so we were able to see photos of their trip to the Alps last year.Later in the evening we plan to reunite with Hazel for a barbecue there. I'm not sure of the plan after that, but we are in good hands!
No comments:
Post a Comment