Skip to main content

Off to Latvia and visiting the windows.

In an hour we set off for a week in Latvia. My luggage has been carefully packed and re-packed as we’re only allowed 8kg hand luggage. I hope it’s the right weight now. I am excited. It’ll be a good week I think, and it’s really nice to travel with a team for once. I can’t remember almost the last time I actually went on a plane with someone, so it’ll almost be a new experience.

This weekend was good. On Friday I got to go visit the ladies in the windows. It was a really good time of handing out tea/coffee and biscuits to the ladies who work as sex workers in the Red Light District. So many nationalities in one place. I think we talked to women from Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Ecuador, Colombia, Holland, Italy, and maybe even other nations. It’s hard to not feel hopeless about the situation. Hard to not wonder if it’s a pointless battle to fight. Yet, for the ones who do want to talk and the ones who do make it, it’s worth it. And it isn’t pointless. I believe that every time we talk to or even smile at the ladies, there is something of the love of Jesus that is communicated, even if His name is never mentioned. And that is worth it!

Friday evening I was again sat in the apartment with the veranda door open. Friday nights are busier and louder. From outside I could hear shouts and noise from the numerous tourists and groups of guys walking the district. And yet I felt so grateful to be staying right here.

On Saturday I strolled through the city and ended up walking through a used stamps market. It was so cute to see these people with books of stamps they were selling or maybe exchanging. A reminder that the time of stamps and sending letters isn’t completely over... although it is more then we know.

Today I’ve been at church and hung out with my good friend Judith, before rushing back in the wind to avoid potential rain that seemed to be looming in the clouds. And now I’m packed and ready to go.

I hope to write some updates along the way, but if not, I’ll be back in this space when we get back to Amsterdam.

Popular posts from this blog

Finding pockets of life (and a bubble-tea metaphor).

“Where can I find life?” has been a question I have asked myself a lot recently (but really for years). And really the deeper question is: “What is life, and what does it look like?” I guess the simple answer is whatever makes you feel alive on the inside; that brings a smile to your face; and that gives you energy and increases your capacity. There are so many side-effects of burn-out; or maybe they are rather causes of burn-out, which when combined become a huge mountain that can topple even the strongest of people. But once you have been depleted of your capacity to stand in the face of the challenges around you, one of the things that can help increase your energy and capacity is finding pockets of life. (And of course a lot of other things like rest, exercise, patience when the process is slow, setting boundaries etc. but that’s for another blogpost). The past months I’ve been watching and searching and paying attention. Searching for choices that will bring life, and paying att

There was a before and there will be an after.

“Do you really think it will go over?” A question posed as I was chatting to someone over coffee this week (with distance of course). My immediate response was that yes, I really do think it will go over, but I don’t know when or what it will look like. I don’t know when we’ll be back to “normal.” But to be honest, I am not sure I really want things to go back to being as they were before ... The past seven weeks have been so very different. Social distancing, staying one meter away from others, having permanently dry hands from antibac and washing hands a lot, and having to limit most interaction with others to a screen, have become part of everyday life. And of course the distance and isolating part of this “normal” I have no desire of seeing become part of the after . But at the same time I see good growing in this time of crisis; good that I do want to bring into the after , and what will become my normal when this crisis comes to an end. Time. Whether we like it or not, o

Small moments that mean a lot

Walking home on the crunchy snow that lights up a December evening,  I felt so thankful. The revelation that fellowship and being together is the best gift you can give someone, and realising that although it might seem small, it can turn into something big when a person feels seen and valued.  Yesterday I helped out with a crafts workshop for a group of lovely women volunteering for Crux where I worked before (well, in all honesty: they were making angels while I ate Christmas cookies, Quality Street chocolate, and chatted). I love walking alongside people in conversation, and realise sharing life for 2 hours can last so much longer in value and experience.  This evening we had our Christmas dinner for volunteers and people who are part of my current job. It was a delightful evening with many nations gathered around the same table…. eating the same food… and for a few hours creating a small fellowship moment that will become a good memory for the future. Often in my job the focus is o