Besides hockey fanaticism, one of the cultural highlights of Latvia is the Latvian Song festival where a choir of 50,000 people is formed. Tickets sold out a few minutes after they went on sale but I was able to see a qualifier performance of a couple top choirs, thanks to our Latvian teacher, Zane, who sings in a group called "Balsis" (voices). Here are 2 of the songs I filmed last Friday.
Since I was in Riga on Friday evening, after the performance, I went out to share the gospel in the central park and train station. Our friend Agnese was there to pray and translate for me, but it turned out most the people we talked to either spoke Russian or English so she didn't translate too much. Many were open to talking with us until we brought up Jesus. One homeless woman we walked up to told us she was planning to commit suicide, she didn't ask for money so I think she was serious, however when I offered to share about eternity and how to be saved, she didn't want to hear it anymore! On the other extreme, there was drunk man we stopped in the park who wanted to hear how to be saved and thanked us for the gospel tract. But most were just out to have a "good time" and did not want Jesus to interfere with that. On our train trip back to Ogre, I had an interesting talk with Agnese about culture and faith in Latvia. There is much to learn about this culture, but one thing that is true of every culture is that we all need Jesus to save us from the corrupting influences of the world. The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16-17) and there is power in the name of Jesus (Philippians 2).
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