April 12 – 15, 2015
For several years I have belonged to a small circle of leaders from various European countries who are responsible for these prayer meetings. We always meet in the capital of the country which is currently home to the European Union council for six months. This is now Latvia and the second half of the year it will be Luxembourg. Although we always meet solely in the cities/countries which belong to the EU, we of course include all the European nations in our prayers, i.e. our whole continent and its problems. I am the only person on the team who, through the trumpet initiative, has been in every one of the 50 countries of Europe. A reminder: It was in 2012 that we were in Riga and were able to blow the trumpets and give the message on the Christian radio station.The previous evening we had a meeting with ten of the “key” spiritual leaders of the country. A meeting like this on such short notice was possible only in Latvia – not in a single one of the other 49 countries. What does this tell us? For one thing, that Latvia has, among other things, a very strong calling to unity, acting as a forerunner in and for Europe.
It is so special (unfortunately, for it should be normal) when leaders of this calibre (bishops, national leaders in various organizations) meet together on short notice; when they listen to the message I brought; when they are totally convinced that it is from God and take the corresponding responsibility so that it can be heard by as many people as possible. On the other hand, it is not surprising that the enemy does everything possible to destroy this unity or does not even allow it to be born. There is deep mistrust among the people, also regarding the EU, because they have been repeatedly left in the lurch and were really suppressed and even occupied by various other countries (Germany, Sweden, Poland and of course Russia). Thus our visit and our prayer together were an enormous encouragement for our Latvian brethren.
A highlight is always the small group prayer outreaches in various locations around the city. This time the groups prayed for the parliament; in, around and for the churches; for the university and schools; and for the former Jewish ghetto.The previous evening we were all prepared for this outreach with information on Latvia’s history up to the present day. The terrible history of the Jewish population stood out. Riga was called the Auschwitz of the north. Out of a Jewish population of ca. 43,000 in 1934, 170 were still alive in 1944. Also, there were Latvian groups who willingly and voluntarily aided the Nazi murderers. Here, also, there is a blanket of silence and suppression concerning these things. Our group knelt in the ruins of a former synagogue where several hundred Jews were locked in and burned alive. We walked on the same streets where about 30,000 Jews were let to a forest (Rumbala, which belongs to Riga) and shot on November 30 and December 8, 1942. At the former Jewish cemetery we quoted God’s word from Ezekiel about the dry bones. The whole time a man stood near us, listening to our prayers. It turned out that he is the director of the International Christian Businessmen in Latvia. He was happy, grateful and stunned when he heard who we are, where we come from and why we were in Latvia. We invited him to our closing worship service. And he actually came and prayed with us and of course he was also especially prayed over and blessed, like all the Latvian brethren who were present. We also rejoiced over a Latvian sister who works in both the Latvian and the European parliament. It is so touching to hear how such gatherings encourage, inspire and strengthen the brethren in the country we visit!
WW
