Erwin: Riga, Latvia

The world has felt the shock waves of what happened Sept. 11.  Janet and I sat glued to the television, watching the around-the-clock reports on CNN here in Latvia and watched in horror as the second plane crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City.  We were joined by a group of five volunteers from North Carolina, a Latvian young woman and a Rus-sian young woman, here doing construction work on our house. 

As the evening wore on and we watched in utter disbelief, we sensed the need to pull together and pray.

So, we joined hands in a circle and cried out to the Lord that He would somehow use the terrible things we were seeing for His purposes.

We would never wish such circumstances to happen and would rather they not happen.

But almost every time such a tragedy occurs, many people find themselves in a position of seeking after God as never before. We know that God didn’t cause this to happen, but the sinfulness of men caused it to happen. Still, God uses situations like these to draw people to Himself.

I was quickly reminded that we had not registered with our U.S. Embassy here in Riga since we had arrived back in the country only a few months ago.

So I made my way to the city center and to the embassy.  I had to stop and watch as I approached the embassy. Across the street were people who had gathered to lay flowers around the young trees in the sidewalk. Many were kneeling and lighting candles.  I was drawn to one young man (about college age) who was kneeling and holding a candle with tears running down his face. I asked him if he spoke English or Latvian. He replied that he spoke English, and I responded by saying that I was an American and I was moved by his compassion and the compassion of so many who had laid flowers and candles, and I thanked him. He immediately broke apart and embraced me, laying his head on my shoulder and weeping. I couldn’t help but shed tears myself. As I entered the consulate’s section of the embassy, just as I was preparing to pass through the security check, the guard handed me the telephone and said that someone wished to speak with me.  It was a Latvian voice on the other end who said he had watched from an upstairs window and thanked me for the moment he had just seen out on the street. I knew immediately that Latvians and Russians stood with us in our grief.

We have received many, many calls from well-wishers of different nationalities living here in Latvia:  British, Latvian and Russian. Our dear friend and “Latvian grandmother,” Austra, wanted to come and lay a candle on our doorstep.  Instead, we suggested that we might go as a family with her to the embassy and lay flowers and light candles there. She needed to do this as much or more than we. 

When we arrived back at the embassy, we noticed that the amount of flowers and candles had increased dramatically throughout the day. It was again a deeply moving sight as we laid our flowers and lit our candles.  

The Latvian government also sponsored a memorial service at the national cathedral in the old city of Riga — another moving event by the people of Latvia.

Monte and Janet Erwin
Riga, Latvia