Home Service complete – now what?

Dear friends in Christ,

I am pleased to write to say that we have safely arrived back in Riga and are getting ready for the fall classes to start in a few weeks. Work has already started moving quickly for us as well. You may recall a few months ago that I wrote about the continuing process of licensing the program of Lutera Akadēmija. As is typical, things tend to slow down during the summer as people travel. Yet, while we were in the States, the process moved forward in a few important ways. The professional standard that was revised by the Academy to be recognized by the Latvian government has been provisionally accepted. This is wonderful news and a significant step in the right direction for us.

However, in the ever-changing world of bureaucracy and government, there are changes on the horizon for education in Latvia. This means that we must get all the paperwork for licensure in by the end of August. That also means that we must have collaborative meetings between Latvian and English-speaking lecturers to create the combined syllabi for all the courses in the program!

With the pressure of this, we still rejoice because our incoming class is shaping up to be nine new students. This is a wonderful addition, and it will bring our total number of students to 26 active students. As with any seminary program, there are some students who leave the program or whose life situations require them to take a break from studies. Nonetheless, God continues to bless the work of the Academy and the efforts of the missionaries who are engaged in the blessed task of teaching.

Please keep us all in prayer over the coming weeks as we prepare to not only launch the academic year, but that the final steps for licensing will be successful by God’s grace. It was such a blessing to be able to see so many of you and tell the story of God’s work to bring together faithful Lutherans from all over Europe. May He continue this good work among us!

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Cundiff

The honor and pleasure of sharing a meal

Home Service was a bit of a rollercoaster. One of our dogs became very sick, and we had to put her to sleep. We also had some health things come up – but don’t worry, all is well now!

On the other hand, we spent a lot of time with family, friends, colleagues, and supporters throughout the months of June and July.

One of the many highlights included an invitation to have an African breakfast meal with a few of Quintin’s Ph.D. classmates at the Seminary in Fort Wayne. Gelana Wakassa packed a few dishes with him all the way from home in Ethiopia in the horn of Africa. His wife lovingly prepared injera, a very popular sour fermented crepe-like flatbread, and doro wot, a delicious chicken curry typically reserved for celebrations.

To be invited to share a homemade meal in African cultures is an incredible honor. Gelana mentioned that it costs around $30 (the current GDP per capita in Ethiopia is less than $900 USD) to purchase a chicken to make the doro wot, which makes the fact that he was willing to share this very expensive meal with two Americans that much more special.

Joining us was Aina Fanantenana (whose name means “Bird”) from Madagascar, the large island off the southeastern coast of Africa. He spoke to us of his mission project of teaching his fellow citizens that some of the demon-possession among them is actually related to a very specific and verifiable medical condition. He says that convincing them of this is a difficult prospect because his culture is so entangled in folk traditions.

It was an absolute pleasure for Quintin and Lindsay to spend their last morning in Fort Wayne with these two gentlemen who are also earning their Ph.D.’s. We thank both Gelana and Bird for their hospitality while in the dorms at CTSFW.