Courses begin again

Dear friends in Christ, 

We are off and running! The spring semester of Academic Year 2023-2024 has begun for the students of Riga Luther Academy. In the words of our director, Jēkabs Jurdžs, “This is the best start to a semester we’ve had so far.” And he is quite right. One of the unique qualities that Americans bring to the mission field is our attention to detail and our need to plan ahead. Thanks be to God for the patience and understanding of our partners on the field to tolerate our questions and suggestions!

Over the past year and a half, Lindsay and I have worked closely with the other faculty of the Academy and the Latvian administration to put together a program and a system that is workable. I have often used the metaphor that what we have done at the Academy is put together a car while we are driving down the road. The work of putting together a school is no small feat. In other parts of the world, seminaries and colleges are starting up that will ensure that our Lutheran doctrine is passed on to the next generation. Our advantage in Riga is the ability to draw upon and build upon the existing structure of the Latvian language program. 

That said, much of the English program has been rebuilt and customized to meet the needs of the students. One of our most significant (and perennial) challenges is getting books into the hands of students. I have been successful in making great strides in this, and with the addition of Cody Mock joining us on the field for I.T. support, we are close to getting that problem sorted out. 

This semester, I am teaching three classes for the Academy: “Introduction to Mission and Evangelism” in our practical department, “Luther’s Writings and Letters” in our dogmatics department, and “Introduction to Theology” for prospective students. You may have seen me post ads for that class on Facebook. I am doing this in addition to taking a full load of classes to make progress on my Ph.D. It is so rewarding to see our students growing in the faith and their theological thinking. Please continue to pray for the work of the Riga Luther Academy and all of her students who will serve churches in many different countries. 

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Cundiff

Navigating the darkness of winter

We’ve had lots of people ask us about winter darkness in Latvia. Latvia sits at about 57 degrees latitude north; in North America, this is about the same level as Kodiak Island in Alaska. However, Latvia benefits from the shelter of the Baltic Sea so that its winters are not so frigid. 

During the winter, around the time of the winter solstice (December 21st), the country gets a mere 6 hours and 43 minutes of sunlight per day (sunrise at 9:00 am and sunset at 3:43 pm. 

Of course, you can still see sunlight even if the sun isn’t up, but it is a far cry from the summer solstice in mid-June, during which the sun rises around 4:29 am and sets at 10:21 pm – a total of 17 hours and 52 minutes of direct sunlight.

The photo above was taken on January 1st at 3:57 pm. You can tell that the sunlight isn’t very strong – in fact, the sun set that day at 3:52 pm.

As I (Lindsay) write this – on February 2nd – we are already back up to 8 hours and 32 minutes of sunlight daily.

Many people in Latvia use vitamin D supplements to help with mood during this time of year. We’ve even seen billboards with ads by local pharmacies selling their vitamin D.

It is truly bizarre for Carter, in the middle of winter, to leave at 7:40 am for school in the dark and return home at 4:30 pm in the dark. Luckily, the local schools recognize this as a potential issue, so they have recess outside every day, and sometimes multiple times per day, so that the kids can get a better chance of experiencing daily sunlight.

This does leave us yearning for the long, long days of summer, which leads to our upcoming Home Service time in the United States! We will depart for the States around the second week of June and stay until the end of July. Quintin is currently scheduled for two separate weeks of Ph.D. intensives at Fort Wayne, but we are working to meet with as many people and congregations as possible during the rest of the time! We will likely be mainly in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri. If we cannot meet with you “in the flesh,” we are happy to schedule a time to chat with you via Zoom! Please let us know if you would like to be considered for a time slot so we can better formulate our plan – we would love to see you!