Gita Mednis beautiful jubilee!

On October 1 of this year, we celebrated the 80th anniversary of pastor and ex-superintendent Gita Mednis at UMC of Latvia Riga 1st congregation.  The service was led by the current pastor Anna Dobele but Mrs. Mednis had the honor of preaching. Very typicall for this occasion that the pastor shared her personal testimony of faith, emphasizing her return home to Latvia from the USA with her husband. Trust, reliance and persistent love to God and His calling could be heard in this Word of God.

When I thought about the greeting, I also looked for scriptures and came across the 10th verse of the 90th Psalm in which the following words are said – Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. These words certainly resonate with what was heard in the sermon. Listening to Mednis testimony one could certainly hear her strength – the strength to say no and the strength to say yes; the strength to follow God’s call even if loved ones around say it is madness; strength to hold on and not give up – endurance! This scripture also speaks of trouble and sorrow that it is all gain, the best for us. Why? Because difficulties, sorrows, trials, suffering – all this makes us strong people. If there were no difficulties and trials – we would never know how strong we are! And not just simply strong but how strong we are and can become in God, in His power and under His guidance. Therefore, sorrow and difficulty are not a loss of life but a gain and even a blessing! And Gita Mednis is abundantly blessed! Therefore, we want to promise you that during this season we believe and hope that we will be able to have a personal interview with her and be able to write a longer article. Because a lot has happened in these eighty years, there are many testimonies and we want to capture it all in an interview, so that it will be in the honor of God and a blessing to people!

From the bottom of our hearts, we wish Gita Mednis continued endurance and strength, patience and above all good health to remain in God furthermore! May God greatly bless!

Kristine Rozefelde and the team of “The Lighthouse”