Latvia

Population	2,356,508
Language	Latvian (Lettish)
Capital	Riga
Evangelicals	179,000

Better known as one of those Eurovision Song Contest countries, Latvia is not all the light-hearted side of life! For most of the 20th century this small land squashed between Russia and the Baltic was occupied by the Soviet Union, which denied its people the use of their language and culture - thus the rebound into new cultural expression! Placed between Estonia to the north, which has benefitted from close relations with Finland and poorer Lithuania to the south, Latvia also managed to join the European Union in 2004, auguring a faster level of economic growth and a closer relationship with western countries.

OACI in Latvia

CREATVIVE COMMUNICATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE

Missionaries from OAC Denmark worked in Latvia from 1994 through summer mission teams and camps, which resulted in the first staff evangelist moving to Latvia in 2002 to prepare the way for the establishment of a national branch. The Burnsides, from Britain, arrived and took over leadership in 2004.

OAC Latvia has two main objectives:

1. To be a RESOURCE for Christian individuals, churches and organisations to equip, empower and encourage them in their creative communication of the Christian message.
2. To REACH OUT to strategic places/people groups through creative communication of the Christian message.

Staff

Stuart and Ceinwen Burnside live in Riga, the capital of Latvia.

Over the coming 5 years we hope to be able to recruit, resource and release 10 national evangelists into ministry across the country. While reaching out and providing training for others, our aim will be to build up the organisation to maximise the long term possibilities for evangelisation.