I set down my phone on the polished metallic table, right next to my straight black coffee, settle back into the soft black leather sofa. I stare out over the expansive corridors of Westfield Shopping Centre near Shepherds Bush in London.
Expensive shops.
People everywhere.
My thoughts go to another shopping complex in another city in another country.
The terrible tragedy in Riga, Latvia, this week when the roof of a shopping centre collapsed killing many people was fresh in the centre of my mind. It was made even more poignant by the fact that I had visited Riga just a few weeks ago. Dawn and I had been keen to check this week that people were OK. We wanted the people we had met there to know we were praying for those people who had lost loved ones over there as well as for the emergency services and the decision makers in that country.
I just can't imagine the pain they feel.
Major Christine Bailey the regional commander in Latvia assured us everyone was safe, and told us that the Army had done what we do best, serving tea and kindness at the scene.
Having just experienced the warmth of the Latvian people and marvelled at the development of the Salvation Army in Latvia since it reformed following the end of the Occupation in the early 1990s, I just want to praise God for the passion and the dedication of the Salvationists in that Country. They dont have anywhere near the resources materially that some other territories do, but they have deep spiritual resources that they continue to rely on, and they use them for the expansion of the kingdom of God.
So I ask you to pray for the victims of this horrendous tragedy.
But I also ask that you would join me tonight in praying for the work of the Salvation Army in Latvia.
That it would continue to grow.
That it will be blessed abundantly.
That it will continue to raise new churches, new leaders and new soldiers.
That above all lives would be touched and changed through its work as it joins Jesus in his saving mission to the this world.
Thanks.
