Country

Latvia

  • Location: Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Estonia and Lithuania
  • Comparative Size (Area): slightly larger than West Virginia
  • Natural resources: peat, limestone, dolomite, amber, hydropower, wood, arable land
  • Capital: Riga
  • Population: 2,306,306 (July 2004 est.)
  • Language(s): Latvian (official), Russian
  • Yearly income/person: $4,464
  • Unemployment: 8.7%
  • Literacy: 99.8%
  • Religions: Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox
  • People/church: 5,457

Ministry

CP-21: Church Planting for the Twenty-First Century

The Need

It is estimated that less than 0.5% of the Latvian population are born-again Christians. Only about 2% of the population even regularly attends church. This means that well over 2,200,000 Latvians are going to hell! What Latvia needs is hundreds of new church leaders, and among them those who can plant new churches in the 100+ communities where there are none.

Ministry Description

CP-21 (Church Planting for the Twenty-First Century) is a church-planting ministry working in the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. At this time we are primarily focusing on Latvia. Ultimately, we would like to play a key role in facilitating the start of a Latvian/Baltic church-planting movement. We do this by equipping laity in the local church, training new church planters, working with existing church planters, and encouraging church partnerships. We are also actively involved in the Latvian Evangelical Alliance.

Key Benefits

  1. Several years experience in Latvia has given us increasing cultural sensitivity, a growing understanding of what works and what doesn't, and an expanding circle of influence.
  2. We are teaching nationals how to do the work, not doing it for them.
  3. We not only work with individual church planters, but also with the local church since it is both a source of future church planters and the key support of existing church planters.

Goals

Our vision is a God-exalting, Christ-proclaiming, reproducing church in every community in the Baltics, starting with Latvia.

Towards this end we aim to:

  • See the successful implementation of a church-based education program for Christian leaders and church planters
  • Initiate parternships between US/Western churches and strategic churches and individuals in Latvia
  • Establish and equip a core group of nationals to facilitate church-planting on a national level

Team

  • Field Director: Tim & Cari Trudeau – Boone, Iowa
  • Randy & Kris Shaver – Boone, Iowa

How You Can Participate

  1. Prayer. We would love to send you, your small group, or your church prayer brochures. Simply request them at the address below.
  2. Partnerships. If your church might be interested in partnering with a Latvian church, we would be happy to send you more information (including a brochure and DVD). These can also be requested at the address below.
  3. Projects. We invite you to join us in several strategic projects aimed at meeting the need stated earlier.

For more information about any of the above points, write to:

Kris Shaver
CP-21
806 7th Street
Boone, IA 50036

More information about CP-21 can be found on the following page.