ALCOHOLICS

It is no secret that alcoholism is a huge problem in Latvia. Whether its roots are found in tradition, culture, hopelessness or dark winters, the fact remains that many people suffer from the grip of addiction.

Wednesday is our regular men's Bible study time. We are reading through "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. Last night we had a couple of regular attendees gone but we picked up two new ones. One of them I knew from the Soup Kitchen but the other one was a new face (and he even spoke some English).

As we began discussing prayer requests I realized that all of the men at the table (except for me) had severe drinking problems at one time or still suffered from the effects of alcohol. Included in the group was one guy that has been to prison several times, another that was severely beaten up (and still shows the scars) by his drinking 'buddies', a former alcoholic that now counsels others and one guy that has turned his life around and now has a wife, family and is a steady Christian.

It was a neat experience to watch and hear (the words I could understand) as the men talked to each other about the problem and how with the help of Christ they had conquered their worst enemy. The two new guys are on the losing end of the battle right now. The others were trying to use their own history to show them that it could be done. One of the new guys has some strange ideas concerning God, the Bible and who Jesus is. The others did not back down at all and showed him in the Bible where his errors were. He finally turned to me and wanted my opinion. It was great to be able to say that what my Latvian brothers had told him was absolutely correct and I couldn't agree more with them.

Maybe this is a start for these two new guys. They are in their late 40's and if something doesn't change they will not survive much longer. Latvian winters, poor access to medical care, and easy access to cheap alcohol will cause them to become old men very quickly.

May God bless these two that are struggling and bless the men that have reached out to help them through their sickness.