Wednesday at English Bible Camp – Latvia 2025

There’s always a shift by the middle of the week.

Names become easier to remember. Smiles come quicker. Even the quiet kids start raising hands or jumping into games. And today’s Bible story—Jericho—seemed to land right in that moment when confidence starts building.

Joshua 6 tells how God brought down the walls of Jericho—not through military might, but through obedience, trust, and a marching band of priests with trumpets. It’s the kind of story that catches kids’ attention: marching around a city for seven days, shouting at just the right time, and then watching the walls collapse? It’s unforgettable.

But as we talked with the students, it was clear they were picking up on more than just the dramatic ending. They noticed how unusual the plan was. How long the waiting must have felt. How it would’ve taken courage to follow through when the outcome wasn’t guaranteed. That’s what we focused on today: God gives us courage when we face obstacles—even when the solution doesn’t make sense to us.

In our small group time, we asked, “What kind of ‘walls’ might we face in our lives?” Answers came slowly at first, but soon kids started offering ideas. “When you don’t understand something in school.” “When your friend is mad at you.” “When you try something and it keeps going wrong.”

They may not name it the way we would, but they know what it feels like to run into resistance.

And so do we.

As a team, we felt it a little ourselves today. Some activities didn’t go exactly to plan. Communication hiccups happen when you’re working across languages, and sometimes the simplest task becomes a puzzle. But this is where mission work meets real life. God doesn’t always ask us to fix everything—just to keep walking around the wall, trusting that He’s at work.

We saw some of that trust taking root today. In a student who volunteered to read the Bible verse in English out loud. A quite child who desperately wanted to join the team skit at the opening. One of our team members who changed course mid-activity when a different approach was clearly needed.

None of these moments are headline material. But they matter. They’re the kind of things that happen when people keep showing up, keep listening, and keep loving well—even when the walls don’t fall right away.

To those of you who sent us—thank you. You’re part of this work too. Your support helps build trust in places where faith is often a quiet, private thing. You’ve made it possible for children here to hear that God is strong, present, and cares about them personally. And as most of you know, faith in Jesus, while at times quiet and private, is first and foremost centered around people who name the name of Jesus without fear and acknowledge that our faith is very public and centered in the community of believers called the Church. We hope that our activities this week and the next serve to cast a vision for what a public, grace-centered, unashamed faith can look like.

And to those who’ve ever thought about joining a trip like this: we don’t come with superhero capes or flawless lesson plans. We come with willing hearts, open hands, and the belief that small acts of faith—walking, listening, praying, teaching—can be used by God to do more than we see.

The week isn’t over yet. There’s still much more to learn. Tomorrow’s story reminds us that even when we feel overwhelmed, we’re not alone. But today, we remembered this: God is the one who brings walls down. Our job is to trust Him enough to keep walking.

Thanks for walking with us.

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Mark, Team Leader | Latvia 2025 | Spiritual Orphans Network