{"id":25383,"date":"2026-02-08T09:00:48","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T09:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/?p=25383"},"modified":"2026-02-05T12:08:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T12:08:04","slug":"latvian-conference-hosts-annual-staff-appreciation-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/latvian-conference-hosts-annual-staff-appreciation-event\/","title":{"rendered":"Latvian Conference Hosts Annual Staff Appreciation Event"},"content":{"rendered":"

3 February 2026 | Riga, Latvia [Patricija Oberte]<\/p>\n

On 11 January, the Latvian Conference held its annual staff appreciation event in Riga, Latvia, bringing together approximately 110 participants, including employees and their family members, to celebrate a year of service in God\u2019s work and reinforce a shared sense of ministry and fellowship.<\/p>\n

The event highlighted the contributions of staff and the support of their families, featuring worship songs, musical items presented by families, and a special surprise for pastors, whose wives performed together for the first time. El\u012bna \u0122ipsle, the wife of the President of the Latvian Conference, said, \u201cI experience gatherings like this as a great blessing. When so many talented and warm-hearted children of God, who have served diligently throughout the year, come together to give thanks, celebrate, and even joke, it is truly special. Singing with the pastors\u2019 wives was a small project that brought great joy, and even at the piano, there was a pastor\u2019s wife. Events like this help us experience a little piece of Heaven even here on earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Towards the beginning of the event, participants played a game that encouraged them to get to know each other. They were each given a sheet of paper with descriptions such as “I know three languages” and “I am the oldest child in my family”, and then they had to go around the room and identify people who matched them. This created a fun and lively atmosphere filled with conversation and laughter, as individuals learned new things about each other, with all attendees \u201cwinning\u201d lunch when they completed their sheets.<\/p>\n

\"Attendees
Attendees take part in an interactive game as they move around the room to find people who match different descriptions. The activity was designed to encourage conversation and help employees and family members get to know one another better<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Each employee received a specially prepared gift, and children were given small presents that delighted both their hearts and their appetites. Pastor Miks Mo\u017eeiko, a local church minister, reflected on this saying, \u201cThe atmosphere was cosy and family-like, and staff were generously presented with gifts of appreciation. Gatherings like this allow us to recognise what has been given and what God wishes to provide in the future, and they encourage everyone to enter the new year of service with a smile.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the gifts had been presented, all attendees were then separated into teams and given various tasks to do together, encouraging them to work alongside individuals they do not typically interact with. Activities included creatively illustrating moments from some of the key events from 2025, creating a new song based on three words they were given, and preparing a short New Year\u2019s message to encourage everyone for the year ahead. The exercise brought together different generations, with each team presenting their work, filling the room with laughter and joy.<\/p>\n

\"Teams
Teams worked together to reflect on past events and share messages of encouragement for the year ahead. One team presents the results of its group work<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dace Muceniece, the Conference office administrator, commented, \u201cWhile it often feels that the behind-the-scenes work is less visible than the ministry of our leaders, I experienced God\u2019s guidance at every stage of this event. People willingly offered their gifts, stepped in to help, and even small details, like finding gifts, were provided in answer to prayer. This reminded me how important it is to trust God\u2019s guidance and remain humble in service.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

[Photos: Gustavs Melngalvis]<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Music, games and prayer bring together church employees and their families<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":25386,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1583,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-estonia-latvia-lithuania","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25383"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25389,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25383\/revisions\/25389"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}