At the Very Beginning
The building, which became home to the Latvian Biblical Centre, is a historical building with an interesting history full of twists and turns of the 20th century. The purpose of this building, prior to William Fetler acquiring it in the 1920s, is shrouded in history. The real story begins with this incredible Latvian-born evangelist.
Having graduated from Charles Spurgeon’s College in 1907 young William Fetler returned to the Russian Empire with a passionate desire to proclaim Good News in the capital of the Russian Empire – Saint Petersburg. After having a fruitful ministry in Saint Petersburg and Moscow during the period of 1907 – 1915, he was “kicked out” of the Russian Empire. During World War I due to different reasons Fetler spent time in the USA. He came back to Latvia in 1923 with even more determination to proclaim the Gospel, but now in his native land. Having been a man of vision and strategy in his outreach, Fetler envisioned a Bible School where future missionaries would first be trained in the art of preaching and afterwards sent to different mission locations to share God’s Word. That is how the “Latvijas Misijas un Bībeles Skola” (Latvian Mission and Bible School) got started with the first class of students graduating in 1925/26.
William Fetler himself resided in this building with his family in the early 1920s. His “small family”, which consisted of “only 13 children” took over the living quarters on the 3rd floor. This building also housed a small publishing house, a dormitory for students and personnel working at the Bible school. Other rooms were used for Bible lessons and various educational activities. This building also witnessed some amazing evangelistic outreaches conducted in collaboration with Canadian evangelist Oswald J. Smith. Some of the Bible marches through the streets of Riga were also started from this eventful building.
The Bible school existed through the 1930s, up until William Fetler‘s departure to America in 1939.
The next historic phase for the building started in 1940 when the Soviet troops entered Latvia, forcing the country to lose its independence and statehood. The Soviets permanently closed the nearby Salvation Temple Church, and the building got transformed into a typical block of Soviet flats. This building, at different times, became home to a Baptist theologian Iosif Vladimirovich Chekalov’s and Andrey Mikhailovich Petrov’s family. As the years went by, the building suffered from lack of care and gradually decayed, ultimately becoming a dilapidated structure by the end of 1990s in need of major repairs.
Restoring the Building
Yet the Lord had a different plan for this building. One day in 2010, on his way to “Salvation Temple”, Vitali Petrenko, the Director of Riga International Bible Institute at the time, heard a voice from the Lord saying: “This building is for LBC”. Vitali didn’t know anything about this building at the time, but being surprised and curious about the message he started uncovering the history of this building and its association with William Fetler. Shortly after, the vision for restoring this building was born and the work began on February 8th, 2013.
The Miracle in the Making
This was a remarkable journey of faith with many ups and downs. The entire project was referred to as “the miracle in the making”. Being blessed with sufficient resources and generous donations, this chapter of the building’s history was concluded with the successful completion of the entire project, with the first service of thanksgiving and dedication for the glory of God on September 28th, 2017. Since that point, this historic building has become a thriving ’home’ and center for various ministries, including LBC’s educational activities. William Fetler‘s original vision to have a Biblical educational center in the heart of Riga lives on!
The history goes on as you read…