“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” ~Margaret Meade

We were never without adventure when we boarded a bus, train or taxi in Eastern Europe. If you have traveled abroad, you are sure to have had similar experiences.

Being a “first-timer” in the Baltics, I was intrigued with their customs and tried my best not to miss anything. Actually, it was crucial that you paid attention to detail, especially if you didn’t want to get a ticket, or a “protocol”, as it was called in Latvia.

The metro systems are very crowded, as I have mentioned in previous posts. To own a car is almost a luxury in the city, to add on licensing and insurance makes it impossible for many. The public transportation system is quite good and efficient and there is an abundance of bus stops that come about every ten minutes. Once on board, you had better pay attention though, you have to be vigilant and on guard, ready to fight your way off when your stop is coming up!

There were always those on public transportation that tried to “beat the system”, just as there are here in the States. In Riga, you could buy a ticket that you would validate every time you jumped on the bus. If you happened to forget to do that, terrible things could happen. (Scary music begins to play in the background).

Now remember, we were three hours from the Russian border.

Envision just like my mother did, the KGB on every corner just waiting to whisk you away if you even looked American. Okay, it wasn’t just my mother; I went over with those same thoughts in my head too. You can’t help but feel that way being in a country that has only had their independence since 1991.

So we are on the bus, and if you forgot to validate your ticket these scary looking people, appropriately called CONTROLLERS, get on, randomly, three to four at a time to check your passes. It is the most terrifying thing ever! If you don’t have your ticket validated, guess what they do?!

They take you off the bus and…..they…..leave you there along the side of the road!

Yep, that’s it. Unless you are a criminal of some sort I guess you might get hauled away. But other than that you are just left to walk.

But let me tell you it is pretty scary! Especially if you are a girl all alone in Eastern Europe and you have finally gotten brave enough to take the bus back to your apartment BY YOURSELF without THE SWEETHEART. You have no idea how HUGE that really was!! I got on the bus and checked my shoulder bag, reached into the zippered pocket where I kept my ticket and it was empty! Oh. My. Dear. Lord. In. Heaven. I was already sitting down. I thought I would throw up. Seriously throw up. There was another pocket on the outside! Empty. Dear Jesus. This cannot be happening to me. I know I just said all they do is let you out on the side of the road but I DON’T LIVE HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!! This isn’t Indiana! We are not in Kansas, Dorothy!!

Panic has set in. You know all of those articles I have written about fear? I hadn’t written them yet! They are going to let me off in the middle of NO-WHERE with no ticket and no money and my cellphone is dead. This little purse over the shoulder is not very big because all of the missionaries tell you not to carry a big bag so you won’t get mugged but I am clawing that thing inside out to no avail.  I had never left Doogalas or Korey’s side for one single minute since we had boarded that plane in Indianapolis. I had clung to them for dear life in every public place until they were exhausted and they had finally gotten me out of my comfort zone to do this one BIG GIRL thing and I am falling into the Twilight Zone.

Then it hits me. Check your coat, stupid. And sure enough I had put the ticket in my coat pocket just as soon as The Sweetheart had handed it to me. I feel like a ten year old.

Not everyone is as nervous on the bus as I was. Some people get on, off, on and off, no big deal.

I have been bumped, bruised, literally, burped on, sat on, stepped on, and even had one lay their head on me for a while.

But Fritz beat them all. He was a Freeloader. You say you have seen freeloaders too? Not like Fritz you haven’t. He didn’t even care that he was cheating the system; he was brazen about it, jumped on, jumped off, right in front of everybody and just dared you to do something about it.

We didn’t see him coming. He just came out of nowhere, bumped into the middle of the crowd, he was smelly, hadn’t bathed in weeks, of that I was sure. He wasn’t polite, but he didn’t take anyone’s seat either. Just found his place and stood there until the next stop. Then he just kind of looked around as we all stared at him and then he sauntered off. We whispered among ourselves and next thing we know, he gets back on! He still doesn’t have a ticket!

Fritz didn’t care if the controllers were on or not! He wasn’t afraid of them either. I kind of liked his spunk, but I wasn’t brave like Fritz. He took chances, maybe because he had seen it all, done it all and just didn’t care anymore. Maybe he wanted to get caught. Perhaps he needed the attention, some are like that. He could have been hoping to get a hot meal, thinking maybe if he got on the bus someone would feel sorry for him, take him home with them and let him stay for dinner. Poor Fritz, that didn’t happen that day, so he just kept getting on, off, on, off, on off.

He knew we were staring. I’m sure he had felt it before. He had been rejected, been pushed around, his kind usually is. Nobody wants to get too close, let someone else help him. We ignored him, all of us. We let him go on his way. We all hoped someone else would pick him up out of the cold and take him in. Give him a bite, keep him warm. Give him a place to sleep for the night. It was too much trouble. We were too busy, we had places to go, schedules to keep, things that just had to get done.

“Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!” Matthew 25:37-40.

Fritz the Freeloader may not have been what you thought he was going to be but there are plenty of people that fit his description, and I don’t mean the physical. He really did get on and off the bus like he owned the place! God help us if we are ever too good or too busy to stop and help someone in need. And it truly does start in our heart.

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men…” Philippians 2:5-7.

Before Jesus ascended back to Heaven, He asked Peter if he loved Him. “Do you love Me?” He asked three times! (John 21:15-17). When Peter said he did, Jesus didn’t reply, “Okay, then go do this for ME, bring ME this, give ME that.”

You know what He said? “Feed my sheep.”

Take care of the needs of my people. That is the definition of a servant of God.