Sorry this update is so long. The week has been very eventful. If you don’t have time to read the entire thing please read the prayer requests. Love to all Elizabeth!
I arrived Tuesday afternoon in Vilnius. It was great to finally be here and see familiar faces after the long journey. Tuesday Evening we had dinner with some Missionaries from Belarus which was great fellowship.
On Wednesday we traveled to Ŝiauliai (Shaw-lay) in the northern part of the country. We were supposed to meet with the landlord or a building Milton and Lara have been looking at to rent for use as a meeting place for a new church there. After we got there (after traveling 2 hours) the landlord said he couldn’t meet with us and had rented the space already. He sent us to another building; it was a great space but the government controls the utilities which can be a bad deal in renting. We returned to Vilnius Wednesday Evening for Bible study. There were four people there; three of them were new faces since last year when I was here! The Bible study went well and we had good conversation over Ephesians 5.
Thursday we afternoon Milton, Peyton and I traveled to Kaunas for Bible study with the church group there. On the way there we hit a fierce storm we could barely see anything. The wind was blowing so strong we were fighting to stay on the road. We came through the storm. When we arrived in Kaunas we came back into the storm and it was obviously flash flood weather. The water was about halfway up the median. In the first intersection in town it was completely flooded one car was already stuck. We had no where to go but into the water…we got stuck! Milton and Peyton pushed the vehicle while I steered it for about a kilometer to dry land. Two men from the church (Marios and Montez) came and picked us up since the van wouldn’t start. They gave them dry clothes and we had Bible study. They have four active members right now. All are in their twenties which I having conversation with people my age. We had a great time talking about John 7. They all are very eager to study the Bible which was very refreshing. After 2 hours it was still raining very hard so we decided to let the van dry over night and stay with Marios and Evalina.
Friday the mechanics were all busy and the van still wouldn’t crank so Milton Peyton, and I rode the fast train back to Vilnius. The ride was very beautiful through the countryside! We then went to a garden party for Peyton’s Cello class! Parties in Lithuania during the summer are usually outside since the sun is out and it is “hot” (the high here most days is in the high 70’s with no humidity)! They grilled pork and chicken and we ate lots of fresh vegetables from the garden and I got to drink fresh apple juice squeezed from the apple orchard…it was very good!
Saturday I worked on helping organize information for a doctrine conference we will be holding in two weeks. I am responsible for finding team building activities as well as presenting information on how to find valid resources on the Internet. Lithuanians jumped almost twenty years of technological advances and often believe most of what they find on the Internet which can be misleading.
Sunday we had Sunday school and church. The group from Kaunas traveled to Vilnius this Sunday for the meeting so they could participate in a church picnic. Church was such a blessing to be apart of here today! This group has an eagerness to learn and is open to talking and sharing and they are very inviting. I was blessed to have the opportunity to share my testimony with the group during worship. After worship we traveled to a beach in Vilnius where we had a picnic. We played Frisbee, Football (soccer), and we taught them how to throw an American Football. We then went to the mall and watched a soccer tournament being held on the side parking lot. They said it was time for me to accept the “real” football because the World Cup is starting soon and they are fanatics!
I am enjoying my time here, serving with Milton, Lara and the kids, and meeting new people. I have begun to learn some of the basic words, the church members have fun listening to me try out their words and impersonating what the words would sound like all drawn out – when I draw a word out into as many syllables as possible! They are very patient in trying to teach me Lithuanian. I am also helping to teach them English!
Prayer Requests
Preston and Peyton will be leaving for the states on Friday – pray for safe traveling
The van- the mechanic says that the engine needs to be replaced…this is very expensive Milton and Lara are hoping to put the engine of their older vehicle in this van.
Weekly Meetings with the Vilnius and Kaunas churches (on Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday nights respectively).
For the planning of the Doctrine conference; to be held for the three churches (Ŝilute, Vilnius, and Kaunas). Pray that God would start preparing their hearts now for what they will hear.
Pray that my ankle will continue to heal (I dislocated it 9 weeks ago). It is holding up very well but by the end of the day I am sore and ready for rest. Pray that it would not be a hindrance to my ministry here.
