It’s our last night in Lithuania and then on our way to Latvia tomorrow. It’s been a great past few days. The day after my last post we traveled a few kilometers outside Kaunus to work in the home of an older adult in the church. I think it was a good experience for the group because it gave them an opportunity to use their hands and see something get completed from start to finish. I felt like it was a good day for group bonding. We just seemed to have good chemistry, and I think it helped that we were all working together to accomplish a task. The bus ride out to the site and the walk following the ride wore everyone down pretty well, but they didn’t let it get them down too much.
The next day (yesterday) we took a three-hour bus ride north from Kaunus to a town called Birzai. It’s much small than Kaunus, but is more like I’m used to so I’ve enjoyed it. We met the pastor of the church at the bus station and after walking or taking buses that past few days, seeing the minivan we were going to ride in was like seeing a lavish SUV. Our accommodations while in Birzai has been on the second floor of the church, complete with a kitchen, computer lab, washer, showers, and a great living space. We have felt spoiled our whole time in Lithuania with the hospitality, but it’s been especially nice having all of us together. After a pizza party with some of the children in the church, we took a walk to a popular swimming spot on Lithuania’s first man-made lake (which was made by the Duke of the castle that is up the hill, in order to protect it).
Birzai UMC is a pretty cool church. Pastor Ramond (“Raimondus” in Lithuanian) has done some pretty cool stuff in his seven years here. When he got here, he immediately learned that people in this part of the community do not have running water (I saw some people washing their clothes in the lake today), so one of the first things he did was put in a clothes washer to make available to the community for free, along with a shower. He then made is possible for a nurse to be available for free health consultation. They may not have many in worship on Sunday (he said about 30-40), but they have made it possible to meet real needs of the community in hopes to open doors to offer spiritual nourishment. On the third floor of the church there are guest rooms that they rent out for a little cheaper than the some of the other places in town in order to pay the water bill and heat in the winter. They are very resourceful here and I’ve been encouraged and inspired by the people here. We had a great conversation with Pastor Ramond this afternoon, after driving around and seeing some of the sights in Birzai like a giant sinkhole created by an underground river. We also talked about more of the history of Lithuania and he shared with us some of his personal experiences and memories from when they were occupied by the Soviets. The concept of freedom is something still fairly new to them (they’ve been independent for only 20 years), and he said he’s still adjusting, some, to the idea of being free. In America, we read about the history of our country and what it was like to be without freedom, but it seems so far in the past and we don’t get to hear of people’s personal experiences from being without it. Lithuania is a beautiful country with a very challenging history, but they have persevered and it adds to the richness of their character as a country.
We also had Ramond share with us his personal opinion of Amercians, which launched us on a very stimulating conversation about the way Americans are and how we think. We spent most of our time talking about how he felt like Americans are fake with their interactions with each other (i.e. how many times do you pass someone, say, “Hi. How are you?” and then keep on moving?). We had noticed earlier in the day when we were walking around town on our own, screaming “American” (not literally screaming), that nobody acknowledge anybody when they passed each other on the street. Nobody smiled or made eye contact. It’s something we’re so used to and consider it Southern hospitality to acknowledge someone and greet them. Some in the group were starting to take it personally, so it was helpful to learn that Lithuanians don’t like fake conversations or interactions. If they ask someone how they are, they genuine want to know how they are doing. If you’re having a bad that doesn’t mean anything is wrong with you- it just means you’re having a bad day- so they want to hear about it. That line of conversations got me on my soap box about how so many Christians (myself included) are guilty of what I call “Sunday smiles” when we come to church and don’t allow ourselves to be in a bad mood or share our lament. But that’s another topic for another day. Overall, it was a very soul-filling conversation and dialogue, as I awed, once again, by the connectionalism of the UMC, when Ramond starting naming pastors in the WNCC that he knows.
Another great thing that has been going on is the conversations we’ve started to have as a group. Last night was the first opportunity we had to sit down together and just debrief, reflect, and talk about the past several days. If I might get personal for a minute, I’ve been critiquing my leadership (probably being too hard on myself), but I was in my zone when we were debriefing and felt that my gifts were being used. It gave me the confidence boost I needed. I’ve also been blessed with the opportunity to have one-on-one conversations with a couple in the group. I feel like God is doing some cool things in them, and I can’t wait to have more conversations about it all in the weeks to come.
Tomorrow we will be spending lots of time on the buses as we make our way to the Wesley Camp in Latvia, where we will be until Tuesday. We’ve been in cities or towns for the past week, so I’m looking forward to being in a camp setting. Your continued prayers for safe travel is much appreciated. Also I ask for prayers for this team and God’s work in their lives in the weeks to come- that they may have clarity of God’s will in their lives, and may fall more in love with God has we continue to meet amazing people and experience a different kind of ministry.
God’s peace,
Katie
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