Return to the M.B. Herald Vol. 35, No. 13
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We have lived in this neighbourhood six months and finally become more than a source of conversation. Today our landlord returned from Spain and told us we had to move out of his house. Our contract with him isn't worth the paper it's printed on. Tears flowed. Why are we being forced to leave just when we were beginning to feel settled?
Our new apartment needs some work: wallpaper in the bedrooms, tile and a countertop in the kitchen, paint on the doors, and light fixtures. It's only a three-minute walk to Lithuania Christian College, and the kids have met other kids their own age.
Graduation. Twenty-two students from the College have received recognition for their hard work. I'm not sure who is the most emotional, us or them. Will they make it on their own? Will they all succeed? Will they hold onto their faith outside the College? Will they learn to trust God more intently?
This spring in Lithuania, the flowers and showers have all come in the same month. And, like a garden, our lives have been cultivated and turned since coming to work at Lithuania Christian College. In our first two years, we have lived in four different apartments, and our kids have been in three different kindergartens. We have grown to love numerous students, witnessed God move in revival through the College, helped plant a new church and experienced the stress of living surrounded by people we cannot fully communicate with and with whom we cannot fully share our lives.
God sends showers on the righteous and the unrighteous. Life often includes pain. Our pain is no different from what others face. We become lonely, frightened, confused, anxious. We miss the friends and family that once brought comfort. So we have had to turn to God and one another. Sometimes we have not succeeded in finding peace because we are still unwilling to surrender to the Master Gardener.
But the flowers come. We are witnessing the budding of a beautiful bouquet. This summer, six young people will be providing leadership in the new Klaipeda Free Christian Church. With money received from a church in Vancouver, we have been able to hire these young people to organize outreach programs, youth camps, follow-up programs and discipleship seminars. God brings the harvest. Some have planted; others have watered; God brings the harvest.
We never planned on starting a church. Our assignment was to help develop leaders through our involvement at Lithuania Christian College, Jean as counsellor and instructor of the Marriage and Faith class, and I as chaplain and instructor in Introduction to the Bible and Philosophy of Faith and Service. Our time was filled with class preparations, organizing chapels and worship services, and meeting with students. Then, this past fall, we were approached by some students asking us to assist them in planting a church.
From the very beginning, we told the students that this would not be a Canadian church. "In Lithuania, for Lithuanians, by Lithuanians" was our slogan. And it's working. The leadership of the church comes from a core group of mature leaders, men and women who meet each week and shape the services and direction of the church. The meetings are in Lithuanian. We attend, follow their leading and, when approached, make suggestions. Mostly we spend time during the week with each of the leaders. And we pray a lot.
Our garden is growing. We started as a student church of 23 LCC students. Now we average 60 people, 40 of whom come from the community.
This summer promises to bring more growth. A Social Services department that works with large families has approached us to organize day camps through July. They have provided a place to meet, 95 teens, money for supplies and freedom to teach the Bible and invite these families to church.
Sometimes in the garden we see only the weeds, feel only the showers. Like the Psalmist, we must remind ourselves to "lift up our eyes". It is God's habit that flowers often come with showers.
Jerrold and Jean Paetkau, MBM/S missionaries
Return to the M.B. Herald Vol. 35, No. 13
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