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I am together with this group of about 50, and with me is my friend Ernie Reimer, who has travelled 100 km from Siauliai this morning. I have requested that he be my John the Baptist this morning. It is he who was head of Lithuania Christian College in Klaipeda for its first two, difficult years. It is he who discovered me, understood me and helped guide my steps when I found them leading to God. He supported me as a writer when I understood that all my 20 years of blundering in the darkness of atheism must be depicted in my new novel. His support helped me greatly, and the book was published in the summer of 1997.
Back at our little lake, we are now standing deep in the water. Ernie is on my right, and Bob Gulack, my pastor, on the left. Ernie raises his hand and the chatter on the bank ceases. "Kazys," Ernie says, "in 1992 in a hotel room, you told me what you believed. When I heard what you confessed, I jumped up, shook your hand and stated that we were brothers in Christ. Do you now before God and all these people state that Jesus Christ is your Saviour and Lord?" To this my answer is "Yes".
My thanks goes out to Mennonite Brethren Missions/Services and all the missionaries who have come to Lithuania. Their ministry has contributed so much in my native Republic when we were liberated from the communist yoke of the Soviets. I recall Frank Dyck, who was our first Bible teacher; John Esau, with whom I worked for three years; and the many others who lived in Lithuania and left their footprints in our soil. We are also grateful to the many others who supported our efforts and made a church building a possibility for us. A special thanks goes to Art DeFehr who initiated the work in this country.
Kazys Paulauskas is a charter member of the Panevezys Free Christian Church of Lithuania. MBM/S has been working in Lithuania since 1992.
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