Participants: Jeff Reich
Series Code: LM
Program Code: LM000128S
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01:00 Up in the northern part of Europe
01:02 is the small country of Lithuania. 01:03 It's about the size of the state of West Virginia 01:06 and has a population around 3.2 million people. 01:09 Laymen Ministries has been working 01:11 in this small cold country since 1993. 01:16 Lithuania is full of historical culture and architecture. 01:19 For instance, in the southeastern 01:21 part of Lithuania is Trakai Castle, 01:23 which is beautifully located on the island of Lake Galve. 01:27 At one time this Castle was the capital of Lithuania, 01:30 as it held great strategic importance. 01:35 Construction on Trakai 01:37 began in the 14th century Duke Kestutis, 01:39 with many of the major works being completed by his son, 01:42 Vytautas the Great, who became 01:44 one of the most famous rulers of medieval Lithuania. 01:52 It was said that the water level around this Castle 01:54 was originally probably about 6 to 9 feet higher 01:57 than it is currently today. 01:58 This is what is called the keep or the dungeon. 02:01 When we get the modern word dungeon, 02:03 lot of people have a misconception 02:04 of what a dungeon is. 02:06 A dungeon in medieval times 02:08 often times could be used as a prison. 02:10 It's also a place for ammunitions 02:12 to be stored or sometimes there was a chapel up there. 02:15 Of course, there was always 02:17 the damsel in distress that was at the very top. 02:18 But this originally since there was, 02:21 the water was a lot higher here, 02:23 this had a moat and it had a drawbridge on it. 02:25 So this could actually 02:26 be a separated part of the castle 02:27 from the rest of the castle area. 02:35 I love exploring old castles 02:37 with their narrow passage ways and various chambers. 02:40 The wood work is traditional Lithuanian style. 02:46 The courtyardhas a unique covered walkway 02:49 along one building and the dungeon 02:50 stands out magnificently against the sky. 02:54 In course in the 14th century if you got in trouble, 02:57 this is where you would end up. 03:02 And no castle is to be complete 03:04 without knights and armor. 03:26 One looks over the history of what happened in Europe, 03:29 you could see the spiritual balance 03:30 that took place, you know, like for instance, 03:32 the Lithuanian pagans that needed to be converted. 03:34 So the Teutonic knights came up here 03:37 and they would have been a horrifying sight 03:38 to see with their metal helmets and their white outfits 03:42 and their horses dressed, you know, 03:44 in white and multi crosses on. 03:46 They're coming 03:47 "to convert these pagans to Christianity." 03:49 How God's character was misaligned 03:51 and how people perceived Christianity at that time. 03:55 It really did an injustice to the concept of Christianity. 04:01 On our first Sabbath on this trip, 04:03 we had fellowship at this small church in Radviliskis. 04:07 This church is pastored by Arunas 04:09 and his wife Neringa who coordinate 04:11 the work of Laymen Ministries in Lithuania. 04:15 This was going to be a special Sabbath 04:16 as they had a baptism that afternoon. 04:19 And they wanted me to speak on the significance of baptism. 04:22 For years, Laymen Ministries 04:24 has been supporting pastors and Bible workers in Lithuania. 04:27 Such was the case with Juozas 04:29 who was a Bible worker and who now is a lay pastor. 04:32 He had a special seasonal prayer with Jokubas, 04:35 who was going to be baptized that day. 04:37 Juozas was a Bible worker. 04:39 He was a good Bible worker 04:41 and he was invited to be a pastor. 04:43 After some time he found way to work in the prison 04:48 and he started to work in the Marijampole prison. 04:50 And now it's three and a half years. 04:52 And he's working there. 04:54 And he baptized nine people there. 04:56 And after some time, Juozas started 04:58 to work in Alytus prison as well. 05:00 And he was in contact with Jokubas. 05:03 Actually he was in prison 27 years. 05:08 And now he's 43, age. 05:10 And from his youth, he was almost 05:13 the whole time in prison. 05:14 At first they were studying 05:16 Bible study groups in prison in Alytus. 05:19 And now we have Bible studies in Marijampole. 05:22 So after all the Bible studies Jokubas decided to be baptized. 05:32 The place of the baptism was this cold lake 05:35 on this chilly spring afternoon. 05:37 The church group came to show their support. 05:50 Another prayer of dedication 05:51 was offered then Juozas and Jokubas headed to the water. 06:01 Jokubas is grounded in the word 06:03 and is a dedicated worker 06:05 for the Lord sharing his faith with others. 06:15 Since 1993 hundreds of baptisms 06:18 were taken place because of the dedicated work 06:21 of Laymen Ministries Bible workers. 06:45 After the baptism, 06:46 there was a wonderful fellowship meal. 06:48 There was also a good assortment of healthy Lithuanian dishes. 06:56 Speaking of Bible workers, Arunas and I decided 06:58 to drive up to the city of Ukmerge 07:00 to see Donna another one of our Bible workers. 07:17 Outside of Ukmerge, there are 07:19 graveyards and monuments that stand out 07:22 as a constant reminder of the geopolitical powers 07:25 that have tried to control Europe and occupied Lithuania. 07:34 Ah, potatoes! 07:35 This is the national food of Lithuania. 07:39 Donna has prepared a nice meal for us. 07:41 She explained to us how the Bible workers 07:43 all have different styles to make Bible study contacts. 07:46 For instance, she likes going 07:47 door-to-door with a program 07:49 we call the lending library. 07:50 This is where the workers go door-to-door 07:52 and show various books they have for sale. 07:54 If the people can't afford to buy them, 07:56 the Bible workers off to lend the book, 07:59 then they come back in a week or two, 08:01 get the book and offer another one. 08:04 This way they can answer any questions 08:05 the people might have and make friends. 08:08 By this method, Donna explained, 08:10 she had several Bible studies in homes 08:12 that she was now visiting every week. 08:15 She went on to explain about one recent incident. 08:17 Donna made her way 08:18 to a very rundown part of the city 08:20 to a block of flats where the people are very poor. 08:24 She mentioned that this part of town 08:25 was very old and had a lot of crime. 08:43 She made her way to the door 08:45 and using the lending library concept, 08:48 she gave the lady named Adronie, 08:50 a copy of the devotional book entitled 08:53 "Firm Foundations" by Mark Finley. 09:05 A couple weeks later, Donna came back 09:07 to answer questions regarding the book 09:09 she had lent to Adronie. 09:13 Donna soon learned that Adronie 09:14 grew up in an orphanage, had a rough life 09:16 with drugs and alcohol and was in the last few years 09:20 seeking new directions for her life. 09:23 Adronie also explained that receiving 09:25 this book was due to the Holy Spirit's leading. 09:33 Donna answered Adronie's questions 09:35 and then went on to show her the book 09:37 "Patriarchs and Prophets", explaining how this book 09:39 would help answer the questions about why sin was permitted. 09:46 When they were done, they had prayer together. 09:48 One-on-one Bible studies often come from contacts, 09:52 just like this one. 09:57 Remembering that Adronie came from an orphanage, 09:59 many of you may recall seeing video footage 10:01 of our older programs about how Laymen Ministries 10:03 has been helping poor orphanages across Lithuania. 10:06 Over the years, shoes, clothes, 10:09 books and other items have been given 10:11 to orphans and the staff are like 10:13 in the poorest of the orphanages. 10:16 With Lithuania having one of the 10:17 highest rates of unemployment, alcoholism and depression 10:21 and suicide in Europe, this leads to a lot of children 10:24 who end up abandoned to orphanages. 10:38 While on this trip we met with 10:39 the assistant director of the orphanage in Kybartai. 10:43 We took some of the kids from the orphanage 10:45 to help us carry clothes we were going to buy from a local shop. 10:48 You saw one of our previous videos. 10:49 We actually went into a large shopping 10:51 kind of like a center mall area and shop with the directors. 10:55 But this shop here is, one that's 10:56 really close to the orphanage. 10:57 So the director came over here 10:59 with some of the kids and they bought 11:01 a bunch of clothes and we're paying 11:03 for it right now and we're going 11:04 to take it back to the orphanage. 11:06 One of the things that we like to do to is 11:08 not only help some of the poor 11:10 orphanages with clothes, but we'd like to give literature 11:12 to the kids and to all the faculty 11:14 and staff of the orphanages. 11:27 Okay. Aciu. Nice doing business with you. 11:30 speaking in foreign language 11:39 When we arrived back at the orphanage, 11:41 we were informed that almost all the orphans were in school. 11:44 So there was not much of a show 11:45 while distributing some of our items. 11:47 A few children that were there 11:49 received a few of the items and of course 11:51 they were especially happy to get the basketballs. 11:54 Something as simple as a ball 11:56 can open the heart to accepting 11:58 this spiritual mentoring they need. 12:01 We only share books with the children 12:03 and the staff as well. 12:05 These books are entitled 12:06 "New Start" by Dr. Vernon Foster. 12:10 We also had an assortment of children's books as well. 12:15 Most of these books are the ones 12:16 Laymen Ministries has published over the years. 12:19 Our Bible workers often visit various orphanages 12:22 sharing clothing, shoes, toothpaste, 12:25 soap, books, and holding special programs 12:28 for the children on the holidays. 12:35 Over the years, Laymen Ministries 12:36 has helped not only this this orphanage in Kybartai, 12:39 but all across Lithuania. 12:44 Today we are in for a special treat. 12:46 Some ladies have come here to the little church 12:48 and they're gonna demonstrate 12:49 some traditional Lithuanian food. 12:51 I think one of the dishes is gonna be like 12:54 a beet borscht, they call it cold beet soup, 12:57 that sounds interesting. 12:59 And then some other kind of potato dish. 13:02 So let's go see what they're doing. 13:08 When I came in, the first thing 13:09 I saw was ladies peeling potatoes. 13:11 Of course, I love potatoes 13:13 because I live in Idaho which is famous for potatoes. 13:21 And a lot of the Adventists here in Lithuania 13:24 are ovo-lacto vegetarian. 13:25 They're not vegan in that truest sense of the word, 13:28 but lot of this is kind of new for them from going 13:31 from eating a lot of meat and such to vegetarianism. 13:36 What is the ingredients that you're making in this? 13:39 What did you call it again, the Bulviu Plokatainis? 13:42 Bulviu Plokatainis 13:44 Plokatainis. Plokatainis. 13:46 It means basically potato pudding. 13:47 Yeah. Potato pudding. 13:48 What are you putting in this now? 13:50 We will put eggs, sour cream, 13:54 milk, pumpkin, butter, onions. 13:59 And... the potatoes. 14:08 I've noticed this several of the potato based dishes 14:11 in Lithuania use a combination of cooked and raw potatoes 14:14 in the preparation processor. 14:46 This is mustard oil. 14:49 Do they make it from mustard seed? 14:50 Yes. That's right. 14:59 While this bulviu plokatainis or potato pudding 15:02 is baking in the oven, 15:03 Neringa headed out to the small garden 15:05 behind the church to get some things for the cold beet soup. 15:08 This is spring onions. 15:13 speaking in foreign language 15:16 Can you translate that in English? 15:18 Cold beet soup. Cold beet soup. 15:22 These dishes are old favorite among Lithuanian people 15:24 using raw grated cucumbers mixed with some dill 15:27 and then a good amount of shredded cooked beets. 15:37 Buttermilk is then added along with some green onion tops. 15:56 The mixture is diluted with some cold water. 16:04 A couple chopped boiled eggs are added 16:06 and the soup is basically finished. 16:09 It's often eaten with boiled potatoes. 16:18 We've got potatoes here 16:21 and the cold beet soup. 16:26 And I'm still thinking about this stuff. 16:36 Definitely better than lop lopping while I watch you. 16:50 So this is the potato pudding, 16:54 I'll give a sample try here of this stuff. 17:06 Mmm, that's actually pretty good stuff. 17:14 With the majority of Lithuania's population 17:16 living in these block of flats 17:17 or what we would call apartment complexes, 17:20 it used to be easy having our Bible workers go door-to-door. 17:23 But then to cut down on crime, 17:25 many of the buildings added security keyways 17:27 on big metal doors which made it nearly impossible 17:30 for the Bible workers to go door-to-door 17:32 in these block of flat buildings. 17:35 Arunas came up with an idea and that was 17:37 to advertise the lending library in a newspaper. 17:40 In one incident, an 80 year old woman 17:42 who lived way out in the country saw the advertisement 17:45 and was very interested in getting some Christian books 17:48 She called the number and Arunas answered the phone. 17:58 He took down her address so he could 18:00 go and pay a visit and take her some books. 18:04 He packed up some of the wonderful books such as 18:07 "The Desire of Ages" and "Steps to Christ" 18:08 and headed out to meet this lady. 18:21 After a 30 minute drive, 18:23 he was out in the country at a small rural home. 18:35 To his surprise, there was not only 18:36 an elderly lady who was interested, 18:38 but also her son and granddaughter as well. 18:44 Books were put into their hands, but more than books, 18:47 a personal contact was made. 18:53 This led to group Bible studies at these people's home. 18:56 Even some of the local church members 18:58 started coming and helping. 18:59 Lots of questions started being asked 19:01 and answered from the Bible. 19:05 Since the newspaper ad had worked so well, 19:07 Arunas got another idea 19:09 and approached Laymen Ministries about it. 19:11 That was publishing our own newspaper. 19:14 Neringa started right off designing the newspaper 19:17 which we entitled "The Source of Hope". 19:19 We included articles on the family, 19:22 health and Bible topics. 19:24 We printed several issues now and the demand is growing 19:27 and we are finding a lot of interested readers. 19:45 We are here at underground prison cell at the Ninth Fort. 19:48 This Fort became known 19:49 as the fort of death during World War II. 19:52 Just outside the city of Kaunas is the infamous Ninth Fort. 19:56 Back in the late 1800s, the city of Kaunas 19:59 was surrounded by eight forts and nine gun batteries 20:01 to protect it from invading forces. 20:03 The Ninth Fort was added to protect 20:05 the northern part of the city 20:07 and was finished on the eve of World War I. 20:13 On June 22nd 1941, the German army 20:16 invaded Lithuania under the direction of Adolf Hitler. 20:20 The Germans were first seen as liberators from the Russians 20:23 But soon the Lithuanian people realized 20:25 that they were under a new reign of occupation. 20:29 Thousands of Jews were shipped 20:30 from Germany to Lithuania on trains. 20:33 They became known as the Reich Jews. 20:35 Also Jews from all over Lithuania 20:37 were gathered and brought to the Ninth Fort 20:39 which served as a concentration camp. 20:42 It is estimated that over 30,000 Jews 20:45 lost their lives at the Ninth Fort. 21:11 It was against these walls right here 21:12 where a lot of the prisoners were executed. 21:14 Their bodies were taken to a mass burial grave 21:17 just on the other side of the main Fort wall 21:19 on this site over here. 21:35 As I thought about the Ninth Fort, 21:37 I realized that it was a privilege 21:38 to be involved with bringing hope to a country 21:41 that has seen so many seemingly hopeless situations. 21:47 At the little church in Radviliskis 21:49 we are holding our annual Bible worker meeting. 21:51 Pastor Arunas let out in the song service 21:53 and I spent some time going over 21:55 the history of Laymen Ministries in Lithuania 21:57 and then shared some words of encouragement. 22:01 You sometimes get discouraged-- 22:06 We then sat in a group discussion 22:08 talking about how we could improve our work, 22:10 come up with new ideas for outreach 22:12 and overlook new materials 22:13 that we could publish for distribution. 22:17 We have a great team of Bible workers 22:19 who are dedicated to sharing 22:20 the truths of God's word with people. 22:22 They have good success in their outreach, 22:24 yet they seek to do better in pioneering 22:27 the work in this little country. 22:30 One of our newest Bible workers is Albino. 22:32 She's been with us for about two-and-a-half years. 22:34 She actually works in the city of Vilnius, 22:36 but she's been coming to this city. 22:38 It's probably about 35 kilometers away from Vilnius 22:42 and her and the mission president were involved 22:44 with some meetings that took place here two years ago. 22:46 They had like a prophecy seminar 22:49 and some health meetings and they 22:51 generated some interests with the colporteurs 22:53 and with those meetings and there was 22:55 a small church group that was raised up 22:57 because of that and they started renting a room 22:59 in this commercial building here. 23:01 It's just one small little like office room. 23:02 They're using it as a church 23:04 and this is Wednesday evening. 23:05 So they're having a Wednesday night meeting. 23:07 And I'd just like to show you 23:08 what they're doing here and how many people 23:10 are coming out on Wednesday night. 23:11 I guess on Sabbath, they have even more than this. 23:13 It's getting quite full. 23:16 Albino is a kind of a special person 23:18 because she's very creative. 23:19 She's done colporteur work for quite a number of years 23:22 before she started being a Bible worker 23:23 with our ministry and she still does the colporteur 23:25 work from time to time along with doing door-to-door 23:28 Bible work and lending library and such, 23:31 but one of the things that I found out 23:32 that was really interesting she does is, 23:34 in Vilnius which is really old city like you say 23:36 it's a capital city here in Lithuania, 23:38 she goes to old historic part of town 23:40 outside of the big catholic church 23:42 which is really a big tourist area, 23:43 and she lays out on the sidewalk 23:45 a couple of blankets and she puts books like 23:47 "Desire of Ages", "Great Controversy", 23:49 "Steps to Christ", different books like 23:51 that that we've been publishing through the years here. 23:53 And she sells them to people 23:54 who are going in and out of the church there. 23:56 She's got a real love for the work 23:59 and very creative in what she does. 24:12 Albino was leading out 24:13 in a Bible reading when we entered. 24:14 These people were eagerly searching 24:16 for truth found in God's word. 24:19 This group consisted of all ages 24:20 and the discussion was very lively and Bible-based. 24:27 It is by personal visitation and Bible studies 24:30 all across Lithuania that is making 24:32 a difference in people's lives. 24:34 Pray for our Bible workers that they may meet 24:37 the challenges that come while sharing the truth. 24:39 Pray that hearts will be touched 24:41 and thank you for your prayers and support. 24:45 So this will make things little bit easier maybe for-- 24:51 Today we've been invited to go to the mission office. 24:53 We're gonna meet Bertold, 24:54 Mission President of the Adventist. 24:55 He used to work with us as a Bible worker. 24:57 He's a mission secretary now. 25:03 Mr. Bertold. Oh, no. 25:05 Nice to see you. Nice to see you. 25:08 Laymen Ministries is one of the 25:09 first organizations to start working in Lithuania, 25:12 even before there was an organized mission office. 25:14 Some years later, our mission was organized 25:17 by the Adventist church and some of these people 25:19 that we saw gave their hearts to Lord, 25:20 were soon working for the church organization. 25:23 Bertold, the mission president has been a good friend 25:26 and a co-worker for years, long before 25:28 he was mission president. 25:30 David is the treasurer of the mission. 25:32 He used to work in Laymen Ministries 25:33 publishing house, while Gintaras 25:35 is the mission secretary. 25:36 He used to be one of our Bible workers. 25:38 Whenever I come to Lithuania, we meet and discuss 25:41 how Laymen Ministries and the mission 25:43 can work better in bringing souls to the truth. 25:50 singing in foreign language 26:31 We were mighty to get even in last night 26:32 here in Lithuania in the city of Radviliskis 26:35 as we were looking out on the balcony 26:37 at this block of flats what we would call 26:38 apartments behind us here, 26:40 that these different individual flats 26:42 and apartments had lights flashing 26:44 of the televisions inside. 26:46 The way people are communicating is different. 26:47 People aren't sitting around reading books like they used to. 26:50 They're glued in front of a television set 26:52 when they come home and this whole idea of being 26:55 able to reach people has got to start changing. 27:01 We're in a really remote farm area 27:02 here in Lithuania and to our amazement, 27:05 they do have high speeder, 27:06 and they just got done watching Laymen Ministries 27:09 Lithuanian program off of YouTube 27:11 just a couple seconds ago. 27:12 So it's one of the reasons we really need to get 27:14 into developing a lot of different language 27:17 typed videos that are short videos on YouTube 27:20 and some of the other services out there so people 27:22 can watch those kind of presentations 27:24 in their own language. 27:29 This is gonna be the way that we're gonna be 27:30 making more of our contacts in the future 27:33 and they can get on the internet, 27:34 contact somebody through email address 27:37 and start correspondence that way. 27:39 It doesn't matter whether you are in the jungles 27:40 of one or two, or whether you are 27:42 in the comforts of the United States 27:43 or all across Europe, 27:44 we can't just have meetings and expect people 27:46 to come to seminars and meetings 27:47 like we've done in the past. 27:49 We need to go where the people are. |
Revised 2022-09-20