Participants: Jeff Reich
Series Code: LM
Program Code: LM000152A
|
00:01 We're back in Lithuania.
00:02 Laymen Ministries have been working here for 24 years now. 00:04 I remember when we came in 1993, 00:07 there was about 00:08 47 to 50 Seventh-day Adventist in the whole country, 00:11 so Laymen Ministries is involved with pioneering 00:13 the work in this country. 00:15 If you've never heard the story about 00:16 how we ended coming here in the first place, 00:18 you're going to want to contact our ministry 00:20 and get the DVD called The Dream 00:22 or you can go on Laymen Ministries 00:24 YouTube channel and watch the video on there. 00:27 On this trip, I brought two former missionaries 00:29 with me Jonathan Peoples and Joshua Miller. 00:32 And both of these young men 00:33 came over as student missionaries. 00:35 They were in and out of the country 00:36 and actually lived here, Jonathan for seven years 00:39 and Joshua for 12 years, 00:40 and they're going to be reminiscing a bit. 00:42 Also on this program, we're going to tell you about 00:45 our Bible worker program and our paper 00:47 that is called the source of hope, 00:49 and we're going to even show you 00:50 some traditional Lithuanian cooking. 01:19 Lithuania is situated in Northern Europe 01:21 in an area called the Baltics 01:23 with Russia to the east and Poland to the south. 01:25 And it has a population of about 3.5 million people. 01:30 Lithuania has been one of the most occupied countries 01:33 in all of Europe, yet on the other hand, 01:34 in the earlier centuries, 01:36 when Vytautas the Great was king, 01:38 it occupied the territories of present-day Belarus, 01:41 Ukraine, and parts of Poland, and Russia. 01:43 By the end of the 14th century, 01:45 Lithuania stretched across a substantial part of Europe 01:49 from the Baltic to the Black Sea. 01:51 Life in Lithuania is difficult, 01:53 especially with the growing worldwide recession. 01:56 Unemployment is at all-time highs. 01:58 It has some of the highest rates in all of Europe 02:01 for alcoholism, depression, and suicide. 02:04 In the cities, people are crowded 02:06 into these small block of flats 02:08 or what we call apartment house complexes. 02:10 Life in the country is difficult. 02:12 The people survive by growing food 02:14 and keeping it in store for the long winters. 02:17 Today, while growing more and more secular, 02:19 like much of Europe, 02:21 the Catholic Church is the state recognized religion. 02:27 Just to show you how deeply seated Catholicism is, 02:30 we headed out into the countryside 02:32 to a small town called Siauliai, 02:34 where there's a shrine and a church dedicated 02:36 to the supposed apparition of the Virgin Mary. 02:45 As the Teutonic Knights conquest in Lithuania 02:47 started to spread Catholicism, churches started to spring up 02:51 in lot different areas like this area here. 02:53 In 1457, a man by the name of Peter founded a church 02:57 in this little area of Lithuania, 02:58 and it became known as Siauliai. 03:11 After the little church was established here in Siauliai, 03:15 Calvinists started to move into this area 03:17 and had a great influence. 03:19 And because of that, in 1532, 03:21 the priest at the church of Siauliai made a great, big, 03:24 huge wooden box that was covered 03:26 with this iron-clad material. 03:28 And he put in it a picture of the Virgin Mary 03:30 and some vestments and things like that, 03:33 and also a document, a proof that this land 03:37 was actually given to the Catholic Church 03:39 under the rule of Vytautas the Great was, 03:42 I think, who the emperor was at the time. 03:44 And he put all these things, and he went over by a rock, 03:46 he buried it in the ground really deep, 03:49 and then shortly after that, 03:51 the Calvinists had a really strong influence. 03:53 They took possession of the church 03:55 and all the property in that area. 03:56 And over the next 80 years, 03:59 the Catholic Church in this area started to die out. 04:10 And in 1608, some children in this area 04:13 were out tending sheep, playing, 04:15 and then all of a sudden on a big rock, 04:17 they a saw Virgin Mary appear clad in white 04:21 and blue garments securing the baby Jesus. 04:23 And she was profusely crying, 04:26 tears were running down her face, 04:27 and she was wailing, and it was making 04:29 the rock wet around her. 04:31 Well, they ran and told some of the local village people 04:33 what they saw 04:34 and how this woman that they saw appeared 04:37 was surrounded by an aura of a light of some sort. 04:40 And everybody came to the conclusion 04:42 that this had to be the Virgin Mary 04:44 that she had appeared in this area. 04:46 But when the Calvinists, pastors found out 04:48 what happened, they attributed 04:50 this manifestation as an evil spirit. 04:53 But a lot of the local village people here 04:55 believe that this was really the Virgin Mary 04:57 who had appeared and was weeping bitterly 05:01 because Catholicism had weaned in this area 05:04 and the church had been taken over by the Calvinists. 05:12 Needless to say, this supposed apparition of the Virgin Mary 05:15 created quite a stir in the local community. 05:17 And it actually started to revive 05:19 amongst those backslidden Catholics. 05:21 The story started to spread 05:22 a lot of the villages around the area. 05:24 And about three years the "supposed" appearance, 05:27 an elderly man who was over 100 years old, 05:29 who was nearly blind, heard the story, 05:31 and he remembered 80 years before 05:34 said he had helped this catholic priest 05:36 to bury this iron-clad box by this rock. 05:39 And even though he was nearly blind, 05:41 and it was 80 years later, and he was an old man, 05:44 the "miraculous" story goes. 05:45 He took some of the villages to exact spot 05:48 where this box was supposedly buried. 05:51 They dug and dug and dug 05:53 and sure enough they found the box. 05:55 They opened it up, they found a picture 05:57 of the Virgin Mary inside, some vestments from the church, 06:01 and some documents that proved that 06:03 that property belonged to the Catholic Church, 06:05 and they were endorsed by the Vytautas the Great 06:08 who was one of the emperors 06:10 of the Lithuanian empire way back years before. 06:14 And so those documents were taken 06:16 to the local councilmen and legal battle started. 06:19 And eventually the church 06:21 and property came back to the Catholics, 06:24 and a large Catholic Church was built here 06:27 to commemorate this whole event. 06:30 We left Siauliai to head to a place called Merkine, 06:33 which is deep in the forest of Central Lithuania. 06:37 Paganism has deep cultural roots here in Lithuania. 06:40 In fact, it's even recognized by the government. 06:42 Statistics say that the majority of the people 06:44 profess "Catholicism" but 37% of the people 06:48 of Lithuania do not believe in a regular organized religion, 06:51 but they do believe in spiritual 06:54 or supernatural forces that influence people. 07:05 This is a good example of what I'm talking about. 07:07 This is a Merkine New Age Pyramid. 07:09 This is kind of a center of enlightenment 07:11 here in Lithuania. 07:13 A man by the name of Zekas had these spiritual revelations 07:16 in which God told him this was a special spot 07:19 where there's kind of like 07:20 some kind of special forces here. 07:22 And he was shown in vision the exact size 07:26 and measurements of a pyramid 07:27 in which somehow triangulates all these spiritual forces. 07:30 And later, they put this large geodesic dome 07:33 over this pyramid. 07:49 In the late 13th century, the Teutonic Knights 07:51 which were like the military branch of the Catholic Church 07:54 came here and started forcing 07:56 the Lithuanian pagans to convert to Catholicism. 07:59 And really what ended up happening is that, 08:02 well, a lot of them started to profess Catholicism. 08:04 They were just mixing and matching 08:06 a new form of paganism. 08:20 Despite the many cultural 08:21 and historical challenges we face in Lithuania, 08:24 Laymen Ministries is shedding the light of Bible truth 08:27 and hope to people across this little country. 08:30 We publish a paper entitled the Source of Hope, 08:34 which is circulated all across the country. 08:37 Our Director Arunas and his wife Neringa 08:40 head up the publishing and distribution of this paper. 08:44 They and others have set up paper stands 08:46 all over the country. 08:49 Even as they were restocking this rack 08:51 at a large shopping center, 08:52 a lady stopped and shared 08:54 how much she appreciates the paper. 08:57 We started the paper in 2011 printing only 1,500 copies. 09:02 Today, we have a quarterly print run of 50,000. 09:08 We have stands here of 09:09 newspaper stands in Marijampole, 09:11 three of them in shop, 09:13 two of them in shops, and one more in hospital. 09:17 And we're very excited to have them here, 09:19 especially in the hospital because people are relaxed, 09:23 and they are getting newspaper daily and reading them. 09:27 And every week, we are putting 09:30 300 newspapers in those stands. 09:34 Each paper is eight pages in length printed in full color. 09:39 The paper targets people of all ages. 09:41 There are articles about family, health topics, 09:44 and how to understand the Bible, how to pray, 09:47 and other simple articles 09:48 to help people to grow in Jesus Christ. 09:51 We tried to find good Adventist writers 09:53 since they best understand the people 09:55 and culture of Lithuania. 09:57 Sometimes Pastor Arunas and his wife Neringa 10:00 write articles as well as authors such as myself 10:03 and others from America. 10:05 Our Bible workers stock stands all across Lithuania. 10:09 Summer festivals and events 10:11 are a great time to share the paper. 10:15 They go to the people in hospitals 10:17 and in homeless shelters, 10:21 church groups mobilize to share on Sabbaths. 10:26 Every quarter, they are mailed to subscribers, 10:32 youth groups take them door-to-door. 10:38 Even in the small shopping center, 10:40 we found copies right at the checkout stand. 10:45 Kaz Marijus was walking in a park one day 10:47 when he was handed one of our papers by our church member. 10:51 Today, he is baptized and regularly attends 10:54 group Bible studies led out by 10:56 one of our Bible workers named Gina. 11:03 He loves to read the Bible, the paper, 11:06 the Source of Hope brought hope to his life. 11:18 Joshua Miller and I went to Arunas and Neringa's home. 11:21 It had been a couple of years since I had been here, 11:24 and for Joshua and John, quite a number of years. 11:28 We're all like family. 11:45 Arunas wasted no time to tell us 11:47 about the latest activities with the paper, 11:49 the Source of Hope. 11:51 He explained how this paper 11:53 has really taken off across the country. 11:57 Many people just calling us back 11:59 and asking us to send them more copies to be sent 12:02 to their neighbors and many, many calls and text messages. 12:07 My wife Neringa is making lay-out 12:12 and just choosing all pictures. 12:16 And after that she is gets most calls 12:21 and text messages and sending to addresses 12:24 which people live, and they want to get copy, 12:28 sending the paper if they live far away in village. 12:32 If nearby Seventh-day Adventist, 12:34 she's giving these addresses to Adventist people 12:39 to visit to make a contact. 12:45 Speaking of contacts, Arunas and his wife Neringa 12:48 often visit people in the area where they live. 12:56 If people have questions, they give away books 12:59 and tracks and offer to deliver them personally. 13:04 In this case, an elderly woman showed an interest. 13:07 And a visit was made which led to giving her Bible studies. 13:12 People like this are often lonely 13:14 and are searching for a purpose in life. 13:18 Neringa loves playing her guitar and singing 13:21 to people like this. 13:40 This day, there were questions 13:41 about what the Bible said in contrast 13:43 to what she had learned in the Catholic Church. 13:46 She was finding discrepancies and was looking for answers. 13:54 This lady's husband had passed away 13:56 and her children had moved out of the country. 14:03 Today, we're meeting with the Bible workers. 14:04 Every time I come to Lithuania, I spend usually one or two days 14:07 with them just to kind of feel what's happening with them 14:10 in their lives and to encourage them 14:12 as they do outreach here in the Lithuania. 14:34 I always like to tell them about what's happening 14:37 with Laymen Ministries in other countries 14:39 and to share words of encouragement. 14:42 Our team of Bible workers 14:43 are scattered all across the country, 14:45 so getting together is a special time for them. 14:48 We then sit back in a circle and talk about the challenges 14:52 and blessings of the work 14:54 and how we can look for new ways to share the gospel. 14:58 Some of our Bible workers have been with Laymen Ministries 15:01 for many years such as Pastor Julius Pikunas. 15:04 We made a long drive about into the countryside 15:08 where Julius lives because we were told 15:10 he was holding a weekend youth camp at his home. 15:13 We were met by his wife Roma, 15:14 who served Laymen Ministries as a Bible worker for many years. 15:18 She recently retired 15:19 and now helps Julius with the youth camps. 15:22 So I guess they have kind of like... 15:23 They set the place up to be kind of like a youth camp. 15:26 And so they have like a kitchen in here. 15:30 It's all set up there, 15:31 and they have a church over there. 15:34 And this is all in Julius's property. 15:36 He was a Bible worker, 15:38 pastor that Laymen Ministries supports here. 15:41 Rainy-rainy. 15:42 This is Lithuania, you know, Lithuania is about 15:45 the same as the panhandle of Alaska. 15:48 So for all you folks in Alaska, 15:50 this is very similar to where you live. 15:56 Julius was just finishing having classes 15:58 and games with the younger children. 16:00 Many of our Bible workers are involved with youth 16:03 to a program very similar to that of Pathfinders. 16:06 He said he's just being evolved as a pastor. 16:08 He's also doing a lot of outreach with kids, 16:10 especially in the summertime they're having like camps here. 16:14 And then they have like another small chapel right over there 16:17 where they have meetings with kids. 16:19 He works with mostly younger kids on the side. 16:21 I mean, he's a pastor of a church, 16:23 involved with Bible studies, 16:24 handing out literature, and things like that. 16:26 But this is also something 16:27 that he and his wife have a burden for 16:29 as far as working with the young kids. 16:34 Yup, this is it. 16:38 I know you, how are you? 16:39 Yeah, I'm good. Good to see you. 16:40 How are you? Wonderful. 16:43 Jorgita, a longtime friend and church worker, 16:46 was holding meetings with some of the teens. 16:50 She uses creative and interactive group discussions, 16:53 where the youth are challenged spiritually. 16:56 It was obvious that they were really 16:57 enjoying this interaction. 17:00 I had a chance to share my testimony with them 17:03 about how I became an Adventist Christian. 17:15 Another one of our Bible workers named Robertas Grigas 17:18 holds summer camps for youths of all ages. 17:26 They have serious study times, group discussions, 17:30 and are taught teamwork, 17:33 survival skills... 17:40 And to go door to door with our paper, 17:42 the Source of Hope. 17:51 Often on Laymen Ministries' television programs, 17:53 we'd like to take you into the kitchen 17:55 in different countries where you can experience 17:57 some of the cultural food. 17:58 And Neringa and her sister Aagni, Aagna, 18:02 I think it's like Agnus, 18:03 but it's Agna, did I say it right? 18:05 She says, "Okay." 18:07 Yeah, but they're going to cook some kind of traditional 18:09 Lithuanian food today, and what is it called again? 18:14 Vertine. 18:15 Vertini? Vertine. 18:16 Okay, and from what I understand, 18:18 it's kind of like a potato dumpling, 18:20 but if you watched some of our other programs, 18:22 they made like zeppelins one time. 18:23 And those were kind of like 18:25 a football looking potato dumpling, 18:27 and those are pretty delicious actually. 18:29 But this is going to be something different. 18:31 So what are you going to do first? 18:36 First they're going to make a dough... 18:41 Then there is flour, eggs, salt, and water. 18:46 So it's basically, they're making like 18:48 a pastry crust of some sort. 18:50 Okay. Gerai. 18:51 That's what they say in Lithuania for good, gerai. 19:17 So what's the next thing on your list of things to do? 19:23 They're going to use cheese curds which, I guess, 19:26 the closest thing in the United States 19:28 that we would have... 19:29 It's common would be cottage cheese, 19:31 but you'd have to squeeze the liquid out it. 19:34 It's already dry here. 19:35 It's something that is really common in Europe 19:38 that you don't see as much in United States is kind of 19:40 like this like almost like mozzarella cheese, 19:43 but it's even fresher, and it has water in it. 19:46 And it's not like feta cheese, but it's... 19:49 Yeah, I guess you'll get to see 19:50 what it looks like here in a second. 20:12 Okay, so this one with the curds had been finished, 20:15 and now they're going to start on the potato fillings. 20:18 They're going to be two different fillings 20:19 for these dumplings. 20:21 Some of these are going to have potatoes inside of them? 20:25 Yeah. Okay, cool. Yeah. 20:55 So, Joshua, what is the next thing 20:56 she's going to do right now? 21:03 They've got the cheese curds ready. 21:08 And they're going to put... 21:09 So they'll take about half of them, 21:10 since we got potatoes and the cheese curds, 21:12 so they'll do about half of them 21:13 with the cheese curds, 21:15 and so they're going to put it inside. 21:16 Fold them up. 21:17 Fold them up and squeeze down the edges to make sure 21:19 no water can get inside them. 21:21 And then they're going to put in the pot and cook it. 21:23 We had a quite a bit of discussion about 21:26 what to call these because in Poland, 21:28 they make something similar to this, 21:30 and it's called the pierogi. 21:32 And in America, we make dumplings, 21:34 but dumplings usually are just like watered up 21:36 piece of dough that's boiled, but these are like dumplings 21:39 that have a stuffing inside, 21:41 so kind of little similar to the Polish pierogi. 21:44 This is the final product, 21:46 and it does look a lot like a Polish pierogi. 21:49 We have the mushroom sauce there, 21:51 and I'm going to give it a taste test. 21:54 And like most dumpling type things, 21:56 it's got a little bit of a soft texture. 22:07 It's actually pretty good. 22:10 In the mid 1990s, Laymen Ministries started 22:13 a Student Missionary Program in Lithuania. 22:16 We sent over youth such as Joshua Miller, 22:18 Jonathan Peoples, Jeremy Calkins, 22:21 and Shannon Parker. 22:23 Joshua ended staying a total of 12 years 22:26 and Jonathan around seven years. 22:29 Jonathan was later trained as a videographer 22:31 and traveled around the world with me shooting video 22:34 for our television programs. 22:36 They ended up helping pioneer 22:37 a lot of the work in this little country. 22:39 They both came with me on this trip 22:41 and spent some time 22:43 remembering about their years working here. 22:45 You know, John, it's amazing, 23 years later, 22:49 almost of the day that I first came to Lithuania. 22:53 It's long time ago. 22:54 It is. 22:55 It's hard to believe, 22:57 I mean, it seems like just yesterday now, 22:58 but here we are. 23:00 You know, I remember, it was almost a day like this, 23:03 maybe a little colder, maybe a little wetter. 23:05 You know, when I first landed, I didn't know 23:07 what we're getting into, 23:08 kind of scared, I was young, 19 years old, 23:11 first time away from Mom and Dad except for, 23:13 you know, academy, but... 23:14 Right. 23:16 So after graduation, 23:19 I had the opportunity to go sell books 23:21 which was actually partially my first opportunity 23:24 to learn how to sell books. 23:26 And it was during that time I learned 23:28 that maybe I could possible 23:29 teach others to how to sell books. 23:31 So Jeff Reich had already asked me 23:34 before during the school year 23:35 if I wanted to go to Lithuania and sell books, 23:37 and I had said, "No." I was going to go, 23:39 and I was going to go to Weimar, 23:40 to get some education. 23:42 But at the end of the summer, 23:43 it turned out that one of my friends 23:45 who had been going to go to Lithuania 23:48 had to back out because of family situation. 23:50 And so that left it open for me. 23:52 And so I told Jeff I would go. 23:55 So that's kind of the reason 23:56 why I showed up here in Lithuania the second year, 23:59 after you and Shannon had gone back home, 24:01 we returned together, 24:02 and that was the purpose of our step here in Lithuania. 24:05 And so, John, what was your first impression 24:09 when you got here? You know, see, like, for me, 24:11 you know, it was gray, dark, 24:12 it was cold, and it was about October 24:14 I think when you came back to this, you know, for the... 24:16 I think it was mid-October when I came over here. 24:19 And at that time, it was very cold. 24:21 I remember the first ministries meeting we had, 24:23 it was freezing cold. 24:24 We had snow. 24:25 And it was definitely a jury play. 24:34 In 1995, when Shannon and I first came to Lithuania, 24:38 Laymen Ministries had already established 24:41 a publishing work here in Lithuania. 24:44 You know, they were printing a lot of Ellen White books, 24:46 some health books, and even though 24:48 all of these books were being printed, 24:50 they were not being sold. 24:52 I mean, the church only had 300, 24:53 maybe 400 church members, 24:55 and that's not enough 24:57 to be able to support a publishing house. 24:59 They had a lot of books just sitting. 25:00 Yes. Yes, they did. 25:02 And so Jeff... 25:04 I asked Shannon and I to come to Lithuania 25:06 'cause he knew that we had Call Porter experience 25:09 and try to teach the locals how to sell books. 25:12 And so Shannon and I, that first year, 25:15 we spent a lot of time working with the youth 25:17 and young people, we took them out door to door, 25:20 and, you know, you take these five-storey 25:21 apartment buildings, like we have behind you here. 25:25 And when we'd go from door-to-door, it was amazing. 25:28 It was every single place that we visited, we sold the book. 25:32 Wow. I mean, it really was. 25:34 I mean, wow doesn't even describe it. 25:36 Yeah, that's amazing. 25:38 But we were told, you know, 25:39 it was a very communist way of thinking back in those days. 25:43 And they did not believe 25:44 that this was going to work. 25:47 And so when they saw that result, it's like, 25:49 "Well, you're only selling books 25:50 because you're Americans." 25:52 And, you know, we did, we'd knock on the door, 25:53 "Hi, my name is Josh. I'm from America." 25:55 Great opening wedge. 25:58 We told them, "Okay, tomorrow, you guys go out by yourselves 26:02 and let's see what happens." 26:04 So how did that work? 26:06 Amazingly, they did the same thing. 26:08 They were able to sell it almost every single door. 26:11 They didn't have to say, "Hi, my name is Arunas, 26:13 and I'm from Lithuania." 26:15 They still sold books. 26:18 People were... 26:19 I mean, they had a thirst for the knowledge, 26:22 and these Ellen White books, these health books, 26:25 it was exactly what was needed. 26:28 And at the end of those seven months, 26:30 the mission president came to Shannon and I, 26:32 and he said, "You know, would you guys 26:34 please bring back some more young people just like you." 26:37 They were impressed with what we had accomplished. 26:40 They loved the work that Laymen Ministries was doing here. 26:43 As I remember it, 26:45 during the 2-week summer program 26:47 that we had, the 23 people that were selling, 26:51 we sold over 10,000 books. 26:52 Yeah, yeah, it was... 26:54 And that's very impressive. 26:57 Yeah, we've accomplished a lot while we were here. 26:59 Yeah, it's true. 27:01 You certainly tried. 27:03 Yeah. 27:05 Joshua and Jonathan were responsible 27:07 were starting out orphanage projects 27:08 in Lithuania many years ago. 27:11 Laymen Ministries over the years 27:13 has purchased needed clothing, shoes, toothbrushes, 27:16 and other items for orphans across the country. 27:22 And on this trip again, we were helping orphan children. 27:28 We took the kids from the orphanage 27:30 in Ukmerge to a local shopping mall 27:32 and helped them purchase a couple thousand dollars 27:35 worth of needed clothing and shoes. 27:38 It was Christmas come early. 27:41 And, of course, Neringa was there handing 27:43 out spiritual books to the children and staff. 27:54 Over the years, we have seen God bless 27:56 the fruits of labor by people giving their lives to Christ. 28:01 Here are some of our current needs 28:04 as we pray that you would be impressed to help. |
Revised 2022-12-26