Participants: Jeff Reich
Series Code: LM
Program Code: LM100112A
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00:39 I'm Jeff Reich and I'd like you to come with me on a journey
00:42 as I revisit just some of the evidences of my faith, 00:45 especially, regarding Noah and the flood story. 00:49 In swale layer here you could see like 00:50 all different kinds of small seashells. 00:52 They're compressed together 00:54 and this is right at the top of the Mesa 00:55 here in the Goosenecks. 00:57 Eruption in Mount St. Helens gave scientists 00:59 the opportunity to study what happens 01:00 when a catastrophe hits an area such as this. 01:03 When the water rushed over these falls, 01:05 it was ten times the size of Niagara 01:07 and what is known to be 01:08 the largest waterfall in existence. 01:10 All the water that came flowing down through this area 01:13 went down through the Scablands of Eastern Washington 01:15 and right down to that drainage system 01:17 in the Columbia River right out to the Pacific Ocean. 01:21 As Noah and his family came off the ark, 01:23 they stood in absolute horror as they looked around 01:25 at the devastation of the world. 01:27 Sadly, they knew this was the consequence of sin. 01:31 And I believe right here at the Grand Canyon 01:33 is probably one of the greatest testimonies 01:34 that prove the flood story. 01:44 The story of Noah and the flood 01:45 is extremely important for us today. 01:47 It points backwards to a time where God judged the world. 01:50 And it points forward to a time 01:51 where God will judge the world again. 01:53 The evidences are all around us 01:55 so much so that all will be without excuse. 02:10 We're outside the city of Vilkaviskis. 02:12 Now, we are in Lithuania. 02:13 This time we're gonna be watching 02:14 what some of the Bible workers are doing here, 02:16 we'll be visiting with Pastor Arunas 02:17 at his little church, a church group 02:19 and we'll be traveling around the country of Lithuania 02:21 showing you what Laymen Ministries 02:22 is doing here in this country. 03:08 Laymen Ministries has a long history here in Lithuania. 03:10 We actually came here in 1993, 03:12 so we've been working here for-- 03:14 oh, going on 15 years now. 03:16 A lot of people say, well, how did you 03:17 ever come to this country of Lithuania? 03:20 How did Laymen Ministries get involved? 03:22 And it's kind of an interesting story 03:23 because I remember back in the early 90s 03:26 we were working in Albania, Romania and Bulgaria, 03:29 and I was studying in one of my books-- 03:31 Was sharing this idea about expanding your horizons 03:35 and I'm thinking, Lord, how should I expand 03:37 the horizons of Laymen Ministries. 03:40 And that night I walked to bed and I'm not into dreams 03:43 and claiming to be a prophet or anything 03:45 but the weirdest thing happened. 03:47 I was praying, "It's okay, Lord, 03:49 if you want us to expand our horizons, we'll do that." 03:51 In the middle of the night, I woke up 03:53 and I heard a voice in my head say, go to Lithuania. 03:55 I've never heard of the country Lithuania 03:57 in my whole life. 03:59 And so the next morning when I got up, I was curious. 04:01 I got out my Atlas 04:02 and sure enough I found up by Belarus and Poland, 04:06 up in the Baltic countries, 04:07 this little country called Lithuania. 04:08 I go wow, there is a country called Lithuania. 04:11 And two days later after that I got this phone call by a boy 04:16 and he said, "Hello, Jeff." 04:17 He said, "Have you ever thought about 04:19 coming to my country Lithuania?" 04:20 He was a student from Weimar College. 04:22 I said, "Well, yeah, you know, I've actually been thinking 04:24 about going to Lithuania a lot." 04:26 And this young man connected me 04:29 with a man called Remus Sir Binschus 04:32 and in about six weeks later we had our airplane tickets 04:34 and we came to Lithuania. 04:36 And that was the beginning of the whole Lithuanian project 04:39 First we saw the need to publish literature 04:41 as books and tracks are amazing tools 04:43 to reach people with the truth. 04:45 We helped establish 04:46 the very first Adventist publishing house 04:49 with Remus Sir Binschus. 04:51 Soon we were publishing thousands of books and tracks, 04:54 titles such as the Desire of Ages, 04:56 The Great Controversy, Christ Object Lessons 04:59 and more with over 130,000 books and tracks 05:02 printed over the last 15 years. 05:05 We soon found we had another dilemma, 05:07 how to distribute this literature. 05:09 That's the start of Laymen Ministries' 05:11 Youth and Missions Program. 05:13 Working together with Kevin and Kathy Paige, 05:15 we organized an effective work 05:17 that was instrumental in church growth 05:19 across the country. 05:21 We sent over young people like Jonathan Peebles, 05:24 Joshua Miller, Shannon Parker and Jeremy Caulkins 05:27 who trained Lithuanian youth how to sell books door-to-door. 05:31 The program became a great success. 05:33 They opened the doors in a country 05:34 that had been closed by communism. 05:37 These young people were the pioneers of the church 05:39 speaking in home churches, sharing the truth 05:41 and distributing literature throughout Lithuania. 05:49 Lithuania is situated in Northern Europe 05:51 in an area called the Baltics 05:53 with Russia to the east and Poland to the south. 05:55 And it has a population of about 3.5 million people. 06:00 Lithuania has been one of the most 06:01 occupied countries in all of Europe, 06:03 yet on the other hand, in the earlier centuries 06:05 when Vytautas the Great was king, 06:07 it occupied the territories of present day Belarus, 06:11 Ukraine and parts of Poland and Russia. 06:13 By the end of the 14th century, 06:15 Lithuania stretched across a substantial part of Europe 06:18 from the Baltic to the Black Sea. 06:21 It was also the only remaining Pagan country of Europe 06:23 until converted by the sword to Catholicism. 06:28 Today, while growing more and more secular like 06:31 much of Europe, the Catholic Church 06:33 is the state recognized religion. 06:38 Life in Lithuania is difficult 06:40 especially with the growing worldwide recession. 06:42 Unemployment is at all time highs. 06:44 It has some of the highest rates 06:46 in all of Europe for alcoholism, 06:48 depression, and suicide. 06:51 In the cities, people are crowded 06:52 into these small block of flats 06:54 or what we call apartment house complexes. 06:57 Life in the country is difficult. 06:59 The people survive by growing food 07:00 and keeping it in store for the long winters. 07:04 On this particular trip, we're going to show you 07:06 what the Bible workers 07:07 that are being sponsored by Laymen Ministries 07:08 are doing working on a one-to-one 07:10 with people in their homes. 07:11 Plus, we're gonna take you 07:12 to one of the poorest orphanages in Lithuania 07:15 and share with you how we are sharing 07:18 clothing and books and things like that with the children 07:20 and also with the administrative staff. 07:47 On this trip, we flew into Vilnius, the capital 07:49 and drove straight to the city of Kaunas 07:51 to meet the Bible workers and the church leaders 07:53 to hold our annual training session. 07:57 Our Bible workers and pastors 07:59 are located in every region of this country. 08:01 Meetings like these bring new ideas 08:03 and encouragement to the workers. 08:05 The Bible workers cross various cultural boundaries 08:08 by also reaching Polish and Russian speaking people. 08:12 Pastor Arunas with his wife Neringa 08:14 helped coordinate Laymen Ministries work 08:16 across Lithuania. 08:17 They live in the small city of Vilkaviskis. 08:20 Besides being a fulltime pastor, 08:22 Arunas holds training seminars for the Bible workers 08:24 and keeps in contact with them 08:26 to provide encouragement and counsel. 08:28 They also organize summer youth meetings 08:30 and oversee the work in many of the orphanages. 08:32 Arunas also helped start this small church in the city 08:35 where there had been no previous Adventist presence. 08:38 We bought it several years ago and we're remodeling every year 08:42 and last year we were working again 08:45 outside the church building and we just painted it 08:48 and the roof has changed and the windows 08:51 and this year we are working inside the building. 08:55 The work is difficult as people 08:56 are not very often open to new ideas, 08:59 especially outside of Catholic tradition. 09:02 After resting up, we drove all the way up 09:04 by the Lithuanian border 09:06 to the small village of Daunorai 09:07 to meet with two of our Bible workers 09:09 named Julius and Roma. 09:11 They live on a small farm which they use as their outpost 09:14 to reach the nearby cities. 09:15 They also use their farm as a quiet country retreat, 09:18 holding summer and winter programs 09:20 for some of the children from the nearby orphanage. 09:23 This is Julius, he would say Lulius, right? 09:26 Lulius in Lithuanian and Roma, they have been Bible workers 09:29 for Laymen Ministries for eight years. 09:45 Roma has Bible studies with some of the neighbors, 09:47 such as this lady. 09:49 They also hold group Bible studies at their home, 09:51 as well as in the nearby city of Birzai. 09:57 Roma shares with her neighbor friend every week 09:59 in a personal one-on-one Bible study. 10:02 The test of time has proven this to be 10:03 one of the most effective ways of leading a person to Christ 10:07 and making solid church members. 10:12 Our next stop is to visit another Bible worker 10:14 by the name of Daiva. 10:16 Just got to Silale, we're at Daiva's house 10:19 and Daiva's been a Bible worker with us for-- 10:23 How many years now? 10:28 Many years. "Many years," she says. 10:30 We're gonna see what she's doing here 10:32 while we're in Silale and then we'll be going 10:35 to church here tomorrow morning. 10:55 Bible studies like these are happening 10:57 with Laymen Ministries Bible workers 10:58 all across Lithuania. 11:01 These Bible studies have brought about 11:02 hundreds of baptisms over the last 15 years 11:05 and have been one of the most effective 11:07 outreach methods in this country. 11:10 You know, they are just finishing 11:11 up their Bible study here 11:12 and this is what it's all about. 11:14 It's the Bible workers coming into people's homes 11:16 and making friends with people and sharing the word of God, 11:20 they just got done-- having a Bible study 11:22 about the meaning of life 11:24 and the importance of the Christian experience 11:27 and having relationship with Christ 11:28 and how it can give you life and it's really-- 11:33 this is really what it's all about, 11:34 coming here and making friends 11:36 and sharing the Bible with people. 12:04 Pastor Arunas, 12:05 who is the Director for Laymen Ministries 12:06 here in Lithuania had a unique experience 12:08 with this brother by the name Arunas, 12:10 so both of their names are Arunas. 12:13 But Arunas, when he was a young boy, 12:15 this Arunas, when he was a young boy, 12:16 he was an altar boy for the Catholic Church. 12:19 When he grew up, like many Lithuanian people, 12:21 he fell away from his faith 12:23 and stopped practicing Catholicism. 12:26 He became a building contractor and he became married, 12:28 he started traveling back and forth to Norway 12:30 working over there 12:32 and he wasn't happy with his life 12:33 because they were drinking and partying quite a bit 12:35 and he finally decided, he wanted to make some changes. 12:38 So he stopped drinking alcohol 12:40 and his wife wasn't very happy with that 12:42 and so she started living a party lifestyle 12:45 and he started going away from that. 12:47 And she finally left him 12:48 and they went through a divorce. 12:50 He came back to Lithuania, shattered, 12:52 looking for work as a building contractor. 12:55 It turned out the Lord led him to a situation 12:57 where he was helping to remodel 12:59 a Seventh-day Adventist Church member's home. 13:01 And one day he heard them over talking about 13:04 religious things and he started asking questions 13:06 and this led, of course, to these church members 13:08 giving him several books. 13:10 One book they gave to him was the book Great Controversy 13:13 and he read this book and he read several other books 13:15 and he started having questions. 13:16 So he called Pastor Arunas on the telephone 13:19 and very soon they started 13:20 having Bible studies just like this. 13:23 Just last year in September when water was freezing cold, 13:27 he was baptized into Christ and then after that, 13:31 he started dedicating himself to helping Pastor Arunas 13:34 remodel the old church here in Vilkaviskis. 13:37 And this is what it's all about. 13:40 People leading people to Christ, teaching to teach, 13:44 so that other people too 13:45 will in turn, turn around and be able to share 13:47 what they've learned about Christ with somebody else. 13:53 After we left Daunorai, 13:55 we headed towards the city of Siauliai. 13:57 Along the way, we visited the historic Hill of Crosses. 14:01 The history behind the spot dates back to the 18th century 14:04 when people started placing crosses here 14:06 for those who were killed 14:07 in the uprisings against the Russians. 14:10 This hill took on more significance 14:11 after World War II 14:13 when the occupying Russians tried to bulldoze the hill 14:15 at least three times. 14:17 The defiant Lithuanians used it to demonstrate 14:19 their allegiance to their original identity, 14:22 religion, and heritage. 14:24 Today the number of crosses is unknown 14:26 but estimations put it at over 50,000. 14:54 Our ministry has a long history 14:56 with this church in Siauliai as our workers, 14:58 both national and from America have had a big part 15:01 in helping this church become established. 15:04 We're in the city of Siauliai 15:05 and we're gonna go to church here this morning. 15:08 Siauliai church Chas had this house 15:09 that was renovated into a church 15:11 for quite a number of years now. 15:12 This morning, the emphasis is going to be on the harvest, 15:16 yeah, because it's cold and it's October 15:18 and it's harvest time, and one thing you'll notice 15:21 is that a lot of the people here dressed really warm, 15:24 the church isn't heated very well. 15:26 Some of the places are heated pretty good 15:28 but there has been some places 15:29 where we go to church on Sabbath here where-it's, 15:31 you can see your breath inside the building. 15:34 But they have a really active church here in Siauliai. 15:38 I'm looking forward to speaking to the people here today. 15:42 At first, it was in the living room 15:44 of the church member's house. 15:45 Later, the house was purchased, remodeled 15:48 and now is packed every Sabbath. 15:50 So when Christ comes for the great harvest, 15:52 what is He coming for? People? 15:54 Yes. 15:55 So, all the people are gonna be harvesting. 15:58 This particular Sabbath day, 16:00 we're having a harvest celebration. 16:02 I spoke on the last great harvest 16:04 and how Christ works in our hearts 16:05 to have our characters come to fruition. 16:07 In preparation for that last great harvest, 16:10 it was great to reconnect with many old friends again. 16:20 What they are doing here is something very unusual, 16:22 after the church service, since this is the harvest time 16:24 they are giving food to all the church members. 16:27 We have a nice arrangement here with different kinds of breads 16:31 and some soy patties and tomatoes. 16:35 It's kind of different to be honest with you. 16:38 It's been five years since I was in Lithuania, 16:42 I missed a lot of things from here 16:43 but one of the things that I missed the most 16:45 is the food and the drink. 16:51 In all the countries 16:52 we always traveled to, we like to show you 16:54 the different types of cultural foods that they prepare. 16:56 In Lithuania, one of the most famous foods is the potato 17:01 and in fact, it's very dear to my heart 17:03 because I'm from the state of Idaho 17:05 in the good old USA and everybody knows that-- 17:07 Lives to close to Idaho 17:09 that Idaho is famous for famous potatoes. 17:12 And in Lithuania, they cook a zillion 17:15 different types of potato dishes 17:17 but she's gonna be preparing today 17:20 a dish called cepelinai. 17:22 Now, I think that it really should be called zeppelini. 17:26 For years I always pronounced it that 17:27 because I thought that the finished product 17:29 kind of looked like a zeppelin. 17:30 Now you've probably seen those big German balloons 17:33 you know, they were called zeppelins. 17:34 Well, the finished product is similar to that 17:36 and it's quite a, an elaborate process. 17:45 One of the first things that they do apparently 17:47 is they peel potatoes 17:49 and she soaks them in some water. 17:54 It's a unique combination 17:56 because she's gonna mix together 17:58 raw potatoes and boiled potatoes, 18:01 they're like mashed potatoes, you'll see there. 18:04 Here you have some soft cheese. 18:05 This cheese is a, yeah it's-- what they call fresh cheese? 18:09 It's next step up from cottage cheese. 18:12 It's kind of a firm, soft cheese, 18:14 kind of like feta cheese but with no seasoning in it. 18:17 This is gonna go inside the zeppelini. 18:20 So you'll see that she is doing this, 18:22 she's gonna mix this cooked mashed potatoes 18:24 together with raw grated potatoes 18:26 and a potato puree 18:27 which she'll be using a machine for it a little bit. 18:32 So you can see it's just raw potatoes 18:34 that are just whizzed up 18:35 kind of almost like what we'd use 18:36 in a Champion juicer in the States. 18:40 Interesting. 18:42 The next step Neringa is using here 18:44 as she's taking that, the raw potatoes 18:47 that was made into a puree 18:49 and she's putting it to like, piece of cheese cloth 18:51 and straining all the liquid out of it 18:53 so she's ending up with 18:54 kind of like a starchy looking material here. 18:57 It's just raw potato starch. 19:00 So this is potato juices, this looks like a bear 19:02 and I'm gonna have Jon, our cameraman, 19:06 demonstrate drinking this stuff. 19:09 I'm not gonna do it. 19:11 Okay, here it goes. 19:23 This is raw potato juice. 19:26 It's got to be at least 37 different nutrients. 19:30 What do you think? 19:33 It's good. 19:34 Are you serious? 19:35 Might need a little salt but other than that, it's good. 19:39 It's good. 19:42 Now after these things are all rolled together 19:44 with the stuffing inside, 19:46 she carefully places them in boiling water, 19:48 so in a sense what they are is a potato dumpling. 19:52 But it's the most unique potato dumpling 19:54 I've ever seen in my life. 19:56 She's mixing up a special sauce 19:58 and has eggs and butter and some salt, 20:01 and some different things and uses 20:02 sparingly on top of your potato zeppelini 20:06 and put it o n that plate. 20:12 Some people like just I've mentioned to you, 20:13 they take oil 20:14 and they just dump a ton of oil on it. 20:16 She's using a little bit of butter sparingly 20:18 with some salt and little bit of sour cream 20:21 and that will make a nice flavored sauce 20:23 for the top of it. 20:25 This is the finished product. This is the zeppelini. 20:27 Cepelinai, they call it. 20:33 It's delicious. Really good. 20:35 Now, I tell you what, 20:37 two of these will stick to your ribs. 20:42 Today, we're gonna go over and meet with the director 20:44 from one of the orphanages. 20:46 We're loading up all the stuff 20:47 to take over to the orphanages today 20:49 and when we meet the director, 20:50 we're gonna over to that market place 20:52 and buy some clothes and things. 20:53 The next morning, we headed south about 20:55 40 miles to the small city of Siminus 20:58 where we met with some of the ladies 20:59 who work at the local orphanage. 21:03 In the larger cities, the orphanages usually receive 21:06 some kind of help from other European countries 21:09 while the smaller orphanages out in the country 21:11 are in a desperate situation. 21:17 After meeting with the director and the administrative staff, 21:20 it was decided these kids needed warm winter clothing, 21:22 shoes, and other basic clothes. 21:25 Together, we went with some of the workers 21:26 on a shopping spree to get what they needed. 21:46 These ladies are really into this orphanage, 21:48 if you watch the expression on them 21:50 as they are purchasing things, one girl is going, 21:52 oh, very good, it's great, it's good, 21:54 you know, because she's actually able 21:56 to get some clothing for the kids. 21:57 They have been having a real problem 21:59 with being able to have quality clothing 22:01 and to be able to have 22:02 just socks and underwear and things like that. 22:05 So it's nice to see that the administrative staff 22:09 are really into the children and they are not doing this 22:12 just as a job but they are doing 22:13 'cause their hearts are into it. 22:37 It's interesting 'cause this lady 22:39 who is actually giving us about five coats for free 22:42 and she's crying, I don't know if you're noticing this or not, 22:44 but she's actually got tears in her eyes 22:46 saying that she wants to help out. 22:53 Apparently her son was recently killed 22:55 with some kind of incident 22:56 and she's got some problems at home 22:58 and apparently she just got a real sensitive 23:00 and kinder heart and she wants to help out 23:02 so she's donating a lot of these coats 23:04 and then we're gonna buy something from her too. 23:10 Basically he's gonna come back to visit this lady 23:13 again to give some literature to her. 23:16 Okay, what's next on the list? 23:28 You get this, we're not only just buying clothes for orphans 23:30 but we're giving them spiritual literature 23:32 and this is a real open door for being able to share Christ 23:36 in the orphanages with the administrative people 23:39 and the kids there. 23:41 In this particular orphanage, they have children 23:43 who are all the way up to the age of 21 years of age 23:45 between the full ages of four, six, 23:47 all the way to 21 years of age. 23:57 Wow! Look at the stuff. 23:59 I'm happy. I'm happy. Good. 24:09 Back in 1995, two missionaries 24:12 who worked with Laymen Ministries, 24:13 Joshua Miller and Jonathan Peeble 24:15 saw how destitute things were in the orphanage 24:18 by where they lived. 24:19 They soon started searching out 24:20 other poor orphanages around the country. 24:26 Thank you. 24:27 Laymen Ministries made 24:29 this an extension of our project, 24:30 providing clothing, shoes, 24:32 and spiritual food for their souls, as well. 24:37 To this day, we've continued to be involved 24:39 with the ministry to these poor orphanages. 24:47 Small orphanages located 24:49 in the more rural areas such as this one struggle 24:51 just to keep the heat turned on. 24:54 The director told me they would literally 24:55 not turn the heat on until the 1st of November. 24:58 While we were there in October, 25:00 the building was a chilly 55 degrees inside. 25:05 The children lacked basic warm clothing, 25:08 under garments, and food was limited as well. 25:16 Children and staff also received from us Bibles, 25:19 books, and Bible study materials. 25:24 The kids at this orphanage are the outcasts of society. 25:27 Most here are handicapped, born with birth defects, 25:30 or have some emotional issues from poor 25:33 and even abusive parenting. 25:35 Many orphans are here because of their parents 25:37 who are alcoholic or simply have abandoned them. 25:44 The director Mrs. Elena Downiski 25:46 showed us the giving tree of people 25:48 who have donated before. 25:50 On the wall was Joshua and Inga Miller's name 25:52 and Pastor Arunas as well, all Laymen Ministries workers. 25:58 As we walked around the facility, 26:00 I was impressed that while they were poor, 26:02 the building was kept clean and orderly. 26:05 They had classrooms where they engaged 26:06 in special activities for the children. 26:10 All the children were very happy that we came 26:13 and all showed a great enthusiasm. 26:17 When it came time to distribute some of the items, 26:20 the kids became very excited. 26:22 Other items were distributed in a more discretionary manner. 26:37 Today, Laymen Ministries continues to support 26:40 Bible workers and pastors, publishing literature, 26:43 and orphanage outreach. 26:45 We have a vision of expanding into radio 26:47 and television broadcast as well as seminars 26:50 held across the country. 26:52 Please pray with us 26:53 for this little country of Lithuania. |
Revised 2024-04-15