UMC Ministry in Lithuania Update

This past summer, Jolita and Andrew visited our church to share with us about how God is at work through the United Methodist Church in Lithuania.  At that time, Jolita was finishing her degree work at Asbury seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky and preparing to move back to Lithuania to be the pastor of two churches.

A portion of our Thanksgiving special offering goes to support the United Methodist ministry in Lithuania thanks to the partnership we have shared over the past seveal years.  Here is a letter I received from Jolita and Andrew about how they are doing since their move back to Lithuania.    Please keep our Lithuanian United Methodist partners in your prayers.

Erbele Updates

October 2011

The month of October has the leaves change here in Lithuania. The weather is turning noticeably cooler and we are waking up to frost on the ground. We are very thankful for the warmth of our apartment and we praise God for the kindness of people.

We have been calling on the youth of Kybartai at their homes after youth group in order to better understand how they live. We have learned a many things over the course of our visits. A significant number of our young people come from broken and dysfunctional homes. As we have listened to the parents tell their stories our hearts are almost in shock. We have not found a family with two parents living together. So much pain can be heard, yet they are willing to share with us just a little of their story and the cup of tea. The youth want to know us a better. Also they are showing their parents that we are treating them well and are not drawing them into a cult. This has led to interesting conversations for Jolita. We know that Christmas is coming and we hope we can prepare at least a little gift for every kid. If you would be interested in helping us with it please let us know. We need about 60 gifts total.

Andrew is not able to keep up with all the Lithuanian that is being spoken, so other little details stand out to him. One of the most striking is that every one of the people we have visited in Kybartai still uses a public outhouse. Kybartai is a town of about 5000 people. It has two medium sized grocery stories. It is up to date in many ways, yet they are the poorest of the poor who are coming to our church. With the cold weather coming, we have subtly been of looking for the heat source in these homes. All but one is using chimneys. The youth of the church often are living with three generations in a two-room apartment (two room not two bedroom).

We have noticed signs that we are reaching them. They are inviting us into their homes and their lives. Jolita receives text messages on a regular basis asking questions about life. The youth come early for youth group and stay late to talk. The most exciting thing is how the Holy Spirit is moving in their lives. This month two girls in the youth group asked to be baptized. As of this writing one has been baptized while the other hopes to be soon. We have nothing to credit for these girl’s step of faith except the working of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Below is a photo from the first baptism and the church of Kybartai.

This month we have also focused on settling into a pattern of life for the three of us. It is interesting to note that Jolita is doing most of the youth work while Andrew is doing most of the preaching. This is not quite how we envisioned ministry together yet it is working well for right now. Emma is doing well. As any three year old would, she is speaks an interesting mixture of Lithuanian and English. Only Jolita seems to understand a full sentence because Emma switches languages mid thought.

We would like to thank all of you for your prayers and encouragement. Knowing that you are in ministry with us means a great deal.

You can reach us by email at: pieciaitehope@hotmail.com; Andrew’s blog: www.erbele.org.

Jolita, Emma and Andrew Erbele

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