Latvia/Lithuania Day 6 - Travel Day



Our sleeping quarters in Talsi
My bed is the one that is made up on the right.

We got up this morning, loaded the vans, ate breakfast, said our goodbyes, and we were ob the road before 8 AM. The trip to Kaunas, Lithuania would normally be about 4 1/2 hours if we were in a hurry, but we didn't have anything pressing in Kaunas until 6PM so we took a nice leisurely drive through the countryside, stopping to take pictures of interesting sites and eating at the McDonald's at the Acropolis Mall in Siauliai.

We learned that although Talsi is a quaint little village, it's standard of living is better than that of the people in the surrounding countryside between Talsi and the Lithuanian border. Lithuania's standard of living,however, seems to be much better. As we've travelled, we have seen several very interesting sites. Before we got out of Latvia, we saw a family of seven wild hogs cross the road in front of us. I wasn't able ask them if they were coming from Arkansas or headed back there. :0) We stopped and took pictures of several beautiful old churches, each one more elaborate than the last.

We also stopped at a shrine known as the hill of crosses. Historically it is a symbol of the resilient nature of the Christians in Lithuania. During the Soviet Era, the people would erect crosses on the hill and the Soviets would come and knock them down. Before long the people would set them up again. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, over 200,000 crosses have been brought to this remote hillside north of Siauliai. Two popes have visited the site and there is now a Fransciscan Monestary at the site.

Personally, I found the place rather sad. Like so many things that man creates for worship, at some point we begin to miss the point and before long it becomes an idolatrous spectacle. But it did show us one thing, the people of Lithuania are hungry for a relationship with God. We pray that we can lead them away from dead ritual to a relationship with a living Savior.

We arrived at our hotel in Kaunas at about 4PM. It is a very nice place, The Park Inn by Raddison. The beds are no larger than the were at Talsi, but they are up off the floor.



L to R (Interpreters Uri and Aukse and Pastorus Vladymir

 We met our host, Pastor Vladymir of Kaunas Evangelical Christian Baptist Church and our interpreter, Aukse.  Pastor Vladymir speaks very little English and comes off pretty serious but I rode with him and Aukse to the school and tried to break the ice a little bit.  The church was started in 1875 and PastorVladymir has been there for 30 years.  They endured some pretty heavy persecution under the Soviets, and their church building was used for everything from a barracks to a night club to a warehouse for salt.  Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, they have been a shining light in their neighborhood, which once was one of the most violent in the country but now is recognized as peaceful and safe.

 
When we arrived at the school we were pleasantly surprised by what we found.  The school had repainted the gym floor and added several side goals since Joel had visited in the spring.  It is nowhere near the facility that we enjoyed in Latvia, but it is much better than we expected.
We then went o the church for a snack and a planning meeting with the Pastor and our interpreters.  They told us that they had given 200 flyers to the PE teachers at the area schools and that they had handed out around 700 flyers in the neighborhoods. The announcement had been made on the radio and in the newspapers as well. So, tomorrow we may have 50 and we may have 200.  It's all in God's hands.
We were speaking about the services at the church on Sunday and Aukse began talking about her love of praising God.  She said, "I have found something on the internet that I love.  Have you heard of K-love?  Positive and encouraging, yes?"

We also saw that Pastor Vladymir had several Gideon New Testaments in the Lithuanian language that he had been given for his people.  I told him that there were several Gideons who had been instrumental in our being able to come on this trip. We left our meeting tonight expecting God to do something so big that no one would mistake it for anything that we could have accomplished on our own.
When I got back to the hotel, I stopped at the display case for the restaurant in the lobby.  What I saw was an array of wonderful looking desserts.  There in the middle was a teacup filled with Creme brûlée.  I bought it and it was the second best that I have ever tasted(surpassed only by that prepared by Brenda Nowlin).
I thought it would be hard for God to outdo what He did last week, but I am beginning to believe that this week is going to be more memorable yet.