Lithuania
Journal Post
Ok, so Nate and I have been praying about Lithuania for awhile (and you might have heard us mention it) and now I'm going to tell you about it.
Pastor Steve (great guy, did our marriage counseling) asked us to consider going to Lithuania to watch over a congregation while the missionaries who work there take Christmas vacation. They don't get to go home very often and have been saving up for their trip. But they don't want to leave their congregation alone, especially at Christmas, so they are asking for couples to come for 2 or more weeks so they can take their trip.
We thought about it and decided it was something we should do. So after waiting a couple months for contact information, Nate and I kinda gave up on going. BUT, in the last couple of days we have communicated with these missionaries (Kel and Sharon) and they are really pumped about us volunteering to help them out.
I don't have much information yet (we are in the process of introducing ourselves and our backgrounds to them and also finding out more of what they expect of us), but we would be visiting an orphanage on Christmas eve and also doing some outreach during the weeks and then continuing to do normal church bible teaching stuff the rest of the time.
I am going to find out if there are any supplies or other things needed by the church or orphanage and try to raise some money to take with us. I am pretty sure I can get support from my home congregation, Aggie Lutherans, and Peace / Our Saviors. I hope that we can find out what their true needs are and be generous in helping to provide for them.
I'm also kinda nervous (Nate is too) about going to a country where we don't speak the language, don't know the culture, and the people who do won't be there. Its very different from any mission trip we've ever gone on, because we'll be alone. Please pray for us:
- Guidance as we continue to work out the details
- that we can find people/friends to support our trip
- Nate especially needs prayer because he will have some major deadlines due
right about the time we are supposed to leave, thats going to be VERY stressful,
but his boss totally supports the trip. Praise God.
- Also, please pray for our families as we will be 'skipping Christmas' this year (and New Years). -Sorry Ellen
I'm sure you'll be hearing a lot more about it as we continue to find out more specifics. We are excited and are going to start looking into airline tickets soon. Wow, December is going to be here sooner than we think!
Thank you for opportunities to serve, Lord