Last Day of Worship

On our last day in Lithuania we had two wonderful church services. Our church service at Kaunas had 14 attending at 11AM. We studied Paul's prayer for the Phillipians in chapter 1. The Spirit was strong and the goodbye's were a little difficult. We had a great lunch together at Pizza Hut.


We traveled to Vilnuis in the afternoon back to Milton and Lara's house. Our service there at 6pm was also very positive and Spirit led. We had another 14 people in the service. Payton's cello teacher who is one of the best in all of Lithuania played us a wonerful piece following the service. On of the great bits of news we had was that the churches we visited in Silute and Klaipeda are ready to start new mission churches in towns near them. A church planting movement is on the way! by Pastor Rod.

Greeting from Marius & Evelina

Hi brothers and sisters in the Lord, we just wanted to say thank you a lot for sending these wonderful people to Kaunas Lithuania. We had a wonderful time with Pastors Mike, Chad, Rod and Sam and Jerry (we never seen a 68 year old man like him). He is lots of fun, so are the rest of the guys.) Four people were saved in Kaunas and some more got to know the plan of salvation. Please pray for the seed to grow and please pray for all of us. So that we all will get stronger in God and that the church will grow.

Marius and Evelina Celiauskai

Relationships

We continue to develop relationships with the Kaunas Church family. We had a Bible Study today with Marius and the WHOLE family - wife, parents, brother, and in-laws. Rod shared the gospel from John 3-Nicodemius; planted the seeds, watered, now God must give the harvest. It's great to get better acquainted with the people, customs, culture, the food, sports, etc.

Parade

Remembrance Day

This is the Lithuania's 20th anniversary of freedom from Russia. We are reminded that true freedom comes from knowing Jesus. If the SON will make you free, you shall be free indeed (Jn 8:36) The parade started after a mass at the Catholic Church and proceeded about 4 Km down the main walking boulevard. This is the MISSION FIELD in Kaunas.

Bible Study

Rod led a Bible study at the Kaunas apartment; a great time of teaching new christians. Things we take for granted are very important to teach new believers; such as the structure of the Bible. Rod started the study in John 1; what a wonderful place to start learning about who Jesus is and HIS wonderful GRACE to each one of us.

Today March 11 is Rememberance Day in Lithuania.

Baltic Sea

Sam: Why are you all bundled up, it's the beach. Did you ever see ice on the beach? We saw a sunset on the Baltic Sea at Klaipeda before heading back to Kaunas for the night. Was EXTREMELY foggy and the temperature dropped to -10.5C along the way. Arrived safely with Milton's good driving.

Kretinga

Three couples are believers in Kretinga where this Lutheran church is located on the town square. They would like to start a church in this city. Pray for a location to meet and a leader to organize the group. Also walked thru the Catholic church on the square which seems quite active.

Church in Klaipeda

Pastor Emanuelis Kinas at the Najoji Viltis (New Hope) Evangelical Baptist Church in Klaipeda. The church is in a basement apartment converted to a sanctuary and meeting room. They are looking for another location which will be more attractive for folks to attend. Prayer for their growth.

Rehab Center in Klaipeda

Visited the Nikopolis Baptist Rehab Center in Klaipeda. We sang some songs and had prayer for Rita who is in jail after a drug relapse. Pastor Emanuelis with Guitar and Illija singing. One of our sister churches in KY are supporting this work

Pastor ROD

Pastor Rod preaching at Silute church.

Silute LAND for new church

This is 4 acres of land the church owns for a future church building. The present church is a small two room apartment converted to a church.

Service at Silute

We had a service with the folks at Silute. This is Pastor Remis's church started by Pastor Milton. A sweet group of believers. Rod preached on 5 Ways to make GOD happy. Jerry gave his testimony along with an encouragement to make your "dash" count for the Lord. Pray for continued growth.

First Kaunas Service

First Kaunas Church Service

The group of 13 folks attended the first Kaunas church service. Singing was from computer Power Point slides (high tech service) and Rod Boatwright led the study in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 -- We are NEW creatures in Christ - We are ambassadors - Ask others to come. It was a great service and TWO accepted Christ (now makes total of 4). Milton was so happy that his 14 years was continuing to show fruit, with one more church in Lithuania. Pray for continued growth and another possible church this next Tuesday. Marius and Evelene are so happy their efforts are bringing their friends to the Lord.

Culture Christianity

Taking the time to get involved in their culture provides the opportunity for us to share the gospel of Jesus. Today we started the day watching Marius, the Kaunas leader, referee an outdoor junior soccer game in -5C temperature. We were impressed with his skill and professionalism. We enjoyed watching the game but the hot chocolate break inside was very enjoyable also.

We have been very impressed with the indoor malls. We saw a three story indoor tropical salt water acquairium, the largest indoor mall acquarium in Europe. We enjoyed a traditional Lithuanian meal in a typical American food court. This is a big and modern mall and would be comparable to any in America. We purchased maps and tour books to help with our cultural orientation.

We sat in the university gym stands for three hours to see Vaiva, one of the college students who made a profession of faith,compete in arobics dance competition. The event was a national competition and Vaiva's team of six finished a strong second place.

Please keep us in your prayers for two services on Sunday, one in Vilnius and one in Kaunas; as well as trips to the other cities where churches are established. Pray that God will bless the starting of yet another new work in Kretinga on Tuesday night.

Chad Travels

Getting ready to leave the house to head to the airport. From Vilnius to Helsinki to NY to Tampa. Can you say jetlag. Praying for a safe trip home and some rest. God has been good to us here and I am blessed to have been a part of HIS work here.
from Pastor Chad

Pasor Mike & Pastor Chad Travels

Pastor Mike and Pastor Chad left Kaunas today for Vilnius; staying over night then leaving Saturday morning for trip back to USA. Please pray for safe travels and that the rest of the team will continue to see God move.

This Coffee Inn has been identified as a great place to make friends and have a Bible Study. Had a mini-prayer service here asking God for the wisdom to get it initiated.

Marius & Evelina Celiauskas.

The organizers for our new church in Kaunas. We met in their home for the Bible Study.

Pray for additional salvations during services / Bible Studies this weekend.

Pastor Rod gave his "very powerful testimony" tonight and was very effective with the sports minded young adults.

Bible Study

Thursday nite we had a great Bible study with the five young college age folks. Pastor Mike spoke from John 3 and made the plan of salvation crystal clear. Two trusted Christ as Savior. Praise the Lord. We now have four believers in the church at Kaunas.

9th Fort

Just returned from the 9th Fort in Kaunas. It was a concentration camp during WW 2. Fifty thousand Jews murdered there. Very sobering experience. No doubt that the heart of man is dark, wicked and evil apart from Christ.

From Pastor Chad Keck

Awesome Night. We met with five of the college students who are forming the church plant inKaunas. Spirit was moving. So fun to be a part.
by Pastor Chad Keck

Met a Lithuanian young lady at a coffee shop whose Mom lives in NJ. She'd like to attend our evening Bible Study tomorrow night. She plans to bring friends. Diving appointment. Bible Study at 9PM tomorrow (Thurs 4th) (2PMEST) in Kaunas. Pray for much openness to the Gospel then.
by Pastor Mike Landry

It's COLD and snowy in Lithuania. We left Vilnius and went to Kaunas; stopping at the Trakai Castle along the way. Had a great day getting acquainted with Kaunas and the Celiauskas's who are a college couple hosting a home Bible Study. Pray for the Holy Spirit to do a special work in the lives of the core group. Our group each gave a testimony and we had a wonderful time of sharing.

Team at the Tampa airport. On our way to an exciting adventure of starting a new church in Lithuania.

Our Southern Baptist missionary family who we

are working with in Lithuania.

It is less than a week until our group makes it's trip to Kaunas, Lithuania. I have had the privilege to do mission work in many different countries but this is the first time I will go to Lithuania. Needless to say I am pretty excited to start this new partnership. This will be the third partnership of 5 years for Sarasota Baptist Church. The first was in Moldova. The second, which will officially end soon, has been in Southern China. We hope that teachers from SBC will continue to go to China in the summers.

Our goal in Kaunas is to help a core group of about six people begin a new church in this college town. The Southern Baptist missionaries there are Milton and Lara Magalhaes. They have been in Lithuania for more than 10 years now. As in most European countries the church planting can be slow and difficult. I know this well having spent eight years as a church planter in France. Lithuania is not a large country. There are twelve districts in the country, each with a main city. God has given Milton the vision of starting a church in each of these 12 cities. He is seeking a partner church in the US to help be the catalyst in each of these cities. He has two churches that have started and Kaunas will be the third. Our objective for this trip is three fold. First, we want to catch the vision for the church start there in Kaunas. Second, we want to formulate a master plan for our involvement over the next five years. Third we want to launch the new church using the natural curiosity that the Lithuanians have for Americans.

Please be in prayer that God will open doors, give the vision and that people will be saved leading to the solid start of a new church. We look forward to sharing with you daily of the miracles that God will be performing there in Kaunas.

Pastor Rod Boatwright

Lithuania’s Hill of Crosses

He is Risen

Getting READY

Time is getting short, less than 10 days and the Sarasota Baptist Church team will be leaving for Kaunaus Lithuania.