Elfrieda and Ernie Reimer |
Ernie and Elfrieda Reimer of Fort St. John, B.C. are keen to share with individuals and churches the progress and needs of MB work in Lithuania. They served at Lituanian Christian College from 1992 to 1997 and are now the MBMS International (MBMSI) liaison between ministry in Lithuania and Mennonite Brethren in North America.
It wasn’t long after Lithuanians stood up to the armed might of the Soviet Union in 1991, eventually winning their independence, that Mennonite Brethren first entered the country for ministry.
A language institute was established in Panevezys; the Lithuanian Christian College (LCC) was founded in Klaipeda; churches were planted. Some of the initiatives developed with the support of MBMSI; others, such as the college, were launched by MB individuals.
And 15 years later? LCC is a thriving, successful degree-granting university for some 700 students. There are churches in six locations, with others in the planning stages, all of them led by young Lithuanian pastors.
The Lithuanian believers are first generation Christians with little Christian background. They have developed distance education, a summer camping program, and Good News Clubs, but need ongoing support, the Reimers say, with prayer, finances, and personnel, both short- and long-term.
—from report
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