We're back in Lithuania.
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Laymen Ministries have been
working here for 24 years now.
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I remember when we came in 1993,
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there was about
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47 to 50 Seventh-day
Adventist in the whole country,
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so Laymen Ministries is
involved with pioneering
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the work in this country.
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If you've never
heard the story about
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how we ended coming
here in the first place,
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you're going to want
to contact our ministry
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and get the DVD called The Dream
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or you can go on
Laymen Ministries
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YouTube channel and
watch the video on there.
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On this trip, I
brought two former missionaries
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with me Jonathan
Peoples and Joshua Miller.
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And both of these young men
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came over as
student missionaries.
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They were in and
out of the country
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and actually lived
here, Jonathan for seven years
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and Joshua for 12 years,
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and they're going to
be reminiscing a bit.
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Also on this program,
we're going to tell you about
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our Bible worker
program and our paper
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that is called
the source of hope,
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and we're going to even show you
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some traditional
Lithuanian cooking.
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Lithuania is
situated in Northern Europe
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in an area called the Baltics
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with Russia to the east
and Poland to the south.
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And it has a population
of about 3.5 million people.
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Lithuania has been one of
the most occupied countries
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in all of Europe,
yet on the other hand,
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in the earlier centuries,
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when Vytautas
the Great was king,
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it occupied the territories
of present-day Belarus,
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Ukraine, and parts
of Poland, and Russia.
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By the end of the 14th century,
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Lithuania stretched across
a substantial part of Europe
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from the Baltic
to the Black Sea.
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Life in Lithuania is difficult,
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especially with the
growing worldwide recession.
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Unemployment is
at all-time highs.
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It has some of the
highest rates in all of Europe
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for alcoholism,
depression, and suicide.
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In the cities,
people are crowded
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into these small block of flats
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or what we call
apartment house complexes.
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Life in the
country is difficult.
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The people
survive by growing food
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and keeping it in
store for the long winters.
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Today, while growing
more and more secular,
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like much of Europe,
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the Catholic Church is
the state recognized religion.
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Just to show you how
deeply seated Catholicism is,
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we headed out
into the countryside
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to a small town called Siauliai,
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where there's a
shrine and a church dedicated
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to the supposed
apparition of the Virgin Mary.
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As the Teutonic
Knights conquest in Lithuania
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started to spread Catholicism,
churches started to spring up
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in lot different
areas like this area here.
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In 1457, a man by the
name of Peter founded a church
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in this little
area of Lithuania,
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and it became known as Siauliai.
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After the little church was
established here in Siauliai,
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Calvinists started
to move into this area
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and had a great influence.
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And because of that, in 1532,
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the priest at the church
of Siauliai made a great, big,
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huge wooden box that was covered
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with this iron-clad material.
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And he put in it a
picture of the Virgin Mary
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and some vestments
and things like that,
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and also a document,
a proof that this land
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was actually given
to the Catholic Church
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under the rule of
Vytautas the Great was,
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I think, who the
emperor was at the time.
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And he put all these things,
and he went over by a rock,
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he buried it in
the ground really deep,
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and then shortly after that,
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the Calvinists had a
really strong influence.
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They took
possession of the church
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and all the
property in that area.
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And over the next 80 years,
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the Catholic Church in
this area started to die out.
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And in 1608, some
children in this area
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were out tending sheep, playing,
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and then all of a
sudden on a big rock,
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they a saw Virgin
Mary appear clad in white
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and blue garments
securing the baby Jesus.
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And she was profusely crying,
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tears were
running down her face,
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and she was
wailing, and it was making
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the rock wet around her.
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Well, they ran and told
some of the local village people
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what they saw
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and how this woman
that they saw appeared
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was surrounded by an
aura of a light of some sort.
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And everybody
came to the conclusion
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that this had to
be the Virgin Mary
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that she had
appeared in this area.
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But when the
Calvinists, pastors found out
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what happened, they attributed
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this
manifestation as an evil spirit.
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But a lot of the
local village people here
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believe that this was
really the Virgin Mary
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who had appeared
and was weeping bitterly
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because Catholicism
had weaned in this area
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and the church had been
taken over by the Calvinists.
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Needless to say, this supposed
apparition of the Virgin Mary
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created quite a stir
in the local community.
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And it actually
started to revive
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amongst those
backslidden Catholics.
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The story started to spread
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a lot of the
villages around the area.
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And about three years
the "supposed" appearance,
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an elderly man who
was over 100 years old,
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who was nearly
blind, heard the story,
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and he
remembered 80 years before
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said he had helped
this catholic priest
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to bury this
iron-clad box by this rock.
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And even though
he was nearly blind,
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and it was 80 years
later, and he was an old man,
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the "miraculous" story goes.
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He took some of the
villages to exact spot
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where this box
was supposedly buried.
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They dug and dug and dug
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and sure enough
they found the box.
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They opened it up,
they found a picture
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of the Virgin Mary inside,
some vestments from the church,
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and some
documents that proved that
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that property belonged
to the Catholic Church,
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and they were endorsed
by the Vytautas the Great
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who was one of the emperors
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of the Lithuanian
empire way back years before.
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And so those
documents were taken
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to the local councilmen
and legal battle started.
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And eventually the church
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and property came
back to the Catholics,
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and a large Catholic
Church was built here
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to commemorate this whole event.
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We left Siauliai to head
to a place called Merkine,
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which is deep in the
forest of Central Lithuania.
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Paganism has deep cultural
roots here in Lithuania.
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In fact, it's even
recognized by the government.
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Statistics say that
the majority of the people
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profess "Catholicism"
but 37% of the people
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of Lithuania do not believe
in a regular organized religion,
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but they do believe in spiritual
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or supernatural
forces that influence people.
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This is a good example
of what I'm talking about.
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This is a
Merkine New Age Pyramid.
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This is kind of a
center of enlightenment
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here in Lithuania.
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A man by the name of Zekas
had these spiritual revelations
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in which God told him
this was a special spot
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where there's kind of like
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some kind of
special forces here.
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And he was shown in
vision the exact size
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and measurements of a pyramid
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in which somehow triangulates
all these spiritual forces.
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And later, they put
this large geodesic dome
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over this pyramid.
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In the late 13th
century, the Teutonic Knights
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which were like the military
branch of the Catholic Church
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came here and started forcing
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the Lithuanian pagans
to convert to Catholicism.
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And really what
ended up happening is that,
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well, a lot of them
started to profess Catholicism.
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They were just
mixing and matching
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a new form of paganism.
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Despite the many cultural
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and historical
challenges we face in Lithuania,
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Laymen Ministries is shedding
the light of Bible truth
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and hope to people
across this little country.
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We publish a paper
entitled the Source of Hope,
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which is circulated
all across the country.
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Our Director Arunas
and his wife Neringa
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head up the publishing and
distribution of this paper.
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They and others
have set up paper stands
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all over the country.
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Even as they were
restocking this rack
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at a large shopping center,
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a lady stopped and shared
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how much she
appreciates the paper.
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We started the paper in
2011 printing only 1,500 copies.
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Today, we have a
quarterly print run of 50,000.
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We have stands here of
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newspaper stands in Marijampole,
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three of them in shop,
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two of them in shops,
and one more in hospital.
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And we're very
excited to have them here,
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especially in the hospital
because people are relaxed,
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and they are getting newspaper
daily and reading them.
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And every week, we are putting
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300 newspapers in those stands.
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Each paper is eight pages in
length printed in full color.
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The paper targets
people of all ages.
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There are articles
about family, health topics,
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and how to understand
the Bible, how to pray,
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and other simple articles
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to help people to
grow in Jesus Christ.
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We tried to find
good Adventist writers
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since they best
understand the people
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and culture of Lithuania.
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Sometimes Pastor
Arunas and his wife Neringa
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write articles as well
as authors such as myself
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and others from America.
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Our Bible workers stock
stands all across Lithuania.
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Summer festivals and events
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are a great time
to share the paper.
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They go to the
people in hospitals
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and in homeless shelters,
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church groups
mobilize to share on Sabbaths.
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Every quarter, they
are mailed to subscribers,
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youth groups take
them door-to-door.
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Even in the
small shopping center,
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we found copies right
at the checkout stand.
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Kaz Marijus was
walking in a park one day
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when he was handed one of
our papers by our church member.
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Today, he is
baptized and regularly attends
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group Bible studies led out by
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one of our Bible
workers named Gina.
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He loves to read
the Bible, the paper,
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the Source of Hope
brought hope to his life.
00:11:06.23\00:11:09.53
Joshua Miller and I went
to Arunas and Neringa's home.
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It had been a couple of
years since I had been here,
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and for Joshua and
John, quite a number of years.
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We're all like family.
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Arunas wasted no time to tell us
00:11:45.27\00:11:47.17
about the latest
activities with the paper,
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the Source of Hope.
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He explained how this paper
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has really taken
off across the country.
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Many people just calling us back
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and asking us to send
them more copies to be sent
00:11:59.85\00:12:02.62
to their neighbors and many,
many calls and text messages.
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My wife Neringa
is making lay-out
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and just choosing all pictures.
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And after that
she is gets most calls
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and text messages
and sending to addresses
00:12:21.37\00:12:24.77
which people live,
and they want to get copy,
00:12:24.81\00:12:28.68
sending the paper if
they live far away in village.
00:12:28.71\00:12:32.81
If nearby Seventh-day Adventist,
00:12:32.85\00:12:34.68
she's giving these
addresses to Adventist people
00:12:34.72\00:12:39.39
to visit to make a contact.
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Speaking of contacts,
Arunas and his wife Neringa
00:12:45.03\00:12:47.96
often visit people in
the area where they live.
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If people have
questions, they give away books
00:12:56.67\00:12:59.01
and tracks and offer to
deliver them personally.
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In this case, an elderly
woman showed an interest.
00:13:04.15\00:13:07.02
And a visit was made which
led to giving her Bible studies.
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People like
this are often lonely
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and are searching
for a purpose in life.
00:13:14.46\00:13:18.93
Neringa loves playing
her guitar and singing
00:13:18.96\00:13:21.10
to people like this.
00:13:21.13\00:13:22.46
This day, there were questions
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about what the
Bible said in contrast
00:13:41.48\00:13:43.35
to what she had
learned in the Catholic Church.
00:13:43.39\00:13:46.49
She was finding discrepancies
and was looking for answers.
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This lady's
husband had passed away
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and her children had
moved out of the country.
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Today, we're meeting
with the Bible workers.
00:14:03.04\00:14:04.74
Every time I come to Lithuania,
I spend usually one or two days
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with them just to kind of
feel what's happening with them
00:14:07.84\00:14:10.38
in their lives
and to encourage them
00:14:10.45\00:14:11.98
as they do outreach
here in the Lithuania.
00:14:12.01\00:14:13.62
I always like to tell
them about what's happening
00:14:34.94\00:14:36.97
with Laymen
Ministries in other countries
00:14:37.01\00:14:39.14
and to share
words of encouragement.
00:14:39.17\00:14:42.04
Our team of Bible workers
00:14:42.08\00:14:43.41
are scattered all
across the country,
00:14:43.45\00:14:45.45
so getting together is
a special time for them.
00:14:45.48\00:14:48.75
We then sit back in a circle
and talk about the challenges
00:14:48.78\00:14:52.35
and blessings of the work
00:14:52.39\00:14:54.22
and how we can look for
new ways to share the gospel.
00:14:54.26\00:14:57.19
Some of our Bible workers
have been with Laymen Ministries
00:14:58.79\00:15:01.26
for many years such
as Pastor Julius Pikunas.
00:15:01.30\00:15:04.63
We made a long drive
about into the countryside
00:15:04.67\00:15:08.30
where Julius lives
because we were told
00:15:08.34\00:15:10.34
he was holding a
weekend youth camp at his home.
00:15:10.41\00:15:13.04
We were met by his wife Roma,
00:15:13.07\00:15:14.74
who served Laymen Ministries as
a Bible worker for many years.
00:15:14.78\00:15:18.15
She recently retired
00:15:18.18\00:15:19.68
and now helps Julius
with the youth camps.
00:15:19.71\00:15:22.22
So I guess they
have kind of like...
00:15:22.25\00:15:23.69
They set the place up to
be kind of like a youth camp.
00:15:23.72\00:15:26.05
And so they have
like a kitchen in here.
00:15:26.09\00:15:30.43
It's all set up there,
00:15:30.46\00:15:31.79
and they have a
church over there.
00:15:31.83\00:15:34.40
And this is all
in Julius's property.
00:15:34.46\00:15:36.00
He was a Bible worker,
00:15:36.03\00:15:38.07
pastor that Laymen
Ministries supports here.
00:15:38.10\00:15:41.14
Rainy-rainy.
00:15:41.17\00:15:42.74
This is Lithuania, you
know, Lithuania is about
00:15:42.77\00:15:45.71
the same as the
panhandle of Alaska.
00:15:45.74\00:15:48.21
So for all you folks in Alaska,
00:15:48.24\00:15:50.21
this is very
similar to where you live.
00:15:50.25\00:15:56.18
Julius was just
finishing having classes
00:15:56.22\00:15:58.25
and games with
the younger children.
00:15:58.29\00:16:00.42
Many of our Bible
workers are involved with youth
00:16:00.49\00:16:03.02
to a program very
similar to that of Pathfinders.
00:16:03.06\00:16:06.56
He said he's just
being evolved as a pastor.
00:16:06.59\00:16:08.63
He's also doing a lot
of outreach with kids,
00:16:08.66\00:16:10.87
especially in the summertime
they're having like camps here.
00:16:10.90\00:16:14.37
And then they have like another
small chapel right over there
00:16:14.40\00:16:17.21
where they have
meetings with kids.
00:16:17.24\00:16:18.97
He works with mostly
younger kids on the side.
00:16:19.01\00:16:21.48
I mean, he's a
pastor of a church,
00:16:21.51\00:16:23.28
involved with Bible studies,
00:16:23.35\00:16:24.78
handing out literature,
and things like that.
00:16:24.81\00:16:26.25
But this is also something
00:16:26.28\00:16:27.62
that he and his
wife have a burden for
00:16:27.65\00:16:29.22
as far as working
with the young kids.
00:16:29.25\00:16:30.69
Yup, this is it.
00:16:34.39\00:16:38.16
I know you, how are you?
00:16:38.19\00:16:39.53
Yeah, I'm good. Good to see you.
00:16:39.56\00:16:40.96
How are you? Wonderful.
00:16:40.96\00:16:43.63
Jorgita, a longtime
friend and church worker,
00:16:43.67\00:16:46.57
was holding meetings
with some of the teens.
00:16:46.60\00:16:50.27
She uses creative and
interactive group discussions,
00:16:50.31\00:16:53.58
where the youth are
challenged spiritually.
00:16:53.64\00:16:56.11
It was obvious
that they were really
00:16:56.14\00:16:57.61
enjoying this interaction.
00:16:57.65\00:16:58.98
I had a chance to
share my testimony with them
00:17:00.98\00:17:03.15
about how I became
an Adventist Christian.
00:17:03.18\00:17:05.52
Another one of our Bible
workers named Robertas Grigas
00:17:15.33\00:17:18.83
holds summer camps
for youths of all ages.
00:17:18.87\00:17:21.74
They have serious study
times, group discussions,
00:17:26.07\00:17:30.25
and are taught teamwork,
00:17:30.28\00:17:33.82
survival skills...
00:17:33.85\00:17:35.18
And to go door to
door with our paper,
00:17:40.39\00:17:42.82
the Source of Hope.
00:17:42.86\00:17:44.23
Often on Laymen
Ministries' television programs,
00:17:51.83\00:17:53.84
we'd like to take
you into the kitchen
00:17:53.90\00:17:55.44
in different countries
where you can experience
00:17:55.47\00:17:57.17
some of the cultural food.
00:17:57.21\00:17:58.74
And Neringa and her
sister Aagni, Aagna,
00:17:58.77\00:18:02.48
I think it's like Agnus,
00:18:02.51\00:18:03.88
but it's Agna,
did I say it right?
00:18:03.91\00:18:05.88
She says, "Okay."
00:18:05.91\00:18:07.25
Yeah, but they're going to
cook some kind of traditional
00:18:07.28\00:18:09.88
Lithuanian food today,
and what is it called again?
00:18:09.92\00:18:13.99
Vertine.
00:18:14.02\00:18:15.36
Vertini? Vertine.
00:18:15.39\00:18:16.76
Okay, and from
what I understand,
00:18:16.79\00:18:18.53
it's kind of like
a potato dumpling,
00:18:18.56\00:18:20.46
but if you watched
some of our other programs,
00:18:20.53\00:18:22.23
they made like
zeppelins one time.
00:18:22.26\00:18:23.77
And those were kind of like
00:18:23.80\00:18:25.77
a football
looking potato dumpling,
00:18:25.80\00:18:27.54
and those are
pretty delicious actually.
00:18:27.57\00:18:29.07
But this is going to
be something different.
00:18:29.10\00:18:31.24
So what are you
going to do first?
00:18:31.27\00:18:32.84
First they're
going to make a dough...
00:18:36.85\00:18:39.21
Then there is flour,
eggs, salt, and water.
00:18:41.82\00:18:46.96
So it's basically,
they're making like
00:18:46.99\00:18:48.32
a pastry crust of some sort.
00:18:48.36\00:18:50.33
Okay. Gerai.
00:18:50.36\00:18:51.93
That's what they say in
Lithuania for good, gerai.
00:18:51.96\00:18:55.50
So what's the next thing
on your list of things to do?
00:19:17.65\00:19:19.92
They're going to use
cheese curds which, I guess,
00:19:23.59\00:19:26.83
the closest thing
in the United States
00:19:26.86\00:19:28.30
that we would have...
00:19:28.33\00:19:29.66
It's common would
be cottage cheese,
00:19:29.70\00:19:31.43
but you'd have to
squeeze the liquid out it.
00:19:31.47\00:19:34.24
It's already dry here.
00:19:34.27\00:19:35.77
It's something that is
really common in Europe
00:19:35.80\00:19:38.54
that you don't see as much
in United States is kind of
00:19:38.57\00:19:40.58
like this like almost
like mozzarella cheese,
00:19:40.61\00:19:43.01
but it's even fresher,
and it has water in it.
00:19:43.04\00:19:46.28
And it's not like
feta cheese, but it's...
00:19:46.31\00:19:49.55
Yeah, I guess you'll get to see
00:19:49.58\00:19:50.92
what it looks
like here in a second.
00:19:50.99\00:19:52.32
Okay, so this one with
the curds had been finished,
00:20:12.57\00:20:15.51
and now they're going to
start on the potato fillings.
00:20:15.54\00:20:18.25
They're going to be
two different fillings
00:20:18.28\00:20:19.61
for these dumplings.
00:20:19.65\00:20:20.98
Some of these are going to
have potatoes inside of them?
00:20:21.02\00:20:25.12
Yeah. Okay, cool. Yeah.
00:20:25.15\00:20:27.06
So, Joshua, what
is the next thing
00:20:55.12\00:20:56.62
she's going to do right now?
00:20:56.65\00:20:57.99
They've got the
cheese curds ready.
00:21:03.43\00:21:04.99
And they're going to put...
00:21:08.16\00:21:09.50
So they'll take
about half of them,
00:21:09.53\00:21:10.87
since we got
potatoes and the cheese curds,
00:21:10.93\00:21:12.27
so they'll do about half of them
00:21:12.30\00:21:13.64
with the cheese curds,
00:21:13.67\00:21:15.00
and so they're
going to put it inside.
00:21:15.04\00:21:16.37
Fold them up.
00:21:16.40\00:21:17.74
Fold them up and squeeze
down the edges to make sure
00:21:17.77\00:21:19.41
no water can get inside them.
00:21:19.44\00:21:21.41
And then they're going to
put in the pot and cook it.
00:21:21.44\00:21:23.75
We had a quite a
bit of discussion about
00:21:23.81\00:21:26.35
what to call
these because in Poland,
00:21:26.38\00:21:28.82
they make
something similar to this,
00:21:28.85\00:21:30.19
and it's called the pierogi.
00:21:30.25\00:21:32.25
And in America,
we make dumplings,
00:21:32.29\00:21:34.39
but dumplings usually
are just like watered up
00:21:34.42\00:21:36.39
piece of dough that's boiled,
but these are like dumplings
00:21:36.42\00:21:39.66
that have a stuffing inside,
00:21:39.69\00:21:41.40
so kind of little
similar to the Polish pierogi.
00:21:41.43\00:21:44.67
This is the final product,
00:21:44.70\00:21:46.30
and it does look a
lot like a Polish pierogi.
00:21:46.33\00:21:49.74
We have the
mushroom sauce there,
00:21:49.77\00:21:51.51
and I'm going to
give it a taste test.
00:21:51.54\00:21:54.41
And like most
dumpling type things,
00:21:54.44\00:21:56.88
it's got a little
bit of a soft texture.
00:21:56.91\00:21:58.88
It's actually pretty good.
00:22:07.59\00:22:08.92
In the mid 1990s,
Laymen Ministries started
00:22:10.93\00:22:13.70
a Student Missionary
Program in Lithuania.
00:22:13.73\00:22:16.50
We sent over youth
such as Joshua Miller,
00:22:16.53\00:22:18.87
Jonathan
Peoples, Jeremy Calkins,
00:22:18.90\00:22:21.44
and Shannon Parker.
00:22:21.47\00:22:23.51
Joshua ended
staying a total of 12 years
00:22:23.57\00:22:26.94
and Jonathan around seven years.
00:22:26.98\00:22:29.01
Jonathan was later
trained as a videographer
00:22:29.04\00:22:31.55
and traveled around the
world with me shooting video
00:22:31.58\00:22:34.52
for our television programs.
00:22:34.55\00:22:36.12
They ended up helping pioneer
00:22:36.15\00:22:37.49
a lot of the work
in this little country.
00:22:37.55\00:22:39.65
They both came
with me on this trip
00:22:39.69\00:22:41.66
and spent some time
00:22:41.69\00:22:43.02
remembering about
their years working here.
00:22:43.06\00:22:45.59
You know, John, it's
amazing, 23 years later,
00:22:45.63\00:22:49.40
almost of the day that
I first came to Lithuania.
00:22:49.43\00:22:53.10
It's long time ago.
00:22:53.13\00:22:54.47
It is.
00:22:54.50\00:22:55.84
It's hard to believe,
00:22:55.87\00:22:57.24
I mean, it seems
like just yesterday now,
00:22:57.27\00:22:58.61
but here we are.
00:22:58.64\00:23:00.71
You know, I remember, it
was almost a day like this,
00:23:00.78\00:23:03.18
maybe a little
colder, maybe a little wetter.
00:23:03.21\00:23:05.68
You know, when I
first landed, I didn't know
00:23:05.71\00:23:07.55
what we're getting into,
00:23:07.62\00:23:08.95
kind of scared, I
was young, 19 years old,
00:23:08.98\00:23:11.25
first time away from
Mom and Dad except for,
00:23:11.29\00:23:13.19
you know, academy, but...
00:23:13.22\00:23:14.56
Right.
00:23:14.59\00:23:16.93
So after graduation,
00:23:16.96\00:23:19.53
I had the
opportunity to go sell books
00:23:19.56\00:23:21.60
which was actually
partially my first opportunity
00:23:21.63\00:23:24.80
to learn how to sell books.
00:23:24.83\00:23:26.90
And it was during
that time I learned
00:23:26.94\00:23:28.44
that maybe I could possible
00:23:28.47\00:23:29.90
teach others to
how to sell books.
00:23:29.97\00:23:31.31
So Jeff Reich
had already asked me
00:23:31.34\00:23:34.31
before during the school year
00:23:34.34\00:23:35.94
if I wanted to go to
Lithuania and sell books,
00:23:35.98\00:23:37.61
and I had said,
"No." I was going to go,
00:23:37.65\00:23:39.45
and I was going to go to Weimar,
00:23:39.48\00:23:40.82
to get some education.
00:23:40.88\00:23:42.38
But at the end of the summer,
00:23:42.42\00:23:43.95
it turned out
that one of my friends
00:23:43.99\00:23:45.45
who had been
going to go to Lithuania
00:23:45.49\00:23:48.12
had to back out
because of family situation.
00:23:48.16\00:23:50.89
And so that left it open for me.
00:23:50.93\00:23:52.53
And so I told Jeff I would go.
00:23:52.56\00:23:55.00
So that's kind of the reason
00:23:55.03\00:23:56.50
why I showed up here in
Lithuania the second year,
00:23:56.53\00:23:59.17
after you and
Shannon had gone back home,
00:23:59.20\00:24:01.17
we returned together,
00:24:01.20\00:24:02.84
and that was the purpose
of our step here in Lithuania.
00:24:02.87\00:24:05.94
And so, John, what
was your first impression
00:24:05.97\00:24:09.11
when you got here? You
know, see, like, for me,
00:24:09.14\00:24:11.18
you know, it was gray, dark,
00:24:11.21\00:24:12.95
it was cold, and
it was about October
00:24:12.98\00:24:14.65
I think when you came back
to this, you know, for the...
00:24:14.68\00:24:16.62
I think it was mid-October
when I came over here.
00:24:16.69\00:24:19.22
And at that
time, it was very cold.
00:24:19.25\00:24:21.22
I remember the first
ministries meeting we had,
00:24:21.26\00:24:23.22
it was freezing cold.
00:24:23.26\00:24:24.59
We had snow.
00:24:24.63\00:24:25.96
And it was
definitely a jury play.
00:24:25.99\00:24:27.76
In 1995, when Shannon and
I first came to Lithuania,
00:24:34.64\00:24:38.41
Laymen Ministries
had already established
00:24:38.44\00:24:41.08
a publishing work
here in Lithuania.
00:24:41.11\00:24:44.05
You know, they were printing
a lot of Ellen White books,
00:24:44.11\00:24:46.41
some health
books, and even though
00:24:46.45\00:24:48.68
all of these books
were being printed,
00:24:48.72\00:24:50.69
they were not being sold.
00:24:50.75\00:24:52.09
I mean, the church only had 300,
00:24:52.12\00:24:53.82
maybe 400 church members,
00:24:53.86\00:24:55.56
and that's not enough
00:24:55.59\00:24:57.09
to be able to
support a publishing house.
00:24:57.13\00:24:59.16
They had a lot of
books just sitting.
00:24:59.19\00:25:00.76
Yes. Yes, they did.
00:25:00.83\00:25:02.33
And so Jeff...
00:25:02.36\00:25:04.10
I asked Shannon and
I to come to Lithuania
00:25:04.17\00:25:06.03
'cause he knew that we
had Call Porter experience
00:25:06.07\00:25:09.37
and try to teach the
locals how to sell books.
00:25:09.40\00:25:12.34
And so Shannon and
I, that first year,
00:25:12.37\00:25:15.24
we spent a lot of
time working with the youth
00:25:15.28\00:25:17.45
and young people, we
took them out door to door,
00:25:17.48\00:25:20.25
and, you know, you
take these five-storey
00:25:20.32\00:25:21.95
apartment buildings,
like we have behind you here.
00:25:21.98\00:25:25.05
And when we'd go from
door-to-door, it was amazing.
00:25:25.09\00:25:28.69
It was every single place that
we visited, we sold the book.
00:25:28.72\00:25:32.86
Wow. I mean, it really was.
00:25:32.89\00:25:34.76
I mean, wow
doesn't even describe it.
00:25:34.83\00:25:36.23
Yeah, that's amazing.
00:25:36.26\00:25:38.33
But we were told, you know,
00:25:38.37\00:25:39.87
it was a very communist way
of thinking back in those days.
00:25:39.90\00:25:43.04
And they did not believe
00:25:43.07\00:25:44.67
that this was going to work.
00:25:44.71\00:25:47.18
And so when they saw
that result, it's like,
00:25:47.24\00:25:49.08
"Well, you're only selling books
00:25:49.11\00:25:50.65
because you're Americans."
00:25:50.71\00:25:52.05
And, you know, we did,
we'd knock on the door,
00:25:52.08\00:25:53.42
"Hi, my name is
Josh. I'm from America."
00:25:53.45\00:25:55.78
Great opening wedge.
00:25:55.82\00:25:58.39
We told them, "Okay, tomorrow,
you guys go out by yourselves
00:25:58.42\00:26:02.92
and let's see what happens."
00:26:02.96\00:26:04.43
So how did that work?
00:26:04.46\00:26:06.13
Amazingly, they
did the same thing.
00:26:06.16\00:26:08.30
They were able to sell
it almost every single door.
00:26:08.33\00:26:11.20
They didn't have to
say, "Hi, my name is Arunas,
00:26:11.23\00:26:13.23
and I'm from Lithuania."
00:26:13.27\00:26:15.47
They still sold books.
00:26:15.50\00:26:18.11
People were...
00:26:18.14\00:26:19.47
I mean, they had a
thirst for the knowledge,
00:26:19.51\00:26:22.68
and these Ellen White
books, these health books,
00:26:22.71\00:26:25.78
it was exactly what was needed.
00:26:25.81\00:26:28.65
And at the end of
those seven months,
00:26:28.68\00:26:30.69
the mission president
came to Shannon and I,
00:26:30.72\00:26:32.55
and he said, "You
know, would you guys
00:26:32.59\00:26:34.09
please bring back some more
young people just like you."
00:26:34.16\00:26:37.33
They were impressed with
what we had accomplished.
00:26:37.36\00:26:40.30
They loved the work that Laymen
Ministries was doing here.
00:26:40.33\00:26:43.87
As I remember it,
00:26:43.93\00:26:45.80
during the 2-week summer program
00:26:45.83\00:26:47.67
that we had, the 23
people that were selling,
00:26:47.70\00:26:51.11
we sold over 10,000 books.
00:26:51.14\00:26:52.91
Yeah, yeah, it was...
00:26:52.94\00:26:54.28
And that's very impressive.
00:26:54.31\00:26:55.98
Yeah, we've accomplished
a lot while we were here.
00:26:57.31\00:26:59.85
Yeah, it's true.
00:26:59.88\00:27:01.38
You certainly tried.
00:27:01.42\00:27:03.92
Yeah.
00:27:03.95\00:27:05.29
Joshua and
Jonathan were responsible
00:27:05.32\00:27:07.09
were starting out
orphanage projects
00:27:07.12\00:27:08.76
in Lithuania many years ago.
00:27:08.79\00:27:11.59
Laymen Ministries over the years
00:27:11.63\00:27:13.43
has purchased needed
clothing, shoes, toothbrushes,
00:27:13.46\00:27:16.56
and other items for
orphans across the country.
00:27:16.60\00:27:19.40
And on this trip again, we
were helping orphan children.
00:27:22.74\00:27:25.81
We took the kids
from the orphanage
00:27:28.74\00:27:30.25
in Ukmerge to a
local shopping mall
00:27:30.28\00:27:32.81
and helped them purchase
a couple thousand dollars
00:27:32.85\00:27:35.18
worth of needed
clothing and shoes.
00:27:35.22\00:27:38.22
It was Christmas come early.
00:27:38.25\00:27:41.09
And, of course,
Neringa was there handing
00:27:41.12\00:27:43.16
out spiritual books to
the children and staff.
00:27:43.19\00:27:45.96
Over the years, we
have seen God bless
00:27:54.84\00:27:56.71
the fruits of labor by people
giving their lives to Christ.
00:27:56.77\00:28:01.88
Here are some of
our current needs
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as we pray that you
would be impressed to help.
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