May 3, 2007
Dear Friends,
Jackie Bartz is a PC(USA mission worker teaching in Lithuania Christian College in Klaipeda, Lithuania. When I think about the nine years I have spent in Klaipeda, Lithuania,
the word which comes first to mind is change: change in Klaipeda,
change in Lithuania, change in Lithuania Christian College, and
change in me.
During the time I have been here, Klaipeda has become more prosperous,
more positive, and more aware of the Western world. Businesses
seek English language instruction as a business necessity, and
merchants increasingly conduct business in English. There’s
been an influx of young workers who are more likely to be fluent
in English in service industries. Older workers seek instruction
in the Lithuania Christian College evening English Language Institute
classes, and schoolteachers attend workshops at LCC in order to
improve instruction in the schools.
Increasing prosperity has brought a burgeoning of automobiles
on the streets. They’re parked everywhere. High-rise apartment
dwellers struggle with the minute parking areas that service their
buildings, and shoppers try to manage in tiny parking areas. Road
repairs and upgrades taking advantage of European Union funding
snarl traffic everywhere. In a hurry one day last week, I took
a bus for what would usually be a 20-minute walk. The bus ride
took 30 minutes in a long line of stop-and-go traffic around a
site of road repairs.
Another sign of the active economy is the renovation of flats
and buildings. The upgrades are still sporadically spaced due
to the single ownership of flats and to need the for owners to
cooperate in order to make repairs to stairwells and exteriors.
However, in the last few years a walker frequently sees Dumpsters
filled with the refuse of gutted apartments, and scaffolding covers
many exteriors getting facelifts. Apartments are at a premium,
and real estate prices have soared.
These times have also brought the outside world to Klaipeda.
In the past, most tourists were Germans, who have an historical
heritage in the city that was Memel, and Poles who want to spent
time by the sea. Now, however, since it is a seaport, Klaipeda
has experienced a dramatic increase in the cruise ship industry.
Ships now bring travelers from Spain, England, and the United
States. Tours are conducted in English, Spanish, German, and Lithuanian.
At the same time, some of those struggling in agricultural areas
have converted their land into sites of rural tourism, a growing
interest in the region.
Changes similar to those in Klaipeda are also being experienced
in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. Renovations of churches and
other historic buildings have made the city, especially the Old
Town, an attractive tourist site. Craftsmen have found new markets
for their wood sculptures, ceramics, and amber jewelry. Rising
prices are providing comfortable incomes from their gifts. Restaurants
and cafes have prospered, both with Lithuanian cuisine and with
international flavors.
From my limited perspective, the increased contact with foreigners
seems to have produced some conflicting changes in Lithuanians.
Membership in the EU and NATO in these years has had enthusiastic
and widespread support. At the same time, people fear the language
will be lost, and there has been an effort from a legislative
committee to keep foreign-based words out of language used in
the media.
There is also evidence of racism, as a few people of color enter
Lithuanian life. Our students from Ghana and Nigeria particularly
suffer from harassment and even assault, but our students from
central Asia and faculty and staff from Asia are also victimized.
This year the college began a racial tolerance and appreciation
educational program in public secondary schools, taking a group
of international students into the classrooms to talk about racism
and tolerance.
One Sunday after our church service we experienced behavior that
demonstrated what a closed society Lithuania has been. Twelve
children aged 8 to 12 were guests performing liturgical dance.
After the service, the children excitedly sought autographs from
three of our members, all young men of color. It was clear that
the children were excited about the phenomenon of color. Most
of us didn’t know how to react, but all three young men
graciously signed for each child. One faculty member said that
she had thought her country to be without racism until people
from Africa and Asia have actually come to Lithuania. My student
writes about being detained at the airport when he arrived in
Lithuania with questions like “Don’t you know it’s
cold here?” and “Why do you want to come here?”
This week, however, we experienced the first arrest for a racial
incident handled discreetly and thoroughly by the judicial authorities.
This is a hopeful step forward.
Perhaps the greatest changes have been in Lithuania Christian
College itself. When I came, the faculty and staff were almost
entirely Canadian Mennonites. Now we represent a wide range of
faith communities, all of whom accept the Apostle’s Creed
and the Nicene Creed. In that first year, we operated in space
rented from the public university. Now, we have an administrative
building, a classroom and faculty complex, a large lecture hall,
a multi-purpose gymnasium, and there is a dorm nearing completion.
Then, the college program was in its infancy, with a pre-college
institute that brought English language skills up to the level
necessary for college work. Now, we have three recognized degrees—English,
business administration, and theology, and are moving toward recognition
of psychology.
Nine years ago, the international portion of the student body
was a group of Latvians, a Swede, and a Finn. Now students come
from Ukraine (in greater numbers every year), Belarus (also in
increasing numbers), Uzbekistan, Albania, Canada, Germany, Ghana,
Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova,
Russia, Thailand, Ukraine, United States, United Kingdom, Poland,
and Latvia. When I came, much of the student body was new to an
active faith. This is the second year in which student mission
trips will be taken to Vilnius and to Ukraine. The Ukraine trip
is a series of bell choir performances.
“Change” also seems to describe me, but perhaps that
would be misleading. What I have become here is free—free
to be more myself. I have discovered how much I love dancing and
confirmed my love of all kinds of people. Oddly, in this place
of great emotional restraint, I have become freer in my expressions
of joy and love. Perhaps even more amazingly, my expressiveness
has been met with a response in kind. Another area in which I
have grown freer is my trust in God. I have always been a “controller,”
needing to do rather than trust another, needing to plan for all
contingencies, needing to worry. But, I came here knowing no language.
Even in order to find my way, I needed to choose safe-looking
strangers and trust them to understand my map-pointing and help.
And they responded with kindness. In this place, planning wasn’t
always possible; life held (and still holds) surprises. So, planning
has become less of an obsession, and worrying has taken a reasonable
place. My being sent to this place is an amazing miracle that
I constantly celebrate with awe. How could anyone have known how
right this place was for me, how right my gifts have been here,
and how right the gifts of this place to me have been? Clearly,
God knew.
So, what has not changed? Lithuania continues to have a decreasing
population and a major problem with alcoholism and suicide. Although
more aware of the outside world, Klaipeda still shows itself to
be unready for people of color in their community. Attacks on
our students of color continue to be a concern. Social services
remain severely underdeveloped. Horse carts are still predominant
in the rural areas, where people work the land with hand tools.
Yet Lithuania Christian College continues to provide a community
where a Christian worldview is made real every day in the lives
of students, faculty, and staff and from which the love of God
and the peace and joy of the faith are brought to the larger community
and the world of our graduates. As for me, I remain unchanged
in my commitment to ministry through teaching and of the power
of love and joy as witnesses of the love of God made real in Jesus
Christ.
Peace and joy,
Jackie Bartz
The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
179
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