"Labas rytas!"—Good morning from Lithuania!

We know many friends and family are interested in how we are doing in here Lithuania. You all have been very supportive as we have set out on this journey of faith. We give thanks for all your letters, your financial support, and especially your prayers. We are sorry that we have not written to you sooner. We hope to be more faithful correspondents in the future.

We spent the Christmas holidays in Harrisburg and Lewistown finished up the move from our rented house and stored some personal items. We visited family and friends. We were especially grateful for the fellowship we enjoyed at Bethany Presbyterian and Lewistown Presbyterian churches. Your prayers helped us on our way.

We returned to Lithuania on January 7, 2002. It was a long but uneventful flight. Security in Harrisburg was a chore, but it was a safe flight. Thanks to Eric’s brother Bruce and his wife Phyllis for a place to stay in Lewistown after we had given up our house, and for taking us to the airport with our many bags—particularly the heavy ones with the books! Books are not only our passion but part of our mission. As you know, we are appointed as teachers. Current English books are not readily available in Lithuania, especially current textbooks, so we brought along a supply to get us started.

We have just finished the second week of classes for the spring semester here at Lithuania Christian College (LCC) in Klaipeda. Klaipeda is a city of 200,000 in the northwestern part of Lithuania on the Baltic Sea. We are both teaching in the business department, which has about three-fourths of the school’s 500 plus students. A large part of the mission of LCC is to provide English language instruction in this part of the former Soviet Union. Eric teaches four sections of three separate classes with 100 students total. He is teaching introductory economics, and two senior courses on economic development and social entrepreneurship. Becky is getting her first taste of teaching with three sections of managerial accounting with 83 students. She is amazed by the amount of preparation needed for each class, particularly since there are only 56 textbooks. Many students must share textbooks. She is spending a lot of time preparing study and homework handouts.

The students are enthusiastic and glad to see us. We each have mostly second-, third-, and fourth-year students. Eric also supervises several students writing senior theses. Students want to know who we are and why we have come to Lithuania.

LCC is concerned about staff and faculty well-being and adjustment. Much effort is expended to see that we are comfortable. We have a convenient apartment in a five-story Khrushchev-era building about a 15-minute walk from the school. It’s a four-room, one-bedroom furnished apartment. It has city central heat. This means you either have heat or you don’t, as there are no thermostats. The weather has been mild since we have returned in January. We do have a washing machine and a television.

There is a grocery store on the way to our apartment. This makes it convenient for shopping on the way home. Without a car, remember, we have to carry what we buy! The staff at LCC has made our initial adjustment to Lithuania easy. They are even taking care of getting our residency permits. We were glad to see so many returning as well as new LCC staff and faculty for this semester. It is truly a blessing to be associated with so many wonderful and dedicated people in this Christian community.

We are grateful for the support that has sent us here. The understanding and help we received from the PC(USA) staff in Louisville and especially the churches in Pennsylvania where we have a special relationship: Bethany Presbyterian in Lancaster, First Presbyterian in Warren, Lewistown Presbyterian Church in Lewistown, and Pine Street Presbyterian Church in Harrisburg. Without your understanding, love, and support we would not be here. You’re all part of our story.

After three generations of Soviet rule Lithuania is adjusting to the new market economy. Klaipeda has many new stores. They carry a variety of goods and we have been able to find many items that are familiar along with new and unusual items. Most food goods are less expensive than in the U.S., but other goods (such as a hairdryer) are "world prices." We need to remember, however, that what for us is inexpensive is expensive for Lithuanians. The average income here is less than a third of that in Western Europe and the U.S. The would-be consumers have no money for Western-style shopping.

We face some challenges here. The Lithuanian language is proving to be difficult to learn. We’ll need to do serious language-learning to become a part of the community beyond LCC. We also need to adapt our teaching to post-Soviet Lithuania. The market economy is enticing to students. They want the abundance they see others enjoy. It is easy for us to say that a Christian life is not about things. We will need to be careful that our witness here teaches students about more than money and the rewards of the market economy. How we live the values of the gospel is going to have more effect than what we teach about money and the market economy.

As we challenge students in their lessons, they’ll challenge us in our struggle with our riches and privileges. We are called to be a witness to the truth that "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matt 6:21). Our best lesson to students may well be how to live faithfully in the coming age of abundance here in Lithuania.

So our journey has begun. There is much we don’t know but our hopes are high. "This is the Lord’s doing, it is marvelous in our eyes" (Psalms 118:23).

"Viso gero" – see you later!

Becky and Eric Hinderliter