August 2002

Sveiki! Greetings!

We are now back in Klaipeda after a two-month absence. While we looked forward to a change of pace and were glad to see so many of you, it is good to be “home” after living in other people’s houses since the beginning of June.

We traveled in Pennsylvania for three weeks in June. Eric gave the sermon at his home church, First Presbyterian, in Warren. This is the church were Eric was baptized and where his mother (age 82) is still an active member. We also participated in worship at Lewistown Presbyterian and Highland Presbyterian in Lancaster. We were guests at the June meeting of Donegal Presbytery. We are glad to be part of work and witness of the church.

We spent the month of July taking the intensive Lithuanian language course at Vilnius University. Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, about 350 kilometers from Klaipeda. Learning to speak Lithuanian is proving to be a humbling experience. Being students again, particularly in a different language, gave us a new appreciation for the work and experiences of our students.

The spring semester at Lithuania Christian College (LCC) was a busy one for both of us. Together we had 175 students in our classes. Eric taught three different economics classes and was thesis advisor for three women, one of whom was the class valedictorian.

Becky taught three sections of accounting. This was her first time teaching, and she found class preparation and 80 students to be both challenging and rewarding. Teaching and becoming adjusted to a new environment proved to be a full semester after 22 years of working in state government. We were happy for the change but also glad to see the longer, sunny days of spring and summer.

While in Vilnius this past month we rented the apartment of Tomas Sernas. Tomas was ordained a pastor in the Reformed Church on June 30, 2002. Tomas is also one of the heroes of the Lithuanian struggle for independence a few years ago. July 31 was the eleventh anniversary of the murder of Lithuanian border guards at the Medininkai crossing, and it was marked in Lithuania. The sole survivor of the Medininkai tragedy was Tomas Sernas. He is now confined to a wheelchair.

The organizers and the perpetrators of the brutal crime have yet to be finally exposed and punished. On the morning of July 31, 1991, assailants murdered two volunteer Lithuanian customs officials and four police officers execution-style, by shots to the back of the head. Another police officer victim in the assassination died in a hospital after several days. The sole survivor was injured customs official Tomas Sernas. Soviet “OMON” interior troops are thought to be behind the early attack on the Lithuanian border. “OMON” troops in the Soviet Union were used to carry out such special missions. At a recent trial in Lithuania two members of these “special forces” were acquitted because the court wanted to hear from more senior officials who could not be extradited from their safe haven in Russia.

On the morning of the commemoration of the tragedy Tomas told me that it was time to look forward. The tragic events are becoming part of an earlier era. Different times are now present in Lithuania. We all pray that our God of justice and reconciliation is at work in the world.

We are now getting ready for the fall semester at LCC. Both of us will again have lots of students. Eric will be teaching two sections of microeconomics and two sections of developmental economics as well as advising thesis students. Becky will be teaching three sections of financial accounting, another new class for her. The school’s resources for teaching are strained. Teachers are in short supply. LCC depends on short-term volunteer teachers but most are available only during summer when the majority of the students are working abroad to earn money to pay their LCC tuition. The PC(USA)’s decision to send us is a response to the need for more continuity and stability in the teaching staff at LCC. We are glad for the tasks God has given us here at LCC.

At LCC up-to-date business textbooks are in short supply. We are grateful for the textbooks and other academic resources that the Lewistown Presbyterian Church gathered for our students this spring. We shared a warm fellowship during our visit in June and we were delighted to mail ten M-bags of materials (250 pounds!) that we expect to arrive in Klaipeda in August in time for the new semester.

We hope that you will all look for the PC(USA) mission funding catalogue due to be sent to all Presbyterian churches in the next few weeks. Your congregation’s “basic mission support” is the foundation of support for mission co-workers like us. You may know this as “unified” or “unrestricted” giving. Also, in September watch for your Directed Mission Support book delivered to your mission committee, to begin planning next year’s mission giving. If you are interested in direct support for our specific mission to Lithuania and our appointment to Lithuania Christian College you can contribute to our Directed Mission Support account DMS# 506434. Please be sure to fill out the pledge form

You may be interested in looking at the PC(USA) website at www.pcusa.org. It has a wealth of information about the church, and the Worldwide Ministries Division page has loads of background and letters from mission workers around the world

As always, we look forward to hearing from you—mail (both snail mail and e-mails) is a highlight of the day. One of our concerns is being so far from friends and family. Keeping these relationships strong matters to us. Your prayers sustain us in our work.

Peace to all of you.

Becky and Eric Hinderliter