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	A letter from Eric and Becky Hinderliter in Lithuania

	January 20, 2004 Laimingu Naujuju Metu! New Year’s greetings from Klaipeda. The New Year is a time of reflection for Becky and me. In January 2004 Eric started his fourth year of teaching at Lithuania Christian College in Klaipeda. How fast the time the time has gone. We arrived at LCC in January 2001 very uncertain of what it would be like to teach economics at a Christian college in another country. But the response has been good: we have been gladly received. The most gratifying part of our mission has now become hearing from LCC graduates about their marriages, their new jobs, their progress in graduate education—and the growth of their Christian faith. Their cards, letters, emails, and spontaneous visits bring joy and surprises.

	Students in Eric's economics class dressed in Lithuanian folk costumes for the dedication of a new building at the college this fall.				This past summer we had a brief time in the United States. Eric was invited to give the sermon at his mother’s church in Warren, Pennsylvania, his brother Bruce’s church in Lewistown, and at Bethany Presbyterian in Lancaster where we were members in the 1990s. Each Sunday was a special event for us, a chance to renew our relationships with the people of faith who have supported and continue to encourage us in the mission task here in Lithuania.

	We again spent July as Lithuanian language students at the university in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. We made some progress in Lithuania but never as much as we hope. The grammar is quite complex—there are seven cases for each word, and the vocabulary has very few words with any similarity to the languages we know, so there is much to learn. But we try. We know enough now to accomplish our daily tasks. Acquiring proficiency in Lithuania for us will be a life-long task.

	The fall semester at Lithuania Christian College proved to be very demanding. Both of us had record numbers of students. Eric taught microeconomics and development economics to all the business administration majors at the college; Becky had all the business majors in her accounting courses. We struggle with helping students to recognize and achieve a sufficient academic standard that will enable them to be competitive in the job market or in graduate school. We also want them to see the economy from a Christian perspective. Becky focuses on the issues of business ethics and good stewardship of resources. Eric works with the students to understand the problems of the poor and the costs of growing economic inequality, both increasingly important issues as Lithuania moves toward acceptance into the European Union this May.				Becky spends extra time with her students in introductory accounting.

	We continue to live in a small but modern apartment about a 15-minute walk from the college. We have no car so we take the bus and mini-vans to get around. The things we need are readily available so our daily life is convenient and comfortable. We worship with the LCC community at the weekly student-led chapel service at the college and on Sunday evenings at a worship service lead by an Anglican priest from England. Occasionally we attend the Lutheran Church here and the International Church of Vilnius during our summer language study. Our son Paul and his wife Elizabeth bought their first house this summer in Newark, Delaware. Paul is a chemical engineer in the nearby laboratories of DuPont. We are glad that they are getting established and we enjoy their news. Eric’s mother turned 84 this fall but remains active in her church. She remains our biggest supporter and advocate. We are now looking forward to the visit of Eric’s brother Bruce in May. Now we are trying to discern what God has in store for us in the future. Our goal remains long-term mission service. We have asked Worldwide Ministries in Louisville to extend our present mission term here for another year to June 2005. This will give us the time to explore what a reappointment means for us, for our mission partners here, and for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). LCC has decided on a strategic mission focus on countries to the east of Lithuania. These countries are much poorer than Lithuania, so LCC’s ambitious plans for recruitment of a significant number of students from countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan will be challenging, especially the large financial aid packet each student will need. As teachers, we will be challenged to adapt the Western-oriented business curriculum to the realities of these former Soviet countries, most of whom have neither a functioning market economy nor a political democracy. It is our hope that we will be led to a mission appointment that both allows us to serve the needs of these students from the east and enables us to be faithful witnesses to the love we know in Jesus Christ. God’s grace and peace to all of you in the New Year! Becky & Eric Hinderliter The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 338

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