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Lithuania
The predominant Christian tradition in Lithuania is Roman Catholicism, although Lutheran, Reformed and Baptist churches persisted through the Soviet era. Since independence in 1992 some free churches and charismatic movements have also established themselves in the country.
The Presbyterian Church has had a long history and relationship with Christians in Lithuania. One of the key institutions with which the PC(USA) is in partnership is LCC International University in Klaipeda. The college was founded in 1991 as a Christian witness for students seeking a university education. Today the college has 560 students from 18 countries. In the class that entered in 2005, about one-third were from Belarus, Ukraine and other former Soviet states.
LCC International University provides 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. Some of the students come committed to newly emerging Protestant churches; many are inactive Roman Catholic or Russian Orthodox members; most are uncertain of any faith.
Mission co-workers Becky and Eric Hinderliter, teachers at LCC International University, say they are challenged to witness with their lives: “Students watch how we act, how we treat each other, and especially how we spend our money. To students it’s not what we say that matters, but how we live. We take care that we don’t become models of some high level of living, prompting questions like, ‘How can I be rich — like you?’ We affirm their lives, their traditions, and their value within their own heritage.” |
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