Ready for a Lithuanian joke? Here it goes:
-Why have you built only one room in your house?
-Because there was no point of building less.
My days in Lithuania were very much like this: puzzling, curious, fun, quick and paradoxical. This small country (less than 1/3 of MN by land) with ages of its own history also caries many signs and imprints of its neighbors: Poland, Germany, Russia, Latvia, Belarus… It was only logical for it to house the Lithuanian International University with its student body as culturally diverse as this part of the world itself. After presenting a 40 minute “teaser” for the FaithSearch Discovery at their chapel in English, I had a full house for a 3.5 hour presentation attended by both the students (extra credit for the Theology majors) and faculty (one said: “I just realized that I can still be taught a thing or two”). They simply didn’t want to go home and kept asking questions after questions after questions. Praise the Lord for their searching minds and hearts!
In this very much “relational” culture, of course, one does not begin with teaching and instruction but with, first, building friendships, making connections, spending time around the tea table, visiting homes, churches, even cemeteries. The Archpriest of Kaunas and Klaipeda, fr. Anatoliy, took charge of introducing me to other local communities, church leaders and educators. After about three gallons of tea and five hundred kisses and seven hundred handshakes, I developed a strong feeling that this is not my last time in this country and that we need to start looking for a Lithuanian translator for our materials. Two Teachers’ Conferences (regional and national) in late November created a nice and natural time-frame for it.
Praise the Lord for providing a quick solution to a little technical problem–my laptop went blind. The monitor is dead and I only can type this message by projecting it on the wall. I hope to be able to show it to somebody tomorrow in Riga. Worst case scenario: I will be presenting with the projector only which will require some extra neck flexibility… Prayers and technical wisdom will be greatly appreciated.
