Ukraine War Relief Visit #6: The Flourishing Church
The Flourishing Church
By Vic and Amy Petrenko
First Presbyterian Church, Mooresville, NC
The Outreach Foundation team is in Eastern Europe visiting war-affected Ukrainians and the partners providing care to them. Our visits have taken us to Warsaw, the Ukraine border, and we wrap up in Lithuania. Today we are visiting three cities where City Church has planted churches, giving us an opportunity to share about this flourishing church in their difficult context.
Klaipeda, Kaunas, and Vilnius are the City Church locations we visited. These are the largest three cities in Lithuania and City Church has planted churches in each one. Pastor Saul’s vision is nothing short of transforming the culture here step by step. He has been laboring at this for 25 years and in our few days together he has taught us much. We have seen a flourishing church in Eastern Europe, and I am impressed.
The sixth day of our trip was our last day in Klaipeda. Our morning began with an uplifting worship service in City Church, on the campus of LCC International University (LCC stands for Lithuania Christian College, reflecting its 1990’s roots that began with Lithuanian independence from the Soviet Union). Lithuania is a stoic culture that has not forgotten life under Soviet rule just a short 31 years ago. Since 2014, Lithuanians have been standing against Russia more fiercely than most other EU countries. They were the first country in the EU to shift away fully from Russian energy, and many thought they were foolish.
This same unrelenting spirit fuels Pastor Saul of City Church and that spirit is directed toward building the kingdom of God. Like Ivan, Oleh, Piotr, Tomas, Pablo, and Aneta, Saul walks the talk! Saul is focused on making flourishing disciples who are not afraid of the gospel of Christ even if their friends and family shut them off. Yes, even here family and friends cut off people who turn to Jesus.
City Church is the largest evangelical church in Lithuania and the only one that has planted other churches. Church planting is essential to evangelism here. Still, Saul told us that growth is measured not by numbers but by each person’s expression of hospitality, compassion, generosity, volunteerism, and selfless service. These Christian values do not exist in this part of the world for many reasons. Among these are the austere living conditions they previously endured for generations.
One example of how City Church lives out these values is its ministry to war-affected Ukrainians, which we’ve described in other blogs. It has been refreshing to see a church that isn’t inwardly focused, but resolute in being uncomfortable with the challenges of helping over 1,000 Ukrainian women and children. And they are preparing for another wave in the coming months as winter comes to Ukraine.
Another example is the leadership groups City Church brings together among the religious, political, and business communities. These groups help secular leaders discover the value of leading ethically and it is making an impact. Still another example is their non-profit business “Friend to Friend.” People donate used clothing and furniture to sell in the community. All proceeds go into supporting City Church’s ministry among special-needs children. For us, this sounds familiar, but this type of philanthropy has not existed in Lithuania. This is the light of Christ.
The result? New energy, passion, and commitment. In our visits with City Church’s leadership teams in Klaipeda, Kaunas, and Vilnius the energy was palpable. They are on fire for the Lord and for the mission City Church is fulfilling in this difficult context. We noticed how young they were and this inspired our team. They want to move out and see Jesus shape the culture. How humbling it was for us to hear that we are their teachers. Visits such as this are important. For The Outreach Foundation to partner with City Church for the work of the gospel is a great thing.
