Ukraine War Relief Visit #7: Receiving More Than We Give
Receiving More Than We Give
By Jill Gilbert
First Presbyterian Church, Columbus, GA
The Outreach Foundation team is in Eastern Europe visiting war-affected Ukrainians and the partners providing care to them. Today is the final day of our visit and we begin to grasp the challenges the church faces in this context and the ways City Church in particular is flourishing.
The Outreach Foundation has assembled a team of seven people who were glad to bring encouragement to the church that is showing Christian compassion to war-affected Ukrainians. Along the way, we have learned that the church here faces many barriers and has a rich ministry beyond its support for Ukrainians. Our morning began by meeting with City Church’s pastor, Saul Karosas, for a tour of Old Town Vilnius. I have found that time spent with Saul leaves me with a deep respect for the church God has planted here. City Church is the largest Protestant church in Lithuania, with approximately 600 people in the three largest cities of Lithuania.
Our team took a long hike up the Hill of Three Crosses, which overlooks Vilnius. The site was originally constructed in 1613 to commemorate the death of several Franciscan missionaries whom pagans martyred. The original site has been destroyed several times, and the current form of the crosses was designed and built in 1916. During the Soviet times the site was destroyed again. After Lithuania declared its independence from the USSR in 1990, this site was rebuilt. From this hill, Saul had us look down on the city of Vilnius with its many churches. He weaved a story of conflict for the Protestant church dating back to the 16th century Counter Reformation. Lithuania is 80% Catholic and Saul spoke candidly about the challenges he faces.
Still, Pope Francis invited Saul to an open dialogue in the Spring of 2022. The dialogue included our friend Dr. Piotr Nowak (president, The College of Theology and Social Sciences) and discussed how they and the Charismatic Movement within the Catholic Church share values and have a common purpose to make Christ known in Europe. We learned that the Pope is pleased that churches like City Church are flourishing. Sadly, this is not a view shared by many Catholic leaders, which leads to many barriers. One example is that despite there being many vacant church buildings, Catholics and Reformed alike refuse to lease space to City Church. Visits such as ours bring encouragement to Saul and his young leadership team to press forward!
We visited the Lithuanian Parliament building and heard stories of Lithuanians’ fight for freedom. In 1991, Lithuanians stood guard over the building in a peaceful protest. Portions of the barricades to Soviet tanks have been preserved. Unarmed, people showed great courage in their fight for freedom. Tanks turned back to Moscow. We saw the former KGB headquarters where so many “disappeared.” The names of many of these brave people are engraved on the exterior walls along with photos of the story of a young man who set himself on fire in demonstration against these oppressors. Pastors and priests were considered among the most dangerous of prisoners. Tom asked, “Are we so dangerous anymore?”
Our day ended over dinner with the leaders of City Church, Vilnius. This church plant has been thriving for seven years, and their enthusiasm for the mission of City Church is evident! The mission is nothing short of transforming this culture, including politicians and business leaders, with Christian values. City Church host the annual Global Leadership Summit and it has grown from around 25 people to 2,500. Saul has fully contextualized the summit keynotes for this region. Amazing work and now he is developing the next generation of leaders.
One surprise for us is how new Christians are here. For generations Christianity was suppressed in Lithuania even among Reformed churches. In City Church, we met first generation believers. They want to learn from us, but we have much to learn from them. In my conversations with their youth leaders their enthusiasm inspired me. This week has been an amazing opportunity to witness the faith of people from Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania who share the common bond of serving God and also helping their neighbors in a time of great conflict. Our team showed up for these wonderful people and we received so much.
