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Tel. 0191 3723727

E-mail: Team Leader & Pastoral

 
Regional Minister
Mission
Revd. John Singleton
8 Claydon Grove
Ingleby Barwick
Stockton on Tees
TS17 0YG

Tel. 01642 655551

E-mail: Mission

 
Linda Hopkins
Regional Tutor
Northern Baptist Learning Community/NBA & NWBA
2 Molyneux Road
Aughton
Ormskirk
Lancs
L39 6RB

Tel: 01695 228317

E-mail: Regional Tutor

 
Administrative Contact:

E-mail: Admin Email

Through our connection with the International Baptist Seminary in Prague we met with one of the academic staff, Lina Andronoviene, who is Lithuanian. We came to understand that the Baptist Union in Lithuania is very small and would value some support and encouragement. As a result of this meeting John and Janet Claydon visited Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, at Easter 2010 and met with some of the church leaders. John felt strongly that God was leading us into a relationship with our Lithuanian brothers and sisters and we were therefore delighted when three of their leaders were able to spend a few days with us and attend our Autumn Assembly in October 2010.

A great deal of interest has emerged from the NBA churches in working with Lithuanian Baptists and John Singleton lead a group of 9 people from Beacon Lough BC, Westoe Road BC, South Shields, and Norton BC for a weeks mission trip to Lithuania during the first week of June 2011. The team helped Lithuanians, both young and old, with English and IT skills. We hope to return to Lithuanian with another team in June 2012.

On Sunday 29.5.11. the nine intrepid NBA travellers were whisked off to Lithuania by Wizzair (I know !!). The team led by John and Enid Singleton from Norton Baptist Church were assisted by Angela Pino and Julie Price from Westoe Road, and Lena Stoker, George and Carole McLaughlin, and Ian and Irene Britton from Beacon Lough.

Our mission and we had accepted it, was to help with English and I.T. in the New Testament Baptist Church in the capital Vilnius; with the objective of setting up a partnership that would ultimately lead to further visits.Well and truly out of our comfort zones we arrived with little knowledge of what lay ahead. We need not have worried, God had worked it all out perfectly.

The daily format emerged where we met in church for a team meeting prayer and preparation time in the morning, enjoyed a bit of free time in the afternoon, and then we met up again at 6-8pm. This was a time of worship together before dividing into children and adult classes, where we tried to communicate the gospel and academic learning, with a break for fellowship and refreshments in the middle. All this for me, and I’m fairly sure for the others too, was a steep learning curve combined with a humbling experience.

It was a totally unique experience for me, but personally speaking our Lithuanian friends responded very positively and were a joy to be with. In one sense a week was too short, we were just getting into our stride when we were packing up to come home. In another sense lots of things were achieved, and many lovely friendships made, being one in Christ counts for so much. John and Enid visited and preached in a local prison, and later in the week Ian joined them for a cross country trip to visit two more churches where good contacts were established. Everyone brings back their own memories, for me one highlight was hearing hymns like Amazing Grace and Come on and celebrate, being sung in English and Lithuanian simultaneously, praise indeed.

There’s so much more to be done and with the people being so warm, welcoming and grateful, it shouldn’t be too difficult to recruit new team members. We did get some leisure time as I said earlier, and from what I saw of Lithuania, it was prettier, greener and more modern than the mental picture I had in my head, definitely somewhere to make a return visit.