Kick off

Well, we successfully kicked off a new school year here in Kaunas with the help of the summer team from Portland OR. The team consisted of 6 people from 3 different churches in the Portland area (Good Shepherd, Coram Deo, and Imago Dei). We handed out welcome back gift bags and did a lot of surveys in the dorms at the 2 major universities in town and got into some great spiritual discussions with students. We also had events for the first four nights of school. The first event, which was a goofy field game night, got rained out so we met at a local university pub and played pool and watched basketball. Though it was not what we planned, it was what God planned because the 16 Freshman guys that showed up loved it. Just so you know guys rarley come to Agape events because most students aren't interested in spiritual things especially guys, so to have 16 show up was unbelievable for us. The next night was bowling. We found out 2 hours before students were arrinving that the bowling alley would not let us bowl because we advertised their name on a flyer. Anyway, we ended up playing pool and watching basketball again, which was good because 20 guys and 1 girl showed up. On Wedneday we did a photo scavenger hunt around the city and the students loved it. Thursday was the Agape party and 20 students, guys and girls, showed up and we had a good time hanging out. Though I think it might have been the first party some of the guys had been to where there was no alcohol, and yet they still had a great time. It was an amazing two weeks with the team from P-town here and I (Matt) can say that God is deffinitely up to something, I am excited to see what He has in store this semster.

summer team fun

A team of 6 from Portland OR arrived on 8/26 and has been helping us kickoff the new school year. Its been great to have friends here to show them what our lives and ministry look like in Lithuania. We have had a great time hanging out and doing ministry together. The last few days have been amazing as we have been in the dorms asking students questions to find out if they want to talk about spiritual things. We have also been inviting them to events we have planned each night this week. It has been amazing to see guys show up to the events. On Monday we had 18 guys come. On Tuesday 20 guys come and Tonight (Wednesday) we had 10 guys and girls show. Just so you know, this has never evenly remotely happened here in Kaunas. So,it has truly been an exciting week, one which I will write more about later. Thanks for your prayers.

Pipe Dreams

Well, a little over a week ago, we came home from church to find a huge puddle of water in our apartment. Apparently while we were gone a pipe in the wall between our bathroom and utility closet broke and leaked a lot of water into our place. Luckily, a guy who lives under us on the first floor (we live on the third) saw water dripping in his living room and turned off the water for the building. So after figuring out the problem and shutting off the water for just our apartment for a few days, we got a plumber to come take a look at it. He told us that it would be a month before he could come fix it. He did come back the next day to disconnect all the plumbing in our apartment except one spigot so that we have some water though. Well after a day of planning Sharon and I headed to the LT version of Home Depot and rigged up a system so that we have a hose from the spigot that can reach the kitchen sink so we can do dishes, the washing machine when its time for wash, and the shower for personal hygiene time. Though I must admit that its a bit cold since there is no hot water hooked up. My new theme song for shower time is "take my breath away" for all you Top Gun fans.
In all its a fun adventure, and I must give Kudos to my cousin Jaime and her boyfriend Jeff who just came to visit for a few days and especially to Jeff who was brave enough to take a shower.

Remembering. . .and Making New Memories

August 9, 2002
5 years ago this past Thursday was the best day of my life! I am humbled by what a "good and perfect gift" God gave to me in Matt. I love you honey!



August 9, 2007
So, how does someone so creative, fun, and adventurous choose to celebrate a 5 year anniversary? Well, since our friends Peter & Jen also celebrated their 5th anniversary just days before us, Matt and Peter came up with a plan for the four of us to celebrate together. . . rather than writing out the whole story, I'm going to let these photos do most of the talking. . .

















Yup. . .a ride in a hot air baloon!!



It was amazing watching the baloon get blown up.











It was HUGE!


















There was a quick scramble to get in. . .



. . . and then we were off! (Jason was on the ground taking photos of the set up and lift off.)














Jen and me moments after lift off.













Peter - faithfully recording this memory.



The views were breathtaking.













This red baloon took off about 5 minutes before ours did.











A photo taken of our street as we passed by.



It was amazing how low the red baloon flew over the bridge near our flat.








About an hour after take-off our trip came to an end.

Sad. Yes. But the adventure was not over yet. . .

The baloon crew took us back to the park near Peter and Jen's flat and told us that anyone who goes higher than one meter is now a part of a special club. They had us all kneel, gave us diplomas, and a new name and title. I was dubbed the "Duchess of the Quiet Castle" and Matt was the given the honor of "Earl of the Festival and the Sun."

And no - not over yet. . .

. . . as we were kneeling they had each of us lean forward while they baptized us with earth, fire and water.

This means they took a chunk of our bangs, lit it on fire, poured champagne over it to put out the fire, and then smeared a little mud on our forhead. Really - I'm not kidding. (I'm hoping Peter's video of this turned out.)


Ahhhh yes. . .this is the stuff memories are made of!


Thank you my love for filling these past 5 years with such wonderful memories!

That there's an R.V. Clark!

So four of us (Jen, Kelllie, Sharon, and myself) headed out to the church camp again to help with the youth camp.

We had a great time helping with the cooking, cleaning, and being responsible for the Bible teaching times.

The theme of the talks were, "If you really know God, you love Him. If you love God, then you obey Him. If you aren't obeying Him, you don't love Him. If you don't love Him, it's because you don't know Him" We had a great time talking about what it means to really know God and not just know about God. We then shared that if you really know Him you can't help but respond by falling in love with Him. Then lastly, we talked about obedience coming from a heart that loves to please God because He loves us so much as opposed to a duty oriented form of religion.

It was a blast. The young people were amazing. We were all quite impressed with their maturity and character.

Outside of what we came to help with, we also had a lot of time to relax. We played volleyball, card games, went canoeing, and even had a chance to go in the homemade tarp sauna some of the guys cleverly developed. In all everyone had a good time (even though the toilets I helped dig earlier this summer were getting a bit full). They were even nice enough to let us stay in the church camper - which was quite comfortable and shielded us from the biting bugs.