A Long and wonderful day

Judy and I woke early to the sound of an alarm that sounded for the next six hours. We eventually got up and wandered the streets searching for water for the day. By seven breakfast was served!

What a feast!

Vitas

 

We left with Vitas on the bus at 8:30. He was a kind and careful driver.

Laurijana was ill, so Jelena joined us today. She was recently ordained the first Lithuanian Deacon after mentoring from Helen. Jelena is on the left and Helen is on the right.

Jelena and Helen

Žaneta and Ugnė were also with us, and made our whole day better, managing the details, helping us understand each other, teaching us and helping us be in relationship.

On the way Helen bought each of us a spurga, which was much like a donut with powdered sugar.

Spurga

 

We traveled to a Bakery and Windmill Museum just outside Siauliai, where we met our Ubuntu sisters. We smiled a little at each other, because Lithuanians value seriousness, and settled into our seats to watch.

 

There our baker taught us traditional breadmaking, starting her dough with starter from a previous batch, placing the dough for shaping on maple leaves, keeping her hands wet with water. We sat around a large table with our Ubuntu sisters, meeting for the first time making and later breaking bread.

Josephine, Wanda and Helen

We made our own small loaves, wetting and shaping the dough, and some of us took turns grinding flour between millstones.

Ann

Judy

We toured the windmill while our bread was baked, and then took our treasure to lunch with us.

Kevin

 

Debbie

We all met again for lunch at Šiaulių Jungtinė Metodistų Bažnyčia for lunch and sharing stories. We sat in the kitchen of the Church, knee to knee,and ate cepelinai, the potato dumpling with meat inside, with meat gravy, and our precious bread, which looked a little burnt to us....

For dessert, they shared a most glorious Skruzdėlynas Cake.

 

To this Indiana native it was like elephant ears, drizzled with honey, and poppy seeds. To Judy it was like sopapillas glued together with honey. We learned during this meal that it is best to eat slowly and leave some little on your plate. It is not polite to clean your plate and then refuse seconds and thirds. Best to eat and enjoy! We also had delicious mint tea from Algina's garden. Thank you Algina, for everything.

The best part of the meal was sharing stories. First Žaneta shared how she came to feel loved by God after a childhood of loneliness and difficulty. Then we heard a history of the church, and stories about the Hill of Crosses, which we were to visit later in the afternoon. We heard what Methodist Women had meant to each other, forming a community of loving friendship and care for lonely people and women whose lives are enriched by each other's faith and Bible study together.

 

Andzelika Micutiene is the wife of the pastor at the Tauragė Methodist Church. She created for us a wonderful brochure about the Hill Of Crosses.

Methodist Churches represented at lunch were Vilnius, Siuliai, Kaunas, and Tauragė.

We left the church to go to the Hill of the Crosses. This is a site of great devotion and remembrance, sorrow and hope. In the beginning people left crosses at the hill for those loved ones whose bodies they could not locate to bury. After time, however, the crosses grew in number and came to represent the strength of faith during a time when religion was suppressed.

The sad Jesus

Cross with pagan symbol of the sun

Crosses hung with crosses

 

It was a somber visit, which ended with the happy sight of a stork in its nest high above us and presumably quite happy about it.

 

We ended with a tasty meal on the road, and a conversation at the close of day about what we had learned. We prayed together in thanks for the opportunity to meet Ubuntu sisters and share stories, and crept thankfully to our beds.

We are traveling well together, sharing stories among ourselves and helping each other along the way. Many kindnesses make this trip a lovely thing for our hearts.

Judy and Ellen

Lilac

 

 

 

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