Pilgrimages

A letter from Eric and Becky Hinderliter serving in Lithuania

Eastertide 2015

Our flights have been confirmed; the tickets have been purchased.  We fly to the U.S.A. on May 6 for four months of “mission interpretation” (IA)—what used to be called “furlough” or “itineration.”  As we are thinking about packing and car rentals—the logistics of mission interpretation—we view this coming period as a homecoming after a sojourn in a foreign land.  In the words of missiologist Anthony Gittins, our mission journey has taken us from our “homeland” to the “wonderland” of mission and we now return to a “new found land” where we once lived.

We have been mission co-workers here in Lithuania for almost 15 years.  Much has changed with us just as much has probably changed with you. We are longing to see you “face-to-face” and to reconnect with congregations in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).  We have accepted 15 invitations from Presbyterian churches; we expect to accept more in the next several weeks. (Contact us via our PC(USA) e-mail eric.hinderliter@pcusa.com.)  We hope this will be a joyous reunion with our mission advocates and supporters.  We also know there will be moments of sadness as many of the mission-minded “saints” who sent us have been called home.

Kay Dolan from the First Presbyterian Church, Warren, Pa., views some of the estimated 100,000 crosses at the Hill of Crosses in Lithuania

The image that has been planted in our minds as we prepare is pilgrimage. In many ways we have been in exile in a foreign land—aliens and strangers in a remote and alluring land.  “We live as an alien in the land” (Psalm 119:19). Like the exiles of the Old Testament we are returning to a place we once knew, only partially aware of how much has changed and how strange we may have become. Psalms 120 to 134 are called “Songs of Ascent,” to be sung by pilgrims climbing up to Jerusalem, the city on a hill. Beyond the physical logistics of the coming months, our spiritual preparation is focused on reading the Psalms of pilgrims. As a metaphor, the Christian life is portrayed as a journey to the heavenly city of God (Hebrews 11:13-16).

We are also preparing for a PC(USA) mission co-worker “sharing conference.” These gatherings prompt reflection on what our mission in Lithuania means—and what we have become after 15 years. We have come to understand and accept our status as strangers and aliens in Lithuania.  We remain guests, invited and welcomed but never accepted as insiders.  We are transitory figures among the students we encounter: “Woe is me, that I am an alien in Meshech, that I must live among the tents of Kedar” (Psalm 120:5). Our work as teachers is planting seeds of promise and hope. Later someone else—God, we hope—will give the growth. We worry about our long-run impact—whether faith has been nurtured and hope conveyed.  But our souls have been “calmed and quieted” because “our hope is in the LORD from this time on and forevermore” (Psalm 131:2-3).  Our hard work must be tempered with patience and humility: “It is in vain that you rise up early in the morning and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil, for he gives sleep to his beloved” (Psalm 127:2).

LCC grads from Moldova paid a visit: Vitaly Turlac (left) leads an evangelical Christian ministry with his brother in his native Moldova; Veronica Tipirig (left) now works for an investment company in Brussels

Pilgrimages are popular here in Lithuania.  Several sites are always destinations for Christian pilgrims—the “Black Madonna” in Vilnius and the Hill of Crosses, the place in Lithuania most visited by pilgrims. Presbyterian groups visiting Lithuania make stops at each site for prayer and reflection. The true focus of a pilgrimage is, of course, its spiritual purpose. We visit sites that are significant in our life of faith. The churches that support us are such places—pilgrimage sites alive with people we love.

Former students also make what are often pilgrimages to see us. They want to remember the past and to reconnect, to report their successes and even their failures.  They return, we hope, because we affirm their value, respect their dreams, and continue to nurture their faith. These return visits are as important to us as to our former students.

Questions arise about how we do mission.  The importance of partnership—by invitation, with mutual regard and patience, walking with others—is today’s Presbyterian how of mission. During our Interpretation Assignment we want to be asked about our experience with our partners, LCC International University and the Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania. More important is the question of what we do.  We carry a banner. Psalm 20 reminds us what is to be written on our banner. “May we shout for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God set up our banners” (Psalm 20:5). In the season of Easter the victory of Christ over death—Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!—is the joy we proclaim and hope we share with others. But the most important question is why we do mission—why we have been called and why the Church has sent us. The Heidelberg Catechism, the basic confession of the Lithuanian Reformed Church, summarizes the why of mission: because we are grateful for our redemption. We know that our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, has fully paid for all our sins with his precious blood. Through him all things must work together for our salvation. Because we belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures us of eternal life and makes Christians wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him (Question 1).

So we are ready for our pilgrimage—a return from a kind of exile.  We hope to be welcomed, refreshed and strengthen by the Christian fellowship that affirmed our call and sent us out to proclaim the Good News and to serve faithfully in Jesus’ name.

We invite you to join us in our pilgrimage through your letters, your prayers and your financial support through the mission accounts at the PC(USA). See you soon.

Grace and peace in the name of the Risen Christ.
Becky & Eric L. Hinderliter

The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 329