Coming to a close

My time here is coming to a close. I have less than two weeks left here in Lithuania. Thank you to all of you who have kept me in your prayers. I firmly believe you are the reason why God has been blessing me here. Praise God. My dad asked me what part of this trip has affected me the most. My answer is that you really don't know what you have until you've lost it. Whats affected me so much is not being able to be with those you love. My family, my friends, my church are all out of my reach. I have learned a very simple lesson of gratefulness. One of my favorite moments while being here was at camp. I wanted so badly for everyone to know Jesus and I was hoping and praying that I would find Jesus at this camp. The first two nights I was still starved other than a couple friends that I had made who were believers. But the third night the band started to play worship songs. I was so overjoyed!!! I was desperate for Jesus. I don't think I stopped smiling that entire night! I learned that when you are desperate for Jesus he ALWAYS shows up! Praise God that He is the same God here in Lithuania. Thank you all again for your prayers and support of this ministry.

Joe Bungard

Lithuania

Hello Friends and Family

Much has happened since I've been here in Lithuania. So far have learned the bus system and my way around Vilnius. I have spent a workweek in the Vilnius Teen Challenge Center and am in the process of learning Russian. I have been to multiple childrens centers and taught Bible lessons in villages. I have been to a camp and had the opportunity to share Jesus with a few people. There is so much that has happened since I last wrote a new entry. I have met so many people and am learning so much about the culture.

One of the leading events that has touched my heart was meeting a young girl in one of the villages. She is 7 years old and is a street kid. She has been raised in a difficult family in a difficult situation. She goes to church every sunday because there is no where else to go. The church there is one of three churches in Lithuania that I know of that has a children's program to teach kids the Bible. I only spent a short amount of time with her. But seeing the way she acted and knowing part of her situation broke my heart. There is so many problems here in Lithuania. Im not big enough to fix them. But God is. And I know that God is using me and the missionaries here in a small way to change the lives of those around us. God is faithful in all he is doing and He doesn't change. Even across cultures.

If you have any questions about my time here in Lithuania, I would love to answer them. Please write them in the comments section and I will answer them in my next post.

Thank you all so much again for praying for me and for Lithuania. Please pray for the Bible clubs that we work with and also for the Kids Quest team. We have practices and conferences coming up that we are getting ready for.

God is good, all the time

Lithuania

Hello everyone,

Its been a couple weeks since I've updated this. I want to inform you that everything is going very well. Tomorrow I will begin orientation for school. Sharon is beginning a discipleship program this year. It involves students coming for one year and really developing a relationship with God. Her biggest focus is character building. I will be one of the students for the remainder of my time here. Indre is another student. She will be here at the center learning for the full year. God is really working here. The biggest change that I have seen is not even here in Lithuania, it's in me. I know that through Sharon's help and mentoring my character will grow. God is shaping my dreams and desires.

This past weekend starting from thursday till sunday I attended a camp. It is a secular camp but it is led by believers and has much christian influence. Over 70% of the people who were there were not believers. God set me up with divine appointments there and it was absolutely wonderful. I met an indian couple who are believers and they were very encouraging. I was also able to plant seeds in peoples lives. Praise the Lord! I have a prayer request. I have a friend named Gabriella who's cousin has cancer of the blood. His name is Lucas and he is 5 years old. This week Gabriella is getting her blood tested to see if she is a match for a blood transfusion. Please Please Please Pray!!! God wants to do great things in her life. Thank you all so much for your prayers.

Teen Challenge Center

Hello everybody,

As most of you know I have been living in a teen challenge center for 5 days where those there only speak Russian. Wow ok so this week has been very hard but it has benefited me very much! My Russian teacher is incredibly gifted in teaching and I know God has set this up. By the end of the first day i learned how to read. I knew all of the letters by the second day and could count to 1,000,000. I also knew many basic words and phrases and I wrote my first paragraph intruducing myself (what I like to do, what I want to be, ect). Granted the paragraph wasn't entirely gramatically accurate. By the end of the second day I had a venacular of well over 100 words! I have been learning so much. I have been praying for this whole summer for God to bless my learning of the Russian language and I know that he has blessed me. It is my prayer that he will continue to bless this time of preperation. Today I heard two of the womans testimonies from the center. It just about broke my heart. In a country with thousands of alchoholics and drug addicts God has specifically picked these few and saved these few so that they can reach so many others. One of the women who gave their testimony said at the end that she justs wants to help people. It was so genuine because she knows what its like to hurt. Praise God. Please pray for those at the center. Many are rough around the edges but God loves them very much. Pray for Alexander, the director of teen challenge, to have wisdom and guidance from the Holy Spirit. I know that God is working.

Be blessed so that you may be the blessing

Joseph

Teen Challenge

Alright everybody,

Tomorrow I am leaving the confort of Sharon's home and I will be living in the teen challenge center here in vilnius. I am starting Russian lessons as well. They will be for 2 hours a day with up to 4 hours of homework a day. At the teen challenge center the men there only speak russian. So this will an emmersian in russian and the culture here. Please pray for me and for the work that Sharon is doing. This week is going to be very hard and very intense. But it will be worth it. God is good.

Remember that we are blessed and highly favored,
Joe

I made it!

Hello friends and family,

Thank you all for your prayers and support. For those of you who don't know, God has raised all the money that I needed and more in order to be able to come to Lithuania. I have successfully made it here. The planes and airport went fairly well. I ended up missing my flight out of Chicago due to a delay with the plane in Detroit. But long story short, everything worked out. I arrived into Lithuania at about 1:11 in the morning. This first week I am just getting acclimated into life here. I want to keep you updated as much as possible but I will not always have access. Please keep on praying for me, missionary sharon, mindaugus, indra, and the macissacs. Mindaugus is 16 and he will be showing me around Lithuania and helping wherever is needed. Indra is one of the students here working under Sharon. The Macissacs are missionaries here as well. I have been to lunch here already with all those that were just mentioned and had a very good Lithuanian dish. I forget what it was called but it was good =).. Please also pray for me, I have one bag that has yet to arrive with alot of supplies for Sharon. And also I believe my wallet was stolen. I cannot find it. I am in the process of taking care of everything with that. God will always provide though so I am not worried. Please just remember that in prayer. God is so good. Make sure you thank him for what He has done for you.

Keep the Fire

Joe

Update on Finances

Hello friends and family,

This is an update on my missions trip to Lithuania. As some of you know I need $7,500 to be able to go on this missions trip. I am pleased to let you know that I, through your help and support, have raised $5,500. I only $2000 left to go. I now have a deadline of July 21 to reach this goal. Thank you, those of you who have supported me. And thank you everyone who has been praying for me.

Please keep praying for me, and if you haven’t been then please start. I need prayer for finances, safe travels, and for God to do something big! I know that God has big things planned for this trip. Pray that I am a blessing for Missionary Sharon and for the people of Lithuania. Also pray that my life will be changed.

I pray that God blesses you in this ministry. Thank you again for supporting me.

Joe Bungard