From the mission field – Lithuania rehab center

The Rev. Mindaugas Kairys, director of the National Association of Diaconia of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania (CELCL); the Rev. James Krikava, LCMS regional director for Eurasia; and CELCL Bishop Rev. Mindaugas Sabutis stand in front of the newly dedicated Garliava chapel and rehabilitation center during a visit to the construction site in April. (Cynthia Wrucke)

Lithuania

On Aug. 18, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania (CELCL) dedicated a new chapel and residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Garliava, Lithuania.

Built with financial support and volunteer help from the LCMS and others, the Garliava center is a continuation of the Gabrielius rehabilitation center, a project started in 2008 to help people fight drug and alcohol addiction.

Participants who have successfully completed the 70-week rehabilitation at Gabrielius will be trained at Garliava to take responsibility for management of their own household, employment and finances.

CELCL Bishop Rev. Mindaugas Sabutis said at the dedication, “We took a shabby house and saw it become a place of hope, a place where others can learn of the hope they have in Jesus Christ. God, who guided every step, makes everything new.”

After World War II, the parish at Garliava vanished. Today it holds regular worship services for its members and currently serves about 50 families from the surrounding community near Kaunas, Lithuania.

Posted Sept. 21, 2018