Truth Magazine

By Randy Blackaby

The good reception given the preaching of the gospel in Kaunas, Lithuania this spring nearly demands a longer term effort and, ideally, the commitment of a preacher to a year or more of full-time evangelism in this city of 430,000 people.

As the accompanying article already has indicated, crowds at the Sunday lectures were steadily increasing as interested people returned week after week and additional students were convinced to attend.

Imagine getting 30 or more people to attend a meeting in this country by simply handing out tiny printed invitations in front of a local grocery store. That’s what is happening in Lithuania. These people will listen to an hour or more of lectures and then ask questions for two or more hours. The type of questions asked reflect both the confusion caused by centuries of Catholic tradition and an eagerness to learn more about what the Bible teaches.

After Bill Bynum and I left Kaunas May 3, Brother Thomas Bunting of Bergen, Norway took over the work. His son was to join him a week later. Recently, I have learned that Derek Chambers and Ivan Valdez will continue this spring’s effort through the end of June.

Steve Wallace already is planning to return this September and we are hoping more brethren from the United States will commit to three or four weeks each to keep the evangelism of this city alive well into the fall.

But beyond these initial forays into this once closed country, there is a critical need for a longer term effort, similar to the work being done in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, by brother Chambers and Jay Horsley. Are there brethren ready to accept such a challenge?

If there are conversions in Kaunas in the next few months there must be someone there to help these new Christians grow in the faith.

One thing we observed is that the window of opportunity doesn’t stay wide open long in these former communist countries. Already the denominations are beginning to flood into the region. We saw evidence of strong efforts by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists and Pentecostal groups. If the truth can be widely and repeatedly taught before the errors of these groups take a major hold, the cause of Christ will be greatly enhanced.

At present, evangelistic endeavors in Lithuania can be carried out inexpensively. For about $1,500 to $1,700 a preacher can spend an entire month preaching there. This includes air fare, hotel accommodations, transportation, meals, advertising, translators and rental of lecture rooms. This economy makes it possible for even smaller congregations to underwrite the shorter term efforts.

Eastern Europe is full to opportunities to preach the gospel. And, as quickly as things are changing in this part of the world, we don’t really know how long those opportunities will be present.

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 12, p. 11
June 16, 1994

By Archie E. Proctor

And David the king was much moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept: and as he went, thus he said, 0 my son Absalom! My son, my Absalom! Would God I had died for thee, 0 Absalom, my son, my son! (2 Sam. 18:33)

Nothing in this world can tear at the heart of a parent who is a faithful Christian more than the spiritual death of a child. It is even more tragic when that child trapped in sin is caught into eternity by death in that condition. All the years of careful, patient teaching, nurturing in the Lord, the many times that precious soul was taken to the assembly of the church to hear the gospel preached and the Bible taught seem to be as nothing. Those patient, faithful lives of mother and father lived as best as they could, giving an example of how one should be a Christian, seem to have no meaning or effect.

David knew that feeling many times in his life. The death of Absalom was one occasion. Going up to that upper chamber, he must have recalled the prophet’s words; “Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and! will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.” This was spoken after he had confessed to the sin of adultery with Bathsheba.

Now the consequences of that awful sin had come fully home. The death of an infant son, the murder of his son Amnon by Absalom, and finally, the slaying of Absalom by his general, Joab, all resulted as a consequence of his fall into sin.

Too often, however, parents of wayward children have done nothing to bring about such loss of a child, either in sinning themselves or failing properly to teach the child how he should live his life. Yet, many times, the guilt that David felt seems to come crashing down on the shoulders of godly parents who have seen that child go astray. To add to the burden, it seems Christians and friends, who should know better, assume that it must have been some failure of character or teaching that let the child go off, and that there surely was something that could have been done if the parents had done this or that.

Parents in this situation spend many hours in fervent prayer asking for strength, help, and the opportunity to say or do that one more thing that might reach the child before it is eternally too late. Night after night, sleep fades as the parents play the “what if ” game in their minds. (What if I did or said this or that instead of what I did say.) Tears are shed without measure in regret and remorse. The sinning child can never know the burden he places on the heart of that loving mother and father by his actions.

What words of comfort can we bring to parents in this condition? First of all, we need to recognize that Proverbs 22:6 is not an absolute. Children can be properly trained and still go astray.

The Bible gives many examples of this. Perhaps the best known is Solomon. He was so faithful in his youth; he asked the Lord for wisdom over wealth or fame or other things. But in his maturity, he let other wives turn his heart away from God.

Faithful Abraham had two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, yet only one was the son of promise and followed the Lord. Ishmael was never known as a servant of God, and his descendants became the enemies of Israel. Lot is called a righteous and vexed man, yet he lost all of his household to sin, even though he kept himself to serve the Lord. We need to realize that all men must stand before God and make their choice to obey him. Being raised in the Lord’s church is a tremendous advantage, but only if the opportunity is used and not wasted. Many times the most faithful elders, preachers and Bible teachers are men and women who do not learn of the gospel and its power until well into their adult lives. Often they must obey the gospel under some personal sacrifice, losing contact with friends and family. Others, with the advantage of being raised by godly parents, may never come to their full potential, but drift along year after year, having no real root and becoming easy prey for the first false teacher to come along. This is the reason good and faithful congregations go off into error over the period of a generation.

When parents have a child gone into error, rather than waste effort and time in regret, they should ask themselves the following questions:

1. Did he understand the terms of the gospel while he was under our care?

2. Was he exposed to sound gospel preaching, or did he get “sermonettes” while he was under our care?

3. Did we have caring thoughtful Bible study at home on a regular basis while he was under our care?

4. Was he disciplined when it was needful?

5. Regardless of how much he did or did not want to come, did I insist on his attendance at every service of the Lord’s church?

6. Did I attend myself at all times possible?

7. If the elders applied discipline to the case of my child’s unfaithfulness, did I approve and do what I could to reinforce the lesson in the child’s mind? Did the child know beyond a doubt that I would do so if his behavior required such discipline?

8. Do I continue to try to talk to my child about his unfaithfulness, and continue to encourage him to serve the Lord, and pray for him always?

Parents who can answer in the affirmative to these questions may take some comfort in knowing that they did all that was possible to teach this child, and must accept the fact that when he is an adult, he must stand before God and give account of his life. Nothing we do or fail to do at that point will cause him to save or lose his soul; it is between him and his God.

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 12, p. 21-22
June 16, 1994

By Bobby Witherington

In June, 1965 my family and I moved to Louisville, KY to labor with the Haldeman Avenue church (now the Birchwood church of Christ). This congregation at that time had had a long and rich history, and had repeatedly provided the nucleus for the formation of various new congregations in the Louisville area. Of course, a major reason for the past good work of that congregation was the fact that different members, including “Miss Sarah,” had been so actively involved in the work of the Lord.

Her name was Sarah Scoggins. She was a re-tired teacher. We affectionately called her “Miss Sarah” because she had never been married. As she put it, shortly after our arrival in Louisville, she was “an unclaimed blessing.” And that, she was! “By reason of strength” (Psa. 90:10), she had lived beyond her “fourscore years.” She was short of stature, had a very noticeable bend in her up-per back and neck (in fact, it almost hurt to look at one whose frame was so unnaturally bent), yet she had a twinkle in her eyes, a smile on her face, and a word of encouragement for everyone (especially new converts) who were trying to faithfully serve the Lord. “Miss Sarah” was a person who one simply could not forget or ignore. She was advanced in years, but she was not living in the past, maintained a very positive attitude, and was determined to do what she could to further the cause of Christ.

The Lord’s day did not catch “Miss Sarah” unprepared. She kept up with her Bible studies. Saturday afternoon was a time for making preparation for Sun-day. On a particular Saturday night she and her equally faithful sister (“Miss Lydia,” with whom she lived) were in the process of laying out their clothing for Sunday a.m. worship. They lived in a two-story, red-brick home in which the bedrooms were located upstairs. Somehow “Miss Sarah,” as she was arranging her attire for Sunday a.m., fell backwards and rolled down the steps. Amazingly, she suffered no broken bones, but she was badly shaken up, and for the rest of her life she suffered a constant ringing in her ears. However, now withstanding her enfeebled state of health, not-withstanding the constant ringing in her ears, “Miss Sarah” managed to come to worship. She took He-brews 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,” very seriously.

To illustrate “Miss Sarah’s” determination to be in worship, I mention the particular Sunday when her sister, “Miss Lydia” (a sister in the flesh, and in Christ), learned that the men were giving consideration to changing the time of services to an earlier hour. By this point in time “Miss Sarah,” for health reasons, had been forced to miss Sunday a.m. Bible Study and arrive at 11:00 a.m. for worship. But we were thinking about changing the Bible Study hour to 9:00 a.m. and the worship time to 10:00 a.m. How-ever, “Miss Lydia” approached me and asked that we reconsider the plans out of consideration for “Miss Sarah.” She further explained, saying, “Sarah now has to get up at 5:00 a.m. on Sundays in order to make it to services by 11:00 a.m. Her state of health was of such nature that she should spend a few minutes dressing, then spend time resting, resume her efforts to get dressed, rest some more, etc., and finally, after a terrific struggle, be present in time for the 11:00 a.m. worship service. Of course, one of the brethren would leave in time to drive the two blocks to her house, and then transport them to worship. Yes, this dear sister in Christ would struggle for six hours on Sunday a.m. so she could assemble with others of like precious faith and worship her heavenly Father! Her faithfulness amid adversity served to illustrate just how flimsy were the excuses of some others who deliberately sought opportunity to be “providentially hindered” from worship.

But “Miss Sarah’s” health continued to deteriorate. Perhaps it was hastened by the sudden and unexpected passing of her younger sister, “Miss Lydia” (if I recall correctly, “Miss Lydia” was 82 when she died). Within a few months following the departure of “Miss Lydia,” it became necessary for “Miss Sarah” to enter a local nursing home. However, the church continued to publish the weekly bulletin, and on the back page of each week’s bulletin was a listing of who would be leading singing, serving at the Lord’s table, reading Scriptures, etc. Also, the Scriptures to be read in the Sunday a.m. assembly were listed on the weekly bulletin. So even though she was now confined to a nursing home, she kept up with what was going on. She would read the weekly bulletin at the time of the worship hour. She knew when the Lord’s supper was being served, and she focused her mind upon the death and the return of Christ. She made it a point to read the particular Scripture selection which she knew was being read in the worship assembly. Though she was completely unable to be present in body, no one doubted that she was present in spirit.

There are many things I can recall about “Miss Sarah”  how she would commend each person who made an earnest effort to serve the Lord  how she paid so much attention to young people, how she would ask some to speak louder when they prayed because she wanted to be able to silently “say amen” to their giving thanks (cf. 1 Cor. 14:16). One particular occasion which this writer cannot forget was that Sunday (some years earlier when she managed to be present for every service), when she approached me after the Sunday a.m. Bible class. She reminded me of a wedding to be conducted at 2:00 p.m. in the meeting house that day. The groom was a young man who had “grown up” in that congregation and had shown so much promise as a Christian. She was planning to be at that wedding. But she approached me, and said, “Brother Witherington, it is difficult for some of us older folks to get home, eat, and get back by 2:00 p.m., so would you please shorten the sermon a bit.” Frankly, that request was not overly appreciated. In my judgment, she was putting the emphasis in the wrong place. However, in my reply I tried to be as polite as I could, and then I waxed eloquent  or so I thought! I reminded “Miss Sarah” of the time when “Raccoon

John Smith” rode a horse to Mt. Sterling, KY and heard Alexander Campbell preach. When brother Campbell completed his sermon, Smith was indignant. He said “I have ridden this horse all this distance to hear this man, and he only preached 30 minutes.” Then someone said, “Brother Smith, look at your watch; you have been here two hours and a half!” I then told “Miss Sarah” that we, like “Raccoon John Smith, ought to be so interested in hearing the gospel that we would be oblivious to the time.” At this point “Miss Sarah” smiled sweetly and replied, “I have heard preachers who could do that to me, too.” And I am sure she had! I am virtually certain that as I told the story about “Raccoon John Smith” listening to Alexander Campbell that “Miss Sarah” began to remember that long line of very able preachers she had heard in her life time, and how that she was so eager to hear every word. Before physical infirmity took its toll, she did not tire of hearing the gospel preached. Anyway, upon hearing her reply I shut up. She had the last word, and all I could do was to try to “grin and bear it.”

“Miss Sarah” has long since departed this world. But you can be sure her influence lives on. She was one among many who did the work, made the sacrifices, stood her ground for the Lord, and helped pave the way for those of us who came later. As I recall “Miss Sarah’s” example, I am made to realize that my aches and pains are minor compared to what she endured. But without complaint, or hesitation, she pressed on. She was a former school teacher whose diction was flawless, yet she encouraged me even though I slaughtered “the king’s English.” She hurt, but she retained her smile and never lost her charm. In retrospect, I think I have discovered the reason why she remained such a beautiful person  it was worded by the apostle Paul like this: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). I am thankful that my life has been enriched by such people who, like faithful Abel, “being dead yet speaketh” (Heb. 11:4).

“… this dear sister in Christ would struggle for six hours on Sunday a.m. so she could assemble with others of like precious faith and worship her heavenly Father! Her faithfulness amid adversity served to illustrate just how flimsy were the excuses of some others who deliberately sought opportunity to be `providentially hindered’ from worship.”

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 12, p. 16-17
June 16, 1994

By Joe R. Price

After several months of preparation, a prolonged effort to preach the gospel in the city of Kaunas, Lithuania, started on 15 March, 1994, with the arrival of Steve Wallace. Joe Price arrived a week later on 22 March.

Much logistical preparation had already taken place before our arrival. Derek Chambers and Jay Horsley, who are living in Vilnius, Lithuania, had a good supply of tracts on hand in both the Lithuanian and Russian languages. Natives of Kaunas who spoke English had been found to work as interpreters, and cheap, adequate lodging was supplied by a local hotel.

As with previous efforts that have taken place in Lithuania, two basic methods were used to reach people with the gospel: (1) We set up a table full of literature almost daily on the busy Laisves Aleja (Liberty Avenue), the main street of the city, which is limited to pedestrian traffic: (2) Bible lectures were held at a hall in the town center every Sunday afternoon. Somewhere between 30 and 70 people took literature every day. In addition to the tracts, we handed out hundreds of invitations to our Bible lectures each day at the table. We kept an interpreter with us at the table and as a result, had a number of discussions and studies with people who stopped to ask questions. The attendance at the Bible lectures grew continually, from eight the first Sunday Steve was there to twenty-three four weeks later, Joe’s last Sunday there. (We have learned that the next Sunday saw thirty-one in attendance at the lectures.) After each lecture we opened the floor for questions and the interest was very good. One Sunday we had two and a half hours worth of questions! Some private studies grew out of both our street work and the lectures.

Inasmuch as we have made good use thus far of literature, we spent much time when we were free from other demands on getting more tracts translated into Lithuanian and on working with an interpreter in the proofreading of tracts that had been already translated in order to get them into final form. This is a very tedious task which usually takes 8-10 hours per tract.

The Lithuanian people are very friendly and the acts of kindness that were shown to us during our stay were many. The country is predominately Roman Catholic. Still, we made contact with many different religious groups, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Baptists, Charismatics and Pentecostals. Many people were intrigued in simple, New Testament Christianity without being members of any sect.

We were surprised at the number of western goods that are now available in the stores in Lithuania. One shop in Vilnius almost makes one think he is in America! While western products may be on the shelves, they need more on the roads. During peak hours there would be more room in a sardine can than in a Lithuanian bus!

As Steve’s time in Lithuania was just about finished. Randy Blackaby of Kokomo, Indiana, arrived to take his place. His first week in Kaunas was filled with orientation. He and Joe had several private studies that week, and various contacts were made which helped make this an easy transition of workers. Two days after Joe returned home, Bill Bynum of the Czech Republic joined Randy in Kaunas.

Each Sunday evening we drove to Vilnius to be with the brethren there. Derek and Jay are doing good work with the small church there. Since no spiritual songs in the Lithuanian language have yet been found, Derek has been working with a translator in translating familiar English songs into Lithuanian. Jay has been able to get them printed so that one thinks he is looking at a page from Sacred Selections. Jay has also been hard at work getting tracts translated into Russian, having gotten five new ones translated in recent months. On Tuesdays they are having special classes with a brother in the church there who has shown a lot of promise. They are hoping that this training will result in his one day being the preacher for the church there. They all came to Kaunas one Tuesday and worked with us at the table. The aforementioned brother made interpreters unnecessary, as he handled those who stopped in a commendable way.

This beginning has encouraged us to believe that a church will be established in Kaunas. Teaching efforts will continue through most of May. One brother has shown interest in moving to Kaunas to work there on a more permanent basis. If you are interested in teaching the gospel in Lithuania, please contact either of us.

We want to thank the brethren who supported in this effort. The Bay City, TX church, which sup-ported Steve, and the Prosser, WA and Corinth church in Bremen, AL, which supplied Joe’s support. Also, thanks to the Kaysville, UT church, which supplied Lithuanian New Testaments to assist in the work. Your contributions to the spread of the gospel are most appreciated.

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 12, p. 10-11
June 16, 1994