Lithuania is a small Baltic country with a population of just under 3 million. Lithuanians take pride in being the last country in Europe to have accepted Christianity, which only began toward the end of the 14th century. A spiritual disinterest still persists today.
A Jesus.net internet ministry was launched in Lithuania in 2014, and last year, the local team was able to expand their activities in positive ways.
Through a close partnership between Agape staff, local churches and individual volunteers, the Lithuanian KnowingGod website has been able to reach numerous people and lead many to make faith decisions. The involvement of churches has been a real blessing, helping to unite and mobilize Christians in Lithuania to share the Good News with their countrymen.
During 2015, the website welcomed over 83,000 visitors - surpassing the goal of 30,000. The discipleship course WhyJesus? was also translated into Lithuanian and went online in November of last year. In the past 12 months, several thousand Lithuanians have viewed a presentation of the claims of Jesus from the Bible and indicated a decision of acceptance and interest to learn more about the Christian faith.
Here’s what some WhyJesus? course participants are saying:
"After this course I started to feel more closeness with God and I have decided to trust Him completely."
As I was going through this course I felt peace, and I was thinking about my life and my values, about importance of Christian values and how we need to develop them (and we sometimes forget that, like I was lately forgetting).
During this course I found an answer to the question “WhyJesus?"
However, in order to really help people grow in faith, a more personalized approach is necessary. This happens through one-on-one coaching by trained online volunteers – so called e-coaches. Last year, 40 new coaches were trained, and 38 coaches are currently in regular contact with people who are interested in learning more about the Christian faith. Agape Lietuva also invested in further developing their social media presence.
Their main tool is Facebook, where they post daily to maintain interest and momentum among their 8,300+ followers. The team is looking for ways to expand their presence in social media in the coming year; investing in Google ads and increasing the number of ministry and online partnerships with like-minded groups in Lithuania are promising strategies.
With the success in 2015, the team gives thanks to God for His grace in this work and looks forward reaching more Lithuanians in the coming year.
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Warmest greetings!
Do you have an update on ministry in Lithuania?