How kind the Lord is! How good he is! So merciful this God of ours! Psalm 116:5

I will put a new Spirit...

I watched Neringa growing from a child to a teenager and then to a young adult. Through all these years I have seen her in different stages of life. She was happy, unhappy, lost and very lonely soul. Sometimes I tried to talk to her and all I have got in return was sobbing... 

We moved to Redcliffe and she came to visit us. She saw her brother in a different light. We had a chat about God and how He can change us....but this is how far we got...

After 2 years she came back as a volunteer. This is the moment you were waiting for....After a week she came to me. She said that she watched us over the years and decided that she would like to have life just like ours. Well, ‘there is a way’ I said. I listed all sorts of horrible stuff that can happen to a follower of Christ and asked her if she was ready for such sacrifices (I guess we are never really ready, but..). There was silence for a while and then she said, ‘yes’. We prayed together. 

The journey begins here... and you are part of this journey!

A guest from Poland

I met Kinga on the cold February afternoon. On the way to our house she told me her story. My heart leaped from excitement. A young girl comes to England to search for ‘something different’ and....the most exciting part of her quest is meeting the Lord. 

A week ago she has visited us again. It was wonderful to see how much she has grown in the knowledge of God, how mature and brave she was to stand up for the truth of God back at home. 

 She is an encouragement to us! I would really like to hear God saying to her, ‘Go and join Rita and Vidas in Gloucester’.  Well, who knows He might do that or not, but this is one of those stories when people leave their homeland to find ‘something different’ - they find God. He is waiting for us no matter where we are and how far we travel. He is on every road patiently waiting for travelers to hear His voice...

MOVING HOUSE 

There is a short story to our big move... our old forgotten friend, that I bumped into from time to time at Redcliffe saw our little, but very flexible house... We had lots of people for dinners and lunches, BBQ’s and trampoline jumping competitions, girly nights and boys games nights, prayer and Bible studies nights... it was such a blessing! But one day, we had about 15 people in our dining room. That night I prayed for God to provide us with a bigger house. Did I believe in having us more spacious house? Not really, yeah sometimes...but not wholeheartedly. Anyway, when my friend saw our house she offered us to rent her house, which has more space...and all the things that I listed in my prayers and even more. 

God is preparing us for something very exciting! We believe very much that our house will be a blessing to our new neighbours and travelers that come from far away to find ‘something different’, but find God in waiting for them to rest their feet and wipe their tears at the doorstep of others... 

Thank you for being part of this journey! 

Please, pray for our support! We need only 60 people with £10 per month! If you would like to join us on this wonderful journey, please contact us or ECM Britain.

Rita and Vidas Rimkai                                                           

8 Casey Close, GL1 3QP

from the 1st of September

67 Deans Way, GL1 2QA

European Christian Mission,

FREEPOST NH-4573

50 Billing Road

Nothampton

NN1 5BR

www.ecmbritain.org

Us again...

A meeting is an event where minutes are taken and hours wasted.’ James T. Kirk

Here is another qoute by an American writer and economist, Thomas Sowell, ‘People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything’. Love it!

I thought I will begin our newsletter by scrolling down google pages on ‘meeting’ qoutes. Although, these quotes are taken from the business world, I do agree with them to a certain degree. Of course, I do not wish our ministry to sound dull and boring. The reason I chose to talk about the concept of a meeting, because everything starts from it. 

Only the room that has been soaked with the smell of coffee, men arguing and sharing ideas sign contracts and move on to another stage - action. The trophy of such meetings have to be the Success.

So, what about our meetings? What kind of success do we expect from discussions about the Kingdom of God? How can we be active participants in God’s mission? When we meet with church leaders we end up going to other churches to share our vision. We are encouraged by our partner churches active participation in our ministry, but sometimes we wish things will move faster (Rita’s character gets on the way) and other times we want to slow down. After all, meetings are our way of worshiping God for what He has done and going to do. 

Of course, there are different types of meetings and they are not all require to take notes. These meetings have a different name - friendship. Most of the meetings we attend are about making friends with those who are searching for deeper meaning of life. Such meetings are the most precious!

When we meet with our Polish friends we listen a lot trying to discern when is the right time to speak the words of Grace that are so eager to come out of our mouths. And there is a meeting with God who is always the Chairman of the meeting, we take notes and hours are never wasted. 

Here is a short summary of our future meetings that we are sure will bring people to serve the Lord alongside us, please pray for us and people attending these meetings: 

8th of June we will be sharing our vision at Churches Together at St. Peters Catholic Church; 

16th of June we will be making new friends at Cambray Baptist church in Cheltenham; 

15th of July we will share a night with Gloucester Christian Choir at St. James church (we will send posters around when they are ready);

every Wednesday I have a Polish lesson, which is always an amazing time and good fun, but it is not easy!

meeting with a Polish family, our friendship is always around the children, but we noticed that parents are opening up to us; 

amazing changes are happening with another Polish couple and we see God’s hand in their lives; 

Such are the meetings with different groups of people, whether they are church leaders or our friends, we do see God at work in each of their lives. 

Us?

Vidas

I have been thinking a lot about when I am going to begin my studies at Redcliffe. Unfortunately, it will need to wait until our financial support will reach substantial level. So, please pray that God would bring people alongside us. Otherwise, I am doing well, working at Redcliffe and enjoying a teenage club on Thursdays at our church. Discipline is not my strongest point. As a result, I do struggle to meet up with Father. 

Rita

Once again I failed! You know how it feels.... I did not pass my entry exam for the TESOL course. Well, it did saddened me, but on the other hand I thought God is amazing. He does not allow me to do more then I can since I must be learning Polish, preparing for meetings and presentations, preaching, hosting people and preparing a reflection for the World Evangelical Alliance Mission Commission global leaders consultation in November. 

Rugile

Rugile is enjoying school, but most of all she loves spending time with her best friend Maria. Maria is Polish. So, Rugile is definitely on the mission field. 

In the previous letter I mentioned that Rugile had to see a doctor concerning her left ear. The doctor decided that she will need to   visit him every half a year until further notice. Keep it dry and no swimming! Rugile is not very happy about it. Please, keep praying for Rugile.

Prayer time:

Please, pray for our financial support. It is going up, but slowly, however, we have been encouraged by people’s faith to come alongside us when they have very little. Thank you! 

We have got new supporters who found out about us from ECM website and the Europe’s Millions magazine. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers!

Please, pray for all those meetings and presentations. We believe that it will open up doors for people to see the need for mission in their home city. 

JUNE is our prayer month for our supporters! Please, send our prayer requests that we could serve you by praying for you. 

Pray for my preparation for the global mission leaders consultation in Germany. This is an amazing opportunity for me to learn about God’s mission across the globe, but also to share my own passion for Christ. 

Pray for Rugile’s faith. She has been asking lots of questions and loves to pray for her friends and people around the world. 

Pray for our spiritual lives. 

Pray for our partner churches  St. James, Brunswick Baptist church, Pulawska church in Poland and our sending church Kendal Road Baptist church.

Thank you for praying and keeping up with us. 

Pulawska, Warsaw

Gość w dom, Bóg w dom

As soon as the Polish night ended I packed and headed for London Luton airport. In a few hours I landed in the cold and wet Warsaw. I was met by Lukasz Bajenski and his lovely family who took me to Pulawska church where my adventure began the very next morning. (By the way,  I am trying to keep our updates short, therefore I will not talk much about people or church size, but will focus on the outreach and possibilities for mission without borders). 

When I arrived they had began the Labyrinth, which is an evangelistic tool that has been used in this church for years and it proved to be very affective. Many people came to church through the Labyrinth, which takes you on a journey of life, God, creation and your place in God’s kingdom by using media.  I have met people not only from Poland, but also from England, Singapore, India and North America, who have been deeply touched by the simple, but affective media coordinated way of telling the story of God’s creation and purpose of our lives. 

Sunday service with pastor Zbigniew Tarkowski

At the end of the second week I had a meeting with three church leaders to discuss future possibilities.  The church leaders expressed their interest in working in partnership with churches in Gloucester.  

Pastor Zbigniew Tarkowski wrote a letter to Kendal Road Baptist Church, St. James and Brunswick Baptist church inviting them to partner and seek ways of reaching out to Polish people in Gloucester together.  At this point I thanked Lord for taking me so far and answering to our prayers for Polish church in Poland to begin thinking about cross-cultural missions.  Pulawska church has raised people of faith that seek God’s will.  

On the way back to England when I had time to reflect and think of the last two weeks. I thought about the meaning of ‘Global Church’ that we often claim of being part of it. We often fail to act like one for many different reasons. Churches in the central and eastern Europe have been receiving missionaries and help for years. It is time for them to think about giving and learning more about God’s Kingdom by working with western churches as equal partners in God’s mission.  Where perhaps western churches will be open receivers than givers.  We inviting you to pray for these churches to seek God’s will and to be open to new opportunities.

Here are some photos from Pulawska church where God is so real in peoples lives and worship. 

Ewa became my Polish mum

Sunday school

Rafal is a pastor at Pulawska and coordinator of the Labyrinth

The Labyrinth reception

Behind the scenes of the Labyrinth

Michael from India is studying PhD in business and Mariusz coordinator of the Labyrinth

House group

Gość w dom, Bóg w dom (A guest in the house, God in the house) Polish people are extremely hospitable! I had so much food that I thought I will explode.  As the Polish saying says, ‘A guest in the house, God in the house’ and they truly made me feel very special by constantly feeding me.

Reunion with former Redcliffe volunteers

at the Labyrinth

50+ club, I had a chance to talk about our vision and read Polish Bible!

The Labyrinth walls have been rolled up around the polls for the Sunday service.

one of the Labyrinth chambers

Labyrinth reception is always busy

pastor Zbigniew

Pulawska church has over 500 members and is growing! They have planted two more churches. The North church has over 700 members and two month old new plant church has 200 people and growing!!! I had a wonderful time at Pulawska church and visited other two. Here are some photos.

Thank you for your prayers!!!


Rita and Vidas

Polish Night

Happy Easter! May His victory on the Cross be your witness to the world of his unconditional love for all! 

We apologize for the belated Polish night update.  It is difficult to put our feelings and thoughts together.  We both felt quite teary and overwhelmed by peoples response and their active participation during the evening. 

We think that photos are the best mirror of the evening together.  One of our guest’s said, ‘God is with us tonight,  it is so wonderful’. This is what we prayed for that God would be in the midst of all preparations and would be the host of the night. The evening really reflected what could happen if we all used our gifts and skills for His Kingdom together.  Let me just say how it feels to stand in front of the people that have been strangers to us,  but became our closest friends, grandparents, sisters and brothers on this journey.  All my life I have been watching people taking a step of faith to do most extraordinary things, but I have never thought that God will choose me to be His companion in His mission.  Vidas have never thought that instead of becoming a wealthy man, he will find an eternal treasure in Christ, who has turned his life upside down.

Honestly, we have never thought that we will find a family in a foreign land, who will stand behind us in prayer, love, compassion and encouragement.  A big thank you to you all for making this evening so wonderful where God has been a host and we all enjoyed His hospitality. 

Here are some more photos from the Polish Night!!! 

Quiz time!

Sharing our vision

Enjoying Polonez!

So much fun!

Continuing to dance....

Bigos, beans stew and stuffed cabbage!!!

Around the table

Colouring Easter eggs

We are very thankful to Fiona and Ian, Jill, Jennet, Izobel, Vaughan, Sarah and Tony, Ola, Christine and Jim, Jill and Brian, Mandy and many others who made this evening so wonderful!

Pray:

Please, continue to pray for our financial support. The Polish night was a good start and we got a few people who joined us on this journey! At the moment, we have 47%, we raised 16% and we still short 34%. 

Pray for Rugile: she had an ear infection several times. We noticed that she cannot hear well and on the 3rd of May we got an appointment with a specialist at the Gloucestershire Royal hospital. 

Pray for Vidas: work, rest, his personal life with God and thinking about studies at Redcliffe. We hope that he will be able to take a few courses already next year, but it all depends on our financial situation.

From the 9th -11th of May we will join ECM Britain missionaries for a retreat. Please, pray that we would have a great time together, rest, reflection and reunion with friends.

Thank you for prayers and support!

Rita and Vidas Rimkai

8 Casey Close, Gloucester, GL1 3QP

Email: rita.rimkiene@ecmi.org

vidas.rimkus@ecmi.org

ECM Britain

Freepost NH-4573

50 Billing Road

Northampton

NN1 5BR

Email: personnel@ecmi.org

Rimkai

Love, Eat, Pray

z Love, Eat, Prayz

‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For... I was as stranger and you invited me in...’(Matt.25:34-35) 

Having people around our house is always a pleasure. I love cooking and Vidas and Rugile love to entertain guests!  We are very blessed living among so many cultures in Gloucester. We learnt that having people around is a way of sharing the Gospel and hospitality is at the heart of Christian faith. Food is one of the essential ingredients for establishment of new relationships and strengthening old friendships. To invite a stranger into a house is a blessing to us and as much as people might think that we serve people by having them around.  Actually most of the time we feel being served. When people share their stories, they lead us step by step into their lives and invite us to be part of it. Every lunch or dinner gives freedom to share heartaches and joys of life and prayer turns out to be the most natural step to long lasting relationship. Christ accepted us without a question, so we ought to accept others despite of their past and join them on their journey. Emily J. Choge putted this way, ‘In hospitality people are emulating the great giver, God, ‘who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up’ (Rom. 8:32). The practice will help to heal divisions, hostilities distinctions in our world that occur due to ethnic, racial, class and gender differences, for the sake of expansion of the kingdom’. 

Please, pray that our practice of hospitality would be seen as one of the important tools to bring Polish and other central and eastern Europeans closer to Christ.

Support 

As you see our support chart has grown by 1%. This is really very encouraging! Keep praying! 

We receive 15%, we have 47% and we need 38%.

We pray and hope that the Polish night on the 2nd of April will help us to find long term supporters. We are hoping to have another Polish night in May at St. James church.  Please, pray for people 

that they would see the financial support as an essential part of building the bridge between God and the Polish community. It will enable us to move forward in our ministry. 

Trip to Germany

Many of you have asked me what did I do in Germany? How and why I was there?  I asked Rob Hay to comment on my trip, because he is responsible for this marvelous experience. Thank you for your prayers!

‘The meeting in Germany was meeting of the old and the new.  The established leadership team of the World Evangelical Alliance Mission Commission (the global umbrella body for evangelical mission) had invited a group of younger, emerging leaders to spend time with them wrestling with the changing needs of mission and help them as they planned the next triennial meeting of international mission leaders in November 2011.  Rita was part of this small team which included leaders from Korea, India and South Africa and despite being the only woman well represented her gender.  She made a very valuable contribution both globally, specifically with a European focus and perhaps particularly representing a new mission reality - mission in UK to diaspora groups’. 

Poland - here I come!!!!!

On the 4th of April I am off to Poland for two weeks. I will be involved in two weeks outreach in Warsaw. During these two weeks I hope to improve my Polish, but also to make contacts with local churches for the future cross-cultural mission between Poland and the UK. Please, pray for my trip, language, contacts and to see people coming to Christ. Pray for Warsaw churches involved in outreach that they would be filled with the Holy Spirit to see God’s mission fulfilled in their city and beyond its borders. 

Pray: for the Polish Night: that God would bless people and we all be filled with the Holy Spirit to serve and worship God in Gloucester. 

for my trip to Poland: that God would be glorified in Warsaw through the outreach; improvement in Polish language; good contacts with churches for the future cross-cultural mission. 

for Vidas and Rugile: to have great time together; Rugile would do well at school and good friends, openess to God; for Vidas work at Redcliffe.

We thank Lord for His faithfulness to us! He has blessed us so much and He keeps surprising us. We both feel that God has put us in the right place and time to fulfill His will. We invite you to be part of it by praying, giving and sharing your lives with us. 

Contacts: rita.rimkiene@ecmi.org or vidas.rimkus@ecmi.org 

ECM Britain, 50 Billing Road, Northhampton, NN1 5DB

Tel: +44(0) 1604 621092  Email: personnel@ecmi.org

THANK  YOU  for your support!!!

The Polish Night

The Polish Night is a way to learn together about Polish culture and traditions. We have got a small team helping us with putting up the programme. The tickets have been sold out and we got over 70 people coming to enjoy the night together. Thank you for your prayers!

               nnn

Rimkai in January - February 2011

Happy New Year!

We pray that you would have a year full of God’s love, grace and blessings! 

European Consultation

The new year began with European Consultation conference at Redcliffe College. The discussion was about the faith of Generation Y and its approach to religion. It was interesting to hear that some young people practice so called Bedroom Spirituality, which is about saying a prayer before you fall asleep. It seems that only at this time of the day God is allowed into a young persons life. According to this, you do not need to be a believer to say a prayer. Also, Secular Trinity: self, family and friends. It seems to me that the best way of reaching out to young people in Britain is making friends with them, inviting them to be part of your family. I think here is a question to us all: how can church be a part of young peoples lives and make them feel at home? What are the youth clubs for?

The Polish Beginners Course.

I am rushing to explain what has happened with this course. Most of you have heard that the course was cancelled. It put us a bit down as we both were looking forward to it. However, there is a possibility for Rita to go to Poland for a few weeks. Since Vidas is working full time and he used most of his holidays for various meetings concerning the ministry. We spoke with Lukas Bejienski, an editor of a journal Realna Nadzieja, who is also passionate about reaching out to Poles in the UK. The trip to Poland will also help us deepenour knowledge in Polish culture and traditions and meeting with local Christians might open up doors for partnership in mission. 

Meeting with Nina’s family

Few years ago I worked at the cafe Oliver Twist. The cafe is interesting as the owner seems to like Polish people so much that he does not employ anybody else. There I got to know Nina.

Our friendship with Nina got deeper in the past few month. She attends Ukrainian Catholic Church in Gloucester. 

Recently, her father rejoined the family and we are planning to have them for dinner. Her father is eager to learn English and teach us Polish. According to Nina he can talk non-stop and he is open about his faith. 

Here is another opportunity to share our faith. Please, keep this family in your prayers! 

Support

Here suppose to be a chart, but for some reason I am enable to copy. Here is a very simple explanation: 

We have: 14%

Vidas Salary: 47%

We need: 37%

We have been praying and working on the support raising strategy. We must tell you that this is not very easy task. The Lord has been good to us and he brought forward people that we have never expected to be part of our journey. 

However, the chart on the left shows the reality we live in. We still need to raise the other half in order to move forward in the ministry.  Please, continue praying for God to work in peoples hearts and join us on this wonderful journey.

Praise the Lord for:

We had a wonderful Christmas! The Lord blessed us with an extended family and friends! 

We thank Lord for taking care of us this year! We have been up and down, but He has been so faithful! We thank Him for inviting us to join His mission in Gloucester.

We thank Lord for providing money for the Polish Beginners Course. Since the course has been cancelled the money will be used for the trip to Poland. We will need to raise a bit more, but not a very big amount. 

Pray for: 

We are thinking that the best time of Rita going to Poland is after Easter holidays, but it depends on Lukas being abel to find a place to stay with a Polish family or a single lady. Basically, Rita hopes to be thrown into a flat that people do not speak English.

Pray for Rugile as she is turning 9 years old on the 1st of February: friendships, school, learning and making right decisions as she grows older.

Continue teaching English, meeting for prayer and support with Eugene and Anneta.

Pray for developing friendship with Nina’s family.

On the 23rd of January we are giving a presentation at Brunswick Baptist Church. Please, pray for wisdom and

openness of people.

Thank you for your support and prayers!

Rimkai