Trakai castle on the lake.
20 June 2017
The highlight of the Baltics trip for me came after the OCE[1] trip had officially ended. Angela and I had talked about going to the castle in Trakai that evening and then to Kernavė, the original capital of Lithuania, the next day. God often gives Angela extra prayer assignments, and sometimes I get to go along. So we went to Trakai late in the afternoon.
Lukas’ taxi.
The castle turned out to be a very long walk from the train station, farther than we could go and be able to get back before the last train back to Vilnius. I had developed a cough[2] two days earlier, and that added to the difficulty. So we were looking for a bus stop when I realized that the car we were standing next to was a taxi. Taxis in the Baltics are very cheap. The driver took us to the lake where we could find the castle, then he asked us if we know Jesus. The guy is a born-again, spirit-filled, Israel-loving Lithuanian believer! He was very encouraged by meeting us, and we were very encouraged to meet him, too. He said that his name was Lukas, like Dr. Luke in the New Testament. He said that he had lived in Jerusalem for ten years, then his wife insisted on moving back to Lithuania.
Taxicab selfie with Lukas.
Lukas was going through a very hard time because his wife doesn’t believe in Jesus. She threw him out. He has an eight year old son that he misses terribly. His wife has not allowed him to see his son. Lukas been fasting on water and fruit juice for eight weeks, praying for breakthrough. Imagine that! So Angela and I prayed for him. We also told him that we would need a ride back to the train station in about half an hour. Lukas gave us his card and took a taxicab selfie with us, promising to be ready to come get us when we call.
Angela went over the footbridge to the castle, which occupies an island in the middle of a lake. She prayer walked in there while I prayer walked upon the lakeshore. When we finished we called Lukas who came quickly to pick us up. Angela encouraged him to break his fast, since eight weeks on water and fruit juice could be a strain upon his heart. He made no promises, but expressed again his desire to be reunited with his wife and son.
Angela, Lukas, and me.
Instead of the train station, Lukas took us to the bus station because the buses ran later than the trains did. At the bus station Lukas gave his tablet to a man standing there, asking him to take a picture of the three of us. We all agreed that our meeting had been a divine appointment. The man had had a few beers, and his first couple of pictures were accidentally of himself. Finally he got a good picture of us.
Then Lukas did what he does with everyone he meets: he asked the man if he knows Jesus. The man, whose name is Colin, began to make all sorts of excuses about having been a choir boy, but now he believes in science.
Since Colin was British, Lukas left the conversation to me, being the only mother tongue English speaker among us. I had been watching several of Ray Comfort’s videos where he talks with atheists. The Atheist Delusion is the best of them, and includes scenes of him talking with all sorts of educated atheists. Education that includes the Theory of Evolution as though it were fact is definitely not a quality education. Having watched Ray Comfort in action, I asked Colin about the large and gaping holes in the fossil record. He agreed that it was problematic. Then I asked Colin about entropy. [Entropy is the tendency of all physical objects and systems to decline from order into disorder and never the other way.] So when I asked Colin how evolution could go against the law of entropy when nothing else in the universe does, he had no answer for that. Then I asked him about irreducible complexity, like where in the fossil record is the creature with a pre-sight organ. There is none. In the Theory of Evolution creatures ostensibly go from having no eyes to having fully-developed eyes. Colin agreed that it doesn’t make sense. So I observed that it takes way more faith to believe in the Theory of Evolution than it does to believe the Bible. Colin agreed with that, too. There wasn’t a single thing I said that Colin disagreed with.
Sharing the Good News with Colin.
So I said, “Why don’t you give up Evolutionary Theory and believe in God again?” Colin said that he’s just more comfortable believing in science. So, taking a page from Ray Comfort I said, “No, you just love your sin[3].” Colin’s eyes widened and he said, “What did you say?” I repeated: “You love your sin.” Colin smiled and said, “That sounded just like my hometown dialect. It means ‘you love yourself’.”
Just then the bus pulled up. Colin and his friends were going to Vilnius, too. So they boarded the bus and we parted company on friendly terms, with a seed planted.
Angela and I gave Lukas a final hug, promising to pray for him and his family. It had been an amazing day. God is good!
[1] Operation Capitals of Europe.
[2] See Barking Hell.
[3] Remember that Colin was drunk, so I had to be bold if anything was ever going to get through to him.
Walking By Faith in Europe 