Eric and Becky Hinderliter
Mission co-workers in Lithuania
Serving at LCC International University
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Eric and Rebecca will next be in the USA May – August 2013 and again May – August 2015. Email them to extend an invitation to visit your congregation or organization.
About Eric and Becky Hinderliter's ministry
Eric and Rebecca Hinderliter have been serving in LCC International University (formerly Lithuania Christian College) in Klaipeda, Lithuania, since 2001. Eric is coordinator of the school’s microenterprise center and teaches economics, sociology and theology. Rebecca teaches accounting.
Country context
Lithuania is located in northeastern Europe and borders Latvia, Belarus, Poland, Russia, and the Baltic Sea. The story and history of Lithuania is very much tied in with the story and history of its neighbor Poland, both of which have been affected by their proximity to Russia. During World War II the Soviet Union occupied Lithuania, and then it annexed Lithuania following the war. Lithuania gained its independence from the Soviets in 1990, and today it is one of the most successful of the former Soviet republics. Recent financial difficulties in Europe, however, have also affected Lithuania negatively, and unemployment levels have risen. Christianity is the dominant religion in Lithuania, and 79 percent of Lithuanians are Catholic; a little over 4 percent are Russian Orthodox; the rest are Protestant and other religions. Lithuanian is the official language, but Russian and Polish are also spoken there.
About Eric ad Becky Hinderliter
Eric has a long history of public service in county and municipal government and nonprofit organizations in central Pennsylvania. He was a research associate for the Global Center for Applied Research at Eastern College in St. David’s, Pennsylvania, from August 1999 to October 2000. He was executive director of Central Pennsylvania Legal Services in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, from May 1998 to September 1999 and department director for Housing and Community Development in the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, from 1990 to 1998. He was department director, deputy director and compliance officer for the Department of Community and Economic Development in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, from 1984 to 1990. He was deputy director of Warren-Forest Counties Economic Opportunity Council and executive director of Camp Cornplanter, a nonprofit organization serving the mentally retarded from 1978 to 1984.
Rebecca worked in various positions for the state Department of Environmental Protection since 1979. She has been a clerk typist, an administrative assistant, and an administrative officer for the department in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She left her position in January 2002 to teach at LCC.
Download a prayer card that lifts up the Hinderliters' work.
Eric has a bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. He has a master’s degree and a doctorate from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. He holds a certificate from the Institut für Europäische Geschichte in Mainz, Germany, and completed a fellowship at Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst in Frankfurt, Germany. Eric received a master’s degree in faith-based economic development from Eastern College in St. David’s, Pennsylvania, in 2000. He has also studied at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.
Eric and Becky traveled with PC(USA) before, participating in a peacemaking study tour to Argentina, Uruguay and Chile in 1998.
Rebecca holds a B.S. and an M.B.A. from Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania.
The Hinderliters are members of Pine Street Presbyterian Church in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Eric has served as an elder in the Presbyterian Church.
Birthdays:
Eric - March 26
Rebecca - January 7
