Presbyterian World Mission provides mission co-workers to serve as educators at LCC International University. LCC International University provides a community where a Christian worldview is made real every day in the lives of students, faculty and staff and from which the love of God and the peace and joy of the faith are brought to the larger community. Some of the students come committed to newly emerging Protestant churches; many are inactive Roman Catholic or Russian Orthodox members; most are uncertain of any faith.
Mission co-workers Becky and Eric Hinderliter, teachers at LCC International University, say they are challenged to witness with their lives: “Students watch how we act, how we treat each other, and especially how we spend our money. To students it’s not what we say that matters, but how we live.”
Burkhard Paetzold, Regional Liaison, Central and Eastern Europe and facilitator of work with the Roma people
As regional liaison, Burkhard Paetzold helps connect Presbyterians in the United States with partner churches and programs in Eastern and Central Europe. He also implements regional strategies and provides support for mission personnel. Much of his ministry is with the Roma people of Central and Eastern Europe. Formerly referred to as “Gypsies,” a term now considered pejorative, they have encountered discrimination and oppression for centuries.
For more on his ministry, visit his page here.
Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania
LCC International University
LCC was founded in 1991 in the wake of communism’s collapse in Eastern Europe. Canadian and U.S. foundations, together with Lithuanian Christians, founded the school as an English-language institute. Today, LCC is a fully accredited liberal arts school with a distinct Christian emphasis. It seeks to prepare students for leadership roles in the post-Soviet region. Starting in 2004, LCC broadened its reach to post-Soviet countries to the east. About half the students now come from Albania, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine.
Eric and Rebecca Hinderliter, mission co-workers, eric.hinderliter@pcusa.org and rebecca.hinderliter@pcusa.org
Lacey Gilliam, Mission Specialist for the Middle East and Europe, Presbyterian World Mission, lacey.gilliam@pcusa.org
