A last-minute staff retreat

The 07-08 Community Life Staff at LCC

from l-r: Keith, Maija, me, Michelle, Chad & Casey

This past Monday, Michelle & I had doctors appointments at the Baltic American Clinic (BAC) in our capital city of Vilnius. Nothing to worry about - Michelle just needed to be introduced to the best medical facility in the country (in my personal opinion). On Sunday evening, our friends Andrew & Alene graciously told me that we could take the rental car that they currently have to Vilnius for the day. But since Michelle has never driven in Lithuania & I haven't been able to get my license replaced after my wallet was stolen this summer - neither of us could drive!

So at the last minute I decided that my fabulous staff should take Monday afternoon off work & go on a mini staff retreat with me to Vilnius. Amazingly, they all were able to rearrange their schedules & agreed to come! It's a 3.5-hour drive each way, but we fully utilized the drive time to share about what is going on in our lives - both personally & professionally. We talked more in-depth together than we have all year and covered enough ground to cancel all of our individual & staff meetings this week! It was a great time of connection.

On the way there we stopped in Kaunas to see the largest aquarium in a mall in Europe. Yep - you read that right! There's a HUGE fish tank in this mall & it's also one of the 10 top tallest aquariums in the world! It's pretty cool...and we've got it right here in Lithuania!

When we arrived in Vilnius, they dropped Michelle & I off at the BAC and went into old town to wander around for a bit. Then they picked us up & together we had a fabulous dinner at Sue's Indian Raja across the street from the Vilnius Cathedral (you can't get Indian food in Klaipeda), followed by dessert at Double Coffee (also not in Klaipeda - YUM!!)

In general, our staff had a great day together, despite the fact that we were only in Vilnius for a total of 4 hours. It was fun to fly by the seats of our pants & get out of town at the last minute. A number of them mentioned that being in Vilnius felt like being in another country and all agreed that we need to do this again sometime. There is something truly therapeutic about getting out of town & being in a new place - even if just for an evening.

I am so blessed to have the privilege of supervising such a marvelous staff of competent, fun & caring individuals who all respect & appreciate one another a great deal. And most importantly, I'm thankful that I am not only their boss, but can also call them each a friend. What a gift.

Some more photos from our day:At Sue's Indian Raja for dinner

Keith, Maija & Michelle enjoying milkshakes at Double Coffee for dessert!

The team in front of the Vilnius Cathedral
(minus Maija who's taking the photo)

What a day!!

We have heat!!

This fall has been the most gorgeous of the 6 years we've lived here in Klaipeda. Low on rain & high on crisp, clear days. The temperature hadn't really gotten all that cold either...until about two weeks ago. And because we live in a post-Soviet society that still uses a few of the old soviet practices at the city level, we (along with the rest of the city) didn't have any heat. Despite how used to this we've become over the years, it's still not fun to be in a house with the indoor temperature in the 50's.

The city heating system works like this: in the fall "they" (whoever they are) wait until the outdoor temperature reaches a certain average over a 3-day period before they'll turn the heat on. If the first 2 days are cold, but it warms up on the 3rd, too bad for us! Once we have 3 cold enough days, certain buildings in certain parts of the city start getting heat. We know it's coming when we come to LCC & other colleagues start reporting that their heat came on the night before. Over the course of a couple days, the radiators in all city buildings will slowly warm up.

Then in the spring, the reverse will happen. They wait for a specific average temperature over a 3-day period & then turn the heat off. What generally happens is we have an early heat wave (like we did last March) and the heat goes off and the temps drop again. Brrrrr!!!!!

Over the past couple of weeks, our apartment has been C-O-L-D!!!! We pulled out the electric space heaters & thanked God that we live in a flat that has a door on the living room. When it was time for bed, we'd move the space heater into the bedroom & get that room toasty next. We are so thankful for the rice bag heater things that Ruth Cowles made for us this summer - after a few minutes in the microwave, those things were fabulous to cuddle with in a cold bed! Thanks again, Ruth!!

A few days ago, we came home to discover that we finally had heat. Hallelujah!!! There has been much rejoicing!! And now (of course) the outside temps have gone up a bit, so we're really VERY toasty in our apartment, but I'll never complain about being too warm. After living here with someone else's finger on my heater-button, I doubt I'll ever complain about being too warm again in my entire life.

A staff reunited!

Thank you for your prayers for Michelle - the RD on my staff who had to leave the country while she waited to hear if her Temporary Residency Permit (TRP) would get approved! After waiting in Riga for 9 days, she received word this past Wednesday that the migration office approved her TRP & on Thursday she was on a bus back to Klaipeda. We are thrilled to finally have our staff reunited again!

We're very thankful to have Michelle back with us. But LCC will continue to covet your prayers, as Michelle was only the first staff or faculty member to face these issues. In the next few weeks over 20 more new staff & faculty members will be in the same situation if they haven't received word from migration that their TRPs have been approved. All of them are in the process of developing a "Plan B", which - like it did for Michelle - will most likely need to include some time away outside of Lithuania while they wait for their answer.

It sounds like the migration office answered our pleas & made Michelle a priority in their decision-making. They technically have up to 6 months from the time each person processes their paperwork to make a decision, which puts most people at January by the time that 6-month period is up. If they did make an exception for Michelle, our prayer is that they will do the same with the rest of our LCC colleagues.

Please also join us in praying for the future hiring of LCC employees, as we now have to back up the recruitment/hiring process quite a bit earlier than it's been in the past, in order to give people ample time to get their TRP paperwork processed through migration. Recruiting quality staff & faculty at LCC is always a challenge...and having to make it happen earlier than normal is only going to add to that challenge.

As always, thank you for your continued support, prayer & encouragement of us as well as the ministry of LCC International University! God has blessed this place tremendously over the past 15 years and we trust that He isn't going to stop now!

Please pray for LCC

Dear friends & family, please join us in praying for God's divine intervention on behalf of LCC within the Lithuanian migration legal system.

Today, my staff & I took our colleague & friend Michelle to the bus station & saw her off to Riga, Latvia. Michelle is a Resident Director at LCC and has been in the country for 3 months. Due to some recent migration law changes, her visa (temporary residency permit) has not yet been approved by the national migration department. Technically, they have 6 months from the day she arrived to make their decision & due to how overworked & underpaid they are, we have no guarantees that they'll get to her file any earlier than December.The LCC Residence Life staff
(l-r: Kim, Michelle, Maija & Chad)

All expatriate employees have 90 days to stay in the country for free (without their visa being approved). But if those 90 days come to an end & the migration department hasn't processed your files yet, you have to leave the country until they do. We now have a number of new expatriate staff & faculty who are in Michelle's boat. Because she came in July to work for our Summer Language Institute, her 90 days (and 6-month visa processing time) began earlier than most (and, consequently, ended earlier than most).

Michelle is now staying with some friends in Riga temporarily while we all hope & pray that she gets her visa decision very soon. If she doesn't, she has no choice but to return to the States until she gets her visa approved.

This is a very difficult time for the University, as well as for my staff, the RAs Michelle supervises, and especially for Michelle. We are thankful that we serve a God of miracles. He has shown His favor to LCC many, many times in the past 16 years & we are trusting that He will do it again. Please join us in praying to that end. Thank you!

A wonderful month with Ama & Grandpa Buz

Yesterday, Ieva's Grandma & Grandpa Cliffe (whom Ieva calls Ama and Grandpa Buz) tearfully boarded a plane back to their new home in Oregon after spending a wonderful month living with their granddaughter. During this trip, the bond between grandparents & granddaughter was formed in a deeper way than it's ever been. Ieva was really old enough to internalize their place in her life and more importantly, their love & affection for her.














During the month they were here, Ama & Ieva spent countless hours working on counting, colors, ABCs, new phrases & started the potty-training process. Grandpa Buz or "Boo-Boo" as she also calls him, spent lots of time reading books together & tickling & giggling. As a result, Ieva can now confidently count to 10, can identify the primary colors, can pronounce her name properly (she had been saying it "Eye-Yah" until about 3 weeks ago), can show how old she is on her fingers, knows a lot more of her alphabet, and can finish sentences in many books & identify characters. Potty Training hasn't taken off yet, but Grandma's efforts definitely raised Ieva's awareness & interest in the entire process.

This morning after Ieva got up, she pointed to our closed bedroom door (where Grandma & Grandpa had been sleeping) and asked "Grandpa sleeping?" I explained that Grandpa & Grandma were now on an airplane flying back to Oregon now. Her face scrunched up & she let out a long, whiny "no-o-o-o!!"

This past month was a precious time for all of us, and the thanks really goes to the company my mom used to work for, Liberty Molds, who gave her & dad the airline tickets as a retirement gift. Thank you!!
We had a wonderful, marvelous time together.

Ieva turns TWO!

Tuesday, September 25th was Ieva's 2nd birthday, but this year the celebrations lasted for 4 days! They began on Sunday the 23rd with a fabulously crazy kid's party, hosted by Ieva's friend Charlotte who lives down the street from us. Charlotte's apartment was large enough to hold the 9 kids (all under the age of 7) who came. Her birthday poem invitation went along with this photo:

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom: My birthday’s almost here!
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom: It’s been another year!
I’m turning two and I’ve been told that even though it’s not that old,
I still can celebrate with friends and have a party that never ends!
So please come celebrate with me on Sunday, September twenty-three.
My good friend Charlotte is our host since her house can hold the most.
Her door code’s easy: x-x-9: and then you’ll be there right on time!
3:00, just up the stairs: Ramioji 8 – I’ll see you there!

More photos from her party:

The Queen of her table

Andrew & Ieva with Gina & Ema

Ieva & "baby Yarlotte"

Party Friends! l-r: Nike, Ema, Erik, Charlotte, Ieva, Heavenlee

Then on Tuesday - her actual birthday - we had a family celebration at home with Ieva, Mom & Dad and Grandma & Grandpa and opened a few presents together.

Busia & Papa (Ieva's Aunt Leslie's parents) sent this fabulous Noah's Ark!

The box Noah's Ark came in is almost as fun as the toy itself!

Then on Wednesday, September 26th, we had a special birthday dinner on the balcony for Ieva with Grandma & Grandpa, Rebecca & Pisey, Chad & Casey. Rebecca, Pisey, Casey & Chad are some of Ieva's favorite non-related adults! We always celebrate special Ieva-events with them since all but Chad have known her since her birth!Birthday dinner on the balcony!

Rebecca & Pisey gave Ieva this pretty Asian-style dress for her birthday!

Ieva & Uncle Casey

Thanks to the four days of celebrations, Ieva learned the phrases "birthday girl", "happy birthday to you" and when asked how old she is, she can now hold out 2 fingers & says proudly "two, two, two!" We're so thankful for all of Ieva's friends & family - far & near - who remembered her 2nd birthday!

Introducing...LCC International University

Today our campus hosted the celebration of LCC being in Klaipeda for 15 years, our new name and we had a ribbon-cutting & dedication ceremony for Neumann Hall - our first campus student residence hall!

If you haven't yet heard about LCC's name change from Lithuania Christian College to LCC International University, please be assured that the absence of the word 'Christian' in the name doesn't correlate with an absence of LCC's continued Christian mission. The decision was made due to the large spectrum of understanding of what that word means in this part of the world.

For me, the opening of Neumann Hall was the culmination of 4 year's worth of conceptual dreams, planning upon planning upon planning & a ton of stress & hard work to actually get the building open and ready for occupancy. I'm so proud of it & more importantly, students love living there!




Having the hall's namesakes, Dennis & Rene Neumann, present at the event was especially meaningful. We are very thankful for the significant contributions of time, finance & service they have given LCC since its' beginning.














It was a fantastic celebration that drew governmental officials like Klaipeda's mayor, different ambassadors, migration officials, and other university administrators. LCC's board of directors was also present, as well as the new presidential candidate & his wife (who were offered the position - let's pray they accept!) who will replace President Jim Mininger after his retirement in the summer of 2008.














The event also highlighted the international focus of our university by hosting an international food fair showcasing traditional foods from each of the countries our students represent (students from Moldova show their traditional costume & food above). The day concluded with a symbolic recognition of LCC's host country with a stellar performance of traditional Lithuanian folk dancing & music by the nationally-acclaimed "Lietuva."

The 1st day of school!

In Lithuania, September 1st is always the first day of school...even if it's on a weekend. It's also a national holiday & a pretty big deal! The square closest to our house hosts the big annual "first day of school" event & Ieva and I ran down to see a bit of it. There was everything from an official speech from the mayor to a pop band performance to clowns handing out balloons to a traditional children's dance troop. Kids were all decked out & most held flowers, as they would be going to their schools after the ceremony to be welcomed, give the flower to their teacher, reconnect with their friends & then go home. And since it was Saturday, we had all the time in the world to hang out & enjoy the festivities!

Boy, Howdy!

First, I want to thank all of you who read our last blog entry & prayed for me. I don't know if it's because of your prayers, or because of the fact that my staff & their student leaders successfully moved into the new residence hall over the weekend, or because I finally got some down time in the past couple of days to start regrouping (or a combination of all 3!)...but whatever it is, I've felt more peace over the past 36 hours than I have in the past two months. So, THANK YOU! We are so very thankful to have such a broad community around the world supporting & praying for us doing our times of need.

Now, a fun little story about our bilingual daughter. As most of you know, we have a wonderful Lithuanian nanny who spends the days with Ieva. Aurelija is a complete blessing in our lives for many reasons: 1) she's wonderful, 2) she's a committed Christian, 3) she adores Ieva, and 4) Ieva adores her! She also speaks to Ieva only in Lithuanian, which we love. And now as Ieva's vocabulary is increasing exponentially every day, she's coming up with some new phrases that at times, take some translation, regardless of the language she's trying to speak.

Over the past week, there have been certain times when Ieva has consistently said a phrase that sounds kind of like "boys howie" & we, for the life of us, have not been able to figure out what it is she is saying. At one point I wondered if Andrew taught her the old expletive "Boy, Howdy!" just for fun. But when he heard it, he didn't know what she was saying either. When she said it at our friend's house, they asked if it could be something in Lithuanian. "No - " I said wisely, "it doesn't sound like anything Lithuanian" (and I would know because my language skills are SO advanced!!! as if...)

So I came home from work tonight & as Aurelija & I were talking, Ieva said it again. I interrupted our conversation to ask if Aurelija had any idea what Ieva was saying. "Oh, yes - " she said matter-of-factly. "būs owie." Ahhh....it was starting to make sense to me now...
"Būs" is the Lithuanian word for "will have" and "owie" is our American slang for what can hurt our precious kid. Since Ieva (& us) refer to her getting hurt in terms of owies, Aurelija has fit that into her Ieva-language system, and would warn Ieva anytime she was doing something that had the potential for getting her hurt "būs owie, Ieva!" (you'll get hurt, Ieva!) It makes perfect sense, doesn't it?

So, now the mystery is solved, and we were reminded once again of how much more difficult it will continue to be for us (and others) to understand our daughter as she learns two languages while she's learning to talk. But, oh well...it's fun to keep guessing! And ultimately, we'd never trade away her gift of growing up bilingual for anything!

Kim and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Please forgive our delay in keeping you up to speed on the happenings of our life. The title of this blog pretty much sums up my day today, as well as many of the days I've had over the past month & a half. This has been a difficult season, and I need your prayer.

Within the joy of opening a new dorm on our campus, there have been many setbacks, mistakes & delays that have caused stress upon stress for many of us involved in this amazing project. I am passionately committed to this incredible facility and the opportunities it will provide our students for community development, but it's been a long hard road to get us there. Tomorrow we should have permission to occupy the building. The RDs who will live there already have their belongings in their apartments & will move in tomorrow. Our student leaders are showing up ready to move in. In a week, the building will be teeming with life. Only the Lord can give me the strength to make it to that day.

I have a Caedmon's Call album playing as I write this. Just now the song "Rest Upon Us" came on. It's lyrics are my prayer:
My soul is weary and my cup is dry. I am so in need of You. Though my righteousness is rags, your mercies are new. Holy Spirit, rest upon us. Breath of God, touch my soul. Come, unfailing love of Jesus, rest upon us. Rest upon us.

Please pray for me. I've been pushing too hard for too long. Thankfully, the light at the end of the tunnel is growing brighter. Classes begin on September 3rd and life should go back to some degree of normalcy at that point. My folks will also be coming to stay with us for a month at that same time. I'm in desperate need for some TLC that only a mom can give, so the timing is perfect!

Please also pray for our entire community as LCC International University (our new name) goes through a variety of significant changes this fall.

Thank you for your prayers, your support & your encouragement. We are blessed to have such a gracious & loving community around the world supporting us.

Where's Waldo?

Ieva's new favorite pastime is finding Waldo. Remember him? He's that skinny guy with big glasses and a red & white striped shirt & hat? Oh yeah...and he's always surrounded by lots & lots of crazy people and scenery with lots of bright busy colors that make it difficult to find him.


Yep - that's the one!


























She's actually gotten pretty good at finding him! In fact, she knows exactly where Waldo is now on every page of both of our books & not because we point him out to her. I still haven't figured out if she's really that smart or just has a really good memory. Regardless, we think it's pretty fun! Here's to more fun-filled Waldo searches!

The Good & the Bad of the weekend...

After a terrible start to the weekend, it has grown increasingly better. It began with a crazy afternoon at LCC with 10 things demanding my (Kim's) attention at the same time. This craziness was followed with the nerve-wracking realization that my wallet had been stolen in the midst of it all. Once I realized what happened, I spent the next hour retracing my steps from the afternoon & then the next hour on the phone cancelling my credit cards & other important documents. Because of all that, I missed the annual SLI BBQ that my staff & I had been planning (I'm so thankful for an amazing staff that can run the show without me!!) which was a bummer as well. YUCK, YUCK, YUCK!!!

But, in the midst of all that, our dear friend Sabine & her mom Hedwig & Aunt Annamie came to spend the weekend with us. Sabine was a German exchange student in my high school & lived with our family during our senior year. During that year, she was the sister I never had & we became dear friends. We've stayed in contact over the years & I've been to Germany to visit her & her parents a few times. Sabine's parents (Hedwig & Joseph) have become our European family while we live here in Lithuania, but none of them had been up here to visit us until this weekend!15 years ago we played together on the dunes of Lake Michigan. This weekend we played on the Nida dunes on the Baltic Sea.

Since Klaipeda used to belong to Germany in the first half of the 1900's (then called Memel), Hedwig & Annamie's generation had heard a lot about our region & specifically the Curonion Spit. On Saturday, we took the ferry over to the spit & then drove to the end to the resort town of Nida where we wandered around, climbed the huge sand dune & saw the German Foreign Minister who was there dedicating a museum to the German author Thomas Mann. We had a great time together & the ladies especially enjoyed meeting & getting to know our Ieva! Ieva was especially drawn to "Annie" (as she called Annamie) & couldn't get enough of her. Since Annamie is an experienced Oma (German for Grandma), she was great about it & even spent our morning coffee together in the hotel today at the kids table coloring with her! They all headed back to Germany today (Sabine to Frankfurt & Hedwig & Annamie to Koln and then on to their village of Lamersdorf).Annamie, Sabine, Kim, Ieva & Hedwig in Klaipeda's Theater Square

Being with them this weekend reminded me that in the grand scheme of life, losing a wallet stinks, but ultimately it's just another thing. I have a beautiful & healthy daughter, a loving husband, wonderful family & friends all over the world and am able to live in a unique place & have a ministry that I am passionate about. Those are the truly important things!! What's a couple (hundred) Litas and ID cards when compared to that?? It's amazing what a little love & perspective can do for you.Sabine, Kim & Ieva being silly together in Nida

From Sea to Shining Sea

We're back in Lithuania after flying from the Pacific Coast to the Baltic Coast...and subsequently having one of the most convoluted & frustrating flights of our international traveling career. But, looking on the bright side, we've now received 3 of our 5 suitcases with hopes that the other 2 will arrive tonight & the airline says they'll reimburse us for the repairs of the 2 suitcases that they damaged...so I guess it could have been worse. (or could it??)

In general, our time in the US was absolutely fabulous! We were in a total of 12 States, spoke at 4 churches & with a 5th mission committee, saw more friends than we can count & spent hours with all of our immediate family members & many extended family. Thank you to all who carved out time to spend with us or chatted with us in church. We were encouraged by your words, honored by your hospitality, and blessed by your gifts.

Below you can see some of the highlights of our trip through our photos:

From our time with family & friends in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois & Kentucky:















At Covey Hill Baptist Church for the last time with Kim's dad as pastor














The family all gathered in Kentucky for Dayn's (Kim's cousin) graduation from Transylvania University















Hanging out in Niles, MI with Alyssa, Madeline & Hannah (& their parents!)



















At Science Central in Ft. Wayne with Emma















Our 1st night back was spent in Chicago with our old family friends, the Kueltzos, where we met Kristen's twins for the first time!















Shaltibarschai made by authentic Lithuanians in Ohio - thanks to Rita & her family for cooking and to Joe & Kayne for hosting all of us!



















Ieva with Nina, Ava & Livi Taviano in Ohio


From our drive from Michigan to Oregon:










Loading up the moving van...mom & dad's last day in Michigan!















Our first stop heading west: Minneapolis for the ACSD conference. We also got to spend a day at the Mall of America with current LCC colleagues Natalija & Casey & our old LCC buddy Rachel!















Ieva in the Badlands of South Dakota















Waiting for Old Faithful to blow in Yellowstone



















At Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota



















The newest Oregon residents - we finally made it!

From our time with family & friends in Oregon:















4 generations of Staves















With Great Grandma & Grandpa Smith in The Dalles















8 months ago, Stave family members were in 4 different places, including 3 continents & Hawaii. Now they're finally back together again on their native soil.















With the Cliffe parents now in Oregon, the entire family got together for the first time since 2002.



















Cousinly love...Eli is 6 & Ieva 21 months
















My dear friend Jen happened to be back in Oregon at the same time we were so I got to attend both of her bridal showers to celebrate her upcoming wedding!















Ieva & her friend Ava Beasley got to spend lots of great quality time together (as did we with Ava's mom & dad) - here they are at OMSI making creations out of flubber!


















Playing at a park with Elijah & Becky













There are a lot of Cliffes in the NW!! A mini family-reunion at Buz & Barb's new home was a great way to end our time in the States.