Izaokas Danielius Jukna serves in his local church in youth and worship ministries.
When did you trust Christ?
I grew up in the church. When I was in 6th grade, I got to participate in Billy Graham’s Festival of Hope in Lithuania. At the festival, there was a call for prayer. This was the first time anybody had invited me to pray to accept Jesus. I went to the designated area and met a friend from school who invited me to pray. We prayed, and I became a Christian that day. I remember deep joy that pierced me; I couldn’t explain it, nor did I understand it. But I was sitting alone outside the arena, thinking I needed to find others who would understand me.
What have been the defining moments of your Christian walk?
My dad has helped me discover that being a Christian is not a feeling that might fade, but an assurance in Christ that comes by faith. This advice has changed my view of Christianity because it wasn’t just a search for positive feelings, but becoming rooted in Christ.
What do you hope to gain from participating?
The Year-Round Mentoring overview connected with me in that it aims to help clarify our purpose and direction by teaching effective decision-making. I want and need to learn this. In the last two years, I feel like God is calling me to do something in my life fully dedicated to Him. I am not sure whether it should be working as a professional or going into the parachurch (or maybe church) ministries full-time. I have a big decision coming up, and I want to be prepared.
What is your ministry?
I serve in my local church in youth and worship ministries. As of last year, my focus is on serving teenagers, but I also oversee ministry for younger and older students as well. I am part of the church board and preaching team, so I preach once every two months. Besides the ministry in church, I work at our church-planted NGO, which has day centres for kids where we work with children from our city daily and seasonally, and through summer camps we organise.
What is your leadership role or what were your past leadership roles?
I have held various youth and ministry roles.
Why should someone invest in your ministry?
I live in Lithuania, historically the last pagan country in Europe. Although Lithuanians say that we are Catholics, our country is still very pagan. The Gospel is not known in my country. The Evangelical church in our country is very small, but in our local church, we want to proclaim the Gospel.
