What is your ministry?
I work as a full-time youth minister in my church. I lead a small group of young leaders and coach them as they lead teenagers to grow in Christ. My work also branches out to other areas in the church, such as preaching, church events, leading welcoming teams, and many more. I do some circumstances, but more importantly, I do a lot of relational work.
When did you trust Christ?
I have believed that a God exists for as long as I can remember. I grew up in a Christian home, and at age 13, at a Christian camp, I decided to get baptized and follow Christ. When I think about this decision, I don't think I fully understood what I was doing then. However, as time passed and I struggled to follow Christ, I constantly affirmed that decision and continued seeking Him and staying faithful.
What have been the defining moments of your Christian walk?
The most impactful experiences happened in summer camps, where my parents were leaders. I just followed in their footsteps until my teenage years. Summer camps have been necessary because they have always inspired me to remain faithful. I think I grew in faith after my marriage because I always struggled with lust. After being married for a year and a half, I could freely and easily seek Christ, which was awesome. In recent years I led a weekly Bible study and became a leader in the summer camps. This responsibility helped me to lean on the Bible daily and explore it more deeply.
What do you hope to gain from participating?
I hope to be encouraged and equipped to do a better job in ministry. Mentoring and building relationships with other youth leaders will help me more effectively assist others in growing spiritually. We have done an event for Lithuanian youth leaders from other cities to teach them what we learned at ELF. I hope to develop a clear vision to move me forward in ministry. Over the six years we have attended ELF, our ministry has gone from event- to relationship-oriented. We grew from a tiny group to many; we are growing and learning how to coach young leaders and let them lead other people to Christ. So, the Forum changed our thinking and gave us goals and vision. It also produced a harvest of people and young leaders.
What is your leadership role or what were your past leadership roles?
I was camp leader for 5-6 years. I led a Bible study for three years.
Why should someone invest in your ministry?
I hope to build a life-long ministry to reach the world's youth. Being part of the European Leadership Forum and receiving mentoring will help me become more effective as an evangelical youth leader.
