The Support Team Search

Alisha gets rowdy at an Arizona United SC match. Thanks to Kristine Lantz for the free tickets!

One thing we've been constantly learning -- and we've reaffirmed since returning to our family at Trinity Mennonite Church -- is the importance of coordinating with folks stateside so that can continue to receive life while serving far away. The past couple of years we've had a small team of friends who have done a good job of praying for us and wishing us well.

But, as rookie mission workers, we've had a learning curve. That why, 9 a.m. this Sunday, May 25, we are hosting an info breakfast to share specific needs we have for a team. Check out the video below:

We'll host it at Aaron Gouldthorpe's house, 4419 W. Vista Ave., Glendale, and anyone passionate about helping out is welcome. We ask, however, that you RSVP by late Friday so we have a sense of how much food to prepare.

Also, let us know if you're interested in being involved but can't make the meeting and we'll figure out a time we can chat about it.

Message below or e-mail GarberMinistryTeam@gmail.com for info and to RSVP.

The Summer Dining Room Tour RETURNS!

Local art and people watching -- Phoenix coffee shops have become our place of business for those days we're not reconnecting with folks.

"Forty words-per-minute? That's cute. How about 140?"

We're back in the U.S. and we're eager to share the amazing ways we've been engaged in ministry this past year (and hear your stories, too!). We had a great time last summer meeting over meals, so we present: The Garber Dining Room Tour 2014!

We're in the Valley longer this time and we want to spend it with you. Like last summer, the idea is that you invite us over for lunch or dinner and, in exchange, we share our experience of serving in Eastern Europe, and you can ask us questions.

If you're interested, we can even make you some authentic cuisine (potato pancakes and pink soup, anyone?) if you cover the cost of ingredients!

Here are our current travel plans:
May 10-June 10.......Arizona
June 11...................Travel Day
June 12-18..............Indiana/Michigan
June 18...................Travel Day
June 19-25..............Arizona
June 25...................Return to Lithuania

We made a calendar below so you can see which days are available and which are already occupied.

Contact us via phone (602-549-1226) or e-mail (fishwithdrums@gmail.com, alishagarber@gmail.com) and let us know when you are free to kick it. We'll put it on our calendar and make sure we're there!

It would be fair to say we are also viewing this as an opportunity to raise funds, but please do not feel like that is a requirement. For planning reasons, please give us a few dates that would work for you.

Check back regularly as we will be posting about our other fundraising events as soon as we are able to confirm the dates.

Love,
Josh & Alisha

Ukraine and Russia and LCC

Josh and the residents from one of his floors sit down to feast on the pizzas they made together.

Alisha leads a panel of LCC student leaders as they share their experiences.

The situation in the region, at the political level, changes hourly. It could be a full-time job to keep up with the news media regarding Ukraine and its neighbors. In the news, it seemed just a few weeks ago to be a relatively peaceful protest movement in Independence Square in Kiev related to alignment with the EU or Russia (with the Winter Olympics the center of attention in Sochi). 

It then quickly changed with a government overthrow and almost 100 deaths, to now a situation related to the autonomy vs. foreign occupation of Crimea, and it bleeds into Lithuanian uncertainty with Russian naval exercises in the Baltic Sea and on and on...any description of the situation is rendered simplistic because of the layers of history and regional relations involved. The point here is not to describe the political context.

As a small university in Lithuania, LCC International University’s primary impact is not at the political level. But we believe we do play a very important role.

The LCC pond isn't frozen now, but broomball/hockey was a great success this winter while it was.

We demonstrate community. We are an international university – and we happen to have 69 Ukrainian students, and 53 Russian students on campus. Each one of us has strong opinions about the current situation, opinions that are determined by life experience, or education, or the opinions of others. 

As a community, LCC states, “We celebrate diversity of cultures and traditions, personalities and opinions.” (Core Value #5) Living in community means that we work on what unites us, and not what divides us. We are people interacting with people, not representatives of a government interacting with representatives of a government. 

The orphanage is still a big part of our lives. And orphans still love Josh's beard.

We serve a God of peace.  In John 14:27, Jesus says: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." 

Especially when it feels like peace is being threatened, we must continue to carry a message of peace and reconciliation.

Alisha is, at times, the mature mama bird the Study Abroad students need, as the picture above illustrates.

We stand for justice. We must be Micah 6:8 people: “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” 

When God models justice, it is never modest or polite or understated. Justice is bold. But it is accompanied by a love of mercy. We must live and speak accordingly and we teach from this perspective.

Viktorija, who attends the Klaipeda Vineyard Church with us, shows off her painting after a community event that combined art and faith.

We care for the needs of our students. Very practically, we are monitoring the fluctuation of currencies in the region. In the year ending on Feb. 28, the Ukrainian currency had devalued by 26 percent. Four other regional currencies had also devalued by 15+ percent. As always, we have emergency financial aid available should it be necessary. 


We are people of prayer.  Above all, we must demonstrate our faith in the One who holds the future. We pray for each other, for national leaders, for safety and security, for the church everywhere, for peace. We encourage each other by praying for each other. 

And we go on. We've just had mid-term exams, spring break, underground potlucks, and chapel. Our lives cannot be defined by politics. But sometimes political situations help us clarify our message and provide new opportunities for demonstrating who we are.

The cycle continues

With this week marking midterm exams, the first half of this semester at LCC International University is drawing to a close. To be honest, it has felt like a marathon of events: Community Day, International Week of Peace, Servant Leadership Week, Serve Day, Ugly Duckling Cup, Neumann East RA Retreat, and Art Week.

Why so many events? To get students out of their rooms. To get them interacting. To get them off the Internet and into each other's lives. When we lived in the Goldensun community in Phoenix, it erased any part of us that desired to live out the "American Dream." For us, it's too self centered. Community is where it's at.

And that's what we're trying to demonstrate at LCC. Learn more about how we nudge (and sometimes shove) the students in the direction of community below.

Community Day

Enormous group Twister competition? Check.

A tradition since the early days of LCC, Community Day happens at the beginning of each school year.

The event began with an effort by LCC staff and faculty in its early years to introduce American-style hot dogs and cold Pepsi to the students. It has now expanded to include everything from a 5K fun run, ethnic dancing, lots and lots of games, dancing, and plenty of free giveaways.

DJ Cheburashka and his poser mixer station. Can't ague with "free."

Although the event is intended for the LCC community, it's always exciting to see members of the surrounding come a check out what is going on.

This year Alisha headed up hot dog detail and Josh took the role of DJ. The hot dogs were thoroughly enjoyed. And did the students dance? Oh yes, they danced.

International Day of Peace

The International Week of Peace panel members included perspectives from the disciplines of psychology, teaching, theology, activism (Josh), and business.

This year, LCC decided it wanted to participate in the United Nations's International Day of Peace. It turned out we were on the short list of people to ask to help plan the event.

Because the actual International Day of Peace was on Saturday, Sept. 21 -- the weekend, we planned a few extra events during the week so students would be more likely to participate.

Alisha, Josh, and Amanda Entz perform at a local coffeehouse on the International day of Peace. The group, Amanda and the Love Cannons, will also be performing at a Lithuanian Christian music festival on November 9.

Events included handing out "Peace ribbons" by representatives to explain the purpose of the week, a scavenger hunt around campus for doves listing 100 of the 198 Methods of Nonviolent Action, a peaceful dialogue between a group of students and us -- the managers of the residence halls -- in an attempt to repair a rift that had developed, a panel discussion by members of LCC's various academic disciplines (and Josh), and an off-campus coffeehouse event to raise awareness in the community.

While the pursuit of peace makes sense in Lithuania, which has a history of being occupied by various countries throughout its history, application is a different story.

Servant Leadership Week/Serve Day

Servant Leadership is one of LCC's core values. Each student who attends LCC learns about these values when they first arrive. One of the first shared experiences they have is participating in Serve Day.

During Serve Day, LCC students travel different parts of Klaipėda and volunteer for a few hours. While on the service this may not sound like a lot, it's worth considering volunteerism doesn't really exist here.

You read that last sentence correctly. The culture here tends to lend itself to close connections and deeper relationships, so helping a total stranger doesn't make a lot of sense.

As part of her position as Director of Community Life, Alisha spent quite a bit of time helping find groups in town who could use some extra help. Sites included an orphanage, special needs school, a local park, some errands on campus, a cancer center, and many others.

Ugly Duckling Cup

What happens when you have a pond, give students a wooden pallet, a couple roles of tape, and tell them first team to make it across in a relay fashion wins?

Ugly Duckling Cup happens.

Student can use any borrowed or found items to construct their crafts. The idea is to build unity through a common goal and encourage new thinking when it comes to the things that are typically throw away.

Neumann East RA Retreat

LCC has three residence halls (Neumann East, Neumann West, and Enns), each with its own Resident Director (RD).

Josh took his team, Neumann East, camping. Last year his team went camping in a RA's grandparent's backyard on the Curonian Spit (the strip of land that runs alongside Lithuania's coast). This year he took his team camping at a place north of the city called Olandu Kapure, which means the Dutchman's cap. More pictures will be posted to Facebook.

Art Week

Last year, LCC celebrated its first Art Education Week. Last week, LCC celebrated its second. This is noteworthy because the university does not have a formal arts program. It was great to see student and staff creativity come out of the woodwork!

For fall break, we're taking to the road/skies and going to London. We're planning on connecting with members of the Anabaptist community there, attending a seminar, connecting with William -- Alisha's school chum -- and hopefully catch a football match in a pub. After the break-neck pace of the past four months, we're really looking forward to this trip!

New Year, New Responsibilities, New Excitement

Amanda, our friend and co-worker, blindfolds Alisha during some Student Life team-building exercises.

A bit of an apology for this post. The text was all written up by Alisha in and we were ready to find pictures to make it nice and then...the Internet went out for 1.5 months. No joke -- such is the life that comes with living in a resident hall. A new update will be posted next week to give a proper update.

Life on campus at LCC International University has been extra busy as students return. For many students, summer is a time of working, studying and relaxing. We spent the last two weeks training our Resident Assistants (RAs). The training was extremely successful and I’m very excited about the new student leaders we’ll be working with this year.

Alisha snags some snacks during the Resident Assistant training retreat. If these photos look familiar, we went to the same retreat center as in this post.

“What, exactly, is it that you will do this year at LCC?” you may ask. Josh will continue working as a Resident Director (RD). That means he’ll care for the students who live in the East side of Neumann Hall. He also will lead and organize the chapel band, plan worship, and coordinate monthly events, meetings and co-curricular activities to aid in the RAs’ professional development. This will be a departure from last year when he supervised the residence hall receptionists and night guards.

In addition, Josh will also be the adviser for the Roots of Justice activist group. Roots of Justice is the group we wrote about in this blog post that seeks to educate the LCC community (and beyond) about the human-trafficking issues that occur in Eastern Europe and beyond. In an attempt to take a more holistic approach to the issue, the group is expanding to help encourage and support a climate of volunteerism on campus.

This year I (Alisha) have moved into a new role on campus. I am now the Interim Director of Community Life. I'll provide leadership and oversight for Community Life, setting the vision, tone and goals for the department. I also manage the Residential Housing program and staff (RDs and RAs) in order to provide a quality living and learning experience for students who live in LCC’s university housing (yes, this means I’m Josh’s boss – weird). Lastly, I'll provide oversight for the Office of Intercultural Programs (they provide intercultural educational programming at LCC and within the Klaipeda community).The un-fun part of the job is handling discipline for students who violate the community standards. However, even though it’s not the most enjoyable part of the job, it is an excellent opportunity to mentor the young students and get them back on the right path.

I’ll also be looking forward to coordinating the campus Artist Collaborative (i.e. Art Club). It’s an awesome way to connect with students where our passions intersect and build relationships outside of my job description.

We squeezed in a breakfast lunch with Ieva. Last year, Ieva was one of Josh's RAs. This year, she is serving orphans with another LCC graduate in Kyrgystan. Check out her blog here to see an example of how LCC students are changing the world.

In addition to our on-campus responsibilities, we will also continue to support the Vineyard Klaipėda Church through volunteering at a local orphanage and supporting the church-in-the-bar and open-mic nights at a local pub. We’re so lucky to have such great friends in Kel and Sharon – the church’s coordinators. Thanks to them and our partnership with the Vineyard church, my Temporary Residence Permit (TRP) has been approved and I’m legally able to work in Lithuania! This month at the orphanage, Josh will be attempting to teach the kids who are 13 years and older the concept of American Baseball – a tremendously foreign concept. Keep him in your prayers J (editor's note: the baseball game went very well and the kids all were impressed with Josh's skills)

We’ll also be continuing the “church alternative/house church” we started in our apartment called the “Mustard Seed Project.” It’s specifically designed to call on the students who are curious about Jesus but might be skeptical of the church (sadly, this is fair number of LCC students). We’re hoping to continue to shine a little light in this part of the world.

This upcoming weekend will prove to be a memorable one. Josh will be hosting a futbol/football (don’t call it “soccer”) viewing party in our apartment – it’s the World Cup qualifiers this weekend and some of our students are tremendously excited to tune in. (editor's note: Nigeria won, much to the joy of one of our students) Meanwhile, I've got the chance of a lifetime to go home with one of our students, Renata, to her village for her family’s potato harvest. I’ll get to pick potatoes on their goat farm and their cat just had kittens!!! Needless to say, we both have a lot to look forward to.

Bonus Section

We like to play a game called "Eastern-European doppelganger." Occasionally we spot someone while out and about who reminds us of one of our friends from the U.S. Below is our second public installment. We present "David Boring."

This handsome devil is a chef at a new restaurant in Klaipėda called “Meat Lovers” – I don’t know about you, but he looks a lot like David Boring to me!

When I told this red-headed gentleman about the look-alike contest and told him my North American friend’s name was David Boring he couldn't believe it. He said, “There’s no way a guy this good looking could be called 'Boring.'” 

And with that, I wish you a great week!

Bonus Bonus Section

Here are a few pictures from Alisha's potato-harvesting adventure.

Most of Alisha's photos consisted of animals from the farm. For example, here are two "glorious goats."

Renata's family harvesting potatoes. It is common for families to work together to harvest their potato fields at the end of the summer. The potatoes are then divided into three categories -- large ones will feed the family through the winter, medium ones go to the livestock, and small ones are saved to re-plant the next season.

Alisha -- the happiest potato picker ever.

The harvest's yield.

Renata, right, gathers some apples to take back to LCC while her mother plays with the cat, "Donut." It's no surprised that the family has fallen in love with Alisha and ask Renata about her frequently.

Summer Language Institute: here and gone

The blog has been running silent this past month as we worked hard during LCC International University's Summer Language Institute (SLI) program. We started our time at LCC helping with the SLI program and it was such a drastic change this time with a year's experience under our belts.

We'll give you a brief glimpse at what it was like with the pictures and videos below. If you interested in seeing even more pictures, CLICK HERE to check out the SLI blog.

SLI started a week early for staff and teachers. We concluded the week with worship on the beach. This year there were several musically-talented folks who helped with music during the week. Standing beside Josh, they were, from left, Kale Kiaunis, Kate Metelak, and Jerry Holsopple.

Alisha's team Res Life team (minus an RD who had to leave early). They were comprised of five nationalities, seven universities, and many different colors of pants. Together, they coordinated over 220 students for three weeks.

When the SLI students arrived, they were placed into classes based on the results of an English proficiency exam. The student population came from from 12 different countries. The ones who traveled the farthest distance to attend came from Kazakhstan (approx 3,900 km/2,400 miles).

SLI students applaud a peers performance during Karaoke Night. Besides managing the daily-living aspects of the camp, Alisha's team also planned several weekly events for the students. They included a BBQ, karaoke, a dance, talent show, several game nights, movies, and more -- you name it, they did it...BIG.

Josh and Jerry Holsopple play music during the students' lunch period. This year during SLI, Josh served as the chaplain's assistant on the Spiritual Life team instead of as an Resident Director. The role consisted of lots of preparing and playing music, equipping leaders, and encouraging students to ask hard questions about big issues such as sex, God, and family. And providing occasional support to Alisha's team. (Photo courtesy of Francis Shum)

Some SLI students help serve food at an orphanage cookout. We were able to bring a couple of groups of SLI students to the orphanage where we volunteer during the school year to help show the kids a good time.

Students celebrated and end to three weeks of intense English education. Compared to other European English camps, the quality of LCC's SLI program is outstanding.

Alisha and her Res Life team receive the recognition they deserve during the closing ceremonies.

SLI ended right as Klaipėda's annual SeaFestival began. It was the perfect way to decompress after such a busy month. Highlights were the food, lots of free entertainment, busking, and the circus. A favorite game this year was "Spot the German."

Here are also a couple of videos Alisha's team made during SLI. The first one was to promote the camp's theme, "Be the change," and the second was to promote the Talent Show. Both are certainly worth checking out!

Summer Travels pt. 2

Our second, shorter round in Central Indiana ended with an afternoon barbecue in the park with the extended Denny family.

What a whirlwind trip this has been! Who would have thought we could have possibly crammed in as much fun, adventures, stories, and food into a short five weeks?

Jeanne and Jerry Garber guide us through an afternoon tour around the lake they live on in Michigan.

It was such a joy to reconnect with all of you while we traveled in Indiana and Arizona. The delicious meals, the heartfelt conversation, the meaningful sharing -- what more can we say but thank you!

We had so much fun at the Talent Night & Silent Auction as well as the viewing of “The Other Dream Team” documentary. If you missed out on either of those events, DVD copies can be borrowed from the Trinity Mennonite Church office, 4334 W. Vista Ave., Glendale, AZ 85301.

One of several Lithuanian summer feasts we prepared for friends and family.

Thanks to the generosity of many, many people, we can honestly say our fundraising efforts while in the U.S. have been successful -- we’re closer to our goal for the upcoming service year.

That said, we still have a ways to go. If you are interested in making a donation to us, please visit this site. Make sure that you enter “Josh and Alisha Garber” as the comment in the Faculty/Staff support line.

Although our time "back home" may not have been entirely restful, it was definitely worthwhile and helped refuel our spirits for another year at LCC International University.

While naming everyone who helped us out during our time in the states would be impossible, there are a few individuals we want to give an extra special thanks to Aaron Gouldthorpe, Daniel Wohlberg, Alissa & Tyler Prater, and Jerry & Jeanne Garber for housing us and making us feel like family. Also, thanks to the Schrocks for helping us with our technology and got us out of town for a night of mindless fun.

We feel affirmed that we have returned to Lithuania as ambassadors of our community at Trinity Mennonite Church. We are also excited to be serving as Mission Associates for Mennonite Mission Network -- a development we'll explain more in an upcoming update.

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we return to work here in Klaipėda.

Performing a few songs at our Variety Show fundraiser at Trinity Mennonite Church.

Playing the Game of Life with Stephanie Quirin, who treated us to an afternoon of games and lounging by the pool as an escape from the desert heat.

Alisha was able to un- expectedly reunite with best friend and local grump, Harry LaPillough.

Josh experiences Sam Schrock for the first time. Both are unsure how to feel.

Myriam Sollman, a former bandmate and good friend, traveled to Phoenix from the East Coast to spend some time with us. Playing Dutch Blitz at a new-ish outdoor, mist-cooled venue was a great way to catch up.

Summer Travels pt. 1

We are wrapping up the first leg of our summer travels today. Our time so far has been filled with rest, family, mowing lawns, driving, and even a bit of music!

For those of you who don't now, my father decided to retired from teaching at the end of last summer. From the brief time we spent with him, I would say he is the worst (or best?) retired person ever.

He is Fairfield High School assistant tennis coach. He also drives the school bus to their matches. He volunteers at a grieving group for people who have lost loved ones. He is remodeling his house. And he has a lawn-mowing business.

To try to squeeze some extra time in with him, we helped him with his yards. This may be one of the first times Alisha has mowed a lawn since "The Incident" with her brother and the mower (you'll have to as her about that one), but she did great! It was also fun getting our hands dirty and smelling like fresh cut grass for a few days, too.

We also got to have a dinner with some Amish friends of ours, which was a real treat. They made home-made pizza and we filled the night with wonderful conversations about our work in Lithuania, life on the farm, and stories from when Josh and his brother, Jordan, grew up with Amish babysitters and all the silliness that came out of that.

We also had a chance to see Jordan before he graduates from college and have some Mexican food with him and some of his friends. It's great to see him growing up into a young adult. You may even say he's becoming kind of cool, but don't tell him we wrote that.

The bulk of our time, however, has been spent in Anderson, Indiana, where Alisha grew up. We have been having a lot of family time with Alisha's family, which has been good. Every day we've been able to eat with them and slowly unfold all of the stories and experiences we've had this past year.

Yesterday we went to the Indianapolis Zoo where it rained cats and dogs. But that couldn't stop us -- we all kicked off our shoes, but on the rain ponchos Alisha's dad packed, and joined the animals in soggy solidarity. It was fun!

We also played a mini concert at Barley Island for Alisha's father who has always been Alisha's biggest fan and was very excited to have a chance to finally hear her live. We ended up winning over the locals, which was a happy surprise, and we got to hear Toni Marshall play, which was very awesome.

In less than an hour, we will be on a plane to Arizona to reconnect with friends and loved ones. Needless to say, we are pumped!  

A hop, skip, and jump and we're back

The hop = 11 hour bus ride from Klaipeda to Warsaw
The skip = flight from Warsaw to Munich
The jump = flight from Munich to Chicago

Our first bout serving in Eastern Europe is drawing to a close and we are on our way to the U.S. for a bit of fundraising, reconnecting with friends and family and, hopefully, a bit of rest.

Right now we're sitting on a bus on the way to Warsaw, Poland (anything for cheap airfare) thinking about what else we could say about the end of the semester, but it seems silly when we have an opportunity to actually meet our loved and tell them in person.

We would like to remind anyone reading this that, as we announced in our last post, we'd like to meet up for lunch or dinner while we're around. This is not a fundraiser -- there will be time for that. We simply want to have quality time (and quality conversations) with people, which may be difficult at larger events.

Sure we'll be at church and concerts and all that good stuff, but we're also hoping to recharge in a way only 1-on-1 communication can provide.

A few summer travel adjustments, which I'll repost more clearly once I have access to see real computer.
* We will not be going to the conference in Idaho (can you believe it costs more to go from Arizona to Idaho than Poland to Chicago?!)
* We are leaving for Indy on Monday instead of Sunday (tickets were much cheaper that way).

Be good, drink lots of water, and we'll see you soon!

The Garber Dinning Room Tour 2013

For Alisha's first birthday outside the United States, we went with a Muppet/puppet theme, including a trip to the local puppet theatre with friends! A local friend, Ilona, hooked us up with a behind-the-scenes look at the puppets and chance to meet the puppeteers. As you can see, Alisha was only slightly happy.

We made our own puppets later so we could act out stories from Alisha's life. Josh poses with a "tree" and "Alisha."

In our last blog post, we mentioned ways we were going to stir things up here at LCC International University. Specifically, we mentioned Alisha's Art Club, Josh taking a bigger role in Roots of Justice, LCC's anti-human trafficking group, and what we are now calling the Mustard Seed project, a church alternative for people who like Jesus but don't like religion.

One thing we're still working on is budgeting out time because, while these things have all been incredibly life giving, they're also quite time consuming. As such, we've not been able to blog our adventures in as timely a fashion as we'd like. However, with a trip back to the United States in the horizon, we have a solution to help get you up to speed: The Garber Dinning Room Tour 2013!

More than anything we want to spend this time reconnecting with family and friends -- what better way to do that than over a meal? The idea is that you invite us over for lunch or dinner and, in exchange, we can share our experience of serving in Eastern Europe.

Here's our current travel plans:
May 9-11................Northern Indiana/Michigan
May 12...................Jordan S. Garber graduates!
May 13-17..............Central Indiana
May 18...................Travel Day
May 19-June 15.....Arizona (June 3-6 Idaho Conference)
June 16...................Travel Day
June 17-19..............Central Indiana
June 20-24..............Northern Indiana/Michigan
June 25...................Return to Lithuania

We made a calendar below so you can see which days are available and which are already occupied.

Contact us via the comments or e-mail (fishwithdrums@gmail.com, alishagarber@gmail.com) and let us know when you are free to kick it. We'll put it on our calendar and make sure we're there!

It would be fair to say we are also viewing this as an opportunity to raise funds, but please do not feel like that is a requirement. For planning reasons, please give us a few dates that would work for you and be aware that family will take priority.