Missionary finds God


bringing people together By Stephanie N. Grimoldby


Ella Myer has seen the beauty of God’s hand


at work in ways many Americans will never experience. The 26-year-old, who has served as an ELCA missionary in Lithuania since 2013, works at LCC International University (formerly Lithuania Christian College), a Christian liberal arts school founded immediately after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Myer is a member of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Wheaton, Ill. As the intercultural education coordinator and


director of the community multicultural awareness program, it’s her mission to “build bridges between people from different cultures, especially those with difficult histories,” she said. One of her favorite success stories demonstrates


just that. Two years ago an LCC student from Russia flew her country’s flag in her dorm room window. A Lithuanian man walking by campus saw it and became “distressed and upset, which you can understand,” Myer said, as the two countries have a war-torn history. The man then contacted a newspaper, which


wrote an inflammatory article that questioned the intentions of LCC and its students, describing some as “spies.” “The students reacted better than I [could have]


hoped,” Myer said. “A lot of students responded by putting their [native country’s flag] in their window [to say], ‘Our Russian friends have just as much a right to support their culture that we have.’ ” In an ironic twist, Myer said, the Russian


student’s roommate was Ukrainian. But instead of spreading animosity, the student displayed her country’s flag, too, and the roommates drew a heart connecting them. “It was so beautiful to watch it unfold,” Myer


said. “My office didn’t make that happen, but we’re working toward building a community that would react that way. Especially in our world today, which is so depressing with the terrorism and the hatred, I keep doing this work because I think, ultimately, that global climate of hatred is not the ultimate story and not where God is going to lead us.” That’s not to say there haven’t been hard times.


Language barriers often have proven difficult, as well as the topic of conversation. The war in Ukraine began when Myer first came


to LCC, and Ukrainian students wanted to discuss what was happening in their country. With Russian students at the same university, creating community


At the beginning of the school year there is a parade of all the colleges and universities in Klaipeda, Lithuania. Students from 28 countries walk to represent the university.


among students whose countries were at war with each other was challenging. Myer responded by mentoring a team of


intercultural student leaders who help lead cultural nights that celebrate the holidays of the 28 countries represented at LCC. In building relationships, broaching the subject


of faith has been difficult. Most LCC students aren’t Christian, coming from post-Communist countries, Myer said. For some, she will be one of the first Christians they meet. But she can’t just talk about God. “[I can’t say],


‘Hi, my name is Ella, do you know about Jesus?’ They wouldn’t trust [me],” she said. “You need to be friends first because … faith … is the most private part of a Lithuanian’s life.” Myer’s personality and training have molded her


to become a person many students have learned to trust, said Margarita PavloviĀ, LCC vice president of student life. “I have always been impressed with [Ella’s] genuine interest in other people’s lives, cultures and history,” she said. “Only these long- term, strong relationships that you take time to build allow you to have conversations about the meaning of [life] and Jesus.” When others hear her story, Myer has one wish:


“My hope is … they’ll think more broadly about the church and who their brothers and sisters are and what their needs are. “In Revelation, it talks about people from every


tribe and every tongue and every nation coming before the throne and worshiping God together. That is so beautiful to me.”


For a longer version of this story, visit LIvingLutheran.org.


Stephanie N. Grimoldby is a freelance writer living in Salem, Wis.


MISSION & MINISTRY • LIVINGLUTHERAN.ORG 27


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