I haven’t blogged in a few weeks, my apologies to everyone. I’ve been trying to focus on my team and where we are and take a small step back from technology, I hope y’all all understand!
Today I want to tell you another story. Enjoy.
Almantes walked into the hair salon to get a quick haircut before he went home. He had just been for a visit at his parents house, and they had generously given him a trunk full of food to help him out. Parents are great like that, he thought, always loving on their kids and helping out whenever they can.
What a blessing.
As he walked into the salon, he noticed a guy who was laying on some of the chairs in the waiting area. He wasn’t sitting there like everyone else, but he was sprawled out over three or four chairs. Almantes wondered if he was even conscious. Everyone in the waiting area was giving the man a wide berth, as if he smelled of something nasty, and in fact, he did. Alcohol. The ladies working at the salon kept casting nervous glances over there shoulders, as if they were just waiting for him to wake up and get rowdy. Drunkenness wasn’t an uncommon thing to see in certain areas of Vilnius, Lithuania, but rarely ever in a hair salon.
While Almantes was getting his hair cut, he noticed how the ladies kept nervously watching the poor guy. Once he settled up with the cashier, he took one last glance over at the man and decided to go talk to him.
“Hey! Hey are you awake?” He asked
“Yershhh… getun haircut…”
“Hey why don’t you come with me? We will go for a walk and come back later? C’mon buddy your frightening the people here”
“No no no! I’ll stay.” The man replied
“No, come on, lets go for a walk. This isn’t a good place for you right now. We can come back another time.”
“Ok, alright, alright”
As Almantes helped the man out of the door, he learned that his name was Igarus. They walked over to a bench and sat down and began to chat. Almantes was surprised to learn that Igarus was actually supposed to be out looking for food for his children. He had simply started drinking because he felt hopeless. He didn’t have enough money to buy enough food to feed everyone, so what was the point?
“Hey man, Ive got some food in my trunk, come on, I will give you some” Almantes offered
As they walked to his car, Igarus kept saying that he didn’t believe him. Why would he give food to a complete stranger? Had to be some type of scam. He was speechless and extremely grateful when Almantes showed him the trunk of food, and handed him a bag of potatoes and a bunch of other things.
“Hey, can you give me a ride to my house?” Igarus asked. “Its not far, just around the corner.”
“Of course!”
“And, do you mind if I carry the food in? I want my kids to think I can provide for them….”
“Absolutely man.”
“Why are you doing this?” bleary eyed Igarus asked.
“Because man, Jesus loves you so much, and so do I.”
This is a true story. This month we met a guy my age named Almantes, and He told us this story about his friend Igarus. After the day that they met, Almantes continued to stay in touch with Igarus and took him to church every week and simply loved him the best he could. Igarus eventually came to the Lord, got a simple job and was able to provide food for his Kids. Almantes told us that Igarus would say , “ Brother, you have shown me how to know God, and now I have a job and can get food for my kids, what else do I need? I am content.” So simple, and so profound. We could all learn a lesson from Igarus. Over the months, Almantes and Igarus developed a wonderful friendship. Almantes was always there to support Igarus, and to help Him and Encourage him. And it all started with a simple act of kindness.
Unfortunatly, Igarus had an accident in December and fell down a flight of stairs. He passed away almost immediately, But he is at home now, with our Father in Heaven, all because a normal young man saw a drunk guy that no one wanted to even look at, and loved him like Jesus would have loved him.
This month we are in Lithuania doing a special project for AIM called Unsung Heroes. UH is when a team goes into a country with no contacts lined up to serve with, and trusts the Lord for the month. In doing so, they inevitably find locals who are doing great things for the Kingdom, and that is how many of the contacts who host World Racers have been found.
This month we met Almantes, a true Unsung Hero. Almantes can’t host a team, but he has been an invaluable friend and blessing to our team while we have been here.
Almantes and Tomas
The other day, Amantes was sharing some of his story with us. He told us how he regularly picks people up of the side of the road when he sees them, and always shares the Gospel with them when he does this. He said it as if picking hitchhikers up was natural and normal, and for him it is. Of the people he has met and picked up, he has made great friendships and introduced who knows how many people to Jesus. The type of people who normally get ignored by the rest of society.
Igarus’s story is only one of many.
You see, Almantes has decided to leverage everything he has for Jesus. He is generous to a fault. He rarely thinks about himself, and will give someone a ride and give them his last 20 Litas, all to show them they are loved. He doesn’t have much, but what he has he is using for the kingodom. We could all learn a lesson from Almantes. Are we leveraging everything we have for Jesus? How are we using our homes to further the Gospel? Our cars? Our money. Our time? We are so fortunate and so blessed in America, and I truly believe God will do radical stuff through us if we just let go of our “things” and leveraged them for the only thing that truly matters, His Kingdom.
I know I could learn a lot from Almantes, and I am honored to call this Unsung Hero my friend.
