Vidas & Rita Rimkus

Rugile and Ugne

We always keep our door slightly open, so God has brought many nations including locals to our home. We believe that our home should represent the Kingdom of God, thus hospitality has become a main activity for meeting people.

Rita became a Christian after the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Vidas met God in the UK, while Rita was studying at Redcliffe College. In 2010, this missionary family from Lithuania joined ECM to work alongside churches in Gloucester (being based out of Brunswick Baptist Church).

"The ministry started in our neighbourhood, where we connected with a Polish family. As God is a hospitable Creator, welcoming all into His world, we enjoy welcoming people into our home. Here, the mundane conversations turn into prayer, discovery and openness to the Spirit of God. We also began a monthly refugee and asylum seekers meal at church and every few months we also set up a Free Shop for them with secondhand clothes, basic food items and so on.

This work then blossomed into the World Cafe which meets every two weeks and is a vibrant time of fun, food and connecting with people. The journey with World Cafe ministry began in 2014 and grew and flourished into a place where people's lives were transformed and changed, many met Jesus. This year we gladly handed over World Cafe to the local church to continue serving refugee and asylum seekers under a new name 'Unity Community'.'

Our starting point has always been our home and this time is no different. We believe that the family table is where God speaks and renews hearts. A new adventure awaits us - we are building an extension to our home for only one reason: to gather people around the table where we can share stories about Jesus and grow a generation of disciples. It will be a place of prayer, rest, worship and contemplation. We have never thought that a house church was in our dreams, but God directs our steps and every person has a place at His table."

Function
Missionary / Bi-vocational worker in Lithuania
Country of origin
Lithuania

With ECM since 2010