Gintas’ Throat Cancer Takes More than Just his Voice
UPDATE: Gintas has passed away Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Gintas now rests peacefully awaiting the resurrection. His wife, Violeta, said that he passed away peacefully at 8:20 PM on Tuesday evening, August 10, 2010. His memorial service will be held at the River of Life Church in Raleigh at 6 PM on Sunday evening.
The service will be broadcast here, on the internet on the church’s ustream channel.
Live Show:
Free TV : Ustream
Media Stream
Free TV : Ustream
Drummer Steve Bowen, from Gintas’ band, Baltic Avenue, had this to say about Gintas:
My good friend and bandmate Gintas Abarius died on Tuesday, August 10th. He will be missed more than I care to think. I will greatly miss playing with him as I enjoyed it very much and as he told me on many occasions “you know me like back of hand” and “your drums are power like panzer tank.”
I will also greatly miss Gintas and will update his web page in the coming weeks. – Rob Kainz
An Appeal for Help
The bad news…
A devastating recurrence of a severe form of throat cancer has left beloved musician Gintas Abarius literally speechless, consumed his family’s life savings and nearly left him unable to perform. Gintas’ insurmountable medical expenses continue to pile up. While his faith in God sustains him throughout the ordeal, it has now become impossible for him to pay his family’s most basic living expenses, like food and rent, without the help from others. His wife, Violeta, has also been unable to work as she cares for him full-time.
The plea for help…
Dear friends and fans of Gintas, the events of the last year have been devastating for Gintas and you can now read the whole story here. Please share his story with others who know of Gintas in hopes that collectively through our help, his family’s needs will be met. Gintas really needs your financial support right now. If it is in your heart to help a fellow man who is unable to help himself at the moment and is in very serious need, please click on the PayPal donation button below and donate an amount you are comfortable with. The money will go to pay his family’s monthly living expenses.
We will post more details of any special CD offers we can come up with soon once we replenish his stock. We are also working on making his music available for download directly from his site.
You can contact Gintas here via email: Gintas@Abarius.com
The good news
Gintas is responding well to chemotherapy so we are all very hopeful that he will be able to get his career back on track! He has several performances tentatively scheduled for June. The details will be posted here if it looks like he can keep the dates. Please read the letter below from his pastor at the River of Life church in Raleigh, NC and consider making a donation today. Honestly, he could really use some cheering up. His expenses are ongoing and I have already donated several times myself, and I will continue to do so as I am able to help my friend out of this crisis. Together with your help, we can help Gintas get back on his feet again.
Thank you and God bless,
Rob Kainz President Roadie Rage, Inc.
A Message From Gintas’ Pastor
April 16, 2010
Dear Friends,
We are writing you this letter to ask you to help us bless Gintas and Violeta Abarius. They are our wonderful friends and Gintas is our Worship Pastor at River of Life. Gintas has such a gifting from God on piano, teaching, conducting, and directing muscians. He is so delightful with his humor and quick wit in his personality. He is anointed to lead worship. His leadership on the worship team is a direct blessing from God for our people. We enjoy their family so very much. Their wonderful family, David and Sylvia and David, and baby Ruth are very special to us as well as to you.
As you know they have been in a continuous financial issue with Gintas illness. The doctors have been giving him various treatments and he has responded very well. We know his healing will take place! Medicine for Gintas is very costly. That is why we are asking you to help and to bless their family with support.
Would you consider helping them financially each month? We are asking all their friends and relatives to give $20 each month to help them with living expenses, and with medicine and doctor visits. If all help, the needs will be met. If you care to give more, then we will rejoice with them! Our church loves them very much, and we support them financially and we will continue to do so.
To give your $20 each month for financial support, go to: [[Note: Default amount has been changed since Pastor Newell wrote this message. You can change it, of course, to an amount you are comfortable with.]]
Click on the PayPal link and submit your credit card. It is not necessary to have a Paypal account in order to donate. Any credit card is sufficient.
You may also set up a pay plan to have the amount withdrawn each month.
Funds go directly to Gintas and Violeta and they use the Paypal card like a debit card. It withdraws the amount when they use it, and gives them the balance left in the Paypal. If you prefer to mail a check, please use this address:
Rev. and Mrs. Gintas Abarius 6612 Narrow Valley Way #1002 Raleigh, NC 27615 USA
David Newell Senior Pastor
