PHILIPPIANS 2:17 -- "BUT EVEN IF I AM BEING POURED OUT LIKE A DRINK OFFERING ON THE SACRIFICE & SERVICE COMING FROM YOUR FAITH, I AM GLAD & REJOICE WITH ALL OF YOU. SO YOU TOO SHOULD BE GLAD & REJOICE WITH ME."

Interconnected...
Although I am hundreds and even thousands of miles/kilometers away from the majority of my friends, family, and supporters, most days I am very mindful of the fact that in Christ, we are interconnected. The apostle Paul was always so mindful & grateful for the support he received from fellow believers -- particularly the Church in Philippi. I, too, am very thankful for the support of my fellow brothers & sisters. I've been very blessed by the emails I've received, the financial generosity of my home church (Chinese Evangelical Free Church, Los Angeles) and many individuals, and most of all, for the many prayers that have been lifted up worldwide for me year after year. There are some things you just can't say often enough. One of them is: Thank you. So -- thank you -- to all of you who have encouraged me & poured into my life in any way.

Upgrading...
There's a lot of upgrading & renovations going on at my church in Pruszcz right now in an effort to better meet the demands of ministry & needs here in our community. At the moment, we have no kitchen. The kitchenette we had (consisting of a microwave, electric kettles, and a portable electric two-burner stove top) has had a wall torn down and is off-limits at this time.The pastor (along with the help of a few others) is working extremely hard to build a kitchen that would better enable us to serve soup to the community twice a week. More on this (including photos in a week or two.)

Another big ministry hope we have is to be better equipped musically as a worship team.  As most of you know, from the time I was a little girl, music played a huge part of my life. I know that the Lord gave me a very special gift and it is a privilege, a passion, as well as a responsibility (which I happen to love) to offer this back up to him in worship.

Photos of the current keyboard I'm using.

Since my arrival in Pruszcz, I've been serving in music ministry almost every Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I am grateful for the keyboard here that I can use. But as a classically-trained pianist, I have to admit that sometimes, I really miss the feel and sound of a real piano. I feel somewhat limited at times with the current keyboard we have, as it is not a full-size keyboard and the feel of the keys (even the size of the keys which are smaller) are not anything close to a true piano. I do my best with it, but I often feel somewhat musically and thus expressionally limited.

The pastor's son, Aron, is the main worship leader. He also has a passion for music as well as for recording & working on music arrangements with his computer & the keyboard. Both of us share a passion not only for music and expressing our worship through music, but also a vision for helping to usher people into God's presence. As Aron puts it, "My vision is to worship the Lord with a humble heart, to sit in His presence, and to lead others into it. To serve others with what God has given me, and to do the best I can and continually improve."

We would like to bring worship here at the church to another level. I know that the best equipment in the world cannot guarantee true worship. Worship is a matter of the heart. But in terms of the quality of music, it certainly does help to have better equipment. Thus, we are hoping to raise enough money to purchase a higher quality keyboard that would meet my hope as a pianist to have a keyboard with a feel and sound that is much closer to a piano and also Aron's work in music recording & programming using technology.

Here is a photo of the keyboard we are hoping to buy.  It is a full-size keyboard with weighted, hammer-action keys, which would make playing it feel much closer to playing a real piano. Here are links for additional information and specifications of the keyboard as well as the flash card:

http://www.thomann.de/pl/yamaha_mox_f8.htm (keyboard)
http://www.thomann.de/pl/mutec_fmc06.htm

(flash card)

The best pricing we've found internationally (considering our location) is 1490 Euro ($2000) for the keyboard and 185 Euro ($250) for the additional flash card -- a total of roughly $2250 (or 1675 Euro).

We would be grateful for any donations toward this end. I've set up a PayPal link below to helpfacilitate this. (If preferred, you may also send a check. Please contact me for details.)

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE. :)

PHILIPPIANS 2:1-2-- "IF YOU HAVE ANY ENCOURAGEMENT FROM BEING UNITED WITH CHRIST, IF ANY COMFORT FROM HIS LOVE, IF ANY FELLOWSHIP WITH THE SPIRIT, IF ANY TENDERNESS & COMPASSION, THEN MAKE MY JOY COMPLETE BY BEING LIKE-MINDED, HAVING THE SAME LOVE, BEING ONE IN SPIRIT & PURPOSE."

A very blessed week with Covenant Players in Szczecin...

It's so clear to me that my 12 1/2 years of life on the road as a Covenant Players was definitely a call from the Lord that He equipped me for specifically for that period of time. I was so physically tired just by spending one week on the road again! But it was time well-spent and definitely worth every bit of energy put in.  

In addition to our evening theatre program in connection with Szczecin International Fellowship (mentioned in the last blog), we also performed outdoors in the evening in support of the ministry of Kościół Uliczny (that means Street Church) and at a Teen Challenge "Coffeehouse" meeting (a ministry devoted to support recovering addicts). Street Church was inspirational to me because of their heart for reaching the homeless and faithfully proclaiming God's Word every Wednesday outdoors in the middle of this huge rotary (roundabout) come rain or shine, sun, wind, or snow. 

At the Coffeehouse meeting, one man left some words in our comment book that were blessed evidence of fruit from ministry -- something we don't usually get to see so immediately. He wrote, "For 40 years I've been an alcoholic and a doper. Never have I believed in God. But today, after meeting with you, it's possible that something in my heart is changing." Praise God!

Divine meetings...

One of my favorite things about CP was staying with hosts. I love meeting fellow brothers and sisters with kindred hearts that are devoted to Jesus. The Ozanne family (featured in a photo last week); the Dymsza family; Kasia & Henryk Kowalińscy (former CP-ers) along with their daughter, Ania; and Helen Stainsby blessed us with their open hearts and open doors.

Pictured are 1) the Kowalińscy; 2) dinner with Helen and the unit; 3) Jodi & I

(Sorry for the poor quality of photos. I only had my phone camera with me.)

While in Szczecin, we met a man visiting from the States. Stuart was his name and God is using him so clearly to speak words of life and revelation into the lives of those he meets. It is without a doubt that the Holy Spirit revealed to him things in each of our lives that the Lord has ordained us for. He asked me, "So Amy, which three girls in your youth group has God called you to disciple?" I answered, "Well, it's a very small youth group. We only have 3 girls right now." And he said "Exactly. And those are the 3 girls God's called you to disciple. Take care of them." And then I started crying and said, "Thank you. It's been really hard because just a few weeks ago, we lost two of our youth. Their parents took them out of our church and have moved to a different church. So the timing of your words are very important. I know I have to look at what I have and not what we've lost." He looked at me and said, "You really do have a shepherd's heart. You're going to do fine." There was a lot more that was said that day to the others and also words I was to pass on to Krzysiek that were so powerful it wouldn't be right for me to share them here. And as I watched him speak into the lives of the unit, it was like watching God's Spirit breathe life into their bones.

More powerful moments of ministry back home in Pruszcz...

Although I returned physically tired, I was so spiritually recharged and inspired and it did me so much good to step away for a week and return, knowing that just as God called me and equipped me or my time with CP, He's also called me and equipped me for ministry here in Pruszcz. I was also thrilled to experience God's powerful hand of work here during an evangelistic meeting held on Monday night. We were visited by a missionary from England named Kathryn Day. God has powerfully annointed Kathryn as a dynamic evangelist as well as a minister of healing. Although not many people showed up, those who did were very spiritually hungry. We had some guests we'd never seen before. And one of our church members had four people from his family show up. He's been praying for his family's salvation for years. By the end of the night all of them plus eight others (including first-timers to our church) gave their lives to the Lord. Many with serious chronic health problems also were healed. (Kathryn always encourages medical follow-ups and documentation of the healings.) In the picture, you can see how joyful she is. (Aron, the pastor's son did a wonderful job of translating for her.)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As I reflect on this past week and on the title verse of this blog, I am convinced of the truth that when our hearts are focused on God and on His purposes and Kingdom values, it's only natural that we as His family worldwide should stand united. How could we be divided if we're really focused on glorifying God?