Proverbs 4:11, 13 -- "I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths... Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life."

Rounding off the summer...

You're almost all caught up on what took place this summer.  :) You've read about activities we had with the youth this summer, you'll see more special guests we hosted in the below post, and here you'll read about a wonderful opportunity Krzysiek had to share about God's work in his life.  But first, I want to you to meet two very precious people God's blessed me with to help me stay healthy in full-time ministry.

Meet Joyce & Darryl Henson (InSTEP Ministries International)

On August 18th, I took a short trip with Florence and Krzysiek to Warszaw to meet with my ministry mentors, Joyce & Darryl Henson. They're from Pennsylvania but they spend most of the year in the Ukraine and in addition to ministering there, they also serve in Russia, Moldova, Albania, and Poland. I caught them in Poland before they were to return to Ukraine. :)

meeting up with Joyce & Darryl in Warsaw

In every season of my life, God has blessed me with mentors to help guide, grow, and nurture me spiritually. In November 2013, InStep became my official mission organization affiliation, and since then, Joyce & Darryl have been fulfilling this role in my life. Regular contact with them has helped keep me along a straight path. I'm glad I don't have to face the challenges of full-time ministry alone.

Joyce has so much joy and is always ready to offer a word of genuine encouragement. Her smile lights up a room and she projects so much warmth and love that at once, you know you're in the presence of someone who has the heart of Jesus.  An encounter with Joyce is an encounter with Christ's love.

Darryl is full of God's wisdom and might, but this is embodied in gentleness and quietness. He demonstrates Christ's meekness-- not weakness, but meekness. He knows who he is in Christ, how God has gifted him and how to use this effectively for service and building up the Body of Christ -- but he does this in humility and in awe of the Lord. To be in Darryl's presence is to know that even when the storms rage, we have a God who is Sovereign and we have nothing to fear.

Their ministry emphasis: "...to provide spiritual and personal guidance and care to pastors and church leaders.  Our intention is to help church leaders stay “in step” with the Holy Spirit.  We believe that as we help the leaders to grow and be strong in the Spirit, they will lead well and their churches will be spiritually strong." (from their website)

I see this being lived out in their relationship with me and I'm deeply grateful to God for them.


Krzysiek's family hears his testimony (10 Aug)
As you know, there's a very very important person to me by the name of Krzysiek ("Kshish-ek").

preparation of the heart before the service

Last month, he had the opportunity to share his testimony at a church in Tczew ("Tchev") about a half hour drive from here -- about a 2 hours drive from his brother's place.  As you've read in previous blogs, we've really made a point of investing time into his family.  His brother, Tomek has really begun to search for answers and desires to see his life changed.  This hunger drove him along with his wife and two kids, plus his (and Krzysiek's) mother, plus Tomek's mother in law all the way out to hear Krzysiek share his testimony.

Krzysiek sharing his testimony
at the Pentecostal Church in Tczew

Praise God for how He used Krzysiek that day.  So many hearts were melted.  Most of his family was in tears as was a good number of people in the congregation.  The timing was also really perfect because the church really was beginning to lose heart in prison ministry.  And as a few of you know, prison ministry is something very personal to Krzysiek.  It was there in the prison that he himself met the Lord.  So in a sense, it was the very fruit of their ministry that God used to touch the hearts of those serving in Tczew who were discouraged.

Krzysiek's spiritual grandfather,
Mirek

One of those serving in prison ministry who really needed the encouragement was Krzysiek's "spiritual grandfather", Mirek.  Mirek has suffered a great deal lately because he's seen some of his brothers that he ministered to fall away from God this past year.  To see fruit of his ministry that has not only remained faithful but has borne another harvest of fruit did his heart good.

Mirek's wife, Jola (in white) prepared a wonderful lunch

which we enjoyed in their garden

After the service we had the privilege and joy of spending the afternoon with Mirek & his lovely wife, Jola.  Not only our stomachs but our hearts were full!

Despite having a huge lunch,
less than 2 hours later we had a BBQ !!
We love meat!!!

Tomek & his daughter, Oliwia having fun in the sprinklers

Matthew 18:20 -- "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (ESV)

Summer Guests

As you might remember reading, in July we hosted over 90 guests over the course of the month. By the end of the summer the count rose to 104 (if I'm remembering & counting correctly)! Whether reuniting with a very special friend whom I haven't seen for nearly 7 years or meeting kindred spirits for the first time, one thing was very clear -- when you share a common life goal and purpose -- a common first love, namely GOD --  His presence is felt amongst you and the bond is unbreakable.  Here's who blessed us in the last month of the summer...

1.  Liliana Kwarcińska !!! (27-29 July 2014)

Lila and I have a lot of history together. We missioned together in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Germany, Italy, Austria, Poland, Lithuania -- and Texas! We were like soul sisters during our time together in Covenant Players. 

Although we're not the best at keeping in touch and we hadn't seen each other in nearly 7 years, it was clear that we still had the same passion and heart for God. In our two short days together we had so much to catch up on. My heart was overflowing with joy to be reunited with her.  As a special treat, we had a chance to sing together again (leading worship during our evangelistic outreach) and it did our hearts such good as our voices melded together again in praising the Lord.

reunited with my soul sister!!!  :)

Liliana is from Kraków (Poland) and continues to have a huge heart for her country but she also has a call to serve God outside of her home country.  After leaving CP, she's lived and served the Lord faithfully in Ireland, California, and South Africa. She was preparing for the mission field in Sierra Leone when the ebola epidemic broke out. Please pray for her as God guides her through her next steps.

2.  Family Pacan ((27 July- 2 Aug)) :

Agnieszka & Darek
Nadziejka, Emilka, Damian
Open Doors Ministry

This was a surprise visit. :)   They showed up minutes after we picked Liliana up!  They took care of themselves and we didn't do much.  We just had the pleasure of having a meal with them and catching up with them a bit during their stay with us.  

We met them back in February when they came to give an impacting presentation on the persecuted church.  Darek is the national coordinator for Open Doors in Poland. They raise people's awareness of how many of our brothers & sisters around the world are suffering & even dying for their faith.  Martyrdom is not a thing of the past.  It's still going on.  The Pacan family works hard to rally support for them.

They were in desperate need of a break because they'd been on a ministry tour for almost a month.  Although they weren't able to lay aside all their work nor all their burdens, they did manage to spend time by the sea and sunbathe and I'm really happy we had a chance to see them again. 

3.  Florence's Visit (18-26 August)

2 hours after landing in Gdańsk,
she boarded another plane to fly with us to Warsaw for a short visit

It was a blessing to have Florence Donzé with us for a week.  "Flodo" (as Covenant Players affectionately called her) was like a little sister to me and a huge support to me during her mission with me in Poland & Lithuania in 2011.  Although she is young in years, her faith is so solid & her heart belongs to the Lord. As such, she continues to be a trusted sister and friend. We visited a lot of places together and had a great time but one of the highlights for me was praying together each night.  I mentioned her in the last post (sharing during our youth meeting). Here are more photos from her time with us.   

photos from 
GDAŃSK

with the "Gdańsk Eye ferris wheel
in the background

inside the Gdańsk Eye

view of Gdańsk from inside

another bird's eye view

Photos from PRUSZCZ GDAŃSKI:

my very nice neighbors Sylwia, Aron (and Natanael)
invited us for hamburgers :)

We visited the "Faktoria" in Pruszcz -- a recreation of life in this area during the time of the Roman Empire. Here are some photos...

entering a hut (home)

descending from the watch tower

                                                                       you can always count on fresh fish in Hel

Photos from HEL ...   
Yes, there's really a Hel in Poland and it's beautiful! And I'm one of the few people who can say I've been to Hel and back -- 6 times even!

Inside the lighthouse:

              

4.  Duchniak Family (23-30 August)

Krzysiek & I with the Duchniak Family:
Katarzyna & Arkadiusz
Ruben & Aron

We had a very very lovely family staying with us at the church for a week. They were in great need of a vacation and I'm so glad they chose to come to Pruszcz.  Arkadiusz (Arek) is the assistant pastor at our sister church in Ustroń which is located in one of my favorite areas of Poland -- Silesia in the south, a mountainous region. He and his wife also lead their prayer ministry.

Additionally, Arek leads the music ministry in Ustroń. Arek & his son, Aron blessed us with two worship songs ("Everlasting God" by Chris Tomlin and " ... ) during our Sunday service and it ministered so deeply to me.  I was in tears.  Even more impressive than his exceptional voice and musical skills is that right away, you see he has the heart of a true worshipper.  Their last evening with us, Arek shared a song he had written during his week here about God being with us at all times and being the great "I AM". It really spoke to Krzysiek and I and we were deeply touched.

Although this was the first time we met, they were like kindred spirits.  Although we had separate schedules during the week, we did manage to spend some time together the last evening & Krzysiek and I were able to pour out our hearts to them. We hope and believe that God will make a way for us to meet again.  

Heb. 10: 25 -- "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another -- and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

Youth Ministry Summer Highlights

Summer in Poland is an challenging time for ministry because pretty much every family plans to be out of town for at least a week at some point during the summer.  Additionally, the majority of our youth attended Christian summer camps (-- some even attended two). (Summer camps here usually last for over a week.) Many ministries and fellowships (particularly designed for the school age) go on summer break.  We didn't want to break our habit of meeting altogether but we did meet less frequently (twice a month rather than every week) and we kept things pretty light.  It was kind of an experiment for me because it was my first full summer here.  I'm not 100% happy to be honest that we kept it so light.  But I'm very glad that some new faces showed up.  

Mateusz

Mateusz ("Ma-teh-oosh"), our newest addition to the Armia Pana (youth group), is one of the kids that comes nearly every Tuesday with his grandmother to our evangelistic meetings and has now decided to join our youth group on Fridays.  A year and a half ago, Mateusz's grandmother brought him to our church in hopes that he could be helped.  His hand had mysterious open sores that the doctors couldn't help.  Within a few hours after being prayed for his skin looked brand new! Not only did God touch his hands but it was evident that his heart was also touched as he experienced that God is a living God who hears our prayers.  I hope that his faith will grow rapidly and deeply here and that he and our church youth will mutually inspire one another to grow closer to the Lord.

Here are some of our summer highlights:

Celebration of Birthdays (25 July 2014)

Happy Birthday to us!!!

All the youth workers were born in the month of July! Sara on the 20th, I on the 22nd, and Krzysiek on the 25th.


So on the 25th (right on Krzysiek's birthday) we took the youth to Gdańsk to celebrate at Billy's American Restaurant.

Zuzia & Klaudia

It happened to be very good timing for a visit to Gdańsk because it was the opening day of a special tourist attraction that was just added to our town -- a giant Ferris wheel where you could catch an incredible view of the city.

  

Gdańsk's version of the London Eye :)

The Start of "START"  (26 July)

Noemi (with her baby nephew Natanael), Zuzia, & Laura

"START" is the name of a Christian youth camp for those who are Middle School age (12-15). It takes place far away from any cities and I'm a big fan of it for this reason.  The kids are in an environment where there are less distractions and their 8 days at camp are filled with plenty of godly activities and spiritual feeding.  Although I didn't attend the camp, I did manage to visit on the first day.  Sara was there as a group leader. Krzysiek and I had planned to visit again later that week but unfortunately he got shingles, so we weren't able to do so. :(  But we were happy to hear that Noemi, Zuzia, and Laura had a great time.

Sara posing in her START shirt

Laura, Zuzia and her mom Ola

"Slumber" Party !!! (15 -16 August -- 3pm to 3pm)

schedule prepared by Noemi
note: movies from 11pm-2am!!!

We were finally able to fulfill a long-time request our youth group had -- to have a sleepover.  Timing was a bit unfortunate -- Małgosia & Piotrek were out of town.  But we did have some friends & relatives of our youth group members who came and all the kids had a great time.  In fact, they had such a great time that they want to do it again as soon as possible! (Ahhhh!!!! No sleep for me!!!!) 

Two of our regulars, Noemi & Zuzia took charge of leading the activities and planning the schedule.  Krzysiek, Sara and I were mainly there to chaperone. Krzysiek was boss in the kitchen and the kids assisted him in preparing meals.  Sara assisted with games. And I was on night watch since I'm a night owl anyway. :)

"Uno" while waiting for everyone to arrive

                                                                 

Noemi's vicious balloon stomping game :)

Zuzia leads charades

snack time -- ice cream! :)

"Uno" again at 2:30am

waking Paweł up wasn't so easy the next morning

a friendly game of volleyball the next day

and the final activity... a dance game

"YMCA" ... look at their rating: "Average Asian Dude" !!!

Florence & Fondue (22 Aug) ...

My dear friend, Florence (who missioned with me in Covenant Players) came to visit for a week (--more photos in the next post) and while she was here, I couldn't pass up the opportunity of asking her to share at our youth meeting a bit about herself and her experience with the Salvation Army.  

Not many people in Poland are familiar with the Salvation Army and our kids don't have much exposure to other denominations.  Florence's parents are officers in the Salvation Army in Switzerland and she grew up in the Army. I've always admired Salvationists' commitment to the Lord and to ministering to those whom society would sometimes rather choose to ignore -- the homeless, the addicted, the poor. 

In addition to sharing about what it means to be a Soldier in the Salvation Army, she connected it to being a soldier in God's Army -- which we're all a part of. As the youth group calls themselves "Armia Pana" (Army of the Lord), she encouraged them to stay faithful as fellow soldiers.  This also served as a great introduction to what's up ahead.

In honor of her "Swissness" we had chocolate fondue -- which also happened to be a gift from her two years ago.  :) 

Up ahead ...

From September-November, we'll be starting a new series on the Armor of God. We'll look at each piece of the armor and how we can apply it to our everyday lives.  Guest speakers will include some of the parents! :)