September 1st is a very significant day in Poland, because unlike most other countries, all the kids start school on September 1st -- and many churches also use this as the mark of a new cycle. Church attendance and meetings are at a low during the summer time as many people go out of town. Thus, the 31st of August marks the end of vacation and Sep 1st marks the return to norm. So we kicked off various ministries with special events/celebrations and we fix our eyes ahead of us, looking forward to what God will do in this new school year.
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| waiting for kiełbasa (Polish sausage) |
Evangelistic Outreach Campfire
(2 Sep 2014)
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| our little campfire in the church's front yard |
For those from our community who attend our weekly evangelistic outreaches, we had a campfire/grill. There was plenty of kiełbasa (Polish sausages) to go around. Many people enthusiastically brought salads. We love seeing how many people are so eager to give.
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| Mariusz :)
Mariusz, a teenager
is the oldest "kid"
that comes to the outreaches.
He has a mental disability
but he also has a heart of gold
and the younger kids love
playing with him.
Here are some other
very lively kids. :)
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First Sunday Service of the new school year (7 Sep 2014)
The first sermon of the new school year was preached by Krzysiek. This was actually Pastor Mirek's first time hearing him preach because he was away the first time Krzysiek preached. And he was very very proud and touched by Krzysiek's sermon. Krzysiek spoke about various experiences one faces when they decide to give their lives to the Lord and about the the importance of being tested and found faithful in our walk with the Lord. As part of his second year studies in seminary, Krzysiek will be preaching more frequently this year.
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| Pastor Mirek proudly introducing our special speaker :) |
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| blessing our children & youth in the church |
It was a very special service. Pastor Mirek also brought all the children, youth, and Sunday School teachers up to the front to be prayed over.
Armia Pana meetings in September
School year kick-off (5 Sep)
Pizza parties have become a bit of a tradition for us. And we love ice-cream too. Don't worry -- we don't eat this way all the time. We just wanted to give them a bit of a treat so the beginning of the school year wouldn't be so traumatic. :)
Armor of God Series
This season (Sep-Nov) we're focusing on the Armor of God as described by Paul in Eph. 6. After all, with the name Armia Pana (Army of the Lord), the youth group should be readied for battle, right?We've opened up the meetings to include guest speakers each week. It's been a real treat to see brothers and sisters pour out so much effort in preparing for these speaking sessions. I also love seeing how diverse the Body of Christ is and yet, how all the different gifts and individual creativity, when channeled into a single goal, reflects unity. Each speaker has presented their lessons in very different manners and I think (and hope) our meetings have been a little more interesting this way.
We've gone a bit out of order from how Paul has listed the different pieces of armor just because it's worked out better for people's schedules and the topics they felt most passionate in some cases. Here's what we've studied and who spoke in September ...
Introduction & Overview to the Armor of God (12 Sep)
Guest Speakers:
Aron & Sylwia Nogaczewscy (with Baby Natanael)
It was a pleasure to watch my neighbors work together in ministry. Aron often preaches when his father is out of town. Sylwia helps teach Sunday School for our youth and her studies in University were in pedagogy. Her giftings in teaching and in working with pupils were very apparent. And having "Natek" with us was a special treat.
They gave a clear, solid and insightful overview of the Armor of God. To help make things clearer, they handed out diagrams illustrating the Armor.
One of the many good points they made was that we are armed for battle facing forward. We carry our shield in front of us -- not behind us. Thus, we're to look forward and move forward -- not backward.
The Shield of Faith (19 Sep)
Guest Speaker:
Ola Olendzka (mother of Zuzia)
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| "Seed of Faith" |
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| watering the Seed of Faith with the water of God's Word |
Ola did an outstanding job of explaining the Shield of Faith. The lesson was extremely interactive and the amount of preparation she did beforehand was very evident. She is, by profession a jewelry designer, so by nature she is very creative and artistic. She is, as a child of God very passionate about her faith, her Father, and His Word. What a glorious experience it was to see her put this to work to bring revelation and understanding of God's Word to our youth. What was even more surprising to me was that this was the first time she ever taught kids/youth. She worked so well with them. I don't think there was a minute where she didn't have their attention and the kids weren't engaged.
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| a memorable & powerful illustration : How big & effective is the shield you're carrying? How great (or small) is your faith? (Krzysiek looks so smug about the big shield of faith he was RANDOMLY chosen to receive!) |
The Breastplate of Righteousness (26 Sep)
Guest Speaker: Anita Regenbrecht-Nowak
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| Anita :) |
Her task of speaking about the Breastplate of Righteousness was not an easy one. I realized that here in Poland, I've never really heard much teaching about this subject. In Polish, "righteousness" and "fair" share the same word --sprawiedliwy -- which, I think, can be very deceiving because although they share some common ground, they are in fact not the same. Plus, in modern-day usage, we often mix righteous with self-righteous.
One very important connection Anita made was that Righteousness requires Trusting in the Lord. Righteousness requires Trust because we are to trust in the Lord, trust in His ways, trust that they're better than our ways. This was a very important point made.
We also celebrated Mateusz's birthday at the end of the meeting. As you can see, he was delighted. He's only been in our youth group less than two months so this was his first experience of having his birthday celebrated amongst us. It was really uplifting to see how much a cake and card could mean to someone.
Small treats can bring big smiles! (I sound like a fortune cookie --but it's true!)
