The tables have turned. I spent 12 1/2 years traveling with Covenant Players and constantly being a guest. Now -- living in a church under the leadership of a pastor who keeps his doors open for taking in servants of the Lord (...that is, after all, how I ended up at this church) -- I (along with Krzysiek) often have the honor of hosting guests who stay here at the church. In my last update, I mentioned that we hosted 78 guests in one month. Actually, I forgot to count the 15 surprise guests we had staying at our church when we came home exhausted from our 14 hour bus ride home from Prague! That makes the total... 93!!!
Hebrews 13:2 says "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing, some people have entertained angels without knowing it." I think we have a good chance of having hosted angels. :)
March For Jesus (10 July)
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March For Jesus in Pruszcz Gdański
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| in front of our town hall square |
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| Krzysiek, spontaneously called on to share his testimony |
Our church participation was not numerous. But those of us who participated had a great time. And many of our regular evangelistic outreach attenders joined us at the town square after the march. Personally, I was proud to be a public ambassador for Christ and to carry a banner along with Krzysiek declaring, "Jesus lives". I am not ashamed of the Gospel nor am I ashamed of being a follower and disciple of Jesus!
At the completion of the march, we gathered at the town square in front of city hall and there a stage was set up. The team prepared and led a variety of evangelistic outreach activities -- worship music (and praise flag dancers), face painting for the kids, a drama presentation, the preaching of the gospel, and a few testimonies.
Krzysiek was asked to share his testimony there. Remembering Bonnie's words to our church during her visit, "If you have an opportunity to talk about God, you take it!" -- he responded to the call.
Tomek's Visit (15-23 July 2014) ...
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| Krzysiek & Tomek enjoy a close relationship again |
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| Tomek with his wife, Edyta |
Other guests we had the privilege of hosting in July were Krzysiek's brother Tomek and his family. It's really amazing how God's power of redemption has not only reunited Krzysiek with his brother (--there was a period where they hadn't seen each other for 8 years) but has gone even further to plant a growing desire in Tomek's heart to search God's Word. The first time Tomek came to visit our worship service, he was very impacted by the sermon and exclaimed, "Why doesn't our priest [in our Catholic church] teach us that??"
Just a week ago, Tomek and his family came to visit a church where Krzysiek was invited to share his testimony and almost the whole family was in tears. God is clearly doing something and we believe that the whole household will be saved someday. Thus, the time we invest in them, besides being a pleasure, is also of utmost spiritual significance.
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Wiktor & Oliwia's first time ever in the sea! They spent every moment they could playing in the water. We were so happy to hear them say: "It was the best vacation ever!" |
Baptism ! (20 July 2014)
What a joyous occasion it was to celebrate the baptisms of two wonderful individuals, Krzysztof and Ewa. Both of them are a great encouragement to us of the evangelistic outreaches that we hold. Ewa has been coming for years to our Tue/Wed evangelistic outreaches. She has been steadily growing in experiencing more and more of God's work in her life and wanted to publicly take the next step in discipleship. 
Krzysztof came to our church about a year ago when we had a special missionary guest. While he received a miraculous healing at that meeting, it was a love for Jesus birthed in his heart that has transformed his whole life. He is so passionately in love with Jesus and shares so joyously about him whenever he can that it's almost enviable! I believe that the Lord has prepared a ministry to many through him. He is fervently reading God's Word, staying in constant communication with Him in prayer, and strongly plugged into community -- all essentials for staying faithfully walking on the narrow road.  |
| Pastor Mirek closing in prayer |
The very timely arrival of our new synthesizer on my birthday !!!!
(22 July 2014)
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| whoo hoo!!! |
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The morning of July 22nd, which just happened to also be my birthday, the courier arrived with OUR NEW YAMAHA MOXF 8 -- a new synthesizer with a full-size keyboard. (That's not the courier! That's our worship leader, Aron!) |
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| our happy worship leader tries out the new keyboard |
One member of the church (who is also the father of one of our youth) said to me, "I would have given you as much as you needed so that you could play." And then one woman who doesn't have so much money but has a huge heart pulled me aside and with tears streaming down and voice quivering, put a bank note in my hand and said, "I really really want to give toward this keyboard. I really want you to have this." Less than one week after the appeal was made at our church, the keyboard arrived and it felt like an incredible birthday gift. :)
It was a very special birthday. Several individuals brought me gifts, hugged me, showered me with love and birthday wishes during the day. And in the evening, our friends Ola & Krzysztof along with Krzysiek (of course) and his brother's family were very sneaky and surprised me with cake and a lovely dinner together.
Going back to the Yamaha synthesizer, it has been a great blessing. It arrived just in time for me to lead worship on my own while Aron and most of the worship team was away at a summer camp. There have been several occasions this summer for me to lead worship on my own and Pastor has been very happy to see my gifts bloom and blossom here. (I had a lot of experience leading worship in English, but leading worship in Polish as you might imagine, is a bit more challenging and takes a bit more preparation for me. ) I want to give God all the glory and just give back to Him the gifts He's given me. But He is so good and gracious and while playing & singing I feel my heart being filled up even while it is being poured out.
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| SURPRISE!!! They got me! |
Going back to the Yamaha synthesizer, it has been a great blessing. It arrived just in time for me to lead worship on my own while Aron and most of the worship team was away at a summer camp. There have been several occasions this summer for me to lead worship on my own and Pastor has been very happy to see my gifts bloom and blossom here. (I had a lot of experience leading worship in English, but leading worship in Polish as you might imagine, is a bit more challenging and takes a bit more preparation for me. ) I want to give God all the glory and just give back to Him the gifts He's given me. But He is so good and gracious and while playing & singing I feel my heart being filled up even while it is being poured out.
Thank you!!!
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