Matt. 25:40 -- "...'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

Easter Breakfast For a Thousand...

As many of you read in my last email, this Easter weekend was spent traveling to the south of Poland for a very special event. Many churches in the area of Katowice cooperated to organize a huge breakfast held in a small sports hall in Park Śląski (an enormous park in Chorzów, Poland).  

volunteers busily preparing behind the scenes

We were inspired by this ecumenical effort to minister to the lonely, homeless, and hurting. It was an open event for anyone who didn’t have a place to spend Easter or just wanted to enjoy a breakfast and special program.  

Perhaps in the near future, churches in our region will catch a similar vision and God will grant us to opportunity to serve in a similar fashion.

Darek Kawulok and I had the honor of representing the ministry of Covenant Players at this event. It brought back a lot of memories as Katowice was where we performed together 6 years ago in a week-long evangelistic crusade called ProChrist where roughly 1000 people in the stadium gave their hearts to Christ each evening. 

THE PROXY (by Charles M. Tanner)

The venue here was a challenge to perform in and an extreme test in concentration because of all the buzz around us. Servers were running back and forth, people were eating and talking, seating was arranged for the purpose of eating -- not watching plays. We could barely hear each other and we were listening for one another more through the speakers than our actual voices on stage.   Still, our hope is that the messages of the plays reached those who needed most to hear them. 

We performed THE PROXY which is an intense and powerful play by Charles M. Tanner in which a young man considers jumping off a building and a young woman is tested in her faith to prove Christ's love to a stranger.

TRANSIT GLORIA (by Charles M. Tanner)

Later in the program, we performed one of Covenant Players timeless classics, TRANSIT GLORIA.  The persistent question of "What do you believe?" and what it truly means to be a believer (which 95% of Poles would claim to be) is a challenge to all.

Krzysiek sharing with the spiritually hungry

Krzysiek answered a huge call and need the organizers had in finding someone who could share a powerful testimony. What better morning than Easter morning to share about how in Christ,he has become a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). It was very touching to see several people coming up to him immediately after he stepped off the stage. They were desperate to turn their lives around and Krzysiek shared more personally with them about how this is possible in Christ. He has a very special gift of ministering to those many would consider a social outcast because he, too could have been counted as one in his life before meeting Jesus. 

Besides being a very eventful weekend because of this   Easter breakfast outreach, it was also eventful because Saturday marked the one year milestone for Krzysiek and I as a couple. I seemed most appropriate that we were away on a ministry trip — just as it happened a year ago.  Last year, one day after beginning our official journey as a couple, we travelled to assist the Elbe Unit of Covenant Players. I performed with the unit while Krzysiek shared his testimony in the church and helped the unit a bit with translation. From the very beginning, we knew we had a call as partners in ministry. :)

(Sorry I've skipped over the month of March in this blog... I went ahead and published this Easter update before finishing the March update because I know that a lot of you were praying for me this past weekend.  Hopefully the March at-a-glance review will be out soon too!)

Philippians 4:19 -- "AND MY GOD WILL MEET ALL YOUR NEEDS ACCORDING TO HIS GLORIOUS RICHES IN CHRIST JESUS."

Looking Back At February...

Celebrating Małgosia's Birthday...

7 Feb. 2014

Małgosia, one of our youth, had her birthday in January while I was in the States. Since we didn't have a chance to celebrate in January, we celebrated in February. We have a tradition of signing a card & filling it with wishes/verses, eating cake, and then praying over the person we're celebrating. It's been a blessing to hear the prayers the youth have prayed over one another. It's not easy for them to pray out loud but they're taking steps & becoming bolder in their faith.  Małgosia is very artistic & creative and I love having her around when we have discussions because she always has a different way of looking at things and her responses are very spontaneous. She has the heart of an artist.


Open Doors Ministry Presentation

"More than 100 million Christians suffering from discrimination and persecution are imprisoned and murdered for believing in Christ."

11-12 Feb 2014
Dariusz P who works with Open Doors Ministry came to visit our church to share about the persecution of Christians around the world.

 

It was deeply moving to watch & hear the testimonies of brothers & sisters around the world, following in the footsteps of our Savior, Jesus Christ, walking the path of suffering out of love & devotion to our Father. Dariusz challenged us to understand that we are part of the same body (I Cor 12) and that as one part suffers, the other parts suffer.

Please join in prayers for our brothers & sisters around the world who are being persecuted for their faith. Pray also that we who are not being persecuted would not be apathetic and hard-hearted toward their suffering. Pray also that we who have the freedom to proclaim the gospel would do so boldly -- that we who are privileged to own Bibles (sometimes 3 or 4 or 5) would grow in love for God's Word -- that they would be well-used -- "a lamp unto our feet" (Ps. 119).

Here's a photo of his lovely family who we were blessed to host at our church. They were a sheer delight.



Preparing for Festival of Hope ("Festiwal Nadziei")

15 Feb 2014
Krzysiek & I travelled to Warsaw to attend a planning meeting for Festival of Hope.

Festival is an evangelistic crusade that has been held around the world and has made a huge impact for God's Kingdom. It's also more than an evangelization. It's preparation in prayer for those in our circles who don't know the Lord, coming alongside them in the process of finding the Lord, and following up afterward -- discipleship -- a concept that's rather underdeveloped in this country.

Franklin Graham, like his father, Billy Graham, has been powerfully anointed as an evangelist. I remember being at a Billy Graham crusade as a child and when you see thousands of people turning their hearts to the Lord in repentance, you never forget that.

Krzysiek & I are trying to fan into flames the hearts of believers here to catch the vision. It's not easy.






Dorota's Birthday

16 Feb 2014
Małgosia's mother, Dorota had her birthday earlier in the week but we celebrated on Sunday afternoon. She invited a three couples plus Krzysiek & I to her party and it was really nice to get to know these other couples a bit more. One of the couples is a newer couple to our church but Dorota's known them for a long time. It was especially nice to have "an excuse" to mix with them a bit more.

Mariusz & Dorota

Dorota's family is special to me because they were the first family to invite me into their home. The day after I arrived in Poland, they invited me for lunch after the church service. One of the things I like best about Dorota (in addition to her hospitality) is her virtue of honesty as well as faithfulness. She & her husband, Mariusz are long-time church members here, and despite having gone through some conflicts, they've remained not only faithful, but active in serving here in the church. Together, they lead a "growth group" for seekers as well as newer believers.

Time for feedback from the youth...
It is very much because of Dorota's expression of concern for her children & our youth group that I felt compelled to put together an evaluative questionnaire for the youth group. I took a great deal of time on my own to reflect, evaluate the current situation, and also re-evaluate and communicate vision to the youth. I'd gone through a rough season because of losing two of our youth when their parents decided to move to another church. The youth were also disheartened by this. Piotr, Dorota's son, was probably most greatly affected by this because it left him as the only boy in the group who at the time, was attending regularly. Please pray for him as he's going through a difficult phase. I'm asking God to reignite a passion in him for Christ.

Although our youth group number is small, the three that attend consistently expressed how much they love the youth group & how much it's helped them to grow closer to the Lord. They also expressed a desire to lead their friends to Christ.

When asked about vision for their youth group, one of the youth, Noemi wrote this:
"I would like Armia Pana [the youth group] to be a bold group full of enthusiasm -- so that we'd go out without fear into the town, for example, and proclaim the Gospel." 


Our small group Bible Study completes its study of Philippians!
The end of February marked the completion of our in-depth Bible Study of Paul's letter to the Church in Philippi. We have been encouraged as well as challenged by this Epistle. Despite great suffering and persecution, Paul repeatedly reminds the Body of Christ to rejoice. His heart and mind were fixed  on future glory and Christ being exalted. Whether in plenty or in want, he was satisfied in the Lord and found all his needs met in Him.

As one of my favorite writer/pastor/preacher, John Piper, often says: "God is most glorified in me, when I am most satisfied in Him."

May you find your greatest satisfaction and delight in Him.

PHILIPPIANS 4:8 -- "FINALLY, BROTHERS [& SISTERS], WHATEVER IS TRUE, WHATEVER IS NOBLE, WHATEVER IS RIGHT, WHATEVER IS PURE, WHATEVER IS LOVELY, WHATEVER IS ADMIRABLE -- IF ANYTHING IS EXCELLENT OF PRAISEWORTHY -- THINK ABOUT SUCH THINGS."

Journey Through Dec 2013 

Please forgive me for the long hiatus without any blog updates.  I was without my computer (and all the photos in it) for almost the whole month of December as it was being repaired. And then I flew out to the States for 3 weeks and left my computer behind in Poland. After that, I spent a week in Germany joining Covenant Players in their training time.

Here, I've compiled a collection of photos to catch you up a bit on some moments that have been "noble... pure... lovely... admirable... excellent... praiseworthy" to me -- worthy of being remembered & shared.

"Gwiazdkowa Niespodzianka" (Operation Christmas Child) 
 4 Dec 2013
 We had the privilege of giving Krzysiek's nephew & niece, Wiktor &
 Oliwia "shoebox surprise".  It was a joy to see their delight.

 Our church also took up a collection of sweets to give to the school
 they attend in a small village that didn't have the means to provide
 special treats for the children for Christmas.

feeding the multitude

Pre-Vigilia Meal at Our Wednesday Evangelistic Outreach

18 December 2013

We had roughly 80 people in attendance and on a smaller scale of Jesus feeding a multitude of people with five loaves of bread & two fish, we fed a multitude of people with barszcz (beetroot soup), salads, & cakes -- with plenty left over! :)

Seated in the front, with backs to us, L to R:
Ola, Pastor Mirek, & his wife Asia.

Many years ago, God gave one of the women in our church, Ola, a vision for ministering to the needs of the community & sharing the gospel with those living in difficult circumstances. Ola, (along with Pastor Mirek and Krzysiek) faithfully share the gospel each week, help provide for physical needs, and pray with many of the people who come seeking not only physical but spiritual aid.

Colorful paper Christmas trees contribute to the festive celebration.
Ola's daughter, Zuzia taught our youth group how to make these trees.

Christmas Eve... 

Christmas Eve was spent with Pastor Mirek's family (immediate and extended family).

awaiting the feast to begin

Krzysiek's amazing stuffed salmon

Krzysiek prepared an amazing stuffed whole salmon (weighing roughly 9 lbs!).

It was delicious!!!

Asia, Pastor Mirek, Sara & I

Sandra

Sandra, Pastor Mirek's 2nd daughter has a heart of gold. She spent several days and hours upon hours working into the wee hours of the night putting together personalized & decorated photo albums for each of us there.

in awe of Sandra's work

The photo albums were amazing and so personal. This was definitely one of the highlights of the evening & also one of the most precious gifts I've ever received. Thank you, Sandra!

Wiktor, Tomek, Wanda, Edyta, Oliwia

Christmas Day...

Christmas Day we had the privilege of hosting Krzysiek's mother (Wanda) as well as his brother, Tomek & his family: wife, Edyta; children, Wiktor & Oliwia (whom you've already met in the opening photos of this post). 

2nd day of Christmas

2nd Day of Christmas...

In Poland, the 2nd day of Christmas is also celebrated as a family time. 

In addition to Tomek's family & Krzysiek's mom, we were joined by Mietek who is like a spiritual father to Krzysiek (because he led Krzysiek to Christ). Mietek's also become a dear friend to me. 

Highlights from my time in the States...

27 December 2013- 16 January 2014

captivated by the California Coast

Family Road Trip to Pacifica & 
San Francisco, Calif. 
(29 Dec 2013- 2 Jan 2014)



For the first time in many many years, Bonnie & I along with my parents took a road trip up to northern California.

 

 

Rather than choosing the fastest & smoothest route,
we opted for the more scenic drive. Although it wasn't the best option for my car-sickness, the majestic views of California's Coast made it all the worthwhile.

sisters! :)

sisters!!! :) :)

Reunion!!!
New Year's Day 2014We celebrated the new year by having dinner with my Auntie Jesse, Uncle Eugene, their son, Gilbert & his family.
Auntie Jesse is my mom's older sister. She's the oldest of 8! You'd never be able to guess her age. She looks amazing (as does my mom)!
I have really fond memories of her (like baking carrot cake together when I was little. She sang  a song about it while we baked). It was so special to see them after so many years. I think the last time I saw Gil was over 15 years ago!

A little sightseeing...

Of course no visit to S.F. is complete without a photo by the Golden Gate Bridge!  Here's my beautiful older sister Sharon & her beautiful family.

Champions!!!

Knott's Berry Farm

4 Jan. 2014

After we returned back to Southern Cal, I spent a day with Sharon's family at Knott's Berry Farm (amusement park). I haven't been there in eons! I love spending time with the kids. They're really special too me.

It turns out that like their aunt, they too are quite fond of playing the claw -- and impressively good at it! I believe we took home a total of 6 stuffed animals. :)

(And no, we didn't have to try 600 times.)

Journey Through January 2014   after returning back to Poland

Henryka & Andrzej's wedding...

18 January 2014

The day after returning to Poland, it was a joy to see Henryka & Andrzej get married. (It was also a privilege to help lead worship during this time.)

November 2013, they took a huge step of discipleship and obedience to the Lord. They made the decision to get married and until then, they wanted to honor the Lord's holy covenant of marriage and live separately. They also wanted to make public proclamations of their faith and in December, they were both baptized. And there was great rejoicing in both heaven & Pruszcz! 

A Visit to Germany

20-25 January 2014

Visiting CP
Three days after returning to Poland from the States, I jumped back onto a plane again -- this time to Germany to visit my Covenant Players family during their training time.  Thankfully, this time Krzysiek came with me. It was his first time international trip & I was very glad he could meet more people (in addition to Silke, David, Denise, Joanna, & Jodi) from this ministry. 

me as "Claudine" in QUO VADIS JEUNE FILLE
(by Charles M. Tanner)

While there I had the opportunity to perform a very challenging play called Quo Vadis Jeune Fille (by Charles M. Tanner). Katie directed me in it & it was such a blessing to work with her -- especially because she has such a heart toward woman who are trapped in prostitution (which this play addresses).

Marten & Krzysiek
working hard in the kitchen

Krzysiek blessed the community by preparing three types of Polish dishes for one meal. It was a lot of work but to see the happy faces and hear the happy sounds of everyone enjoying the meal was a huge pay-off. 

My CP family approves! We have happy Polish-food eaters!

Mama Cindy & little Amy

Baby David & papa Kevin

Visiting Kevin & Cindy...

While in Germany, we were also able to spend an afternoon with Kevin & Cindy Gourlay -- very dear friends of mine. They were my team leaders for one and half tours. But more than that, they're really precious friends and partners in Christ.

They named their daughter after me, which was a huge honor. She's an amazing little girl --very very vibrant. As you can see, she's adorable....but a little crazy.   Maybe it's an Amy thing. Hee hee!

We had a great time of eating, playing with little Amy, talking, & praying... a blessed time of fellowship.

Back in Pruszcz Gdański...
Although I was blessed to be able to travel back to the States & spend time with family & friends there and then spend a week in Germany with CP, I was overwhelmed with exhaustion by the time I got back to Poland. My immune system was going bezerk & I was having major allergy problems, an eye infection, and pseudo-flu symptoms -- without really being sick. I spent about 3 days in bed. I'd never been that over-exhausted in my life. When I finally got my energy back, it was just in time!

Laura & Zuzia

           Zimowy Zjazd (Youth Conference)

           30 Jan-2 Feb
           We took our younger girls from the youth group
          (Małgosia, Zuzia, & Laura) to visit the older
           participants (Piotrek & Noemi) who had gone to
           a youth conference called "Zimowy Zjazd."
         

some of our youth -- and some of our non-youth :)
Krystian, Magda (now in Gdańsk), Sara, me, Noemi

         

Małgosia, Filip (now in Gdańsk) & Piotrek

Christian politician, John Godson at Zimowy Zjazd

One of the guest speakers there was the Nigerian-born Member of Polish Parliament, John Godson. While he is well-known here as Poland's first black politician, he is even more inspirational as a fully-committed Christian. God called him out of pastoral ministry to make a great impact in the political world.
Our youth were very touched by his message as well as others'. I was so happy to see how great a desire our girls have to grow closer to the Lord.



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WHOO-HOO!!! You're now caught up with what happened in the months of December & January in my life! I'm hoping that by the end of next week, you'll have snapshots of the month of February which is almost behind us already!

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.)

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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?