I call him Albert...'cause he's so contrary

Yesterday Scott and I had the opportunity to spend the afternoon with one of the most precious ladies I've ever known. I met Ms. Ione when I was working for Wesleyan Heights UMC as their youth director. I would give the children's sermons on Sunday morning during both services. Ms. Ione attended the 11am service. She would sit and smile real big at me while I was giving my sermons each Sunday. One day I was in my office and received a call from her asking if I could come over some time and she would give me some coaching on public speaking. ;) Scott and I went over to her condo one afternoon and stayed for several hours.

Ms. Ione also used to record readings of the Bible for the blind. The first time we went over to her place she showed us her room where she records. She had a huge Bible placed on a table with quite the impressive tape recorder infront of it. I can't remember what book she had read through but she'd gone a long way. Ione just now quit recording because her advisor told her they were recording on cds now and her equipment was a bit out of date. She's also a phenomenal writer. She has given me several of her books that she written, including her autobiography "Hayloft to Heaven" which she wrote and had published at age 84. One of my most cherished books from her is a short little book called "The Joy of Trusting." This book came along in my carry-on on every flight since my first one to Poland. Her words, experience, and trust in the Lord have always been a huge encouragement and comfort to me.

She told us of her teaching careers, how she taught ESL to Czech students, and she told us all about her travels which she began after the death of her husband. Her first trip was to: Hawaii, Austrailia, New Zealand, and Tahiti. She's been to Scotland, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Norway.....and to London via the QE2 Concorde! She was about 70 years old when she began travelling the world. When she heard the news that we were moving to Poland to be missionaries she was delighted. We knew the world traveller that she was and how excited she was about our trip to Poland, so I created a special picture for her which is of us and our city in Poland. It now hangs on her wall.

We went to Ms. Ione's again yesterday. It was such a joy to see her; ALWAYS cheerful and full of joy. She was just a bright and bubbly as always. Ione told us how she felt very well except for a little pain in her knee when she walks. The doctors say that she can't have knee surgery now because of her age. She is still very capable of driving, but chooses not to incase she had to get out of her car in a hurry she didn't think she could manage. We sat and chatted for hours. Scott and I showed her pictures of Europe and of our students and she gleamed with joy and let out great "Oh"s and "Oh my stars!" every so often. Ms. Ione has a map of the world in her home with push-pins in all of the places she's travelled in her years. She let us put one in Poland and told us since she can't travel anymore, we're travelling for her. What an honor. :)

We love you Ms. Ione! You are a blessing from the Lord.

Ms. Ione is 91 years old today and just as lovely as she was in this picture. We showed her our pictures on her new laptop. It was a present to herself for her 90th birthday. As she was waiting for it to "warm up" yesterday before we could show her our pictures she made me smile with this comment: "I call him Albert...'cause he's so contrary."

Finally Home and Trying to Get it Together...

Again, I say "I'm sorry" to those of you who have kept up with our blog for two years...I could have at least written a "Hey! We're home!" but honestly, things have just been crazy. And strange.

We left our home in Poland on July 28th. Words cannot express the feelings and emotions that came with this staple event in our lives. The Sunday before we left I cried and cried and cried on my poor sister's shoulder during church. It's been a long time since I've cried that hard. I had just bottled up the emotions for months, working with the KBC Team, working an English camp, and then traveling with Kellie & Blake, plus trying to pack everything up. There just wasn't time for emotion. Saying goodbye to our students, to Elaine & Jason, Wojtek & Agnieszka...just heartbreaking. Packing up our home of two years...the longest we've ever lived somewhere as a married couple...in just a couple of days and a few suitcases...no words. Plus the ridiculous anxiety that came with getting back on a 9 hour flight...horrendous. Again...my poor sister, she was SO there for me. I don't think I could have made it without her.

Anyway, we finally made it home, slept in OUR bed for two nights and then drove to Chicago to pick up our 4 Polish youth who would stay with us for two weeks...(one for 4). We took these kids everywhere. Thanks to everyone who helped get them here, visited them, or provided us with tickets...you were a huge blessing! We've been taking the past two weeks to try to get some sort of "normal" life back together here and again...draining. Of course it's wonderful to be home and to be around family...but I think most people don't understand how difficult such a transition is. Our life as a married couple has been in Poland. We've lived on our own, we had a daily routine that we enjoyed and worked for us, we knew how to deal with daily tasks there...cleaning, buying groceries, paying bills, using telephones. Everything is different here. We're literally having to learn how to share a home with parents, use cell phones, buy "American" groceries, decide what kind of sponge to wash my dishes with! I know, it sounds ridiculous...but literally all seems knew and strange to us. Frankly, it's been tough. I know it's been forever since I've sent out a newsletter too and I had planned on sending out a final one and I still hope to, but it's just been the last thing I've wanted to do...to have to think of all of the things I left behind there, while I'm trying to move on here. I just haven't been up to it. But we hope you know how much we've appreciated your support and prayers.

And don't get me started on jobs! We're trying to figure out where the Lord wants us right now. I think I may have found something I can put my time and energy into. Please just keep us in your prayers as we keep seeking and trusting the Lord for guidance.

We will be leading campus ministry at Henderson Community College this year so that's one thing that we're really excited about. One thing we do know...the Lord has given us a heart for college students! We're so thankful that He's made it where we can spend this working with students where we're at, while still trying to save money for seminary.

We have two seminaries in mind right now...Grand Rapids Theological Seminary and Wheaton College outside of Chicago. We're hoping to go and visit both colleges in October. :)

Well, that's the update for now! It has been nice to be back on here and post a blog entry. It is familiar and I have missed it. I hope you've enjoyed it too!

Blessings!

STIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNGGGG!!!!!

AAAHHHH!!! Who has the best husband and friends in the world? This girl. Last night, The Police played in a city near Katowice (2 hours from us). Our friend Andy had a ticket to go see them with our other friend, Pete. Pete had one extra place in his car and kept asking Scott if he wanted to go too. We were pretty excited for Andy to get to go...I was secretly SUPER jealous though because my brother and sister had seen them the past year in the States and I SSSOOOO wanted to see them too and they were going to be SSSOOO close to us! So, the concert was yesterday and Scott and I headed back into the city (from Olawa) for a day out and Pete was going to pick up Andy here in Olawa, so we said bye and wished Andy a great time. Scott and I go to McDonald's for lunch and I just assumed we'd be spending the day out by IKEA and as we're sitting there eating lunch, here walks Pete into our McDonald's. I immediately knew what was going on and practically ran out of McDonald's to get in Pete's car to go see The Police. AAAAAHH!!!!! When we got in the car I assumed we would stop by Olawa to pick up Andy and that's when Scott told me that Andy had given up his ticket so Scott and I could go together. What a guy. I love that kid...what a gift to give up his ticket to see THE POLICE so I could go with my hubby.

It was AMAZING. AMAAAAAAZZZZING!!!!

Here is a clip from someone's cell phone from our concert. For now, enjoy and I'll write more later.

Time is a flyin'...

It's been one quick and very busy summer. This is why I haven't written since...well, since I haven't written. Scott and I are in charge of summer teams when they come over in the summer. "In charge" meaning: planning their daily schedules, making sure they know how to get around, and making sure they're fed properly. This week we are in Olawa doing a "day camp" of sorts for English students here. I am responsible for breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day for 7 people. Whew! Matter of fact, I have to start lunch soon so I don't have much time to write. Anyway, I'm enjoying it. I love cooking and I love taking care of the team so it goes hand in hand. :) During the days while I'm here shopping for groceries and cooking the team leads games & activities from 1-3pm. At 6pm we have a 2 hour cafe each night where we play card games, Scott and Andy play some acoustic stuff, and then we watch a Nooma video. Last night was our first night and it went really well.

Scott and I had the opportunity to make friends with a guy who lives nearby and joined in on our cafe last night. He's in his 30s with two boys - 11 & 13 and his wife of 15 years is about to divorce him. We're hoping we get more chances this week to love on him a bit. So, keep him in your prayers...his name is Jurek (Yoorek).

Okay, time to get back to work!!

HAPPY DADDY'S DAY!!

Let me take a very important moment to say...HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to the greatest man in the world, my Daddy! :) This guy has been through a heck of a lot the past couple years...not sure how the four of us kids got so lucky to have such a great Dad. We are incredibly blessed, that's for sure. Love you Daddy! :)

"Proud to be a coal-miner's daugher!" Here he is licking the wall at the Wieliczka Salt Mine...testing to see if the walls were really made of salt. :) (They were!) I think this was Dad's favorite part of the trip. ;)

Here he is with my Mom on a tram in Vienna catchin' all the sites. ;) I love my parents. :) Mom & Dad...enjoy your time alone now cause in just a few weeks you'll have a full house again! :)

And another BIG HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to the greatest Father-in-Law in the world! I'm one lucky gal to have married into such a great family. :) Love you Jim!

Prince Caspian

Last night we were able to go see Prince Caspian, the new Narnia movie. There are very few movies that move me the way the Narnia movies do. It was amazing. There's just something about the way they portray Aslan that really really gets to me. So, C.S. Lewis was a Christian when he wrote these books and it I feel like he hits the nail on the head with Aslan. It literally makes me speechless. When I see these films and Aslan comes on the screen I just automatically well up inside, I tear up, and I even get butterflies in my stomach. I feel as though it is this perfect image of the Lord. That's what my Lord is like. In The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe the comment is made, "He's not a tame lion, but he is good." Aaaah! Love it. In this second movie it's just perfect. Aslan has the ability to make [even the waves obey him], but his relationship with Lucy is like a loving Father to his child. It takes my breath away. Aaaaah!!! If you haven't seen it....go! And when you do...let me know what you think! Here's an international trailer.

Breathe...

It's been a while. Our team arrived a week ago this past Friday and time is already flying. We went to a city about an hour train ride from Wroclaw and worked in a primary school there. The team (the 5 of us) were split up into three different homes for the week. I have no good words to tell how great that experience was for us. Andy stayed with the young pastor of the church, Pawel - a single guy right at 30 yrs old who LOVED NBA Basketball (especially the Lakers), the girls stayed with the missionaries there we've been working with for two years - Gary & Ewa and their two kids...a Polish/Australian family with bilingual kids...can't get much cooler than that. Scott and I had the priviledge of staying with one of the single gals in the church, Ola - 30yrs old and the sweetest gal you could ever hope to meet. Last week we were able to go into the classroom and openly share the Gospel with each primary class and talk about how God is loving and forgiving. We also had a campfire at the end of the week for the school hosted by the Baptist church (which is a BIG DEAL here!). It was great...very fruitful, however - the best part for us was staying with each of these hosts. We experienced the body of Christ in a very practical way last week and it was so refreshing. These hosts went out of their way to make us each feel welcome in their home. Each morning, Ola set breakfast on the table for us. :) We all had really great oportunities to spend some quality time with these families. It was a great week.

We're so busy though. I woke up this morning with a very sore throat, but still went about my business today. This week we're "leading conversation classes" in the school. We decided at the last minute to really open the door to talk about God...and mainly the difference between RELIGION and FAITH. Anyway, I really enjoy being in the high school classes - the kids are really open and very curious but I'm afraid I talked too much today. My throat has gotten worse as the day goes by. Scott got me some pretty potent throat drops so I've been sucking on those to numb my throat. So the team is out hanging with the high schoolers in the Rynek, and I'm here trying to rest my voice.

We've been so busy, thus leading to a lack of me spending much time with the Lord (which is no excuse, I know)...thinking about this fact, I thought of a wonderful Nooma video. You all who read our newsletter know how Nooma videos were a big part of the ministry here last year. Well, I found it on YouTube. :) I don't know...since we've been here the Lord has just really done a lot in our lives...opened up our minds a bit. Like every other Christian in the world I'm sure, I get frustrated with the church. Not the "church" that Paul refers to in the Bible, but the church we see today. The ones that focus too much on politics, constantly provide us with a list of things we can and cannot do, have fundraiser after fundraiser to raise money to add a movie theater and a ferris wheel to their list of attractions, all the while not batting an eye at their next door neighbors who are going through their trash looking for food or cans to recycle. I'm not saying every one is like this, but we can all be like that sometimes can't we?

I say all of this to promote the reading/listening to/watching anything done by Rob Bell. Rob Bell is the pastor of a church in Grand Rapids, Michigan called "Mars Hill Bible Church." Also, I HIGHLY PROMOTE the listening to/reading of anything done by this guy:

Rick McKinley.
Rick is the pastor of Imago Dei in Portland, Oregon. You can download podcasts by
Rick McKinley and Rob Bells off of iTunes and they are FANTASTIC. Funny, witty, truthful and relevant messages. You can also read Rick's Blog at http://rickmckinley.net/

So, anyway...I LOVE LOVE LOVE this Nooma. It's one of my favorites...it's called "Breathe." Enjoy. May you allow the Spirit to move this week.

Part 1


Part 2

STO LAT!

It's my hubby's 25th Birthday! :)




HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOTT! I LOVE YOU!

HOLY COW!

WOW....our summer team gets here in two days! What does that mean? It means that our time living alone here in Poland, doing our thing, enjoying life at a slow pace will cease to exist after Friday. It means that our two years here is quickly coming to an end. It means that my sister and brother-in-law will be here in 7 WEEKS. It means that we'll have to leave our friends and family here that we've grown so close to. It means that we'll have to say goodbye to this precious place, this city and culture that we love and have come to know as our "home." This is big...really, think about it....Scott and I have been married 29 months now. We've lived in Poland 20 of those 29 months. All of our "traditions" that we've started as a married couple...Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, BOTH Anniversaries...they've all started here. Our way of living, as a couple, has been established in this culture...the way we eat, the way we cook, the way we excercise, interact with people...all done here. Being honest, generally I do like living in Europe better than the US, life is slower, society here isn't as materialistic or as egocentric as American society (sad but true), we are healthier, the culture is incredibly rich with history, life, and diversity. However, we do miss our family and friends like you wouldn't believe...and of course we miss us some Arby's and Taco Bell somethin' awful. ;) I couldn't bare to be away from the people I love the most for another year.

So, needless to say - things here are INCREDIBLY hectic! We've got the girls coming in 2 days, we have 5 solid weeks of ministry with them (7 days a week), then we're off to the mountains somewhere to work a 10 day English camp, then two days later Kellie & Blake get here for two weeks and then we move home. JA CIE KRĘCA!

Life goes by quick...and it's going to go much quicker.

However, let me say we're pretty stoked that tomorrow we will take a break from our busy lives to see this! That's right...we get to see it before you do since we're 7 hours ahead. Muuuaahhhahaha!

Happy Days...

I'm always late...but better late than never right? And this blog is only a day late. I was thrown off because the fam had their Birthday/Mother's Day celebration a day early, but enough with excuses!

First to my Momma - Happy Mother's Day...she's pretty much the best mother in the world...hands down. I want to be just like her when I grow up. :) She is absolutely beautiful, she's insanely talented in a million ways, AND she's learning Spanish! I adore everything about her. You're "more precious than rubies" Mom. :) And she's a pretty funny gal. :)

And of course, to my amazing Mom-In-Law. I was blessed with a wonderful, loving, spunky Mother-in-law and I absolutely adore her. She's one of the strongest women I know. :) Happy Mother's Day Debbie! We love you!!

Last but certainly not least a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!" (said with a Brak voice) to my big brother Shea-Bird. There are no words to express how much I love this guy. Handsome, funny, witty, incredibly caring, and definitely the coolest and most talented guy I know. He's pretty wonderful and I want to hang out with him all the time. Happy Birthday again Shea! Enjoy your Choco-Softies! ;) I love you!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE THESE PEOPLE.

I know...I know...

I feel terrible! I can't believe it's been almost a MONTH since my last post. I apologize. :( Things here are great though...we can't believe that our summer team will be here in TWO weeks, holy cow. In no time it'll be time for us to pack up and head home!

Things with the youth group are going good, they have the money for tickets and they all have their visas so they'll be coming to visit in July. YAY! :)

I just wanted to say that I'm sorry (to you loyal readers) for the lack of postage (haha), I really want to write a new entry soon. The Lord's doing some neat stuff and I'd just like to share, but for tonight...we still have to balance our budget and I need to work out a meal plan for the week...and we're pretty exhausted already...so I'll leave you with some awesomeness.

My sister sent me this in an email and I couldn't resist but to share the wealth! :)

All from Ice Cream

As I've mentioned before, Scott and I sponsor a little boy living in Uganda through World Vision. Isaac is his name and he is precious precious precious! Scott and I have something we call an ice cream fund. Last year we heard the statistic that Americans spend enough money on ice cream in one year to eliminate world hunger. So how do we take that info and put it into practical use? Not eat ice cream? That wouldn't do anybody and good! Plus we love ice cream! But, it is a scary statistic...so we decided to set up an "Ice Cream Fund." We decided that YES INDEED we would eat ice cream, but we would keep track of each cone and every zloty spent on ice cream and put that same amount into a separate fund and we would decide how to spend it at the end of the year. Last year the two of us spent roughly 100 bucks on ice cream alone. We decided in December that we would see if we could somehow give that money to our sponsored child, Isaac and his family. At Christmas we sent the gift through World Vision. What a precious gift we received this month. We just got a letter in the mail this month from Isaac and his family. With our measely $100 he bought what you see in this picture. Here he is with his uncle (whom he lives with). With the money he bought a school uniform, a backpack, new shoes, a matress, extra food for the family (he has 5 siblings), and a "she goat" who they say is pregnant. :) Scott and I teared up while reading this letter from him. He and his family have been in our life for 2 years now. This is most precious gift we've ever received, to be able to help provide for this family and see how excited he is about his new uniform and just this excited look on his face...worth a million dollars if we had it. I'll say it again...if you aren't sponsoring a child through World Vision I can't promote it enough. :) Our precious Isaac and his family have enriched our lives and blessed us abundantly. One day, we will go to visit him. :)

On another fun note...today is my birthday! And a lovely one it's been! I woke up this morning to a beautiful card made by my wonderful husband. He gave me my birthday present (a new rainjacket YAY!) and made me some INCREDIBLY YUMMY vanilla/cinnamon pancakes for breakfast!

I got emails and phone calls from my family and friends from home. :) :) :) This evening friends came over and we had a great time! Today is also Elaine's birthday so we decided to throw a party and celebrate together. :)


A great day. :)

ADORABLE...

We spent last weekend in Opole, a city about an hour away from us. This summer, we'll be working in an elementary school there with our summer team so we went there last weekend to stay with a missionary family there to work up some plans for the summer and Scott was invited to preach at our church plant there on Sunday. (He did wonderfully, by the way!) Anyway, while we were there we just spent a lot of our time with the family...Gary, Ewa, and their children Tommy & Kalena. Gary is Austrailian and his wife Ewa is Polish. Their children are bi-lingual. This little girl is precious! And Scott is just adores her. I have to admit when she's speaking in English and throws in a random Polish word...it's pretty darn cute. She followed him around all weekend...he's going to make a pretty adorable dad one day. :)

Land of Jazz Bistros & Sushi Bars

A couple weekends ago we took a two-night retreat to Warsaw. :) Last year we had the chance to visit several places outside of Poland...this year we've stayed at home. But, we did get to take a mini-vacation just to get away for a couple nights. The Poles around our area don't seem to be too keen on Warsaw because it's big and modern...to them it doesn't really feel Polish. We noticed a couple things about Warsaw...

1. You have a big modern-skyscraper skyline on one side and old European architecture on the other....strange, but we thought it was pretty cool. :)

2. Warsaw is VERY international...we spoke English the whole time *she says sheepishly*

3. There's a jazz bistro and a sushi bar on every corner!

4. They have a Hard Rock Cafe!! And we totally ate there. The giant building in the background was a "gift" from Stalin (the Russians). The Poles hate it. The Russians meant for it to be a "gift" to them to remind them that their "big brother" was always watching. Now, it's a movie theater. (okay okay, not ONLY a movie theater but that's what you enter through the main enterance. Scott and I thought it was pretty cool.

5. The squirrels there have long ears! Crazy! They'll eat right out of your hand too.

So...it was a fun trip! You can see all of our pictures from Warsaw here...http://picasaweb.google.com/ScottandJackieNewman/Warsaw

Tasty Eggs & A Happy Easter

Or "Smacznego Jajka" as they say here in Poland. It means "tasty egg" sometimes they'll say "Happy Egg" to...and then of course there's always Wesołych Świąt which means "Happy Easter/Happy Holidays". We love Easter in Poland. Poles take Easter seriously...as it should be. It's a big family holiday...and for this family, it will continue to be even after we move home. Anyway, here's a short clip of a traditional Easter ritual here that occurs on Saturday. Families take their Easter baskets to the church and have them blessed by the priests. The baskets are filled with the things they will be eating for their family breakfast the next morning. Some are symbolic...typically eggs, meat, bread, salt & pepper.

After church today we headed to Wojtek & Aga's for Easter dinner. There were 8 of us...9 counting Dawidek (Dah-vee-dek). Again...I'm smitten with this kid. Here are some clips & pics.

HAPPY EASTER TO YOU ALL! Please take at least a moment to remember the reason for this precious day...I know I take it for granted all too often. Chwała Bogu! He is risen! :)

I can't resist.

Have I mentioned that I ADORE this kid? I'm trying to conjure up a way to sneak him in my luggage on my way home. Shhh...don't tell his parents. ;)

A short clip...

Here's just a short clip of the guys (David, Andy, & Scott) practicing "What If God" for the Teczowa concert last Wednesday. :) My camera doesn't take long clips...but at least you can hear about 30 seconds. The girl in the video is Sara, David's sister. Both of them will be visiting us in the States in August...YAY!!! :)

Busy as Always...

Today is officially the "First Day of Spring." It's been snowing ALL DAY LONG! ;) For months we've had no snow...just consistantly cold temperatures, but it started snowing yesterday and hasn't stopped since. However it hasn't really stuck much because the sun is out so it just melts right away, but nonetheless...we have snow. :) Now when I'm ready for spring to be here. Oh well, I'll take snow over rain & wind any day!

Things have been busy here, but really good busy. We have had three incredibly sucessful Friday nights at "The Well." It's become one of our favorite parts of the week...but makes for a very long Friday! This week we're taking a break because it's Good Friday and our students have all gone home to celebrate and be with family. In addition to The Well, we have meetings here at the flat on Wednesday nights called: "Deeper Waters." The past two weeks we've had about 6-7 students! That's GREAT! These are students who missed The Well on Friday night and want to rewatch the video and students who were there but are wanting to talk more about what they saw. We had a GREAT meeting last night. Each Wednesday night I cook dinner and dessert for our students, we enjoy a meal together and then rewatch Friday's video and that has lead into really good discussion each week. I can't explain how we've seen the Lord bless this ministry! We couldn't be happier with the outcome. :) Wednesday nights are my favorite because I LOVE LOVE LOVE cooking dinner and dessert for these students and making them feel at home. One student in particular has a job as a postman and for about the past month his only meal on Wednesdays have been the meals that I've cooked for him...before we knew exactly what his job entailed, he called me and said, "I'd love to come to your Nooma meeting, but I've had a long day and I'm very hungry. Nooma would be good food for my soul, but if you could prepare some food for my body I would be grateful." *lol* So from that night on I've prepared dinner each Wednesday night. This student works 12 hour shifts a day and DOESN'T get a break for lunch...or a break at all. Incredible. Anyway, this is what I love to do. :)

This week is "Recollection" week in our high school - Teczowa. This is where we lead English Clubs every other week and we are in very good standing with the teachers and director of the school. The religion teacher asked us last month if Scott and I would prepare an EVANGELICAL concert for this week. In a public school....holy cow...what a wide open (and frankly- scary) door! Teenagers can be brutal...especially the ones here. But we said "yes" and Scott, Dawid, and Andy put together an incredible program! The day before the students had a similar assembly, but it was put on by a local Charasmatic Catholic church and lasted for 4 hours. 4 hours of charasmatic praise & worship and testimonies. Our program lasted 45 minutes. Scott had the idea of presenting the Bible as a love story and picked out 7 songs that went along with what he was wanting to say. These three guys gave a GREAT concert and the stories that Scott told inbetween each song went perfectly. It was honest, relevant to their lives and no "churchy" words were used that nonbelievers wouldn't be able to understand. We did use some Derek Webb...and that made us happy. (Though we would have gotten kicked out of the school if we'd done this in the States.) The lyrics were edgy and strong...but so honest and relevant. It was a beautifully constructed program which could only come with a Devine inspiration. I'm pleased, as were the guys, Wojtek, and Basia - the religion professor.

So something real fun! We suprised Lauren this week with - HER MOM! Yep! Sneaky people we are. Her mom had secretly bought tickets to come to Poland and let Scott & me know. We picked her up from the airport on Tuesday and brought her to our flat where Lauren was "meeting us for lunch" COMPLETELY oblivious to the fact that her Mom was in the country. It was fantastic. Here's her reaction. :) Listen closely!

I love suprises. :)

Also one more fun thing...not quite as exciting, but I'm having fun. I'm learning how to knit! I'm in the process of making a scarf right now, but I love it...and it's pretty darn addicting! :) I love the yarn that I picked out...but I think I should have started with some thicker yarn. Oh well!

Okay, well Happy Easter to you all! We'll be spending it with our church and we'll be having a big Easter Dinner at Wojtek & Aga's with Lauren and her mom and Andy. It should be a good time. We're thinking about taking the Monday & Tuesday after for a short trip to just get away for a couple days. Maybe going to Warsaw since we've never been there. We'll see!

Yesterday

We woke up this morning kinda tired, it’s been sort of a long weekend with The Well and all. Yesterday was a nice day. Scott took me out to dinner and we went to see one of our students who sings in a choir. They’re concert was at this lovely cathedral about 20 minutes away from our place (on foot). She had invited us to the concert so we went to support her. Something about it struck me. Here in this place we’re surrounded by what seems like cold, lifeless, giant cathedrals where things have just become routine. Easter is coming up so the concert included songs about the crucifixion of Jesus. I think that as Protestant Christians we usually allow ourselves to just become “comfortable” with Jesus. We tell people about how He’s our “good friend” and we can talk to him about the most ridiculous things…which I do. BUT, I think we allow ourselves to forget…the Lord is REGAL…he’s the King of all kings. Sitting in that church last night listening to the choir sing, it just sent a chill through my bones. I imagined the angels mourning over the death of Jesus while that choir was singing. The sounds filled that big, cold, somewhat lifeless building with the presence of the Lord. I found myself with goosebumps every now & then. I just let myself forget how big the Lord is, how righteous and perfect, how immaculate He is. And the thing that touched my heart the most: Sitting all around me were Polish babcza’s (bab-cha’s) or little old lady’s…some with friends, others by themselves. I’ve never said that we’re here to bash the Catholic church or convert people to the Protestant faith…it’s not about that for us. It’s about helping people deeper their relationship with Christ and hopefully deepening our own while we’re here…which I believe we have. To look at those little old ladies…they’re something else, truly. They are committed warriors of their faith. Whenever I see them on the trams, it’s guaranteed that they’ll be praying whenever they pass a church…I hear them. They love the Lord. Sure…there are some things about the Catholic faith that well…are questionable as far as putting Mary on such a high pedestal or all of the rules and regulations that they must follow to be good Catholics…but who’s to say that the Protestant church is any “better off” or “are TRUE Christians.” That’s bull if you ask me. When I see someone following Jesus, living like He lived, teaching what He taught…those are the people I recognize as Christians. Denomination is the furthest thing from my mind. I’ll leave you with a video of that choir singing last night. The quality may not be fantastic.

A Saturday Update!

I love Saturday! Today is National Women's Day here in Poland...so HAPPY WOMEN'S DAY! Today I'm sure we'll see lots of guys carrying around flowers. :) Today are plans are to be lazy, get some blogging & emailing done, and later go to an Easter concert at one of the cathedrals here...one of our students is singing in the choir. :) Okay...a bit of randomness that I didn't get a chance to blog about! So, my favorite type of juice here is called "Red Oranges from Sicily" and it is YUMMY!! It's my mom's favorite too! We were at our giant indoor market the other day and what did we stumble upon...Red Oranges from Sicily! Yep...they're real...red oranges! And they are just as yummy as the juice! I'm sure we could NEVER find these at home, so we're going to enjoy them while we're here! Here's a pic to prove it...

Okay, and so The Well...last night was our second week for The Well! YAY! We've been so excited with the turnout and our students' responses. Last night's video was called "Polluted" and it talked about how maybe the church or its people don't always give a good representation of the life that Jesus lived while he was here. It was pretty good. We had several new students this week who sat around and chatted with us after the video for at least an hour or so. It was great! We couldn't be more pleased! :) We are looking forward to the following weeks. We actually had a bit of a "scare" yesterday as we were setting up. We (me, Scott, Lauren, and Andy) were at the chuch from around 2:00 yesterday. Lauren and I decided to finally go get lunch/dinner about 4:00. So we went to pick up some "Nalesniki" (crepes) and walked back into the courtyard where our church is. Now our church is in the Triangle...which isn't exactly the best part of town, but we've never really felt unsafe there. Plus it was still light outside so it wasn't a big deal. Anyway, we were headed back into the courtyard and we noticed that 3 young (20's) guys were walking behind us. They were pretty rough looking, one's faced was all scratched up where he had probably been in a fight and they were all drinking. They were probably talking to us but we couldn't understand and when we noticed they were behind us we started walking a bit quicker. We didn't know this at the time, but luckily Wojtek was rounding the corner into the courtyard and noticed the guys following us so he quickened his pace too. When Lauren and I came around the side of the church where the door is they were right behind us and we were afraid they were going to follow us into the church. Luckily the guys hadn't locked the door back so we got right in and locked the door behind us. They started to knock on the door and whistle...we just left it locked and ignored it. Anyway, a few seconds later I heard it unlock and I thought somehow they had managed to unlock our door so I ran to it and locked it back before they could open it and I looked through the peephole and it was Wojtek. :) When I opened the door to let him in I noticed that there were more of them standing outside five or six. So, we ate our lunch while the guys were still outside the church. Wojtek decided to call our other pastor, Bogdan. Bogdan decided he would call the police because technically, drinking in public is illegal here. We just decided to pray for protection for us and for our students who would be coming that night. I was a bit concerned that they would be angry if they knew we called the police and that they might come back later that night angry AND drunk. The guys were no where in sight after we prayed and the police never showed up. :) Whew!
Looking back it doesn't seem like that big of a deal. They were just guys standing around drinking and absolutely nothing happened...but at the time, I just wasn't sure what kind of mindset they were in. You just can never tell who people will act when they've been drinking a lot. Anyway, the night was fine, students came, and we had a great time! Praise the Lord! :)
Here are a couple videos just so you can get a glimpse of how it looks on Friday nights. So, in the first video I'm basically saying: "Okay, so we're at The Well and it's the 2nd week. I'm in the balcony and I'm going to show you around." BUT, I had to whisper because the video was going and you can't really hear a thing I'm saying. In the second video I'm showing you the botton floor where the students are watching the video. :) They're not great quality, but at least you'll have an idea of what it looks like. :)

Fun stuff

Hey everyone! So today is the big day...Our first "Well" is tonight and we're really excited! It's about 10:00am and we're getting things together...so if you're reading this today, please say a prayer for us. :)

For your enjoyment, I've decided to post a couple of awesome YouTube videos.
Awesome little kids...

Videos, Nice Weather, & Random Spiritual Thoughts

Sorry to rub it in your faces *those of you who 'round our part of KY* but the weather here the past three days has been GORGEOUS! Sunday it was in the 60s, sunny, and beautiful! We couldn't help but get out and enjoy it! Even the mariachi's were out in the rynek...




Last weekend we also made it to Pizza Hut..




And managed to get out, go to the park, and scout out some of the natives...







These dwarfs are everywhere around our city. Has something to do with communism actually. The one on the plate is fun...he's actually outside of the Pizza Hut...fitting because that's exactly how I feel every time I leave there. That one and the one with the flower are new additions to the city. We've had lots of new ones popping up here and there recently.

I love this city.

So...Friday's the day! We start up a new minstry, "The Well." We're so excited about it. We've had a great response from students so far. They seem to be really interested in the whole idea. We just sent out our February newsletter via snail mail...so all of you who's mailing address we have, you should be getting it within a couple days. If you'd like one and we don't have your mailing address, we can send it to you via email...just let me know if you'd like one! :) Anyway, it has some info on "The Well" in it. We really can feel how the Lord is already blessing it. He amazes me...the Lord. He just amazes me.

I spent hours sending out personal emails to students inviting them to and explaining the purpose of "The Well" and I've been blown away by how so many students are interested and how many of them are seeking.

Scott, Andy, and I watched a documentary on Mormons the other night...there are several of them here in the city on their 2 year mission. It was interesting, but heartbreaking at the same time. It's like every time I go into the city center I'm hoping to see some so we can invite them over to talk. Sometimes I just want to shake them and say..."Wake up! It's not supposed to be like that." Anyway...my experience & opinion on that is another blog, another time.

I'm so tired of hearing about "the laws." The things we're supposed to do and not supposed to do, which Presidential candidates we should be/shouldn't be supporting because we're "Christians", tired of hearing all of the things that are wrong with the church, why so many people are leaving it or not going at all. Once more...I'm not keeping a "tally" of how many people I "save" because I'm not doing anything. Praise the Lord for that. It's solely through the grace and power of God that I am occasionally able to put together a coherent sentence of who I am and why I'm here.

But I do know one thing that I wish more people understood. It is, has been, and will continue to be solely about Jesus. I think that's where the problems lie. Seems like people have forgotten that...I forget it often. Being a "Christian" has become and adjective when it should be a verb. The Christian religion has become about obeying laws, living up to a stereotype, listening to the right music, voting for the right people, telling everyone else what's wrong with this church, what's wrong with that church. It's simple really...but seems as though we've mucked it up with our selfishness and our desire for power...even us "Christians." It's about Jesus folks. And should only be about Him. If we love like He loved, cared about what He cares about, attempt to live like He lived...

His love does not bind us to the law it sets us free from it...so why do we do it to ourselves?

Blech...

I know...I've been a slacker. To tell you the truth, not a whole lot has been going on recently. The majority of our students are back in their hometowns because it's winter break, so we have a lot of down time. BUT, we have been able to just spend some time with friends, which has been great.

We missed church this morning...first time in a long time, actually. I have a mixture of the stomach bug and sniffles. It's just been nice to stay home and rest today. I feel a bit better, but my sneezing & runny nose is getting worse. But, I did manage to complete a towel today! My sister, Kellie, has gotten me into the habit of embroidery. Lots of fun and a nice stress reliever! :)

I just got a package in the mail from her with a new apron (that she made) and some fun new dolls she's starting to make! They're filled with lavendar so they smell WONDERFUL, not to mention they're adorable!

While siblings are on my brain, ya'll pray for my brother Shea...he's come down with the black plague. He may resort to leeches if it doesn't go away soon. ;)

Chocolat

So...today was/is sort of a "blah" kinda day for me. We had a meeting today about a summer camp that we'll be working, which was productive and exciting. Then we decided to eat lunch. Poland tends to have an abundance of "Kebab" places. Kebabs are this... a combination of some type of meat (usually chicken or pork) that they shave off of a giant rotating stick, and stick it in a pita with a ton o' vegatables on top. The meat looks like this: It's been over a year since I ate one of these...mainly because I got DOG-SICK after I ate it. Blech. Since then, when I'm in the mood for foor...this shaved meat soaked in garlic sauce is the LAST thing that my tummy craves. But today, the people we were with wanted to go so I just went along hoping that this experience wouldn't be as bad as the last. Well, it wasn't as terrible afterwards this time as it was before...but pleasant it was not. I would have much rather had some good 'ole Subway. No more kebabs for me! So, after we ate I was dying for something to relieve my taste buds. We headed to the mall where I was anticipating purchasing a double chocolate chip cookie. This is the SECOND time I've been to this Subway and they've let me down with a lack of freshly baked cookies. :( We continued to walk around the mall and ventured into the "World Cuisine" store where they sell American imports. Today, they had things like a boxes of 8 poptarts (blueberry, strawberry, apple-cinnamon, or smores) for about $12 bucks! Apparently poptarts are a delicacy here. They also had some random things like...one box of Betty Crocker Brownie Mix, one box of Chocolate Chip cookie mix (all ridiculously overpriced), marshmellows (big and small), about 4 gargantuan bottles of Worchesteshire sauce, Ceasar salad dressing for about $7, and some more randomness. It's just a fun store to go in and look around to see what things make it over and how much they charge people for imported American foods. This store had imports from Great Britain, Africa, Japan, and lots of other places. BUT...as we were leaving I spotted this little bar of goodness and couldn't resist . It costs me about $2 which wasn't terrible I suppose. It's been SO LONG since I had Hershey's chocolate. Europe does have some pretty fabulous chocolate, so I'm not complaining about that...but there's just something about Hershey's. It just melts in your mouth and it has such a distinct taste from other chocolates. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it. :)

Speaking of Chocolate, we did have our "Chocolate Cafe" last Friday night (I think it was last Friday) anyway, it went over INCREDIBLY well! We had a blast! About 15 students came, we ate lots of chocolate, watched the movie "Chocolat" and ended with a promo for our new coffeehouse ministry "The Well." We had a really positive response from all of the students who attended so we are really looking forward to starting this ministry up on the 29th!

A 12 foot Pope!

So, last Sunday me, Scott, and Andy went to a birthday party for our good friend Jurek (Yur-ek). His wife Maciejka (Ma-chea-ka) invited lots of friends from church over. We had such a great time! This picture shows Jurek sporting his daughter's lovely hat. ;) This picture is of me & Jurek's wife Maciejka. She is wonderful! :) And, here are friends Bogusia, Beata, and Gosia. Sweet, sweet ladies. :) Okay...so, on to the Pope. Jurek is an INCREDIBLE sculptor. He is commissioned by cities in Poland to make sculptures to put around the city. He has done several that are here in Wroclaw. Currently, Jurek is working on a statue of Pope John Paul II. It is absolutely amazing. AND MASSIVE! The detail in it is incredible, the resemblance in the statues of pictures of the Pope are unbelievable. This man is so talented. Anyway, here is a picture of us with the Pope. :)

Here's some video of so you can here a little Polish and see some of our friends. :)

Here's a little of us playing "Charades" (well...a mix of Charades & Pictionary) This is Maciejka trying to get her team to guess the word "Bi-Polar" (or the Polish equivalent). I love these people. :)

An update on our Chocolate Cafe will be coming soon! It was GREAT!!! :)

This is what it's about...

Today we had some very good friends over. This is a couple we have become especially close to these past two years. Scott met Boguś when he came over for a one week mission trip in March. When we arrived last year we connected with them and started inviting to English Clubs, Nooma Meetings, Cafes and eventually got to the point where they felt comfortable enough around us to just hang out two-on-two. This is the second time they have come to our house for dinner. Boguś & Dorothy are very very busy, very smart students. Both attend church regularly and enjoy talking about spiritual things. The first time they came over for dinner I cooked a nice Cajun meal (jambalaya) for them and they really enjoyed it. This time, I cooked a good down home southern meal. BBQ Chicken with corn, fried potatoes, & corn bread. Then bought out the hot brownies & ice cream for dessert. :) We had a LOVELY time! This couple is very precious to us. Their relationship is one that is very rare here...they are not living together. They've been dating over 4 years and both still live with their families. That is incredibly rare. Tonight at dinner we had a chance to just talk and enjoy time with them. Boguś is leaving to study in Denmark this week. He'll be there until July so this is one of the last times we may ever get to see him. Dorothy is staying behind and we assured her that we would take care of her while Boguś is gone. We had a chance to share about our marriage and show them one of our Nooma videos on love, relationships... depicted in the way they were meant to be. They loved it and we believe it provided encouragment for them. We talked about the church and they mentioned that sometimes it could be boring. We were able to give them the name of a wonderful Catholic fellowship for students that is doing great things here. Hopefully they'll visit sometime. Before they left Scott asked a very personal question, if he could pray for Boguś before he left. He willingly accepted as Scott put a hand on his shoulder and thanked the Lord for our friendship, for their relationship, and for safe travels and all the blessings the Lord had given to them and us. It was a big step...but they were blessed by it, as were we by their company.

A common question that always comes up when we're in the States talking about our mission work here is "How many souls have been saved?" "How many people you led to Christ?" This is not why we're here. Of course it's our hope that all people will come to know the Lord, but if it's through our work, if it's through the testimony of someone else, if it happens and we have absolutely nothing to do with it....that's not the point. When Jesus was here he LOVED people, he CARED for people, he LISTENED to people. He did not keep a tally of how many followers he gathered up like fish in a net. Being a missionary isn't about numbers, it isn't about converting the world to your denomination, it's about loving people and BEING the Gospel, representing the love that Christ has for all of us...in a tangible way. Loving these students and letting them know how valuable they are, how much we care for them, but most importantly how much Jesus loves them and desires their hearts. That's what matters. THIS is what it's about.

Lots of goings-on...

So...hhhmmm not sure where to start? There has just been lots & lots going on recently. Let's start with something nice & simple! So...I got a hair cut! About a week or so ago Scott and I had a "date" day...very nice! We started out with a hair cut that took a LOT longer than expected! Apparently I have VERY VERY thick hair. So my hair has gone from this:To this:
I kinda miss it...my hair's never been that long before. :( Oh well...so after a haircut we went out to dinner at a fabulous Italian restaurant near us...AMAZING food!
After dinner we went to our friend Konrad's Karniwal (or Carnival) ball at our church. Here is a clip of buddy Konrad dancing with his dance crew. Konrad's the kid with long curly hair wearing the mask. :)

So, we only stayed at the ball for about an hour then we had a show to see! Our beloved British friend, Bev provided us with our "date day." She scored us some fantastic seats at a musical here and provided us with the funds for food that day! :) The show we went to see was called "Swing" The Duke Ellington Show. Minus a little unexpected culture shock, it was a spectacular show! Here's the add for it...just because I thought it would be neat for you to hear what a typical Polish advertisement sounds like. :) And the goofy guy with the trumpet...that guy is definitely in the show.

Okay...so that was a fun day! What next?....Hhhmmm...I do have a video clip from youth the other night. :) Scott had the kids doing some kind of goofy game where they had to work together..."Being the body of Christ" kinda game. Here are our kiddos. :)

So...here is where much of my time & prayer has gone recently...

To my Pops...he's just had a rough year, but a stubborn Stanley he is and he just kept on truckin'...all over Europe as a matter of fact! He just had his back surgery on Friday and everything went smooth as silk...save for the giant epidural they stuck him with. ;) We told him if we'd known they were going to do that, we'd prayed for that too. He's a trooper! At home recovering now. The surgeon said it was a miracle that he was walkin' with the shape that his back was in! Duh. We already knew that, didn't we? ;) The surgeon sent him home after surgery without rehab and without a back brace! Praise the Lord! It just kills me how people can witness these kinds of miracles and still not believe...kills me. Anyway, thanks to all you faithful folk who keep on prayin' for us. We love ya! :) (And yes...in the picture, my Dad is "reading" a newspaper in Czech.

On to the next event...Ladies' Potluck! YEAH!! Last week, I had invited all the ladies from the church over to my place for a Ladies' Potluck. Lauren & I did this in the hopes that we could just get to know some of the women in the church better. So, this past Saturday, I had 10 here in my little flat which was a splendid number...just right. They all brought TONS o' grub...mostly sweets. We ate Pickle soup (my favorite! REALLY!), lots of sweets, and played a games...these women go nuts over door prizes! ;) So, this is not all of them...but I wanted to tell you who these gals are because I adore them all and we all attend church together. This first pick is Ewa (a Polish gal in our church), Jennifer - Missionary from Lexington, and Victoria - Ukrainian teaching English at a Christian language school at First Baptist Church.

This next pic is of Becky & Gosia. Gosia is the mom of one of youth - Michal (they're the ones who make us Pierogi when we go to their flat!) Becky is British and she's also working as an English teacher in the Christian school at First Baptist Church. I LOVE this gal! She is adorable and she has the loveliest British accent! And she's funny! :)

Next, Gosia (again) with Bev. I just cannot explain to you how much I love British people. I ADORE them! They crack me up. Everything they say is either hysterically funny or it just sounds SO....proper! My precious Bev...I just love her.

I know this isn't the greatest quality picture...but I love these two Polish ladies as well. Ewa L. (the mother of our youth-Dawid) and Bogusia in the back (mother of our other youth-Mariusz). All of these women feel like family to us. :)

And lastly, here's me & my gal Lauren. I am so glad that she's here. :)

So, that was our Ladies' Potluck. The women had so much fun they want to keep doing it! Gosia even asked if we could do it again the next Saturday! We decided this should at least be a monthly thing! Next time, Bev's going to lead it (here at our place) but she's going to make it a Curry Fest! This chick loves Indian food. I'm pretty excited. :)

So, what's on the schedule now? Well, Andy came over today and helped us put together care packages for our students. We'll be giving them out in class tomorrow before their exam. Then, on Wednesday we'll be setting up our "Free Tea/Coffee/HC" stand which will be a big hit. I'm terribly excited! Please pray that I have the courage to actually share my faith with students when they say "Why are you all doing this?!?!" ;) It's bound to happen. I want to be spiritually & mentally ready to be bold. :)