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...
Friday, February 29, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
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?
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?
Sunday, February 17, 2008
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. ;)
Thursday, February 7, 2008
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. :)
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!
Saturday, February 2, 2008
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. :)
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!!! :)
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