A Moonbounce and Laughter

We made another visit to the Chechen refugee camp Sunday. But this time we brought with us a moonbounce and slide! Oh... and a unicyclist :) The sheer amazement and awe in the children's faces (and I should add adult faces also) was worth a thousand Christmases for me. I can't think of another place I would have rather been than with these people on Sunday. And even though this was one of the best days in my life, I really hate the fact that I need to write about it here. It's not that I don't want everyone to know about it, it's that I lack the writing ability to paint an accurate picture for you of what it felt like to be there! We could have cut the excitement with a knife it was so thick... but there was also this holiness that was there among us. Pure and real.

I've never seen the children so calm and orderly. They actually waited in line the entire time we were there for a turn down the slide and time to jump. No fighting. No pushing. A complete 180 from our first meeting. A school counselor came, who is wanting to cooperate with us, and thought it may work better if some of the kids who were standing in line came to play with the parachute for a while and later the groups could switch. I couldn't help myself by blurting out with a big grin on my face, " What you're looking at is a miracle! It's not terrible that they're standing in line... it's an absolute miracle!" She caught my drift. The men came and supervised all the happenings- making sure that no one cut in line or went out of turn. The men even asked me to take their pictures (a sign of less uneasiness and trust towards us) although I must still blur their faces since most men are wanted by the Russian authorities for crimes against the state.

To view more pics click here. We will be going back in November for a big Chechen feast that they have invited us to. They want to serve and bless us! Wow... something we never expected. And more ways to help out?! The group is in huge need of diapers... the Polish gov't doesn't provide for that in the health care system and since the Chechens don't have work permission yet they don't have money for this. So you can donate money to diapers for all the little babies and pregnant women.

English at Club

We finally started English classes at the club. This Thursday was our first official class since English week took place during the summer. The group for Alabama met in July for a week and got to know some great people! Many of them have returned with the desire to practice their English. I meet with the more advanced group at 5pm (we talked about fear) and the intermediate group at 6pm ( we struggled through introductions). I'm excited about this because I get to build relationship on my own as well as be involved more at the club. Oh, and Greg has to watch the kids during this time. :)

Refugees from Chechen

269 Chechen refugees are living in Katowice - they are spit on, laughed at, or just simply ignored. Why? Because they're different and the surrounding neighborhood is angry that they're sucking up Polish taxes, their taxes. They complain that the children only play "war" and are uncultured that they shouldn't be here. Too bad. They are.

Greg was moved by an article he read in the newspaper about the Chechen's. They're living in a district of Katowice where we used to work. So Greg jumped on the chance to try and help. We both know how it is to live in another culture, not knowing the language, and feeling out of place. So he made a phone call to the journalist and explained his desire to help, who we are, and what we do here in Poland. She was excited about our interest but apprehensive that we might try to "evangelize". He said we only want to help the children have fun: play games, have clowns, make balloons, bracelets... just be with them and make them smile. So after getting the go-ahead from the government in Warsaw we met with the youth from our club and prepared everything.

Well, we thought we were prepared. Nothing could prepare us for the chaos of 100 curious excited kids who want to be the first to receive whatever we were giving out. We had them on top of us trying to get balloon animals and no matter what we did to try to explain you must stand in a line, it didn't work. At one point a guy from our club just got up and walked off. He couldn't handle it! I don't blame him- it was pure chaos! Later, I used the illustration of Jesus in the crowded house in Capernaum teaching and a lame man was brought there by his friends. It was so crowded that they had to destroy the roof in order to get him to Jesus. Now that's chaos! And Jesus didn't seem to get frustrated, he was impressed by their faith.

Extreme Makeover- H2O

At the end of August a group of us from club decided to set out to the camp purchased by Josiah Venture in southern Poland to help with their extreme makeover. The center was purchased in 2006 and is being made ready for summer camps, conferences, leadership training programs, and retreats. This place will be amazing and will be used to impact thousands in Poland so we jumped on board to be a part of it. God miraculously provided the money for our transportation and food at the camp (are we surprised?!) For three days we worked, sweated, bled, and invested our energy by cutting down trees, chipping away tile, picking up rocks, painting fences, mowing grass, and preparing the area for the landscapers who were coming the next week. In the afternoons we kayaked and swam and got to know each other better. Greg shared daily from the "Purpose Driven Life" and challenged our youth to think about the reason for living! Since we were there the soccer field has been completed with a sprinkler system and grass and an amphitheater has been built.

Not only that but many of our youth came to know Christ that next weekend through the drama "Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames". God is so good how he works... I look back over the summer and can now see the foundation He's been laying for our youth to come to Him. RiverTree Church with English, King's Kids Holland with dance, testimonies, and prayer, movie night with The Passion, this H2O camp, Heaven's Gates, and now many have given their hearts to Christ! What an exciting summer full of the work of God! Thank you friends for being a part of this journey in Poland. It wouldn't be possible without you. Please keep in prayer for the new believers: that they may grow in the wisdom and knowledge of our Lord and they won't be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.

Welcome!

We have decided to start a new blog solely for ministry. I hope it will make things simpler for you while trying to keep up with what's going on in our lives and with the ministry here. Some prefer to know our personal stuff and some only the ministry. So here's my solution! Thank you for being a part of our journey and the journey of those around us who we believe we're impacting for the good of the kingdom of God. God bless you!