1st Thanksgiving in Poland

I didn’t have my traditional garden ridge trip after Thanksgiving dinner or getting up at 4am to go shopping the day after but this thanksgiving was still a blast!

Thursday we ate Thanksgiving as a team, watched movies and played games. Friday we had Thanksgiving part 2. The team from Warsaw came up and we enjoyed having Thanksgiving with them. We also played games and had a time of praise and worship. Saturday I went with the Warsaw team to The Wolf’s Lair (Hitler’s headquarters while he was in Poland) it’s only about 1 ½ away from Olsztyn so it wasn’t a bad drive at all. Afterwards we ate lunch near the castle and headed back to Olsztyn.

(picture: our 33 pound turkey)

(picture: Hitler's bunker)

Once back in Olsztyn we took the Warsaw group to me new favorite place…The chocolate café! After warming up by the fire and our tummy’s were full for chocolate we all headed over to other teammates apt. to watch the Cowboys Thanksgiving game.
This year’s Thanksgiving was a blast!

first snow...

I just wanted to post some Pictures of the first snow here in NE Poland. Since in Texas light fluffy snow, snow at all for that matter is not common and bascially non-existent I wanted to make sure I had plenty of Pictures to remeber the event. Enjoy!

*View from my balcony over looking the tennis courts

* A little look at the snow

Mr. Golden Sun

Who knew once my constant complaining over the Texas summer heat and sun would soon be something I dreamed of? This time of the year the weather in Poland consist of mainly dark, cold, and rainy days. We will go several days without seeing the sun and it now gets dark by 4pm.

Today, however, was not a typical polish weather day. The sun was out and shining bright! Since the day was so beautiful staying inside all day was not an option. So Alethea (a teammate) and I took a beautiful walk around one of the lake that is located by old town here in Olsztyn. It was so nice to have nowhere to be and just had the chance to take in the beautiful sights of the city.

The rest of the week is supposed to be cold, foggy, and rainy. So even though the nice weather is over..it was so nice to have a day that just warms your heart and gives you another reason to praise the Lord for his blessings and gifts

lights in a dark world

Tonight the team went and spent some time prayer walking through one of the cemeteries in town. Today is November 1, which is All Saints Day. I’ve heard one of our team members says it best. It’s the most beautiful darkness even. After seeing the sights I would have to agree. It’s a beautiful sight to see and at the same time heartbreaking. To see people praying to Mary, parents teaching their children lies and the plan fact that people are putting their faith in something other than Christ. It shows the totally darkness that is here. While at the same time you saw how the light of the candles cut through the darkness just as we are to be lights of the world and cut through the darkness. I found this and thought it explained some aspects of All Saints day nicely:
-Participate in the tradition light candles at and visit the graves of deceased relatives. The candles, znicze, of All Saints Day are uniquely designed to burn for hours to provide light to help the souls of the dead find their way. Cemeteries are also decorated with small lanterns. The metal covers of the lanterns help to protect the flames from the wind.

-People bring fall flowers or wreaths to place on the graves. In Poland yellow and white chrysanthemums are traditionally used to decorate graves as are asters. Kwiat and znicze (flower and candle) markets are set up outside the gates of some graveyards.

-Silent crowds revel in the lights. The thousands of candles lighting the cemeteries creates a glow which can be seen from far away.

The tale of Multi Media

So the time had come for me to renew my cable and internet package here in Poland. Sean asked me and I took the task on willingly to go and handle, or at least try to, on my own. Now between lack of time and the cable companies’ computer system being down it took three days before I could finally get into the store. Once I did I figured my game plan would go as followed. [Walk in and after greeting them in polish ask if the person helping me spoke English] The plan seemed full proof. And I must add it was going well. The costumer care person even said she spoke a little English…..

But that’s about as far as I got with my “full proof” plan. I very soon found out the “I can speak a little English” really meant that she couldn’t. Now, I had waited in line and now that I finally had a person’s attention I wasn’t about the just walk out. So we spent the next 15-20min. going over cable plans, filling out paperwork and renewing my contract.

That’s right folks… all done in Polish. Afterwards on the way home I couldn’t believe what had just happened. God is so good and so faithful. He always amazes me! He truly answered my prayer. Even if was for cable and internet;)

Tuesdays in Olsztynek

Every Tuesday another lady on the team and myself go to Olsztynek (about 30 minutes from Olsztyn) and teach ESL (English as a second language) to children in an after school program for about an hour. For the next couple of months we are going to be using heroes of the Bible to learn English. So far we have gone over Noah and Abraham. We plan on going over key figures from the Old Testament until we get the main man JESUS. (below: the childern working on their Abraham craft)

The kiddos enjoy coming each week and behave well. Actually this week was the first week without the help of the other two Jmen (gotta give a shout out to my Jessica and Amber!) However, flying solo went very well! Even with no national there the language barrier didn’t cause a problem and I was actually able to communicate everything I needed to.
Along with learning about Abraham this week the kiddos were also excited because I brought candy corn, cupcakes and we made a pumpkin craft in honor of Halloween which it just around the corner. The kids are a blast to be around! Please be in prayer for them.

(left) Łukasz being a little ham for the camera

Brownie fellowship....

For getting to know the ladies in the church we hosted a brownie fellowship. We played games, I did a demonstration to show them how to make brownies (note* they don’t have brownies here) and Lydia gave a devotional. We had an amazing turn out and I think the ladies had a lot of fun! We are going to start doing the ladies fellowship once a month. Next month we are going teach them about the American holiday of Thanksgiving. The ladies requested that we teach them how to make pumpkin pie.

After we played our “party” games we enjoyed homemade brownies and gave away some door prizes’. It was very nice to have the chance to meet the ladies from the national church and our hopes are that next time they will tell their friends and it will begin to be an outreach for unbelievers.

Mailbox mayhem...

So as you may know from a previous blog post I was never given a mailbox key so my supervisor made me one out of a coat hanger. Well after using that for a while I actually got pretty good at breaking into my own mailbox.

Now, after returning home from Riga I was excited to check my mail because I knew I would have birthday cards and packages awaiting me! I opened the door to my apt. builder and to my surprise the mailboxes were not where they normally where. Now a bolted in unit of mailboxes usually don’t just get up and walk away so I was very puzzled at what I found. My first thought was that I walked into the wrong apt building so I stepped outside and made sure I was in the right place…yep I was.

While after a moment of total confusion I continued up the stairs to my apt. while walking up the stairs I finally found where my mailbox went to! It seems while I was gone we got new ones.
Now these are totally different then my pervious mailbox so once again I found myself without a mailbox key. So taking from the example of my supervisor I made my own key, out of a coat hanger and tape. I was able to fish the coat hanger down into the mailbox and use the tape to grab my letters and then slowly fish my mail out. Just when I thought getting my own mail couldn’t be any more ghetto I was wrong.

Now the happy ending to this tale is…yesterday I found a letter posted on the apt. door (in polish of course) telling me where I could go to pick up a key. Well first I was shocked that I could read the letter and actually understand it, then a bigger shock came when I went down to the admin office all by myself and was actually able to get the key. Oh happy day! I found out I know my Polish then I thought and I am now a proud owner of a new mailbox key. No more use for the coat hanger..hopefully.

Riga!

So we made it to Riga and back safe and sound thanks to the driving of Amber and John Mark. It was a blast! Getting to spend time reconnecting with old friends and meeting new one. I'm now even more excited for AGM and other CEE retreats! It was so nice to be around others and get to hear how the Lord has worked in there lives, refreshing really. Getting to stay up late watching american football and playing games while eating way to much candy and chocolate was icing on the cake:) Being able to say I've been to two more countries isn't a bad deal either.

All in all it was great time of fellowship, and one of my best birthdays ever! I was so glad and blesses that I got to spend my special day with all my new friends. Oh and the best birthday gift..getting to worship and hear preaching in English!

Tour de Pologne

So yesterday the team got together for the annuel bike race that comes through Poland. It was fun to see how the town transformed for the bike race and to see a little polish pride. I must say though it was extremly cold outside. I bundled up but still really cold. Getting some coffee and yummy polish sweets helped though:) Afterwards we all went to dinner and just had a good time of fellowship. Below are some pics of us waiting for the race to start. However, I dont have any pictures of the actually race because my camera decided to run out of battiers *sad day*....

* monster truck--highlight before the race started!

Jessica, Amber and myself waiting in the cold for the race to start

Correction...

So I have to correct my previous blog post. I was informed by my supervisor that it was not chocolate milk I drank but rather buttermilk with sprinkles. Who does that? Poland I guess. Anyways I’m still on the hunt for chocolate milk. I’ll let you know when and if I find any.

First major language goof! Oh well it’s the Lords way to keep me humble and also gives you a good laugh.

Do's and Don'ts

Don’t: So I found out the hard way today that you SHOULD NOT buy and especially don’t drink the so called “Chocolate milk”. While at the store I found some and was so excited. It wasn’t soy but it was the next best thing. I finally got home and opened it and there was the first clue…it wasn’t the color of chocolate milk! It was still white with just small pieces of chocolate floating in it. I thought well maybe it’s just different. Oh was I right but not in a good way. It was really thick and gross. So all to say when in Poland don’t be tempted to drink the chocolate milk. Just wait and get it from the States.

Do’s: Thanks to my wonderful language teacher who daily treats us to yummy snacks during our breaks I found a wonderful type of cookie called Marco. They are shaped moist gingerbread cookies dipped in chocolate. YUMMY! So even though the chocolate milk was a bust the Marco’s I bought made up for it.

You just have to laugh

So as many of you may know. For about the first 3 ½ weeks of me living in Poland I was unable to get or receive mail because I was without a key to my mailbox and zip code. Well I figured if I just waited for the Landlord to give me my mailbox key I then could look on the mail that was left in the mailbox by the pervious resident and get my zip code. It seemed like a good idea until the landlord called Sean my SC and told me that my mailbox never had a key and that it would be my responsibility to find a way to get into my mailbox. So Sean came over and with a coat hanger created a key.

So I finally have a “key”! Next I got into my mailbox to get the mail and finally figure out my zip code. Well every piece of mail in the box had a different zip code on it. So my idea failed at the point. But the good news is Sean and I, with the help of Jessica and Amber found that the zip code was posted on the top of the mail box the whole time.

Looking back it a funny story that you just have to laugh. You have to do that a lot here or the “logic” of Poland will make you go crazy.

Don’t be afraid…their just vowels!

So… tomorrow marks one week that I’ve been in language study. So far so good, the teacher is throwing grammar at us now so the game just got a curve ball add to it! Even though I’ve only been a studier of the Polish language for a week there is one thing that I noticed, and to be quite honest would be hard not to. That is the dislike of vowels in polish words. Words like grzyb, tanczyc, and a host of many others that are sure to be out there hiding around dark corners just waiting for me to discover them. I asked my teacher about this crazy phenomenon that is consonants and she processed to inform me…what’s wrong with consonants? What are you thinking? …
I processed to tell her that in English many words have double vowels, and oh you should of seen the almost fear stricken look she gave me. Let’s just say she thought that was a crazy idea a shuttered at the thought. Oh well consonants here I came.

I think I did it !?

So this evening I descided to make brownies for a get-together that a couple of us are have tomorrow.

You may think to yourselves...okay? Well I must say by looking at the last post you know i'm working with a gas oven. Thank goodness I had a brownie mix from the States (they don't have brownie mix here in Poland) so it made it a little bit easier. Next in the line of events to make a simple pan of brownies was going on line and figuring out the conversion from F to C. Then after looking puzzled at the oven I took the plung a lite it. Next I had to figure out where the knob needed to be to achive the correct temp. You see not only is it a gas oven it also doesn't have a temp. control on the knob. You just turn it on and wait for the temp neddle to stop moving and then you know the temp.

After all this I mixed the brownies in a pot becuase I don't have any mixing bowls and then had to scoop the mix out with a wooden flat sloted "spoon" ...MAN! I miss my Kitchen Aid tools!

All to say i sat and watched in anticiaption to see if they would turn out or if after all my hard work they would turn out to be a flop. After taking them out and looking at them more closely I think they turned out.

One more challenge complet! Many more to go.

13 matches and a prayer

So about a week ago i had my first chance to cook in my new apt. In the states this would be no challange for me..however, here in Poland its a whole new ball game. First off I have a gas oven and stove top. Now my previous experence cooking with gas is almost non-exsistant.

You should have seen me..with the puzzled look on my face, match in my hand and a prayer to the Lord I attempted to light the stove top. Well you can determin by the title of this entry that I didn't get it to work on the first try or the seconde, or the third. Thats right folks..13 matches later I finally got a flame going and stayed going. Who would have ever known noddles would be so hard to make?

I made it!

Hey y'all just to let everyone know...i made it to Poland! I've been here for 6 days now and starting to get a feel of what the next two years might hold. A couple days after I arrived the team had a July 10th party...(the team was sick so they had to celebrate the 4th a little later then planned) however I loved getting to celebrate my first holiday with them. I got a chance to meet the team and eat some yummy cheesecake:)

Tomorrow (Tuesday) I'll be heading into a village with a vol. team from the states and the rest of my team. We will be there till Sunday and then after a night of unpacking and repacking I'll spend a couple of days in Krakow just hanging out and having fun.

Thank you for all the prayers and support! I'll be keeping y'all updated through my blog and email.

Prayer request:
1. the team is looking into buying an automatic car for village ministry
2. comfort and daily peace about my purpose here
3. team unity
4. pray that the Lord would sent more people to team NE Poland
5. safe travles as we go back and forth between towns and cities

Bailey

Cuddle what !?!

So today I learned what cuddle Duds were. Apparently they go under your clothing to keep you warm in the winter and apparently I'll be wearing them a lot over the next two winters. Oh and I was also advised to bring wool socks. This stuff is serious! I'm just hoping I'm still in the "honeymoon" stage when the first winter hits so I don't get to bothered by the fact that the temperatures will be unlike anything Id ever felt before. I have to give a thanks to everyone who filled me in on this new article of clothing which I'll be sporting for the next two year. I'm pretty sure this wont be the first time I learn something new..if fact I can tell you for sure I'll have many eye opening experiences before its all over.
9 days till the big move!

goodbye VA

It seems like just yesterday I was packing and rushing around the house getting everything together for Va. Well an amazing six weeks went bye and now I'm back in Texas unpacking just so I can start to repack. I learned a lot and I'm ready to apply it. Come July 8Th I'm off! Excited Very, nervous...a little, worth it? TOTALLY! Below is a picture from our fun times over the last six weeks.





In DC! Yeah for our USA Capitol!


Here we are getting ready to take a relaxing ride over to see "Tom" Thomas Jefferson memorial that is. Well it was relaxing for me.... thanks guys for all your hard paddling:)

By the end of the day I was worn out!

Here I am at a ladies tea! Good times:)

Thanks to everyone who made the last six weeks ROCK! Now if you know me there were a lot more events that took place over the last six weeks. I'm just really bad at taking pictures of them:)

less than a month!

Sorry I have not written in a while Va has been crazy busy! I have 10 days left in VA, then I'm back in Texas for 10 days and after that I'm on a plane to poland! Crazy how time went by so fast. I can't wait to head over and share what God is doing among the Polish people.
Bailey

April showers bring May flowers

So I have exactly 23 days until I leave home and begin my first of two major moves. I thought leaving for college an hour and a half away was a big deal...that wasn't nothing compared to this.

For the rest of April my calender seems pretty full. My last day of work will be the 17th. Then its to my parents house for a week where I will finish last minute things that I didn't get to do over spring break. Then I'll be back in S'ville on the 24th. That's when it gets really crazy. Thursday is my last College Life (begin water works..now) it's a lake side service which are always a hit. Oh and before that the roomies and I are going to my favorite "hole-in-the-wall" restaurant for dinner:) Friday night we are having our last Cage street bash ever! where going out with a BANG! We are celebrating Kimberly's birthday, Danielle's graduation, Naomi's wedding, and my going away. Saturday morning the roomies are hosting Naomi's wedding shower. I'm super excited! Even though I can't go to the wedding at least I can somewhat be apart. Then comes Sunday...after church services the church body will commission me and pray over me. Then its tearful goodbyes and a drive back home to the parents house. However, Danielle did get the day off so she can take me to the airport. That's where we will say our goodbyes. Only for eight weeks though then I'm back in Texas! Well for two weeks that is.

During that time I'll be packing like crazy and saying my goodbyes. I'll head down to good ole' S'ville one more time for fourth of July. Oh and I can't forget special day with Danielle..we are going to build-a-bear together:)

April is bringing many tears but with May comes a new season in my life. Excited and cant wait yet still a bit scary.

Bigger then Texas

So last night during my bestest and I usual pillow talk, always enjoyable and will greatly miss come April, the water works started. Through some train of thought we ended up talking about Me leaving. She asked how I was handling it all and I told her actually very well and the Lord has given me a total peace about it. Well all I know is she started to cry and I ended up joining in right along. I'm not going to lie I am SUPER excited to serve the Lord and follow through with the will He has for me! However, I also will miss my comfort zone, daily communication and activities that I now take for granted. I love my life here in the great state of Texas but I also know that the Lord has something even bigger than Texas planned for me.



Note: Not everyone in Texas wears cowboy hats, take for example, me! We were at the PBR World Finals so Danielle had a reason for showing off her stereotypically Texas pride.

Poland here I come!

So I got my letter on Saturday! From the title of my post you can see that I'll be heading off to Poland come July. It's such a wonderful feeling to finally know for sure where I will be going. I'll head to Virginia the end of April where I'll be in training for eight weeks then I'll be back here in the wonderful state of Texas! But only for two weeks, those two weeks will be devoted to packing and saying my goodbyes. Then the first week in July I'll move over to Poland were I will start my two year journey. While I'm there from what I gather I'll be assisting and working with college students, children’s groups, and tribes. Which I am super excited about! I've also been able to look at pictures and read about what team Poland is already doing and I must say it's really helping me to get excited and anticipate the move.



Thank you to everyone that has prayed for me and is continuing to pray for me as I now begin to take the next steps to prepare myself for Poland.



Prayer request:

-access to a manual car b/c I need to learn how to drive a stick shift

- Diligence as I begin to learn survival polish

- continued unity within the group that I will be joining

- That I can get all the loose ends tied up before I head off to training.

Waiting Game

February 15th, the infamous day where letters are received and two year commitments are finalize is quickly approaching. Yet not fast enough for me. I wait in anticipation as the next two years is decided for me. Thinking to myself daily the affairs I need to get in order when that letter comes. The new daily agenda of language learning and learning how to drive a stick is just a few of the new items that will consume my time here in the States before I leave to embrace on a new journey which the Lord has set before me. Excited, extremely! Nervous, terribly! However, I know the Lord as ordained a special task for me, one that fits my own personal talents. I want so badly to be able to answer all those who ask the questions “where are you going?” and “what will you be doing?” but I can’t I can only speculate and hope. So until the 15th I’m playing the waiting game.
xoxo Bailey

Who would have known?

The Lord has an amazing sense of humor I once again found out. Oh how little we think we know what’s best for us. I really do believe I make Gods side hurts sometimes. You know with all the laughing He probably does at me when I tell Him my plans.

I came to Virginia this week to seek the Lords will for me. And as usual I tried to take complete control. I told the Lord the area I wanted to go to and the job qualifications I wanted. I specifically informed Him that I did not want to work with certain age groups or go to certain places. Well… as you can probably figure from this my plan didn’t really turn out the way I had hoped. Everything I thought I didn’t want the Lord gave me, ever place I didn’t have an interest in he showed me. No it didn’t turn out at all the way I was hoping, no it turned out even better!

The Lord continues to amaze me with his Perfect will and sovereign power. Oh how He has written such a beautiful love song for me if I would only seat long enough to hear it play.