God's people and your support

December is here and so is the LOTTIE MOON CHRISTMAS OFFERING. Every penny given to this offering is used to support the 5,600+ Southern Bapt. missy’s as they share the Gospel overseas. This year’s goal is $175 million and the theme is “Who’s Missing, Whose Mission?” It focuses on overcoming barriers to hearing and accepting the Gospel in various parts of the world and the mission that the Great Commission gives all Believers to “go and make disciples of all nations.” The shortfall in last year’s offering has resulted in large reductions to the number of new workers that will be sent to the field in 2010. Petition that Southern Baptists will give generously this year, so that those called can go and that the Good News will continue to be proclaimed to those who need to hear.

who said "black Friday" was only in the States?

Since here is Poland they don't celebrate "black Friday" the ladies on the team decided we would create our own black Friday shopping trip. We loaded up and left at 5:30am to head down to Warsaw for a day of shopping and big city life. Below are some pictures of the day.

* Stacey and I on the bus to Warsaw

* First stop: Starbucks!

*Polish Pottery shopping!








It was a very long but good day! Its a new team NEP tradition!....I hope:)

some kind of crazy

Hey everyone! The last month or so has been crazy busy! Between moving into a new apartment and going to Germany for a company conference along with new ministries that have started up here in Olsztyn I can easily say I have/had a lot on my plate. However, through it all the Lord has been amazing and I thank Him for all the new ministries going on here and getting to reconnect with both American and Polish friends. Below I attached a link so you can see some of the pictures that I took in Germany. I still have not posted the new apt. pictures but once I do I’ll make sure I post the link to that as well. Hope everyone is doing well.

Prayer request:
· The big coffee house launch this Thursday-please pray that people will come and that through coffee house we can meet new contacts and share the THRUTH with them.
· Alfa Groups- This is a Polish discipleship group that meets in our apartment. Pray that those coming to seek would find salvation is Christ alone
· All saints and all souls day (oct.31-nov.1)-This is the day that people will go and place candles and flowers on loved ones graves and pray for them in hopes to get them closer to heaven. Pray as we prayer walk the cemeteries that Christ light and hope would shine through us.


Pictures of my time in Germany:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2058058&id=55500445&l=8d4be4a353

Polish Christian Rap

To end the week of GROM (evangelism training) in Olsztyn they brought Kola in to share the TRUTH through his awesome talent of rap. Below is a clip of Kola preforming in old town. He was able to stand on stage and promo for his concert later that night.

Update...

Things have settled down since my last month of travels. This next month’s big ministry event will be the 9th-21st when I work with the local believers as they learn and develop new discipleship strategies. Along with helping the Poles I am also very excited about revamping our existing coffee shop ministry. At the end of this month I will travel down to Krakow (south Poland) where I will meet up with another M who runs a coffee shop ministry to share ideas and ask questions. The hope for the new ministry is to meet weekly in a hotel conference room. Each week we will host a different theme (ex. Movie night, game night, bring in live artist/musicians). The draw of the place will be offering free coffee and English conversation along with the scheduled activity for that evening. All this of course is to build new relationships and share the gospel.

Prayer request:
*We can find a place to live in a new area of town which we hope to start ministry projects come fall: We are hoping to find a big enough place to allow all the Journeygirls to live together as well as have discipleship groups meet in our home.
*pray as we collaborate as a team to create new ministry projects: projects like bible distribution and starting a new church
*For our new revamped weekly coffee shop ministry: pray we continue working out logistics such as location, advertising and weekly themes
*GROM: for two weeks in August (9th-21st) Poles will be training Poles in street evangelism and discipleship techniques.

Praises:
*We have had over 15 people request a bible and a monthly discipleship program.
*weekly new people are coming to church
*The weather has been warm and sunny!

Revelations 1:9-11

I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea." Revelations 1:9-11

*outside the cave where Paul wrote Revelations

While in Greece I had the chance to visit the spot where John wrote the book of Revelations. It was a neat experience getting to see the place where John would have walked. However, at the same time it was disheartening to hear others around me tell their children and friends the account of Paul as just another story or even fairytale. Praise God for giving us the Bible and the ONLY source of truth!

I was not allowed to take pictures inside the cave where Paul was sentenced and the spot where Revelations was written but I was able to get picture of outside the cave and around the island.

*art work outside the entryway of the cave

*view from the island of Patmos

Its all Greek to me

Here are some pictures from Greece:

*Side street on Mykonoc island

*Sun going down over Mykonoc

* Ancient Ephesus

* view from the top of a volcano (which I climbed)

Party Aminals!

Friday all the children/pre-teens on our team come over for a massive slumber party. A chance to hang out with the children and also so the parents could enjoy come R&R time. We had a blast! We custom made pizzas, decorated cookies, played the Wii, and enjoyed popcorn and a movie. The next morning we started things off right with a pancake and bacon breakfast followed by a photo scavenger hunt and picnic lunch. It was an awesome time with lasting memories!

Polish baptism

While looking through my pictures and video I came across the video of a polish baptism I had the honor of attending a couple months back. Every time I watch this it reminds me of why I am here. To see people come and grow in the Lord. We serve an awesome God! A God that transcends language barriers and cultural differences. A God that meets us where we are.

English anyone?

Every Thursday some of the team has the privilege to teach English in a town not far from Olsztyn (Jonkowo). On average we have anywhere from 8-10 students that come to our after school English lesson which last about 45min. to an hour long. We play games with them and other activities, using basic level English skills to help them learn and practice their English. All this is in hopes to build a relationship with the students and teachers which will hopefully lead to them hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pray along with us that every English lesson and conversation will be used to further the TRUTH.

LIBS

Over on the left hand side of the screen you may notice that I have added a new link..."LIBS in English". Here is a blog site link to a ministry tool we call LIBS. Once going to the site you can read about what LIBS are and will be able to see just one way we are able to share the gospel.

LIBS are used anywhere from coffee shop meetings, in home visits, and much more. Each month along with the help of a Polish pastor LIBS are created and translated into both English and Polish. On the blog site there is also a link that will take you to the Polish version of the site if you are interested to see what that looks like.

Please be in prayer for the distribution and weekly use of LIBS to help spread the gospel here in Poland.

One year mark

Hey y’all! That’s right I’ve hit my one year mark! WOW has time flown by. Looking back on the last year I can recall the struggles of picking up and moving across the pond, having to say good bye to friends and love ones and cling to the promise and call which God has given me. I can’t say it’s been easy. Having to learn a new way of life, learn a new language, and get adjusted to the new “norms”. However, I also see the great joy and blessing that I’ve seen over the past year by obeying and following the Lords plan. The things I’ve seen, the people I’ve meet and the team the Lord placed me with is forever life changing. The simple truths the Lord has taught me and my daily walk with Him is so much richer! Looking back I wouldn’t change a thing! Through the highs and lows God is good…. My provider, my rock and comforter in my very present time of need.

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a ladies retreat in Krakow, Poland. The time spent with others was a breath of fresh air. The opportunity to share one another’s victories and struggles was a sweet and precious time to me. Also getting some comfort items from the States such as peanut butter and Hersey Kisses wasn’t bad either. All to say it was an awesome time and a wonderful “vacation”.
Bailey

Time keeps flying!

The Easter holiday has already come and gone... WOW this year seems to be flying by. I can’t believe I’ll be half way through my two year term come April 28th. I look back and the last year has been nothing but a pure joy and blessing.

Weather: Finally after 6 months of cold dark winter I am finally seeing what looks and feels to be like a hint of spring. Who knew the mid 40’s felt so nice! It’s wonderful to see people out on the streets again and children playing on the playgrounds. It feels like everyone is finally making their way out from their winter hibernation.

Roadblock: Usually as most of you know I go out to the village of Olsztynek on Tuesdays and teach English using Bible stories. Well a group here called Catholic action has found out about our work and has seen how successful it has become. Its gone from 5 children when we first started to now 20 children coming faithful each week to hear about the Bible stories. Because the group has begun to give us some opposition. The polish pastor is having several meetings with the leaders of this group and hopefully somehow we will be able to continue our work there.

New addition: The polish pastor that we work closely with and his wife welcomed their first child into the world on March 17th. Piotr (Peter) was 7lb. 6oz. and 21 inches long. Both baby and mom are doing wonderful!

We serve an awesome God

This last week was truly one of those weeks that I just had to stand back and be in AWE of the Lord. To start off…At the beginning of the week I was a little discouraged at the fact that I have been on the field for 7 months and had yet to have a spiritual conversation with a non believer. So during my quite time that was one of the things I talked to the Lord about. In return He gave me an amazing week with numerous opportunities to share Him and praise Him.

Tuesday: I go do ESL work in the villages. Well we ended up not having class in Olsztynek so instead we made a home visit. That was the first time I had made a home visit and I think it went well. We told the Bible story of Joshua and the wall of Jericho and sang songs together with the children. Bother the mother and father stayed in the room and listened to the story and watched the children have fun making the craft and singing songs.

Wednesday: A lady come to 3C (coffee house) and I ended up getting to share the gospel with her. She is a Catholic theology student at the university but she is open to hear what I believe. We are going to continue to meet on Wednesday mornings.

Thursday: At 3C we have been having several college students attending. Well just one came on Thursday and I was able to share with her too! We talked about child/infant baptism, confession, the pope, original sin, Mary, the rosary, the authority of scripture, the blood of Jesus and way he died, and the hope that we can have by knowing Jesus. She describes herself as a post modern thinker. She was interested in hearing what I believe.

(Left: Me standing out in the middle of a frozen lake)

Saturday: In the morning I went with my language teacher and her family to feed the ducks a one of lakes in town. The lakes have frozen over here so I actually got to go out and walk on it. It was pretty cool! I also had a girl’s night with a polish fiend. After our girls night I took her back to her apt. I stayed for some tea and ended up having a spiritual discussion. She asked questions and I told her what I believe and the path of salvation. She was interested in what was discussed and she wanted to come to church with me on Sunday.

(Right: a picture of the yummy food we ate)

Sunday: My friend came to church! During church she asked questions and began to read the Bible that I gave to her. After church she wanted to go somewhere and talk and reflect on what she had just heard. We ended up going back to my apt. and we talked about the church service, answered questions that she had, I laid out the Roman Road for her. She told me that she was going to start reading the Bible and I am meeting with her again on Thursday.

Bottom line: The Lord is good and I was able to share the path of salvation and the Hope that we can find in Him! Three times in one week!

Christmas Blessing

Well Christmas has come and gone and it’s now January 13th and I am just getting around to writing about my adventures in the States. (My bad)

From the 19th of December to the 3rd of January I was back in the great state of Texas *(All Texans reading this just broke out into large cheers)* to celebrate Christmas with my family and friends. It was a time to reconnect with friends and my sending church as well and spending some special quality time with my family. My two weeks in the States was very busy getting everything checked off my “to-do” list and seeing everyone that I wanted to see, but I loved every moment of it!

(picture: my mom, me, sister Emily and T.C. on Christmas morning)

It was a very special blessing from the Lord! Now I am back in Olsztyn and my vacation is over. I’m once again hard at work. Back to ESL in the villages and weekly English conversation at the coffee shop. Along with helping orientate new team members and meeting with nations.
The Lord worked in and around me in such amazing and mind blowing ways the last six months I can’t wait to see what the next six months will bring.

(picture: my college roomies and I while out to dinner at Salt Grass)