Videos!

These videos take FOREVER to load. We'll post more when we have time!

What's happening tomorrow

Right now it's 5pm on Thursday. Today we started at the Indian camp, as usual, but we were moved to work at one of the preschools in the afternoon. It's actually the preschool where Heather and Kenji are stationed. The team there is painting fences, a big shed, and some play equipment. We got to join in and get dirty - a nice change of pace!

Tomorrow we'll all be back at this preschool, hopefully finishing up the project. Larry is supposed to lead that team tomorrow. Hopefully he won't crack the whip too hard! We're not sure if we'll see the Indian camp again. Just trying to be flexible!

First Pictures

It’s Thursday in Poland and we finally uploaded some pictures. Enjoy!

Proof that we made it. We arrived at the camp in Zakosciele on Saturday (7/25). We stayed there for less than 24 hours before heading out to the Real Action Festival in Sandomierz.

After a long drive to Sandomierz on Sunday, we found a pizza place for lunch at 4:30pm. We were SOOO hungry (and tired too)! Notice in the background it was raining all around us, but we sat under these huge umbrellas that kept us completely dry.

Here Larry is teaching his little polish Indians about wisdom.

David and Daddy inside the tee-pee.

Yep, we're really talking about American Indians in Poland:

And now, here are the polish kids:

(oops, this one's not polish):

Everybody loves David.

Wednesday

It’s Wednesday afternoon in Poland. We arrived at the real hope festival on Sunday. (Actually, it’s called the real action festival, but it’s organized by the real hope organization. That, combined with the fact that we’re translating everything from polish, has made it a wee bit confusing.) Here's the website: http://www.realnaakcja.pl/. I'm not sure if it's possible to view it in English, but you can get an idea at least. We’re in a small city called Sandomierz, about 3 hours from the PROeM camps. I think the place where we’re staying is a youth hostel. It’s large, safe, and was probably built by the Soviets. All the walls are solid concrete. That’s why we didn’t discover the internet until last night. It’s only on the first floor; we dwell on the third.

Sandomierz is a small city with a population of approximately 30,000. It’s known for being 1,000 years old. Apparently it has a very nice downtown/old town. Anyway, there are approximately 100 Christians from around the world here, working on 12 different projects. Some are spiffing up preschools and kindergartens. (Heather and Kenji are at one of the preschools.) Others are painting tanks (military tanks) near the center of town. Larry is, of course, secretly envious of the tank painters. Still others are repairing apartment buildings. Larry, David and I were assigned to a park to assist with a VBS – type program.

In the park, 3 full size Indian tee-pees were put up just for this project. Children from the neighborhood are invited to come and shoot the bow and arrow, play with other Indian-themed games, and learn about various “Indian values,” each of which conveniently relates to a Bible verse. If you’re thinking that an American Indian theme at a Polish VBS sounds strange, you’re not alone. The kids are eating it up, though!

Right now, Larry and I feel like we’re doing the work of one person. I was put in charge of the Blackfoot tribe on Monday. I directed my kids through a translator while Larry held a sleeping David. (Interesting note: My translator was a polish girl who we met at PROeM’s camps in 2007. She was a camper then. When we arrived this morning, she ran up to us, saying our names with a big smile. Now she’s attending this VBS. We really are able to forge relationships with these children year after year!) Later on, when it was the Blackfoot tribe’s turn to shoot the bow and arrow, Larry and I switched. I suppose the physical work we do isn’t all we’re here for. I think our mere presence is valuable too. It’s meaningful for the children to have adults surrounding them and showering them with Jesus’ love. Babies transcend language barriers too. The kids and adults are constantly oogling over him. He’ll probably speak polish before we do.

Here’s how you can pray/praise right now:

• Praise God that David has slept through the night for the past 2 nights. Goodbye, jet lag! Thank you for your prayers after Sunday morning's blog!
• Praise God that we are all healthy.
• Praise God for the work He is doing in Sandomierz. We’re already starting to hear stories of people who are touched by what the Real Action team is doing.
• Please pray for this city. Few people here know Jesus and few are looking for him. Pray that through the ministry of Real Action, people will see God’s love for them and come to Christ.
• Please pray for our relationships with our PROeM brothers and sisters who are serving here. We long to develop community with them, to encourage them and to find ways to support them. Pray that God will give us wisdom as we relate to them.
• Pray for our attitudes. We’re surrounded by wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ. And yet without the Holy Spirit, it’s impossible to keep the right attitude at all times while serving! Pray that we be Spirit-filled, exhibiting love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
• Please continue to pray for perspective, especially for me (Chrissy). Right now I’m sitting in our dorm room while David naps. Everyone else is at the work projects already. Pray that I see the unique opportunities I have to serve, even though (or perhaps because) I am David’s mommy.
• Please pray for Heather and Kenji as they adjust to the polish lifestyle.

Pictures are forthcoming - I promise!

We Found Internet!

Hey Everybody! We're still alive! Sorry we can't write much now, but we're glad to have found the internet here and we'll write more as soon as we can. Everyone's healthy, rested and having a great time.

Jet Lag

It's Sunday morning now in Poland. Last night, just as Larry and I fell asleep around 11:30pm, David woke up. He (and consequently we) remained awake until nearly 2am! We were up this morning before 7 and, needless to say, exhausted. Please pray against jet lag and for rest tonight!

What's next

We'll stay in Zakosciele tonight. Tomorrow morning, we'll attend the church in Tomaszow. We saw the building 2 years ago as it was under construction. We're excited to see it up and running! Then we'll head to a town three hours away to help with Poland's "real hope festival" (http://www.projectpoland.org/?d=ppbasics) for the week. Much of the PROeM staff will serve there. We'll serve alongside them with construction projects and childrens' ministry.

How you can pray/praise right now:

- Praise God for travel mercies so far. Tomorrow's trip will be a crazy drive on polish roads. Please continue to pray for travel mercies.

- This next week is filled with unknowns. What exactly will we be doing? Where exactly will we be? Please pray that we all have a flexible spirit.

- The one "known" for this week is that we'll do manual labor. Please pray for wisdom on how to care for David and serve at the same time. Perhaps Chrissy will assist with a children's program so she can care for David? We're anxious to see what this will look like.

- Praise God for how close our team has grown in the last few days. We love Heather and Kenji and have enjoyed getting to know them better.

- Today was a restful recovery day. We are grateful for an opportunity to catch up on sleep before jumping in.

We're not sure if we'll have internet access at "real hope." If we do, we'll be sure to post updates daily! Pictures are forthcoming too!

Safe and Sound

Well, we arrived in Warsaw late last night, travel weary and relatively healthy. Door to door, we traveled for 27 hours. We praise God that through all that, we all still like each other, we had no major bumps in the road and even David is doing okay!

Here are the details: We flew out of LAX around 4pm on Thursday. Our flight to Heathrow was just over 10 hours. David slept for at least half the flight. The rest of us at least tried to sleep for half the flight. I think I (Chrissy) had 2 hours of actualy zzz's. We arrived in London around 10am on Friday morning and had a LOOONG layover there. That was fine with us... until it got longer... and longer. Our flight from London to Warsaw was delayed, thanks to thundershowers in London. When we finally got on the plane, buckled up and ready to fly, the pilot got on the intercom and told us we'd be sitting on the runway for at least an hour and a half. He said it with a perky voice, as if he were saying "Guess what, folks? We're going to bump you all up to first class!" But that's definitely not what he said. So we waited.

Heather and Kenji took David and played with him so Larry and I could try to sleep. (Ten minutes here and there really add up!) After 2 hours on the runway, we finally took off. We made it to Warsaw around 8:30pm. We worked our way through passport control, baggage claim (all bags, carseat and stroller are present and accounted for!) and customs, and then walked out of the airport, breathing fresh air for the first time in over 24 hours. We spent the night at a hotel near the airport. David was only up once in the middle of the night. (Thanks for your prayers regarding jet lag. He's doing great!)

This morning, our friend John from PROeM picked us up and we made it down to Zakosciele by lunch time. Phiew!

I always reach a point on these trips when I start asking myself "Is it really worth all this 'suffering' just to get there?" (On this trip, that point came just before we landed in Warsaw.) After all, PROeM would get by just fine without us. But of course, that's not the point. God could get along just fine without us too. We don't do these things because He needs us in Poland. We do this because we believe we can best glorify Him right now in Poland. I think that's worth a little suffering (Phil 3:7-11).

Ready to Go

I think we're ready to go! Our plane takes off tomorrow (Thursday) at 3:40pm. We'll arrive in Poland around 5pm Warsaw time (8am California time) on Friday. We'll spend the night in Warsaw, and then head down to Zakosciele on Saturday. Of course, we'll post an update as soon as we arrive and find internet access.

Below is a picture of our whole team. From left to right: Kenji, Heather, David, Chrissy and Larry.
Thank you for praying for us especially now as we try to complete all our last minute preparations. Also, please continue to pray for travel mercies. We expect getting there to be the hardest part of the trip. We'd love to arrive healthy and rested. (Hey, God can do anything, right?)

Support update: Praise the Lord, ALL of our support has come in. Thank you so much for giving! Once again, God has amazed us with His provision.

Back to packing now....
Chrissy

Our socks are off!

One week from today we're heading to Poland. God has just blown our socks off in these last two weeks, mostly through YOU. Thank you all who are supporting us prayerfully and financially. We won't have an official update on our financial support until next week, but we estimate that we are very close to our goal. God always provides, doesn't He?

This week I've been reading God's Heart for the Nations by Jeff Lewis. Throughout the Bible, we're reminded that God's purpose for everything is for the glory of His name. While we are going to Poland to bring the gospel to the people, it's helpful to remember the bigger picture: we're going to Poland for His name's sake. May everything we do there bring Him glory. May what you do today also bring Him glory.

Here's how you can pray (& praise!) right now:

• Pray that our team (Larry, Chrissy, Kenji, Heather and David) will grow in our love for the Lord, for each other, and for the Polish people. (Phil 1:9-11)
• Pray that we keep in mind the bigger picture, as described above.
• Praise God for his provision financially. He has blessed our socks off through you!
• Praise God for the prayer team He has raised up. (If you're reading this, then that team probably includes you - thanks!) Please pray for the team's faithfulness through the next month.
• We see our mission to Poland as a long-term relationship with the Polish kids and the PROeM staff. Please pray for these relationships, that God will grant us wisdom to know how to meet their needs.
• This year's summer camps are already underway. Pray for the campers. Many are returning after making first-time decisions for Christ last year. Others will hear the gospel for the first time. Most of them are steeped in a religious tradition that emphasizes a fierce and judgemental God. Pray that they grow to understand God's love for them. This week (7/12-7/18) the campers are 14+ years old and the theme of the camp is the arts. Campers are learning to praise God through music, art, dance and film right now!
• Jet lag is never fun and Chrissy is concerned about what it will be like with an 8 month old. Please pray for travel mercies.

One more thing: We intend to update this blogsite much more frequently now. Please check back soon!