Happy Birthday, Larry!

It’s Sunday night in Poland. Happy Birthday, Larry!! Today he turned 36. This is his second birthday celebrated in Poland. Last time we had a big party with a cake and everything. This year it’s a little more low-key. We hope to go out to dinner tomorrow night to celebrate. One great thing about celebrating here is that his birthday is 9 hours longer. Since Poland is 9 hours ahead of California, his birthday doesn’t end until 9am on Monday here! (Don’t ask us to apply the same rule on the beginning of the day, not starting his birthday until 9am Sunday; it just doesn’t work that way!)

Anyway, we are finally back at the PROeM camp in Zakosciele where internet is far more accessible.

Yesterday was our last day at the Real Action Festival in Sandomierz. In total, our groups renovated 4 preschools, painted 2 full-size tanks at the entrance to the town cemetery, renovated 4 apartments, painted a railing (I hear it was a very long railing), and ran the Indian camp for children. Real Action is a partnership between the Real Hope organization and the city. Real Hope supplied the manpower and the city provided the equipment. I just learned about the official Real Action blogsite. Check it out: http://www.realnaakcjapoland.blogspot.com/!

Last night we had a large worship meeting/concert in the town square. Hundreds of people attended. They heard about what we did all week long and (more importantly) why we did it. PROeM’s worship band (Exodus 15 http://www.exodus15.pl/) and a gospel choir from Poznan performed. Thanks to a tired baby, we had to walk back to our dorm before the gospel choir sang. Oh well, we heard it was very good.

We left Sandomierz this morning and made the 3 hour drive back to Tomoszow in time for church. You can imagine how excited David was to wake up at 5am. We survived, though. We are so encouraged by what we see at the church plant in Tomoszow! Last time we were in Poland, the building was a dusty old movie theater under construction. Now it’s a beautiful place of worship. We’ll try to take some pictures next week so you can see it too!

Tomorrow morning we’ll find out what our role at the camp will be this week. There’s a conference going on here this week (not a PROeM children’s camp), so we don’t know quite what to expect.

Below are some pictures of Thursday night’s kielbasa roast, more kids at the Indian camp, and some of the work we did at the preschool. But first, …

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

• Praise God that we are all still mostly healthy. David has a bit of a stuffy nose, so please pray that it doesn’t turn into anything more serious. We’re also all pretty dirty and covered in mosquito bites, but I guess that just comes with the territory. As strange as it may sound, it’s nice to be back at camp!
• 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.
• Thank you for your prayers and encouragement for me (Chrissy) regarding my role as a mommy on this trip. I’m keeping my eyes open for opportunities I have to relate to people and to help in unique ways.
  
  

Most of the other pictures speak for themselves, but the one below merits a quick note. Larry is working with a Polish 18-year-old named Thomas here. Thomas accepted Christ at the PROeM camp 2 years ago when we were here. Now he's serving alongside us to reach this city for Christ.