Lap 2--Mom and Dad

The top photo is my mom and dad in the courtyard of Wawel Castle (where the frescos from the 15th century are). It was pretty amazing to see!

This is my dad standing on a bench of this ancient castle, peering into a window.

This picture above is our main form of transportation for the week. They rode a total of 4 trains during their time here and are old pros at the Polish train system, which involves being ready to tuck and roll at your stop...the train waits for no one.

Below, a picture of mom and dad in Old Town Olsztyn. My dad bought an Olsztyn baseball hat. It's official: he liked it here =)

After just getting warmed up in Lap 1, the Tour continued with a lap spent with my parents! We "reunited" in the lobby of the hotel in Warsaw and it was wonderful! They arrived safely, with a whole suitcase of goodies from America =) I am now supplied with new running shoes, my flute, socks, a travel coffee mug, soem of Grandma Davis's infamous chocolate chip cookies, more hair repair instrumes from Lori (thank you!!!), and the first four episodes of Deadliest Catch--my FAVORITE TV SHOW!--from Uncle Tom and Aunt Barb (thank you!) and lots of other goodies.
Not only was it great to be back with my parents for the week, we also got to see some beautiful sights in Poland and experienced a lot of history. Our first full day together, we caught the express train to Krakow and arrived, checked into our hotel and headed into Old Town. It was beautiful. Way bigger than Olsztyn or Warsaw! We walked around, went through a castle with frescos from the 15th century(!), and enjoyed dinner outside. The next day was not what I would call "fun", but powerful. We went to Auschwitz concentration camp. It's actually a series of three camps, and we saw two of them. It was...hmmmm, I don't know what to say. It definitely left an impact. I'm glad I got to see it, but wouldn't want to do it more than once. I'm also glad that I got to experience it with my parents.

The next day, we spent a little more time in Krakow, then caught the express train back to Warsaw, where we spent the next two days. We saw lots of different monuments and learned more about what happened in Warsaw during the German occupation in World War II (by the way, if you're ever interested in learning more about this, you can watch the movie "The Pianist"--it's strong and intense and a little hard to watch, but worth it nonetheless). Then, we headed back into Olsztyn and went to the Intemann's house with the rest of our team to celebrate Ethan's 5th birthday. It was a great chance for my parents to meet everyone and we all had a great time.
In Olsztyn, we had some time to just relax, but we also saw Old Town and went through the castle here. We got to go up into the tower and saw some amazing views of Olsztyn.

The visit with them was amazing. I'm SO thankful that they were willing to make the big trip. It was wonderful to see them, for them to see where I'm living and what my life is like here, and for them to meet my "family" here. Thanks mom and dad! When are you headed back? =)

(I can imagine that their answer is along the lines of: when Poland discovers ice cubes, air conditioning, and starts getting Cleveland Indians games broadcast...oh, and starts speaking English)

Lap 1: Camp

The photo above is us and the Americans that came for the week. They were awesome. They shared some powerful dramas, prepared English and drama workshops, brought food for an American Day at camp, and just loved on these kids. It was also a blessing to me to get to spend time with them.

The photo below is my cabin and group that I was a part of for the Alfa discussions. They were each so sweet and a lot of fun. I had a great time with them. Please pray for them, that the Lord would continue to draw each of them closer to Himself.

The photo above is a rainbow that showed up one afternoon during our Alfa group discussions. It was COLD pretty much all week, and it rained for several of the days. Anyhoo...the girl on the left is Agnieszka and she is a new sister in Christ. Next to her is Viola, the leader, and beside her is Karolina and then Magda.

The photo below is of the Polish believers who worked at the camp. They were great and put a LOT of hard work into this week. Please continue to pray for them as they follow up with the new believers and continue to meet with those who are interested in continuing to study the Bible.

So, the first stop on the Tour '07 was a little village called Swietajno where we worked with people from the Polish Baptist church here in Olsztyn at a camp for youth aged 14-18 from three cities in the area. There were about 50 students that came and it was an amazing time. Because it was older students, there were many who spoke English remarkably well, which made our task much easier! We had a team of 7 come from Jonesboro, Arkansas, including 3 youth and 1 college student, which was great. These 4 spent SO much time with the kids, it was awesome to see. They all lived with the students, along with Amber and I. I was in a cabin with 7 other girls who all had either just finished high school or only had a year or two left. They were great and all except for one spoke great English. I got to know two of the girls, Magda and Karolina, really well and am hoping to continue meeting with them. They are what would probably be considered "postmodern" thinkers and are interested in reading and talking about the Bible. Please pray for them, that we'd be able to connect with them (they live in Olsztyn) and that they'd be drawn to read God's Word.


Throughout the week, we met in small groups to discuss different topics in something called Alfa Groups. It was a great way for open conversation and to be able to point these youth to God's Word. At the end of the week, we had 14 new brothers and sisters in Christ and many others who are interested in continuing to talk about these topics. Please pray for the church here, that they'd be intentional and faithful to following up and continuing in discipleship with these students.

And, just for fun, here are a few random hi-lights of the week:
-Amber fell down a few steps as she was sending a text message; she was o.k., so it was permissible to laugh, right?
-I actually saw a couple of horse-drawn wagons in this village...no kidding
-eating lots of delicious home-made Polish soups for lunch each day (carrot, cucumber, chicken noodle...yummmmm)
-America Day including s'mores, Jif peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, eggs, bacon, and pancakes and getting to eat the remaining peanut butter throughout the week
-I also found someone who is very similar to my Grandma Davis: she was the "chief" back in the kitchen for the week and is 80 years old...I walked into the kitchen one morning to find her slathering peanut butter on a piece of pastry and topping it with syrup. She must be on the Grandma Davis/Buddy the Elf diet...the more sugar the better =)
-hearing DiscoPolo for the first time; it's a genre of music that everyone here talks about and usually knows the words to, but won't actually admit to listening to---let me just say that I now understand why
-playing Phase 10 and winning!!!!!!!! woo-
-learning how to yell "look out!!!!!!!!" in Polish because you've just thrown the frisbee and, although your father actually spent time teaching you how to NOT "throw like a girl" you still do! Sorry dad!
-waking up to a rooster crowing; eating lunch to the sound of a rooster crowing; going to bed to the sound of a rooster crowing...I think this guy was a little confused because he kept at it all day long
-getting to see stars as far as your eye can see; we can't do that here in the city and it was something I was really looking forward to out in the country (I definitely miss being able to see them out over the lake)...a lot of the nights were cloudy, but there were a few that were clear (and cold!) and it was wonderful

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Tour De Poland 2007

Well, I've officially completed the Tour De Poland 2007. It was about a year ago this time that I was on the Tour De Western Ohio. Things sure have changed in a year!
Anyhoo...the Tour '07 is in the books and, as usual, what an amazing thing it is to be a part of the things God is doing among us.
In case you missed it, here is the '07 touring schedule:
July 27--volunteer team from Arkansas arrives; meet team in the evening and head out into Old Town Olsztyn for dinner
July 28-Aug. 4--youth camp in a little village about an hour away
Aug. 4--return to Olsztyn and have dinner at the Stevenson's house
Aug. 5--leave for Warsaw; Amber and I took an early train and met her family at the airport, then I met up with the volunteer team and Patsy and spent the evening in Old Town Warsaw
Aug. 6--touring Warsaw with the volunteer team; Patsy and I played tour guides; my parents arrived!!
Aug. 7--get the volunteer team to the airport, then leave with my parents for Krakow
Aug. 8--Krakow
Aug. 9--return to Warsaw
Aug. 10--Warsaw
Aug. 11--on to Olsztyn and Ethan's birthday party at the Intemann's house
Aug. 12--Olsztyn
Aug. 13--my parents boarded a train and headed back to Warsaw where they stayed for the night, then flew over the pond on the 14th; I spent the day doing laundry and taking off my acrylic nails
Aug. 14--Amber and I head out to Olsztynek to be a part of a week of outreach in this little town
Aug. 15-17--Olsztynek
Aug. 18--slept in 'til 10 and enjoying the day in my own home

Phew! There it is. That's the last three weeks in a nutshell. I'm going to post something about each adventure in a seperate post, but I will just say that it was a time filled with meeting new people, ups and downs, lots of learning about the Polish culture, and about trusting the Lord for each day...not worrying or fretting about days to come. It was a wonderful experience, but I'm glad to be home for a while!