Star Light, Star Bright

It's been a while, but I'm back with a little update of sorts. I want to say that we haven't been up to too much around here, but I guess we really have. It's pretty much the same old, same old, but it's been good. We started meeting with two new girls on Thursday nights to speak English and do a Bible study. We've met twice, and it's been really great. They're super sweet and their english is good. We've also still been meeting with Ala and Nina, which is a blast. They're just great. And, we're still going out to four villages, and looking at adding two more! Last Tuesday, after our final lesson for the day, we went to the home of the village leader, who is into astronomy as a hobby! When we first arrived, it was pretty overcast, but as we were leaving the skies cleared up a bit. We were able to see Saturn, Mars, several constellations, and the moon. It was pretty stinking amazing to see. I mean, we live in ONE galaxy and it's just unfathomably huge. I can't even wrap my little brain around it. But, it reminds me of Psalm 8:

"When I look at the night sky and see the work of Your finers--the moon and the stars that You have set in place--what are mortals that You should think of us, mere humans that You should care for us? For You made us only a little lower than God, and You crowned us with glory and honor. You put us in charge of everything You made, giving us authority over all things--the sheep and the cattle and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents."

It was just amazing to see the vastness of the night sky (I should also mention that it's something we don't often see here, either because it's cloudy or because we're in a city with many lights) and realize that, though I am so small, God sees me and knows me and cares for me. Amazing!

So, let's see, anything else going on around here...our friend Iza called us this past week and asked if we'd come help her clean up our church. They had done some remodelling over the past two weeks, and needed to get it cleaned up and put back together for church this Sunday. Amber and I were thrilled to be able to help out, so we gladly said we'd be there. Obviously, we can't do...well, anything that requires speaking! But, give us a rag and a bucket of water, and we're on it!

This is a picture from this past fall of the outside of the Olsztyn Baptist Church. The dark brown door is the entrance to our side of the building. The left side is some kind of men's only sauna, I think. I try to stay away from those.
This is the sign for the church. Needless to say, it's a little hidden and tucked away, a little difficult to find! This is also where we meet on Sunday nights for International Fellowship.
This is what we walked into on Friday morning. It looks great! Freshly painted walls and new light fixtures really help. This is the sanctuary, worship center, whatever you may call it.
And this is the dusty mess that was hidden behind the door in the picture above. Yuck. They had apparently sanded down the plaster walls in the sanctuary and the dust from the process was on EVERYTHING! I'm so not exaggerating about that one. I mean to tell you, the crayons and pencils were covered in dust. E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G. And this is Iza, surveying the damage and wondering where to start. This is the bathroom/kitchen where I was put on dish duty. Every Sunday after the service, people stick around to drink coffee and tea and eat little sweets and fellowship. And, since the cups, plates, and utensils fall under the category of EVERYTHING mentioned above, they desperately needed washed. There were five of us who worked for several hours Friday morning, then another group came on Friday afternoon, and more on Saturday, but the work got done and everything looked great Sunday morning!