Krakow

After the week of ministry in the different villages, Amber, Patsy, Juanita, Bailey and I travelled with the volunteer team down to the south of Poland to Krakow for a little sightseeing and shopping. I had been there once before when my parents visited last summer, but it was great to make the trip again. While we were there, we got to meet up with another of the girls (Sarah) doing the same 2 year program that I am (the Journeyman program) that we'd met for the first time in Finland. It was so great getting to spend time with her and she did an awesome job showing us around the city and pointing out interesting facts...most of which I have since forgotten! I do know that we got to see the castle, the former Jewish district (where many Jews lived before WWII), several old churches, a large indoor market called the Cloth Market where they used to sell cloth...and now it's TONS of traditional crafts and souveneirs, the team went to Auschwitz while Bailey and I stayed back with Sarah (since we'd both been there before), and we enjoyed some yummy food. We were only there for just over 24 hours, so it was a busy time, but fun to see a different city nonetheless. However, I must say I was happy to return to our (relatively) little Olsztyn. There's definitely a different feel here...maybe more laid back, smaller, more rural, less trendy, more traditional...more my style. And it amazes me how the Lord knows these things and sovereignly and wisely put me here in Olsztyn, on a team where I fit in, and with a roomate that I fit with. This knowledge reassures me, as I look ahead to what's next after this time in Poland, that He knows what He's doing!

So, that being said, here are some pictures from my quick time in Krakow. Enjoy!

Platyny Update

Well, I am back from my adventures in Platyny and then taking the volunteer team to Krakow! Wow, what a week. I'm not really sure how to sum it up, so I will try my best to give you a run-down of what went on throughout the week!
-Tuesday--we headed out to Olsztynek (where we were staying at a campground of sorts in small cabins) and stopped over at the church in Olsztynek for coffee, tea, and delicious blueberry cakes that left all of our mouths bright blue!
-Wednesday--we visited an ethnographic park in the morning, then headed out to Platyny for the first day of the outreach. Kola and Juro, Christian Polish rappers, performed, the volunteer team performed some dramas and shared testimonies, the kids sang songs, made crafts, and played games. And the rain held off until we were literally putting the last bit of equipment away for the night! Praise God!
-Thursday--we were in Nidzica (a town near Olsztynek) for a Kola and Juro concert. We passed out bracelets that had different colors used to tell the story of Jesus and papers to explain the colors. Then, once again, headed to Platyny for more of the same as above. Another good day with no rain and lots of kids and adults hanging around!
-Friday--Kola and Juro performed one last time with us in Olsztynek. We gave out more bracelets and had lots of kids and adults stop by to check out what was going on. This was the last day in Platyny and it was another good one. A little more low-key without Kola and Juro there, but still good.
-Saturday--we rested and packed in the morning, then headed out to Jemiolowo for the afternoon for a mini version of what we did in Platyny. No Kola and Juro, but we did have games and crafts and singing and a campfire complete with kielbasa and s'mores!

I think that overall we were well received, and I'm so thankful for all of the kids and adults that came out--even just out of curiosity to see what in the world was going on! I believe that the love of Christ was definitely shown and I'm clinging to these truths of God's Word from Psalm 29:

"The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic" and "The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of (Platyny)" Psalm 29:4,8
I know that, throughout the week, the word of God and testimonies of His work in people's lives, have been shared and this verse assures me that God's word that was shared is mighty and powerful and He can use it to do great things; to reveal Himself and His ways to the people who listened.

Here are some praises from the week:
-we were well received
-good weather
-LOTS of kids and many adults came out
-we didn't have any problems with the AA camp that was meeting on the same field
-the volunteer team did a GREAT job; they had great attitudes and came well prepared; they were a HUGE blessing
-many new contacts were made
-we got to talk (through a translator) to a teenage girl from Jemiolowo named Magda. She said that she's not sure what she thinks about Jesus yet, but she believes more and more every day. She's one of the older girls in this village and definitely has influence among her peers. She also seems to really be seeking the Truth and dealing with some things in her life. Please pray for her eyes to be opened to who Christ is and that she'd be drawn to trust Him.
-some great time with the kids in these villages; that was a huge blessing to me, to see how persevering through English classes throughout the year allowed us to bring the gospel to these kids; and they're so stinkin' fun!

So, thank you all for praying for these people throughout the week. As you think about it, please continue to pray for them, that these truths would take root in their hearts.

Platyny

Throughout my time here, some of you have heard about our ongoing saga with a tiny village called Platyny. I have no idea how to make this long story short, but I will surely give it a shot. So, starting right when Amber, Patsy and I arrived we (as a team) began working alongside a Polish pastor named Marcin in this tiny village most Poles don't even know exists. Platyny is home to about 200-300 people who all have very low income and high alcohol abuse rates. The village used to be a communist cooperative where the whole village farmed together and shared the results. Perhaps due to this fact, there is still a lingering sense of "survival of the fittest at any cost". Therefore, the behavior we see is oftentimes horrific. We see fighting between children as young as 5 years old, hitting, spitting, yelling, name calling, door slamming. It's a very rough place to live, to say the least. However, in the midst of all of this darkness, Marcin and his wife Monika have a huge heart for these people, to go and minister Christ's love to them and fight for them, not against them, which is something they're not used to.
As we've worked together to minister there over the past year and a half, we've encountered all kinds of opposition from the city leader, including being locked out of the community building where we teach english and being asked not to come back, although the parents from the community eagerly want us there! It's been an up and down ride, to say the least. All along, as this summer outreach was being planned, we all kind of knew that this was a huge "fish or cut bait" time. It's going to either go really great or really, really bad. We wanted to completely lay the gospel out there and offer these people an opportunity to respond so that if the door to Platyny was indeed closing and we were run out of town, we could at least leave them with a full understanding of the gospel. Since planning has begun, we've found out that there will be roughly 300 recovering substance abuse addicts staying in Platyny for a camp and that the city guard of a neighboring village is going to use their van to transport children from Olsztynek and Jemiolowo (two other villages we've been working in) to Platyny for the activities. The Lord is definitely at work here and I am really hopeful. However, just a few weeks ago we also learned that several youth had been killed in a drunk driving accident, which is heartbreaking.
I don't know how much sense any of this makes, but all this is to say, please pray this week. If you're checking out this post, please pray for:
-the people of Platyny; for hearts that are open to life, healing, freedom, and forgiveness through Christ and that God's Spirit would sweep through there in an undeniable, mighty way
-the team from America and us who live here in Olsztyn--it will be a loooonnnnggg, busy, intense week; please pray for us to find our strength in Christ alone and just be available to the Lord to do as mighty a work as He pleases this week
There's a verse from the Bible that I've been thinking about a lot lately, and it's been my prayer for this week:

"When You came down long ago, You did awesome things beyong our highest expectations. And, oh, how the mountains quaked!" Isaiah 64:3
There are definitely mountains in the way that need to be quaked, but our God is able! I'll be sure to update and share what has happened, but until then I'll leave you with some pictures from last year's camp in Platyny.

Suomi (read on to find out what that means!)

Ok, so I hesitate to even post these pictures, as I still have a certain friend who is convinced that all I do is galavant around Europe and goof off. So, when I told her that I was going to Finland for a week of meetings, she didn't really buy the whole "but we'll be in meetings all day! It's not really a vacation" thing. And, she was right. It pretty much was a vacation. We were in a little town three hours north of Helsinki and I can't even describe how beautiful it was. It was a refreshing and encouraging week and here are some of the highlights:
-worshiping in english with some amazingly gifted musicians from a church in Tennessee
-getting to talk with lots of different people about the work they're doing throughout this region and be encouraged by the work the Lord is doing throughout this area
-having an impromptu country music concert; his name is Paul Bogart and you should search him on itunes and buy his music! He's great!
-the campground we stayed on was on a peninsula, so we were surrounded by water; I got to jump off the dock and swim one afternoon and it was wonderful to be in the water once again. Ahhhhhh
-trying out a Finnish sauna (for only about 5 minutes and we all went American style. If you know anything about Finnish saunas, you understand what I mean)
-meeting some new friends who are serving in Poland
-enjoying Finnish black licorice (it's apparently a specialty there and we ate lots of it!)
-daylight 24 hours a day! No kidding! It's the strangest feeling. One night, we were getting ready for bed at about 1 am (4 of us girls slept in a loft in a cute, little cabin) and this is a true conversation:
Amber: Jess, is there a light on downstairs
Me:no, that's the sunlight
Amber: where in the world are we?!?!
-canoeing all around the lake
-getting make-overs and pedicures from a Finnish lady working on her beauty school portfolio
-paying $200 for a Finland t-shirt (it says "Suomi", which means Finland in Finnish); it's a long story, but I'll just say that the money goes to funding people to head overseas and do what we're doing here, so it's well worth it, right?!?!

So, in a nutshell, those are the Finland highlights. It really was an amazing, blessed week that I'm so grateful for. And, I have to be honest, it was really strange to think that it was the last meeting of its type that I'll be at. My time here is drawing to a close and it's becoming more and more real. And more and more strange! As I've said before, these are memories I will cherish for a lifetime and blessings that have shown me more of who God is that are precious. Enjoy some photos (again, thanks to Amber for sharing her pix!) although photos just cannot do the beauty of this country justice.

To Hel and Back

So, first of all, sorry I haven't been so great about the blogging lately. I really do have quite a few things I want to blog about, but just haven't sat down to do it! We have a few relatively free days before everything gets crazy for the rest of July, so I'm trying to play catch up and let you know what's been going on around here!
A couple of weeks ago our whole team packed up the two vans and headed north to Hel. No kidding. And we had LOTS of fun with that name. But yes, it's true, we took the highway to Hel and spent three nights just relaxing and taking a little retreat together. It was beautiful there. Cool, but wonderful to be on the beach and see the sea. I didn't swim (the kids did!) because it was still just a little too cool even for me, a self-professed beach bum. But, we all enjoyed sitting on the beach and spending time together. We also saw lots of wind-surfers and kite-surfers, which was pretty neat.
Probably my favorite part of the trip was the last night when we ventured out to a little town near where we were staying. We went to the fishing docks where the commercial fishing boat brought their loads in for processing. The smell of fresh fish definitely hung in the air and was a little ripe at times, but I loved it. There's something about commercial fishing boats that I absolutely love to see; I love seeing them all tied up for the night and sitting peacefully in the harbor. The only bummer about the trip is that my camera, after three years and numerous drops, bit the dust. Thankfully, Amber was gracious enough to see the sheer joy in my eyes and hand over her camera to my itching trigger finger so I could snap some pictures. I'm trying out one of those slideshows for the first time, so we'll see how it goes. I hope you enjoy!