Update 10

Update 10- July 16, 2007

Today we got up early for breakfast at 5:00am so that we could leave at 5:30 for our trip to Auschwitz and Krakow. It was about a three and half to four hour drive from Lubin to Auschwitz. We were blessed to have Kamas and Ann come with us. Ann is a student at Moody Bible Institute that has been teaching English here in Poland for two months. She will be heading back to the states in a couple days and had not had a chance to visit those places yet so we had her come with us. Kamas is one of the guys from the coffeehouse and a regular at the Bible study that Rich and ZB run. He heard that we were going on a trip and asked if he could come. This was a great opportunity to share our faith with him. Paul and Rich feel he is very close to understanding and accepting the Gospel, because he has been asking seeking questions. Please pray for Kamas and us as we talk with him about our faith.
Visiting Auschwitz was a sobering experience. It was eerie to walk in a place where such evil took place. The atmosphere takes all words away. You can only think why? How? Going to Auschwitz was a very emotional experience for everyone. Its very hard for us to find words to express what we saw and felt.
Before we left Auschwitz for Krakow, we at lunch picnic style. It was about an hour drive, but it felt much longer because of the blazing heat. It got to 33° Celsius, which we learned means really hot. As we got to Krakow, we parked and got more water, then walked to the castle. Wawel Castle was absolutely beautiful! It was in great condition. We went down to the famous Dragon’s Lair. It was our favorite part of the castle because it was underground and very cool. The walk from the castle to the Renic was filled with tons of laughter. We saw banners saying that Krakow was celebrating its 750th anniversary as a city this year. Now that is just amazing. What was even more amazing was St. Mary’s Basilica, the church where Pope John Paul II was a priest before he was Pope. The inside was gorgeous. We all just sat there in awe looking at the intricate paintings and carvings that were done without the help of modern technology. Then off to dinner at another Polish restaurant. It was so good to sit down and cool off and the food was good too. Then we hit the tourist shopping spots for souvenirs. One really funny story that happened is when we all met in the Renic we sat down for awhile. Andrew then felt something on his neck and just assumed it was Matt P. messing with him. So Andrew said something to Matt about it and Matt yelled out that Andrew had got pooped on by a pigeon. J (Don’t worry we have pictures) It was also cool to see the city transform as more street performers came out. It was like what we tried to recreate at our Poland banquet. Then we left to go back to Lubin. We got back at 2:15am Tuesday morning. So as you can tell we had a busy day and have another one tomorrow. So please pray that we would have energy to keep being effective in our ministry. Also pray for Rich, he is not feeling well at all.

Update 9

Update 9 – July 15, 2007

This morning we went to church. Four people left early and went with Paul to Gwogoof Baptist Church, so that three of them could share their testimonies (Andrew, Cassie and Kaity shared). This is the mother church of Paul and Carlene’s church plant. It was good for them to see a larger church worshipping together. Then all of us met at the coffee house for that church service, where three more of us shared our stories. (Dawn, Sarah, and Matt P.) After church, we hung around the coffee house for a while, because Paul and Carlene had to talk to the head of the women’s shelter some of us will be working at next week. Some of the girls will be running a mini-vbs/kid’s club for the children who live in the shelter on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We are looking forward to that. Then we went to a fancy, traditional Polish restaurant called Oberza. The food was sooooo good and everyone enjoyed hanging out. We took everyone from Paul and Carlene’s team with us, which includes Paul and Carlene (and their kids) Zbigniew and Boguslawa (and their baby Lydia, they are Polish nationals) Rich (a missionary from IMB here for 2 years), and Pat (a single woman from Georgia who is here full-time). It was very nice to spend time with the whole team.
After Oberza, we raced back to the hotel to change our clothes. (Lunch took all afternoon) Then we headed straight back to the coffeehouse for human foosball at 5:00. We hung ropes and turned the parking lot/courtyard into a life-size foosball table. After playing for awhile in the blinding sun, everyone came in and played games. It was so hot. Since we are going to Krakow tomorrow, we made it an early night and left the coffee house at 7:30. We went back to the hotel and had a debrief and went to bed.

Update #8

Update 8 – July 14, 2007

Today we were able to sleep in a little bit later which was a very nice change. We heard about a big market that takes place behind our hotel, so we went and checked it out after breakfast and devotions. It was very interesting; we saw garage sale type places and used car part sellers mixed in with clothing stores and brand new furniture. We joked that Mr. Hartman would have been in heaven, because we were told you could literally go through the market and build an entire car, but not only that but also in make it all in the same color. Dawn did find shoes for $3 though.
Then it was off to the coffee house to set up for our VBS Finale. It was like a carnival. The kids showed up and we had a great time. It was probably the water games and the slip and slide that won over the 20 kids. Everyone was laughing and having a good time playing the games and eating kielbasa! We all feel it was a major success. Another of the kids favorites was the face painting and tattoos. Matt P. Sarah and Dawn did a great job with the face paints. They painted everything from butterflies and flowers to Polish flags and Lubin soccer symbols. Cassie and Julia did a great job with the stick on tattoos. They were busy sticking on American football players and bugs and all sorts of other things. The face paint and tattoos were then washed off by all the water games. Our slip in slide water turned black. J The other games they could play were huge successes as well. Devon was on horseshoes, Kaity was on one of the bean bag games, and Katie and Mrs. Parker were on the other bean bag game. It was so nice to see everywhere you looked the kids laughing and having a good time all day. It feels really good to know that we were a part of something that hopefully they will remember for a long time. After the kids left the whole team pitched in and cleaned up both outside and inside the coffeehouse.
Then after a little break we went to the nearby town of Polkoviste to their aquapark. It is a big indoor water park that we went to with five of the teens from the coffeehouse. We all had a great time at the water park on the slides, rock climbing wall and lazy river. After the water park, we all went out for pizza and once again had a blast! The pizza here is a little different. We saw pizza with hard boiled eggs and goat cheese on them. Matt P. even had some with a pork chop on it. Pepperoni pizza has jalapeno peppers on it. It was a great day and we were so happy that we could do something special for the teens here. They do not often get to have a day like that and we felt privileged to share it with them.

Thanks,
The Updaters

Update #7

Update 7 – July 13, 2007

This was our last early morning!! Woo Hoo! We got up this morning and ate breakfast while we continued our study of the book of Matthew from 7:45-8:45. We then went to the coffee house and prepared for VBS. At VBS, today was the resurrection story and salvation invitation. Although we do not know of any decisions, many seeds were planted and hopefully this week has mad an impact on these kids. We had a total of 28 different kids attend. (Sorry for the earlier miscalculations)

After VBS, we had a familiar lunch, spaghetti. Then we retreated to our hotel for a three hour nap time. After nap time, we returned to the coffeehouse and hung out with the teens. Rich, Matt S. and Dawn taught Jacob how to play Euchre and he and Matt beat Dawn and Rich. Also, Jacob told Joel that he will be at church on Sunday. Obviously Jacob is searching and thinking seriously about his spiritual life. Please pray that his heart would be open to what Joel says and that God would reveal his grace to Jacob. After several intense Uno games, some ping-pong and a connect-4 tournament, we all migrated outside and played volleyball on a make shift net then we built. We finished the night with debrief. Please pray for us as we look forward to a big weekend on Saturday. We are hosting a VBS fun day for the kids and their families. Please pray that this time would impact the families involved. On Saturday night, we are going to a water park. As of now, no Polish teenagers have committed to go with us.

I know that this update probably won’t arrive until Saturday afternoon or night, but please pray that some students would come with us. On Sunday, Joel will preach and Jacob will be there. So pray that God will bless that service. After church on Sunday we will have a fun night with the teens, including human foosball. Everyone is doing well, besides being a little sleepy. Thank you for your prayers, they are felt and thank you to those who email us. Emails are awesome and we love to hear from you. Thanks

~ The Updaters

Update 6

Update 6 – July 12, 2007

Today was yet another great day at VBS! We are averaging about 21 kids a day, but have had about 32 different kids come to VBS so far. Cassie taught the story of Jesus and Peter walking on water. Then had the kids do feet painting! We took off their shoes and put blue or purple paint on them. Then we had them step on pieces of paper so they had their footprints and then walk off the rest of the paint on a large piece of paper on the floor. Games today were all water games. We did relays with sponges and balloons. Then we did throwing a water balloon between partners. The kids learned the verse in both Polish and English and then they went home.

Lunchtime rolled around and it was grilled pork, French fries, and something very similar to coleslaw and soup. Once again the reviews were mixed. Then the team had Horizontal Hours. (Naptime, free time, a break) After that we went shopping for Lubin Soccer gear. The soccer team here is the Polish champions this year. Then out to dinner at a Chinese Restaurant. Yeah, that’s right a Chinese restaurant in Poland. It was our first experience really ordering in Polish and we had to translate Polish and Chinese.

The rest of the night was a typical coffeehouse night. We hung out with the teens and played lots and lots of Uno. Rich (one of Paul and Carlene’s team) said they run an Uno ministry here! J Let’s just say that Uno is the game that has really bonded us all together. Most of us were bummed that we had to cancel our hiking trip today due to rain that we have been having almost all week. It is been a little chilly. But it is looking like next week will be much hotter.

During our debrief time we just realized that we have been here for a week. Many of us feel like we have been here so much longer because of the great relationships we have made. We all have been discovering many things about ourselves. We also did some crazy things like the guys picked up Rich’s car. It’s a Maluch. (Its about the size of a golf cart) As I said before, it is only been seven days and we still have 10 days left. So if you would please pray that we would be able to keep out spirits up and give strength to stay alert during our ministry. (We all need long naps)