"Let the sunshine in..."

C'mon everybody, sing along! This morning we woke up to the sun peering through the fog. I talked with travelers coming from the airport in our hotel lobby this morning and it seems that traveling will be much easier today than yesterday. Praise the Lord! Please pray for easy connections in Chicago as well this evening. Thanks again for your prayers.

fog

We are in a suburb of Krakow waiting for the fog to lift so that we can come home! Today started at 3 am to arrive at the airport by 5. We were waiting for the plane to land so that we could leave...but that didn't happen.

So, please pray with us that we will be able to fly out on Wednesday at 4:30 pm from Krakow, arriving in Grand Rapids at 11:06 pm on Wednesday. We all would really like to spend Thanksgiving with our family.

It's been a long day. Thanks for your prayers.

Classes

Our time in Poland

Busy planning, painting and eating!

Time is flying!

It is hard to believe that our visit is coming to an end. We have made many friends, completed painting the rec room and also finished our english lessons. Here are some pictures!

two of our students:



Amy and Agata

some of our students during break:

First Day

Today we were busy with painting the rec room under the sanctuary during the day and then we hosted our first english classes in the evening. We were all pleasantly surprised with how many students showed up.

We had a very large beginners class and an equally large 2nd level intermediate class. The 2nd level qualifier was if people could say either, 'hello, my name is...' or 'good evening. how are you today?' without too much prompting. It was a great evening for all.

Leszek's parents surprised us all by coming as our first two students. May we all continue to learn!

Please pray for my friend's Agata and Ella. I met Agata 2 years ago this summer in Lodz. This past summer she made a commitment to follow Christ, but hasn't really let this decision effect her life. I had a chance to talk with her briefly today and am hopefully going to sit down with her sometime this week to talk with her. Please pray that God would give me wisdom and the courage to challenge her. Also, her mother Ella has watched her along with Agnes, her sister as they have begun coming to Leszek and Ania's church. She has thanked Leszek and Ania for the changes in her daughters, but she does not understand that it is God that changed her girls, not Leszek and Ania. Ella will be at our classes all week as she is eager to communicate in english. Please also pray for opportunity to speak with her about our faith.

Tomorrow we will prepare another lesson, do some more painting and greet our eager students!

Home Sweet Home

We have all arrived in Poland! After a long journey, we have enjoyed dinner with Leszek and Ania. They are polish national missionaries here in Lodz. It is cold here, and after a good rest tonight we will be ready to attend church and spend the day preparing for the week. Thank you for your prayers.

Traveling Mercies

It's hard to believe that it is time to leave! There is always so much planning and preparation to be completed. And, you have 4 people who at the start struggled to remember who was who that are now spending 10 days together that will forever change each of us.

My line is that no matter where you go you will never be the same. You are exposed to new ideas, a different culture and new people. As a result you are different. How different? Well, much of that is determined by God and the individual.

Please pray with us that this experience will not only broaden our perspectives, but that it will change our perspectives. We will all be stretched in different ways at different times. Please also pray for team unity and genuine community.

The team leaves from GR this morning, and then, Lord willing, we all meet up in Warsaw on Saturday with Leszek and Ania! Thanks for your prayers. I will try to update our blog every 2 - 3 days to keep you posted.

Getting Ready!

Amy, Leta, Rachael, and Marilyn will travel to Poland in November to help with running English classes for adults. We are excited and looking forward to what God is going to do in Poland and how He is going to change us as well.

We have started meeting together as a team to get to know each other as well as split up responsibilities for the English classes. Please pray for us as we continue to get ready personally and as a team to go to Lodz, Poland. (pronounced Woozsh)