Greetings from Poland. Today marks our 9th day in Poland and we only have 3 more days left. So far, Danielle has been keeping her blog up-to date, so I haven’t posted much. It is about 6 a.m. and I decided I would do a quick blog post. I have to start by saying..GOD IS AMAZING! Preparing for this trip, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Will the language barrier cause problems? Would I struggle to adjust to the time here? Will I like the food? I can safely say I have not had ANY problems adjusting to the life the Polish culture has to offer. I have spent the past 6 days working with Polish teenagers(high school age guys), and getting to know them better. The first day was rough...they were very quiet during bible study and spoke a lot of Polish in our English Learning Time. During Conversation time, they did not talk much either. 6 days later, it is amazing how God can break those walls down and create relationships! I’m going to miss these guys. It feels like I’m just getting through to them, and don’t have the time to understand their hearts. During bible study, the only time I get the bulk of them to participate is when we PRAY! Who would know, a group of high school guys comfortable to pray aloud together. I have so many GREAT stories of these guys and looking back, I wish I would have blogged more, because knowing me I will forget a lot of these memories. I’m hoping to continue to grow relationships with some of these kids through facebook or email.
I also figured that this trip would be a once in a lifetime experience. I’ve always been interested in short-term overseas missions, and I figured this would quench that curiosity. I truly felt it did just the opposite! Right now I feel extremely convicted to return next year. Just the opportunity to continue on relationships I’m creating and help bring more of these guys to Christ really excites me! Below are some pictures from the camp, various activities. There is a Polish guy (Piotr) who has been doing a GREAT job documenting the trip and I can’t wait to swap pictures with him. I’ve also gotten to know a pastor in training from Gdansk (Remek) and I am excited to spend a free day in Gdansk with him and our new friends. He is very interested in sound production so we found some common ground and went from there!
Along with new polish friendships, I’ve met some GREAT people from the states. Along with our team, there is also a team from Washington. I’ve gotten to know a youth pastor from a church new Key Port, Washington really well. We enjoy the same bad jokes and it has been great forming Christian relationships with followers the same age as I am. I will hopefully be able to post a couple more thoughts and add more pictures as free time opens up (hahaha). We fly out of Poland on August 10th and begin school on August 13th, so when returning to the states it will be hard to juggle the desire to document this trip with the need to prepare for school!!! Thank you all for your prayers and support of this trip. It has truly been a moving trip and helped grow me in my faith as well!
No comments:
Post a Comment