E-x-h-a-u-s-t-e-d

I don't know about the rest of the team, but I'm extremely tired. I was okay until we made the trip to Prague on Saturday. We left at 5 a.m. and didn't get back to our hotel until about 3:30am on Sunday. We spent 10 hours in the cars that day and who knows how many miles we walked. It was worth it though. We got to spend some very good time with some of the youths who joined us for the trip. Because of the exhaustion, we've not been able to update as much as we'd hoped. We will post plenty of photos and stories when we're back in the States.

However, I was not too tired to play basketball with some of the kids on Monday night. Aaron and I were challenged to a game by Dlogi (pronounced "Dwoogie") and Kamis (pronounced "Commis"). At first, I was not afraid at all. I thought it would be impossible for a couple Pols to beat two semi-athletic Americans in basketball, but then I saw that Kamis was very fast and Dlogi was 6'4". Rest assured American friends. We represented well. We won 30 - 24. Look at me go...

Faces of Lubin

Here are just a few of the youth you can pray for:

Dlogy

Paulina

Bartek

Piotrek

Jakob

I probably spelled most of their names wrong (and Dlogy is a nickname), but now you can see some of the youth we're working with and we hope that you pray for them. Since Chase (a.k.a. Cheetos) is becoming quite the photographer, I'll leave you with three more pictures from Prague...

Late Nights and Early Mornings

We had a couple late nights and early mornings, but now I think I've got a chance to update. Friday we went to Glogow for some English conversation at a community college, and let me tell you, Aaron is quite the hit- not for his English, but for his Polish. He'd done an eight lesson Polish language tutorial before coming, and he's cracking the Poles up. Here he is with his fan club at the college:


He got a chance to share with these young women why he's a Baptist and why he believes what he believes. I got a chance to tell my group a little as well. And here's Bonnie & Joy dropping some Gospel bombs, too (outside the coffeehouse):


Later that day we had Kids Club. Saturday was Mother's Day here in Poland, so we had them decorate some picture frames and put their pictures in the frames to give to their mothers.

Natan with his frame

All the kids club kids and some of their mothers

Can anyone spot Bartek? (Back row, greenish shirt) He was there, and he participated! He's been hanging around a lot. Also, we found out that he's 15. He showed us his passport. It's crazy how young some of these kids look.

Friday evening Aaron, Chase & Rich put on a concert where Aaron got to share some more about Jesus.


And then on Saturday, we got up at 4 in the morning to go to Prague. Here's a castle behind some shops and hotels, and then a crazy statue:



We just don't have things this old in the States. A lot of the buildings and sculptures we saw are more than five times older than our entire country! It's crazy to think about.

Here's a picture of Bartek in his element:

Yesterday we got up and went to church and then to a battered women's home for some more music, meals and to play with their kids. We've got pictures from that, too, but I'll post some later. I've got to get ready now because we're going into a local school to do an English presentation on America... I think.

Gospel Bombs

Some Gospel Bombs were dropped today! We did some English conversation and had a concert. Tomorrow we go to Prague with the youth... 5 hours in a van there, and 5 hours in a van back... plus all day chaperoning some youth who barely speak the same language. It's getting late and we've got an early day tomorrow! We leave at 5:00 AM!!! Hopefully we'll have more (and pictures) later!

Prayer Requests - Friday, May 25

- Please pray that God might grant us favor in overcoming the language barrier. There are several able translators, but they're not always around when we're talking to the kids.

- Today we'll be in a nearby community college to speak with an advanced English class. The language barrier should be a little more surmountable. Please pray that we'd communicate the good news effectively.

- Please pray for our concert tonight. Aaron, Rich (our Journeyman) and I haven't had much time to practice together. We want to play skillfully to the Lord. We'll also be sharing Christ as we discuss the meaning of the songs we sing through a translator. Please pray that there will be many who come to hear our music and testimony.

- Please pray that the church's van would run consistently. We're taking it on a five-hour (one way) drive to Prague on Saturday. In particular, it's having difficulty finding second and third gear.

- Speaking of Prague, we'd love nice weather that day :)

Thank you so much for your prayer support. It means so much to us and we know it is the true work of missions.

Wolow & Bartek

Today we went to a small church in Wolow (Vo-loov). We participated in their worship and had a fellowship picnic sort of thing afterwards.

Aaron & Chase leading some worship music

Picnic

Polish man from the church in Wolow

We saw Bartek today, too. Actually, he came running up to us after school as we were about to leave for Wolow. He jumped on Chase and gave me a hug. Marchek was with him and gave us hugs too. Bartek gave Chase & me some bracelets as a gift. When we got back to the Coffee House, we played some Frisbee and hung out with the youth. I don't have a good picture of Bartek from today, maybe tomorrow. Instead, here is a picture of one-year-old Nella:

We Made It!

Well, we're here in our hotel in Lubin, Poland, and our wifi is working! Hooray! Well, most of us are here- Brad wasn't able to find his passport or get a new one in time to come.

We had some issues with our checked luggage. Chase and I were 18 pounds over the limit, so we had to purchase another piece of luggage at the airport. We would have just moved some of our stuff from the suitcase with our clothes to the suitcase with our supplies, but the supply suictcase was already 48 pounds (the maximum is 50 before you get charged $300-something extra!).

Our flight out of St. Louis was delayed, but our flight out of Chicago wasn't! We had just enough time to get to our terminal, take a potty break and a short rest before boarding our flight to Munich. I think half our team got sleep on the plane, but the other half didn't really. I fell into the latter camp. We did get a nap at the hotel before orientation and an awesome meal at a missionary family's home- grilled chicken, potato casserole, salad, and chocolate cake! We brought their kids a bunch of candy (including Fun Dip) and played some Frisbee.

Alaina enjoyed some Fun Dip...

...as did her big brother Aaron (whose eye is okay- he's wearing the patch to strengthen his other eye)

Bonnie, Joy & Chase relaxing in the home of Paul & Carline

Aaron being animated

Me playing with Zbyshek & Bogusia's baby, Lydia

Chase getting his Frisbee on

Well, it's about time to get ready for day two!

Lost Passport & a Broken Toe

So we have a bit of unfortunate news... One of our team members can't seem to find his passport. His mom thought she put it in a safe, but when they looked, it wasn't there. Please pray that his passport is found. Also, I (Alisha) think I may have broken my toe. We'll be doing a lot of walking, so please pray for healing. I banged my left foot on our recliner Friday evening, and my middle toe is all black & blue, hurty & tingly. It seems to be getting a bit better since I taped it to another toe, which is pretty much all you can do for a broken toe.

Chase & I started packing last night. This time tomorrow we should be on our way to the airport!

Sneaky Sneaky

This trip really sneaked up on us! In five days we'll be on our way! We'll travel by car from Carbondale to St. Louis and then fly from St. Louis to Chicago to Munich, Germany to Wroclaw, Poland where we'll travel by car to Lubin.

We're still waiting on the last bit of money to come in, but it looks like everything is being taken care of (not by us, though...).

I don't know how many times I've been asked if we're all packed yet, and in case you're wondering, we're not. We haven't even begun, yet. We've still got the weekend!

We have a basic run-down of what our schedule will be, but we won't really know until we get there. Here are some things we're planning on doing: prayerwalking, concerts, youth Bible study, testimonies, preaching, leading worship, games, crafts, going into schools, English conversation tutoring, volunteering at a women's shelter, a trip to Prague with youth, an "Amazing Race" with youth, and lots and lots of Frisbee!