One of the Ministries...

One of the ministries of the church at the coffeehouse in Lubin is teaching English classes and having English conversation. See, there isn't much work for people in Poland, wait, scratch that, not much profitable work. Many businesses will hire someone and then fire them just before benefits kick in. So, many people in Poland find work in other countries, and English is spoken in many surrounding countries. The church offering English classes at a competitive rate has opened the door to relationships with the community.

Last year we met Michael. He told us that his older brother made more money working one summer in fields and vineyards in France than he would have working all year using his degree in Poland. Michael wasn't around much the two weeks we were there, but Chase did have a short opportunity to talk to him. When asked what he does for money, Michael's response was that he is a "housewife" in Ireland. Chase figured he meant housekeeper.

So knowing English is very valuable to the people of Poland, and it works out great that the first language of the missionaries in Lubin is English. Also, Bogusia, one of the church leaders, is an English teacher at a community college. Please continue to pray for the Baptist church in Lubin and the relationships they're building through teaching English.

We Made It Home!

We made it back and so did all our luggage! We arrived home around midnight last night.

We spent our last day in Poland in the van in some Polish woods looking for a baptism, then being tourists in Wroclaw, and then hanging out with some German kids we met at our hotel.

This is Joy having the time of her life in Wroclaw:


And here's Aaron & Rich sharing Christ with some German kids in a lounge at our hotel:


We're getting some rest, and we'll keep on updating this blog with more pictures and stories from this trip. So keep coming back and checking it out!

The Last Hoorah

Well, tonight is our last night in Lubin. We did a crazy Amazing Grace Race with the youth from Wroclaw (Vroswav) to Lubin where we had some tasks to accomplish (like climbing over 300 stairs in the tower of Deitrich Bonhoeffer's church!) and we actually made it back safely! Now we're getting ready for some final hanging out.

Some other things we've done include: singing/conversing English in schools, painting faces at a festival, hanging out with people at a special needs school, and kids club. Here's a picture of Andrew doing a craft at kids club:


We may not get to update again for a while, but we'll have more once we're stateside!