Passion for Poland

Rich!

2007-07-25T09:04:00.001-07:00

Our missionary friend Rich is featured on the International Mission Board web site. Rich is a journeyman in Poland. Click here to read the article about what he's doing in Poland. You can also read a bit about how he became a Christian here.

One of the Ministries...

2007-06-11T15:33:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-06-05T07:46:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-02T09:38:00.000-07:00

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!

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

2007-05-31T13:46:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-28T16:45:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-28T08:45:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-25T22:34:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-24T23:01:00.000-07:00

- 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

2007-05-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-05-24T08:15:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-21T07:35:00.001-07:00

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

2007-05-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

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!

We're Going Back!

2007-04-16T14:41:00.000-07:00

I don't know if anyone still checks this blog or not, but if you do, we've got news for you! We're headed back to Poland!

This time it will be Chase, me (Alisha), and four students from the BCM (two of which graduated in December)- Brad, Bonnie, Aaron & Joy.

We'll be going to the same city (Lubin) and working with the same church and hopefully get to minister to some of the people we met last summer. We were told that some of the youth had asked when we were coming back.

Our team of six will leave the states on May 22 and should get back on June 4, all God-willing, of course.

Glogow

2006-07-20T09:52:00.000-07:00

Here's a little story about Glogow (Gwo-goov): Glogow is now a city of about 300,000 approximately 40 minutes north of Lubin. Being on the western side of Poland, it was one of the first cities overtaken by the Germans during the war. We went to Glogow a couple times. The mother church of the church plant we worked with is there, and that's where the university where we did an English workshop is. The last day of the workshop, Rich (the IMB journeyman)walked around with Chase & me, and he showed us some cool stuff.

(Click on the pictures to see them larger.)

Here is a picture of Rich. He's learning about Glogow.

Most, if not all cities in Poland have a crest. This is the crest of Glogow:

And here you see Chase and the crest.

This is a poster displayed in the city. It shows how Glogow looked during the war.

This is a church (basilica, I believe) that the city decided not to restore but to leave as a reminder of what they have been through.

This is an example of some common graffiti. "2PAC" was spray-painted on the side of the basilica. We noticed several American band names as graffiti. "Metallica" was a popular one.

For doing the English workshop, the people at the university gave us bags o' Glogow goodies including DVD, brochures and books about the city; hats, pens, laniards, penlights and stickers.

Here you see me and a bunch o' Glogow goodies.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed the story of Glogow. Caleb & Keli were ministering at the single mothers' home the day Chase & I trekked around town and finished the English workshop with Rich. I'll leave you with this picture of Rich and me acting natural while Chase took our picture on the pink bridge:

Some Pictures

2006-07-19T20:49:00.000-07:00

I'm going to take some time to put up some pictures and explain a little bit about what we did in Poland.
The one thing that we did every day from the 10th - 15th was VBS (Vacation Bible School) The first couple days we didn't have very many kids show up. In fact all the kids that came were from the church. But the last few days we had more and more kids that hang out at the coffee house come and participate too. That was one of the most incredible things that God did during the trip. The last day of VBS we got to share Christ with almost 10 kids, some of whom had probably never heard the Gospel. Here are some pics of VBS.

This is Chase teaching a mad lesson about Zacchaeus. He was a wee little man...

We played some awesome water games. It was super hot all week so the kids loved it.

Of course, what VBS could be complete without snack time? And what snack time would be complete without playing with the food?

Keli and Alisha put together some kickin' crafts for the kids to do. This picture is from the day when they made lion masks out of paper plates. Trivia: What story do you think was taught that day?

...and we sang and danced a lot. We have other pictures of the children dancing but I liked this one the best because of the kid in the front doing some kind of Russian dance. Ha! His name was Aaron...he's so funny.

This is us hanging out at a couple's home for lunch the first Sunday we were there. The food was pretty incredible all week. The people in the church were very hospitable. I found myself getting frustrated because I was not able to express my gratitude in a way that they could understand since most of the adults didn't speak English.

This is the soccer stadium that was right behind our hotel. There was a game on Thursday night but we already had plans to go someone's home for dinner. I still regret not going.

Paul, one of the missionaries that we worked with, had some car trouble and we had to push start it a few times. It was fun and tiring.

We gave a concert at the coffee house the last day we were in Lubin. We had a lot of kids show up from the ages of 10 to 21. The other missionaries said that it was the largest turnout they had ever had. We got to share the Gospel to everyone in the room. It was awesome. Rich, a journeyman missionary with IMB, played drums for us. He was awesome.

Well, that's all for now. Hopefully I'll get to put up some more when time permits. Thanks again for all your prayers and support.

Back in the US of A

2006-07-18T08:07:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to do a quick update... We got home safe and sound yesterday around 2:00 in the morning. We're still trying to adjust our sleep patterns to the Central Time Zone.

There will be more details, pictures and possibly some video up here at a later point, but here's a quick run-down of some of the things we did in Poland:

*Vacation Bible School
*English workshop at a university
*English conversations/teaching
*Single Mothers' Home ministry
*Music performances at a special education/therapy school
*Concert at Coffeehouse Logos
*Eating home-cooked Polish food
*Lots of Frisbee, foosball & ping pong playing with the local youth

While to our knowledge there weren't any specific commitments made to follow Christ, we did notice some drastic transformation. It was incredible to be able to serve God and His Church in another country with other believers on the other side of the world. This trip has gotten us thinking more seriously about overseas missions.

Thank you for praying for us and the people of Poland. Please continue to pray for them as the ministry continues.

More details, stories & pictures are forthcoming.

~Alisha

Update! Frisbee! Coffeehouse! VBS!

2006-07-09T11:07:00.000-07:00

Things are going great so far. Please pray for these people specifically: Michael, Kames, Marciek (Marcheck), and Bartek. These are the 4 youth that we have been hanging around these past few days. To our knowledge they are not believers and the language barrier is almost impossible to overcome. Polish is so hard! But God is much bigger and more powerful than any language barrier so be praying for God to move in their lives. Also pray for the coffeehouse ministry in Lubin, Poland. Here's a link for Coffeehouse Logos Lubin. Pray that God would continue to bring young people there to hear the Gospel from the missionaries.

Tomorrow we start leading a VBS from 10am-12pm local time. It will be very much like American VBS, but with a gigantic language barrier. Please pray that God will use us in spite of this obstacle. Also pray that we will be able to make contact with parents through this outreach. The VBS will be located at the coffehouse.

We'll also be visiting an orphanage in the afternoons. Some days we'll be volunteering at a school for special needs children. Again, we hope to minister to these individuals, but we also want to share the gospel with parents. Our schedule is very packed. Please pray to God that we might have enough rest in the evenings. A/C is seldom seen in Lubin and we Americans don't like sleepy in the hotness.

Here are a few pictures of our work so far. First is Caleb. We've been teaching the Polish kids how to play ultimate frisbee. They love it. It's the new football.

Here is Marciek. Trust us. He doesn't need coffee. He has LOADS of energy.

Safely in Poland

2006-07-06T12:37:00.000-07:00

The flights were long and exhausting, but we've made it to Wroclaw. After 25+ hours of travel, we're still not yet to our host city, Lubin (pronounced Loo-bean). Hopefully we'll check into our hotel tonight. We've met some of our host missionaries and it sounds like we're gonna have an exciting couple of weeks.

Hopefully we'll have stories and pictures soon. Keep praying.

T minus 15:45

2006-07-04T21:19:00.000-07:00

We fly out of St. Louis in approximately 15 hours and 45 minutes. Please pray for God's mercy as we travel... not just that we arrive safely, but that we are able to share the gospel as we travel to our destination.

We'll try to update as often as internet access allows, so check back for more specific prayer requests and photos. We love you.

Another Super Summer

2006-06-30T18:03:00.000-07:00

Super Summer '06 ended today. We will leave for Poland in 5 days and I'm finally feeling a little bit more prepared for the trip. The spiritual preparation is absolutely necessary for a trip of this magnitude. Pray that God would give us grace over these next few days in order that we would continue to repent of the sin that is in our lives so that the Spirit of God will free us to live openly for the glory of God in Poland. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 1 Corinthians 3:17

22 Days Away

2006-06-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

We're now 22 days away from our departure for Lubin, Poland. We are still raising money to cover our costs. Turns out that international airfare isn't cheap. If you're interested in contributing to the cause, please email us at chaseabner@hotmail.com.

More than your money, we desire your prayers. Please pray that our team members will cling all the more tightly to Christ as we devote ourselves fully to the Great Commission. Please pray that peoples' hearts would already begin softening to the gospel. Please pray that God would use our proclamation of that gospel to bring new children into His kingdom. Please pray that our focus would remain on Christ, no matter the outcomes of our evangelistic efforts.

Welcome!

2006-05-01T21:35:00.000-07:00

Thank you for visiting our mission blog. We want to use this website to provide information and the latest news to those who are supporting our work in Poland through prayer and donations. Also, we hope that you too will be encouraged by the stories and thoughts we share here at Passion for Poland.

God has afforded us an amazing opportunity to join in His work on the other side of the globe. On July 5, we will be leaving the United States for a 12-day missions project in Poland in cooperation with the Illinois Baptist State Association and the International Mission Board. In particular, we’ll be assisting the local churches and missionaries by working in their coffee house ministry and sharing the gospel with as many as we meet in the city of Lubin.

The Polish people have long been familiar with the name of Christ. In fact, Poland is viewed as the most active Roman Catholic nation in all of Europe, perhaps even the world. For many Poles, however, their religion is tied to their cultural or national identity and has little to do with their faith in God. The ravages of World War II and the atheistic influences of communism have left many Poles with empty religion and no true knowledge of Jesus Christ as Savior.

God has given us the desire to proclaim the gospel in this nation. We seek to be used by God to rekindle a pure and holy passion for Christ in the hearts of the Polish people.