Thank you so much for ALL of your incredible support and prayer! No mission trips can occur without the unwavering support of those who are willing to send the teams. It was a joy to serve with the Szymczaks in Poland and we are so grateful to have had the opportunity.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Thank You!
Our presentation went well on Sunday, thankfully! :] We had three minutes in which to give a quick synopsis of the trip. Sue delivered the facts and I added a couple personal stories.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Poland Presentation
Sue and I will be giving a short presentation to the congregation of Highland Park Baptist Church on our trip to Poland this Sunday, September 6. Please pray that we use our words effectively and that it all goes smoothly. Thank you!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Quick Note
Hey all,
Just so you know, the Poland team will be presenting tomorrow for the short term missions committee at HPBC. Unfortunately, neither Sue Brown (team member) or Suzy Brownlee (committee member) will be able to be with us. Please pray that it'll be a positive and informative experience for all!
Thank you!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Updates
Thursday, July 2:
We took the kids swimming, without incident! Some of these kids are good swimmers for being so young. Trinity (7) and Zarah (5) took to the pool like fish in water and swam so much their lips turned blue! For all the concerns we had had over taking the kids to the pool, we had a fun and relaxed time with them there.
We were requested to come up with some games for the missionaries and their children in the evening. We played a good game of Guesstures to start off with, and finished with a crazy game of "Do You Love Your Neighbor." Wendy Szymczak (Poland) and Michelle Robinson (Czech Rep.) fighting over the last chair in the latter game was definitely one of the most hilarious moments of the trip.
Friday, July 3:
The last day! I don't think any of us wanted it to end; the week flew by incredibly fast. The kids painted picture frames in the morning, along with our usual worship, Bible study, and small group sessions. We also played Simon Says and soccer. After lunch, we weren't responsible for the kids, but most of us ended up hanging out with some of them and their parents at the pool. After dinner there was a "program" of sorts to wrap up the conference and officially end it. Susan and Wendy gave each member of the team a piece of beautiful Polish pottery as a thank you for our help, and we also received cards signed by every one of the missionaries at the conference.
Saturday, July 4:
Happy Independence Day! After packing up and saying our goodbyes to the missionaries we headed about fifteen minutes away to a series of Nazi caverns. They were used as a weapon-making facility, and had they been joined with another set of underground caverns, would have been the largest weapon-making area in the world, and the war would have gone quite differently. Afterwards we all went on a short zipline, ate lunch, and headed back to Wroclaw. There we went to the Panorama, which is a large painting of a battle where the Poles beat the Russians. We followed that with dinner at a Polish restaurant (where we gave Wendy and Susan cards and Willow Tree figurines), ice cream, and souvenir shopping.
Sunday, July 5:
We packed up any extras we had taken out or bought the day before, weighed our suitcases, and headed off to the airport. Our travel home was uneventful... until we tried to leave Washington.
Everyone on the team had boarding passes except for Phil and I, and after they and everyone else flying to Detroit had boarded, and others had been issued last-minute boarding passes, we were informed that we would be put up in a hotel for the night and flown home the next morning. There was a great deal of argument and anger for the next ten to twenty minutes--Phil and I with the gate agent; Elaine, Sue, and Heather with the flight attendants--as we tried to figure out what exactly was going on. Suffice to say the airline handled the situation poorly and Phil and I only got home due to Heather and Rachel's generosity in giving up their own seats for us. It was a definite damper to the end of the trip, but we're thankful that everyone got home safely.
Tuesday, July 7:
Miraculously, at last minute notice, we were all able to meet to debrief. Us girls met at Heather's house and put in a call to Phil via cell phone. We discussed many aspects of our trip and how we were readjusting to life in the States. We also felt it was a good meeting to have prior to our presentation to the short term missions committee on either July 12 or July 19.
Thank you immeasurably for your prayers and support. We could not have done any of what we did without you faithfully lifting us up in prayer. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
At the Halfway Point
We're halfway through the NCE Conference. The second day went a little smoother than the first.
In the morning there was a hike scheduled for the missionaries and their families, because although rain was forecasted for the day, it wasn't forecasted until early afternoon. Fortunately, the rain didn't start until everyone was loading into vehicles to return. As Wendy put it, it was an "American hike," because it was only five kilometers long. Most of the team went, but Heather and I stayed behind to practice music for the two sessions later that day.
After lunch the kids made books with foam covers for use during small group while Heather led the worship session for the adults with me on harmony. When we returned upstairs Heather led worship with the kids, with Hanna Szymczak and I doing motions on the songs that had them.
After worship Hanna and Andrew performed another skit, this one on prayer. Heather led some short games afterwards, and then it was time for dinner.
After dinner Heather led another worship session with the adults while the kids watched "Milo & Otis" and then began "Nemo."
Prayer requests:
--Heather and the music
--We'll be taking the kids swimming tomorrow. Pray for their safety.
--We'll also be running a kids-and-adults activity session tomorrow night. Pray it goes well and the missionaries and MKs have a good time getting some bonding in with their families.
Thank you, as always, for your support.
In the morning there was a hike scheduled for the missionaries and their families, because although rain was forecasted for the day, it wasn't forecasted until early afternoon. Fortunately, the rain didn't start until everyone was loading into vehicles to return. As Wendy put it, it was an "American hike," because it was only five kilometers long. Most of the team went, but Heather and I stayed behind to practice music for the two sessions later that day.
After lunch the kids made books with foam covers for use during small group while Heather led the worship session for the adults with me on harmony. When we returned upstairs Heather led worship with the kids, with Hanna Szymczak and I doing motions on the songs that had them.
After worship Hanna and Andrew performed another skit, this one on prayer. Heather led some short games afterwards, and then it was time for dinner.
After dinner Heather led another worship session with the adults while the kids watched "Milo & Otis" and then began "Nemo."
Prayer requests:
--Heather and the music
--We'll be taking the kids swimming tomorrow. Pray for their safety.
--We'll also be running a kids-and-adults activity session tomorrow night. Pray it goes well and the missionaries and MKs have a good time getting some bonding in with their families.
Thank you, as always, for your support.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
First Day Debrief
Well, our first day is complete! It was a good day with them and we have already gotten to know their personalities. We also have some memorable stories we'd like to share with you in just a moment.
First off, Sue engineered the making of nametags for the kids and assigned them to teams. We went outside for an exciting game of crab soccer... except only the boys were excited. So I decided, based on sightings of snails with Emma, that I'd do something with the girls based on a snail. There's a hopscotch game we'd planned that is shaped like a snail, and I needed to draw up a snail of chalk, which I was supposed to do while the crab soccer game was going on. Since the girls weren't interested, as I said, I went to them and said, "Do any of you know how to draw snails? Because I don't, and I really need somebody to teach me how to draw one." The girls were delighted to help. "What does a snail look like? Is it square?" "No," one girl informed me, "it's round." "Oh, so I can just draw a circle?" There was a resounding "No!" "Oh, well, then what does a snail look like?" They drew some good snails and then I drew the giant snail to play the game on, all the while asking if I was drawing it correctly. (Apparently I was.) I explained to them how to play the game, and then we were joined by the boys, who demanded to know how to play the game. So I explained it again, with the girls' help. The boys ended up pretty much taking over the game, which with only seventeen squares, didn't last too long. So I drew them a fifty-square game for them while Phil played another game with them.
After lunch, Heather ran worship with them, Phil spoke and we broke into small groups, Hanna and Andrew Szymczak (on Rachel's request) did a skit, and Sue helped the kids make T-shirts, with the colors assigned by team. (We have a green team and a yellow team.) We then ran relay races, which the older kids liked better than the younger ones. Then the older ones and I continued our giant fifty-square game of Snail, which we likely will be continuing through the week.
We had dinner then, which we followed up with a low-key activity session, including Duck, Duck, Goose; Go Fish; Hot Potato; and we tried to get into the Macarena, but my iPod speaker died and we couldn't get it going. The iPod speaker is not high on anyone's priority list, but we had planned to use it through the week, so please pray it starts working again!
Please pray for good weather tomorrow since there's a hike planned and we want to do a lot of activities outside. Please also pray for some issues we've had with the kids already, for hydration, for strength and stamina, and for good health.
To leave you with a laugh: our memory verse in small groups today was Psalm 18:46: "The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!" One little girl in Rachel's group said, "Please pray to my Rock," as a joke, and it provided the team with a much needed laugh during our debrief tonight. We have had some good times already and are excited to experience more this week! Thanks again for all your support.
First off, Sue engineered the making of nametags for the kids and assigned them to teams. We went outside for an exciting game of crab soccer... except only the boys were excited. So I decided, based on sightings of snails with Emma, that I'd do something with the girls based on a snail. There's a hopscotch game we'd planned that is shaped like a snail, and I needed to draw up a snail of chalk, which I was supposed to do while the crab soccer game was going on. Since the girls weren't interested, as I said, I went to them and said, "Do any of you know how to draw snails? Because I don't, and I really need somebody to teach me how to draw one." The girls were delighted to help. "What does a snail look like? Is it square?" "No," one girl informed me, "it's round." "Oh, so I can just draw a circle?" There was a resounding "No!" "Oh, well, then what does a snail look like?" They drew some good snails and then I drew the giant snail to play the game on, all the while asking if I was drawing it correctly. (Apparently I was.) I explained to them how to play the game, and then we were joined by the boys, who demanded to know how to play the game. So I explained it again, with the girls' help. The boys ended up pretty much taking over the game, which with only seventeen squares, didn't last too long. So I drew them a fifty-square game for them while Phil played another game with them.
After lunch, Heather ran worship with them, Phil spoke and we broke into small groups, Hanna and Andrew Szymczak (on Rachel's request) did a skit, and Sue helped the kids make T-shirts, with the colors assigned by team. (We have a green team and a yellow team.) We then ran relay races, which the older kids liked better than the younger ones. Then the older ones and I continued our giant fifty-square game of Snail, which we likely will be continuing through the week.
We had dinner then, which we followed up with a low-key activity session, including Duck, Duck, Goose; Go Fish; Hot Potato; and we tried to get into the Macarena, but my iPod speaker died and we couldn't get it going. The iPod speaker is not high on anyone's priority list, but we had planned to use it through the week, so please pray it starts working again!
Please pray for good weather tomorrow since there's a hike planned and we want to do a lot of activities outside. Please also pray for some issues we've had with the kids already, for hydration, for strength and stamina, and for good health.
To leave you with a laugh: our memory verse in small groups today was Psalm 18:46: "The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!" One little girl in Rachel's group said, "Please pray to my Rock," as a joke, and it provided the team with a much needed laugh during our debrief tonight. We have had some good times already and are excited to experience more this week! Thanks again for all your support.
Monday, June 29, 2009
T-1 to Conference...
Hello from Jugowice, Poland! We are settled in here in our room at the conference center and have a pretty good idea of what we will be doing, where, and how.
We had quite an adventure before we were able to settle ourselves at the conference center. A look into our Monday:
We had packed up the big white van that Ted and Wendy rented from a church plant to help transport our team. It took, as it normaly had been, a little bit of coaxing to start the morning but we made it to the Szymczaks' house without any problems. It was when we tried to start up our little caravan--Ted in the white van, Wendy in the Szymczaks' van, and another missionary, Susan, in her car--that the white van decided it was done for the day. We, obviously, didn't have quite the same idea! Ted tried every method he could think of to get it to work--and this included every available adult helping to try push-start the van. When this failed, it was decided to send the music team and as many others ahead in two working vehicles. We managed to fit everyone in a seat except for Phil, Ted, and the Szymczaks' son Andrew.
You might think our excitement for the day was finished--at least, until after the mechanic came to determine the van's problem--but you'd be wrong. :) Wendy was used to following her GPS's instructions to the conference center in Jugowice, and since she didn't have one with her on this particular trip, we made quite a few wrong turns. She and Heather were joking and laughing hysterically about it in the front. Wendy and Susan stopped to speak to a local woman, and she gave perfect and easy-to-follow directions. The rest of the day went well, and the van problem turned out to be regular gas put in the tank when the van runs on diesel.
Afterwards, we had dinner and a cultural discussion with Ted and Wendy. However, since we had already spent several days in Poland, we had already learned an important cultural lesson: don't call the ducks Polish! Emma Danielson had been telling Rachel that the ducks didn't look the same as ducks in the States, and Rachel said, "That's because they're Polish ducks." Apparently a nearby mother and her son understood English, since they glared at Rachel and Emma afterwards.
After the discussion we met downstairs with some of the missionaries and the conference's main speaker for a prayer meeting. We found through the middle of it that one of the girls we'd been anticipating for the conference, Anika Mellwig, would not be attending, and neither would her family. Her house was struck by lightning and the recently done basement is flooding. Please keep her and her family in your prayers. We're bummed not to have her and we're sure she feels the same.
Please also pray for Heather and the music.
We had a team meeting tonight also to go through tomorrow's schedule. We are prepared for an enjoyable day with the kids tomorrow! Please pray all goes well, and if it doesn't, for flexibility with the team.
As always, your prayers and support are immensely appreciated. Thank you so much!
We had quite an adventure before we were able to settle ourselves at the conference center. A look into our Monday:
We had packed up the big white van that Ted and Wendy rented from a church plant to help transport our team. It took, as it normaly had been, a little bit of coaxing to start the morning but we made it to the Szymczaks' house without any problems. It was when we tried to start up our little caravan--Ted in the white van, Wendy in the Szymczaks' van, and another missionary, Susan, in her car--that the white van decided it was done for the day. We, obviously, didn't have quite the same idea! Ted tried every method he could think of to get it to work--and this included every available adult helping to try push-start the van. When this failed, it was decided to send the music team and as many others ahead in two working vehicles. We managed to fit everyone in a seat except for Phil, Ted, and the Szymczaks' son Andrew.
You might think our excitement for the day was finished--at least, until after the mechanic came to determine the van's problem--but you'd be wrong. :) Wendy was used to following her GPS's instructions to the conference center in Jugowice, and since she didn't have one with her on this particular trip, we made quite a few wrong turns. She and Heather were joking and laughing hysterically about it in the front. Wendy and Susan stopped to speak to a local woman, and she gave perfect and easy-to-follow directions. The rest of the day went well, and the van problem turned out to be regular gas put in the tank when the van runs on diesel.
Afterwards, we had dinner and a cultural discussion with Ted and Wendy. However, since we had already spent several days in Poland, we had already learned an important cultural lesson: don't call the ducks Polish! Emma Danielson had been telling Rachel that the ducks didn't look the same as ducks in the States, and Rachel said, "That's because they're Polish ducks." Apparently a nearby mother and her son understood English, since they glared at Rachel and Emma afterwards.
After the discussion we met downstairs with some of the missionaries and the conference's main speaker for a prayer meeting. We found through the middle of it that one of the girls we'd been anticipating for the conference, Anika Mellwig, would not be attending, and neither would her family. Her house was struck by lightning and the recently done basement is flooding. Please keep her and her family in your prayers. We're bummed not to have her and we're sure she feels the same.
Please also pray for Heather and the music.
We had a team meeting tonight also to go through tomorrow's schedule. We are prepared for an enjoyable day with the kids tomorrow! Please pray all goes well, and if it doesn't, for flexibility with the team.
As always, your prayers and support are immensely appreciated. Thank you so much!
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