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.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
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!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
We're Here!
Hey everyone!
We arrived safely in Poland soon after one o'clock on Saturday afternoon. (We have a six hour time difference, so for you'd it would have been seven in the morning.) We were extremely jet-lagged after three flights and over ten hours spent on layovers. Most of the team did manage some shuteye on the translantic flight and during our Frankfurt layover. Emma has been doing great with the traveling and time adjustment. Praise God! She is the sunshiny element of our team, and we have all been caught up in the happenings of her brand-new butterfly, whom she took considerable care and time in naming Twinkers.
We have been around the city of Wroclaw, into which we flew on Saturday, looking around the town square and the old city. Wroclaw was originally built on an island in the middle of the river that cuts through the city, and all of the buildings there now have some sort of religious affiliation. This part of the city, then, is very valuable to its inhabitants, particularly because, as Wendy told us, the Catholic Church was for decades the only means of preserving Polish tradition and culture during the Cold War era.
We leave for the conference center tomorrow. After a crash course in Polish phonics we finally figured out how to pronounce "Jugowice," where the center is: You-go-VITZ-ay. Suffice it to say the Polish and American alphabets are really different!
Other than fatigue from jet-lag we are all doing quite well and looking forward to engaging in the ministry that's brought us here! Thank you so much for your prayers and support!
We arrived safely in Poland soon after one o'clock on Saturday afternoon. (We have a six hour time difference, so for you'd it would have been seven in the morning.) We were extremely jet-lagged after three flights and over ten hours spent on layovers. Most of the team did manage some shuteye on the translantic flight and during our Frankfurt layover. Emma has been doing great with the traveling and time adjustment. Praise God! She is the sunshiny element of our team, and we have all been caught up in the happenings of her brand-new butterfly, whom she took considerable care and time in naming Twinkers.
We have been around the city of Wroclaw, into which we flew on Saturday, looking around the town square and the old city. Wroclaw was originally built on an island in the middle of the river that cuts through the city, and all of the buildings there now have some sort of religious affiliation. This part of the city, then, is very valuable to its inhabitants, particularly because, as Wendy told us, the Catholic Church was for decades the only means of preserving Polish tradition and culture during the Cold War era.
We leave for the conference center tomorrow. After a crash course in Polish phonics we finally figured out how to pronounce "Jugowice," where the center is: You-go-VITZ-ay. Suffice it to say the Polish and American alphabets are really different!
Other than fatigue from jet-lag we are all doing quite well and looking forward to engaging in the ministry that's brought us here! Thank you so much for your prayers and support!
Monday, June 22, 2009
T-5 days!
The Poland team is leaving Friday--can you believe it?
In conjunction with that, we have some prayer requests we'd like to share with you:
1. Heather, Rachel, and myself (Stephanie) were all feeling less than healthy yesterday. For three of us to be feeling so poorly on one day--the day of our commissioning, in fact--led us to believe we're facing some spiritual warfare. Please keep the health of our entire team in your prayers.
2. Packing night is Wednesday. Please pray that we're able to pack everything without going over the limit for both personal and team suitcases.
3. From our departure from Detroit to our arrival in Jugowice, we will be traveling for over twenty-four hours. Pray for our endurance through that period of time, and particularly for Emma, Phil and Elaine's 5-year-old daughter.
I will add other prayer requests as they come up. We appreciate your support more than you can ever know.
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