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!