Poland Service Learning 2011

Good food, much laughter, and good conversation

Jonathan with axe, Dr. E. down for the count

We didn’t have any problems with the axe… it was the knife that did the damage.  Seriously.  Dusty cut two fingers with a knife in the kitchen, but Dr. E. put his first aid training to work.  He’s fine (no worries Mr. & Mrs. Jenkins!).  We have only needed to use the first aid kit three times so far.  But we really are all okay.

Hello Friends!

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day. I can hardly put into words all of the amazing things that have happened this week. Our team has been growing together in ways that I could have never imagined. It’s hard to believe that a few short months ago we didn’t even know each other and now we act and feel as though we are a family.

Today was a day of ministry and I couldn’t be more excited about how it played out. Half of the team was outside while half of the team was inside. The outside group started out by wandering around the block  and picking up a bunch of garbage. Then we moved on to clearing out the shrubbery around the church. The inside crew cleaned and cleaned and cleaned and made the church look lovely. The day was full of good conversation and a lot of laughing. I’m convinced we have the funniest group of students from Malone. I was told that I had to include in this that a good bit of the laughing came from Dusty’s impersonation of Luke Taylor’s laugh. He does it perfectly and it’s brought a great deal of comic relief to us all.

There’s something about serving together that brings people together. We’ve learned so much about ourselves, about God, and about the way he works this week. Tonight we got to hear Jarek’s testimony. He is the pastor of the church we are staying at and it was such a blessing to hear his heart. Don translated for us and we were all flabbergasted as he told us about his grandfathers both dying during the initial invasion of Poland by Germany, of living under communism, and of the many ways God has worked in his life. I was so in awe of the passion he has for God and the sincerity of his heart. It blows me away how big God is, yet how intimately He is working in all parts of the world. We are just a group of kids from Malone whom God picked to go to Poland. I will never fully understand why he picked me, but I’ll always be grateful.

It means the world to us that you’ve joined us on this trip through financial support and prayer. Please know what a blessing you have been. Thank you for contining to lift us up in prayer. I have been so blessed by the people on this team as well as the people we have met here in Poland. We are so excited to think about sharing all of our stories when we return home, just as the Polish people have shared their stories with us.

Be blessed tonight and trust that God is at work. No matter how small the deed or how difficult it has been to communicate across language barriers, we know that God’s glory will be revealed. I’ll be seeing you soon.

In Christ,

Katie

We are getting ready to enjoy another Polish breakfast after having a wonderful day yesterday. We woke early to load up and head to Dąbrowa Górnicza for church yesterday. The service was wonderful, and even though we could not understand any of what was being said (save for Dr. E’s translated sermon), I think I can speak for all when I say that we all enjoyed the worship very much. Songs like “Blessed Assurance” and “Indescribable” made the service familiar, despite the language barrier. I was privileged to spend six hours sitting around the dinner table of a church member with four other from our team yesterday, and must say that I enjoyed so much not knowing or caring what time it was all day! (Also, a far cry from all the walking the day before!) Today after breakfast we plan on doing some deep cleaning of the church and then spending the day offering to clean and do chores for others around the area. It should be a great day!

-Damaris

(Picture) The team last evening before our debriefing meeting in the conference room. (Dusty must have been too tired to support his head)

We just thought that we would pass on a note of welcome from our local host:  “Jesteście bardzo fajną grupą! Miło Was gościć w naszym Kościele.” – Jarek Ściwiarski

The team is about to begin its daily “debriefing,” so I will just share a few thoughts about the day before we gather  in the church hall at the church where we are staying in Dąbrowa Górnicza. After breakfast, we began our day at 7:45 a.m. when we left the charming Globtroter Guesthouse and loaded up the van with Don and Betty Orr and “intern” Jonathan (a university student from Canada) for the hour and a half trip to Dąbrowa.   Dąbrowa Górnicza is an industrial city situated to the east of Krakow.  Upon our arrival, we were warmly greeted by Pastor Jarek Ściwiarski and the entire family of Społeczność Chrześcijańska w Dąbrowie Górniczej.

With the help of Asha, a church member who translated for him, Dr. Entwistle gave a timely message during service.  Damaris and Sam offered special music with Kim as the accompanist.  One parishioner characterized their singing as “angelic.”  After service, we broke up into small groups and traveled to the homes of five church families where we enjoyed delicious Polish cuisine and fascinating conversations.  Amber, Katie, and Adrienne shared enthusiastically about their discussions over dinner and a journey to a local castle, where they continued their chat with their host family over cups of hot chocolate in the café of a re-built castle from the 13th Century.  Carrie reported that this was her favorite day yet!  (I would have to agree!) 

Tomorrow, we begin a day of service.  We will be involved in some “spring cleaning” at the church and help with some neighborhood clean up and service activities.  We continue to marvel at the varied experiences and heritage of this wonderful country.  Thanks to all for your continued prayers.

Wawel Cathedral

 Wawel Cathedral, located on the grounds of Wawel Castle (the castle of the Kings of Poland since 14th century, and the cite of their rule since the 10th century) was the cite of one of our many experiences today.  In front of the cathedral, pictured above, you can see the ruins of a Roman settlement dating many centuries before the kings established their reign in Krakow.  This was definitely a learning day: learning about Polish civil and religious history: highlighting the castle of the kings, the main cathedral, the Jewis quarter (and their forced relocation under one of Polands kings and the extermination of the vast majority of its Jewish inhabitance during WW-II).  It was sobering to realize that – of 68,000 Jewish residents, only a few thousand survived the war, and only 500 remain in the city today.  As we toured the outside of several closed synagogues, we couldn’t help but think of the tragedies that happened here.  In a somewhat surreal climax, we paused to listen to the singing of Jewish children emmanating from a Shabbat service, and then ended the day with a wonderful meal in a Jewish restaurant which included listening to a three piece band (string bass, clarinet, and accordian) performing lively Jewish music.