Great Expectations

     Throughout the past few years, I have had very few constants in my life. I don't say this to draw pity or express complaint. In fact, I say this to help display God's faithfulness! Over the past month, I have seen how God has prepared me specifically for this time, in this place, with these people, to do this work. "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28 ESV) Oh, how God has worked all things together in my life for His purpose!
     During college, I lived on campus in a dorm room for 4 years. I shared a single room with another individual for 4 years. I shared a single bathroom, toilet, and shower with 3 other individuals for 3 years (1 year was fun with a community bathroom...). Every Christmas and summer break, I moved home for 1-3 months only to return back to dorm life. Please don't get me wrong, I loved dorm life! Dorm life just made making roots more difficult due to it's long-range nomadic nature. Also, during college, I got my degree in education. I learned how to prepare, organize, and teach a lesson. I learned how to address different learners and how to adapt to people and situations on the fly, mid-lesson.
     After college, I struggled with being very lonely. I went from being surrounded by close friends all of the time to not having a close friend within 30-45 minutes of where I was living. This was a very tough time for me. Though I consider myself an introvert, I longed for relationship. It was during this time that God taught me to become more dependent on Him to meet my need for relationship first and foremost. I learned to wait on God's timing for relationships around me to develop instead of trying to force them. I am thankful that this period only lasted a few months and that God has brought some amazing relationships into my life in Montgomery, in His time.
     Also, after college, God closed some doors in order to open the door for me to serve at AUM's BCM. During my time so far at AUM, God has provided godly people to pour into my life to teach me and grow me as a Christian and as a young woman. Our Campus Minister, Lee, has taught me the importance of knowing what I believe and why I believe it. He has also helped me to understand that every issue in our lives comes down to a matter of our hearts. Lee has challenged me to depend on the Gospel and to love the Gospel. Our Administrative Assistant, Mrs. Diane, has taught me how to lead better and how to serve better. She has taught me the importance of delegating and has pushed me to implement this in my leadership. Mrs. Diane has taught me, by example, how to be a better listener and how to speak with truth and love. Our BCM President, Justin Law, has taught me the importance of making a person feel welcome and included and the impact a smile can have on someone's life. He has encouraged me to follow my gut, but depend on the Lord's guidance. Justin was my first friend when I moved back to Montgomery and his brotherhood has been a positive example of a godly relationship with a brother in Christ.
     I list all of these things to show how God has prepared me, by His sovereignty, to be in Poland this summer as a JV intern. This summer, I have traveled to and stayed in 8 different cities with at least 1-3 roommates at each location. (dorm life) I have spoken and/or taught in at least 7 different schools, often times with little idea of what level of English is spoken in each class. (degree in education) I have traveled to a foreign country with zero relationships developed prior to arrival, where there is a language barrier with nationals. (from loneliness to dependence on God) I have been thrown into relationship with a team of 9 other interns. (God's timing in development) I have encountered Polish students with different religious beliefs that often focus on works-based religion as opposed to repentant heart change and relationship with Christ. (relationship with Lee) I have had to delegate tasks to be accomplished with fellow interns and have developed relationships with students through listening and loving. (relationship with Mrs. Diane) I have met a lot of new people and will be meeting a lot of new campers who desire to feel welcome and included. I have also been placed in relationship with 5 male interns who are my brothers in Christ. (relationship with Justin)
     Notice one thing I did not list: soccer. When I first signed on with Josiah Venture, I signed on to be a part of a soccer intern team that would put on soccer camps in Poland. As time passed, it came to be that only one camp would be soccer-oriented and the others would be English-oriented. I was asked to prepare to head up the soccer camp that would take place in Jastrzebie. Now, I am finding out that there will most likely be no soccer-oriented portion of this camp. Teaching soccer was a major draw for me when it came to Poland. I don't honestly know if I would have been interested in this opportunity if soccer were not a part. God obviously has other plans for me! I am certain, however, that this is exactly where I am supposed to be and He knew exactly what it would take for me to get to this place.
     Today marks one full month in Poland. On May 30th, I landed in Krakow and began this incredible adventure with a handful of expectations and a heart full of unknowns! Tomorrow, we will lead our first camp of the summer in the city of Jastrzebie. All of us have some type of expectations for this English camp, including myself. However, as I was warned and have seen come to fruition, expectations and reality rarely match up. This fact leads myself and my fellow interns to a crucial state of mind: FLEXIBILITY! Despite many great expectations, we must remain flexible and open to the option that God may have different plans that are GREATER THAN our expectations!

     "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

(Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV)    

     

Stranger Than Fiction

Rocking out transportation E.T. style!

     Over the past few days, I've gotten to explore my surroundings here in Bielsko-Biala on my bike (okay, it's not really my bike...it's Heidi's, but I'm claiming dibs for the summer!). I've enjoyed so much getting out into the woods and spending time alone with the Lord. Heidi suggested that I take a different route today up to the top of a water reservoir in what I would describe as the equivalent to a state park. She told me which path to take to get to a small restaurant at the top where I could grab something to drink while overlooking the reservoir. The route was very bumpy and rather up hill, but the view was worth it!

     

     I went into the small restaurant and bought a water, then went to sit out on the patio overlooking the water. I pulled my camera out to take a few pictures and thought about throwing in my iPod, but decided against it. I was planning to just sit and relax, possibly pull out my bible, but my first priority was to down some water! (By the way, I have GOT to learn how to tell the difference between carbonated and non-carbonated water in Polish!)

     As I was recovering from my uphill trek, the older man sitting at the table in front of me turned around and started speaking to me in Polish. Please understand that I have worked on learning some Polish, but my words remain at the basics of yes, no, thank you, sorry, hello, goodbye, and the like. However, I gathered that the man was asking me to take a picture of him in front of the water with his camera. Luckily, I did not need language to aim and press a button :) He thanked me and I went back to my seat. 

     All of a sudden the man turned around and started talking to me in Polish again. I tried to explain to him that I spoke English and could not understand what he was saying, however, it did not faze him one bit! What ensued was a rather interesting 30-45 minute conversation with this older Polish gentleman. We tried our best to communicate despite that fact that I do not speak Polish and he does not speak English. I was able to pull out my Polish phrase book that Anslee Warren gave me before I came and he was able to point out some words in the Polish-English dictionary to help us along.

     From what I gathered (keep in mind that he only spoke Polish and occasionally a little German, which I don't speak either...), he had met people from France, Portugal, Spain, Czech Republic, Serbia, Ireland, Slovakia, and others, but I was the first American he had ever met. I think he works for a ship at a port in the Baltic Sea. He asked me how many times I've been to Poland and was shocked to find out it was my first time here. He asked why I was here and if I was here visiting family. I was able to share with him, as best as I could, that I was staying with new friends at their home and was here to tell people about the love of Jesus. If he did not understand anything else I said, he recognized the name of Jesus! He and I spoke for a while until it was time for me to head back home. We said goodbye and he gave me his phone number in case I was ever in an emergency and needed a friend. 

     I have no idea why God had me encounter Mr. Lukas today. We were hardly able to communicate at all. However, we crossed paths and I told him about Jesus. I pray that if he understood anything from our time together, he understood that I was here because Jesus loves him. I pray that he walked away with a positive impression of me not only as an American, but as a Christian representing Christ.

Mr. Wiesłow Lukas

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

In the past 4 days, I have traveled via airplane, tram, taxi, train, and even in the back of a stranger's van! Yet, through it all, I am safe and having a blast!

After several delays, a missed plane due to delays, and a plane swap back in Frankfurt due to pressurization going out, I finally made it into Krakow on Wednesday! My team had already started The Amazing Race (3 day long team competition put on by JV) but myself and two other girls, Katharina and Jordan, jumped right in with them at the Krakow Mall where we put on a model runway shoot outside in the mall square. If you'd like to know more details than I'm going to give you, hit me up and I'll share but it's way too much for a blog post haha! We spent our first day in Krakow completing various tasks but it was incredible seeing the Main Square! Absolutely beautiful both during the day and possibly even more so at night with all of the lights! Wednesday night we crashed in a hostel in Krakow and I fell asleep within 5 minutes.

Thursday morning we woke up and grabbed breakfast at the hostel. My first polish breakfast consisted of bread, butter, ham, and cheese with warm milk. It's definitely going to take some adjusting to, but I'm down for adaptation :) We spent the majority of Thursday in Krakow and even got to visit Wawel Castel, which has a legend of a dragon that used to terrorize the area. Also, while in Krakow, we visited Oskar Schindler's old factory on which the movie "Schindler's List" was based. The factory has been converted into a Holocaust and WWII museum detailing the influence on Poland. I wish we could have had more time there because it was very powerful. There were pictures from the German occupation that had buildings and locations that we had just spent time in and around. Suddenly it all became so much more real. Most pictures from American history show buildings or sites that either no longer exist or have changed drastically since that time. In Poland, the architecture is the same as it was 100 years ago. We left Krakow and rode a bus to Skoczow, then walked to the H2O Camp in Ochaby. We were exhausted but it was exciting to see the camp that I will be spending several weeks in :)

Friday morning (this morning) we had breakfast at H2O, still the offer of bread, butter, ham, and cheese, but they also offered Nutella! I have a feeling Nutella will be my new friend this summer :) Ashley Hostetter would be proud, I know! We completed a set of tasks at the camp and then walked into the town of Ochaby to catch a bus back into Skoczow. However, the next bus didn't come for a couple of hours. So we got creative and, in the spirits of competition and adventure, we found someone with a van and offered to pay them if they would drive us to Skoczow. Problem: 6 seats, 10 team members plus driver. Solution: 5 of us rode in the back of the van with the tools! What an adventure! Once in Skoczow, we took a bus to a city on the border, then ran across the border into Czech Republic. In Czech Republic, we completed a task and then caught a train followed by a taxi to arrive safely at Malenovice, a hotel owned by JV. We were reunited with our luggage and were checked in to the hotel. The view is overwhelmingly beautiful! I hope to post a picture soon! Tonight, we will start training until next Wednesday.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support through all of the travel! God is already working and it's exciting to see His faithfulness!