City of Hope Church Blogs

Well, I am home from Poland and am probably experiencing a little jet lag.  I am not up to doing what I want to do just yet.  This was the most amazing trips that I have ever taken in my life and I have been to quite a few great places.  I think though that all those trips before was selfish trips - all about Gail.  What does Gail want to do? Where does Gail want to go?  Does Gail want to be pampered or what?  This trip was all about the children.  On Monday morning when the children began arriving on the campus I thought "Oh know what have I done? these kids can't even speak my language".  They were totally out of control.  There was no discipline that would control them.  On the first night's chapel it was total chaos.  Fights were breaking out all over the room.  I just knew this was a total waste of our time.  But as the week progressed the children began warming up to us and I guess we began warming up to them too.  All they wanted was to be hugged and loved on.  These children don't get much love at home.  So when I words couldn't be heard by them - my actions were fine.  I would pick one up and set them in my lap that they would melt into my arms.  I was on the verge of tears all week.  I saw children that had sunken in eyes and ribs that could be seen for long distances because of the malnutritioned bodies.  One little boy would eat two and three plates of food at the meal time because he thought we wouldn't get any more food.   On the last night of chapel probably over 30 children came forward to give their hearts to the Lord, but the one that really touched me was Conrad.  You have to understand that Conrad was the terror of the camp.  He never obeyed anything that you said - he wouldn't sing if you said sing - he would play the games - we really wasn't going to go anything but fight.  But on that night that Doc gave a salvation message and then extended the invitation - Conrad came forward.  He actually had some tears in his eyes.  When Henryk sang the Oh how I love Jesus song (a song that they had sung many times that week) he looked at Conrad and sung the line "Conrad do you love Jesus?" and Conrad sang back to Henrky "Yes, I love Jesus" and then Henryk sang "Why do you love Jesus?" and Conrad sang back "Because He first loved me"   Well that was worth the whole trip.  I know that Henryk is going to follow-up with these children that were saved, but I am going to do my part and pray for these children as they have to go back to terrible environments.  Lord, please remind them from day to day that you are with them and that you love them.   

Today is Wednesday in Poland.  I can hardly believe that I have been here 7 days. It has been so hectic that I really hadn't noticed until now as I am writing this.  We have had NO down time whatsoever.  Before we even brought our clothes to our rooms to unpack on Thursday we had already had a service at a soup kitchen.  This is the most amazing country - filled with amazing people. These last couple of days I have only spent time with children here at the camp. I see faces of children and I can imagine some child in the states that is exactly like this child either in actions or in looks.   I got  the exciting opportunity to speak at the women's prison in Warsaw on Friday and then on Saturday they brought the children of the prisoners and we had a party for them.   We had snacks, games, and presents for each chilld and momma. We even had a puppet show for them and they loved it.  I got to meet a family that was so sweet.  I fell in love with the momma the day before in the jail service and then I got to meet the whole family - daddy, two daughters and a young son named David.  I found out that the momma was in prison for fortune telling - I don't understand that because fortune telling is very popular over here - she must have not had a liscence or something.  I really don't know.  I just know that I really fell in love with that gypsy family.   Pray for me as we finish up this week of camp.  I am almost the oldest person here - actually Ronnie is the oldest and I am the next to oldest.  So pray that our bodies hold up thru all the activity that is going on around here.   

 

In Polish, the word for Wednesday, Środa, also means middle.   And, here we are Wednesday, the middle of the week, and half way through our time here in Poland.  So far this has been one of the smoothest and most profitable projects I have ever done.  I have been extremely busy (as evidenced by the fact that this is my first blog entry!).   As others have posted here, we had multiple ministry opportunities before camp even began.  Inspite of a very tight schedule in the days  before camp, the team has held up well. 

The first day is always chaotic and Monday was no exception, however, this was the smoothest first day of camp I have ever since.  This was due in part to a new and different scheduling format that I used for Monday based on ideas from Jim Fournier who now works for the Radość foundation.  Although everything went well, the weather was cold and dreasy with misty rain and the greyness was reflected in the disposition of everyone.

Tuesday we completed our first "normal" day of camp under bright sunny skies with a warm breeze.  We could not have had a better day.  Hopefully today will go as well.

          The first day of the camp was nowhere near what I had expected. I have a four-year-old, and was prepared for the complete and utter chaos that could be involved in a hundred children being in one place, times a thousand when you add the language barrier. But I have the utmost respect for the Polish workers here at the camp. They really know what they are doing and took something that could have been a mess and made it relatively sane.

          I am running a games station, playing things like dodgeball and volleyball with the older kids. The younger ones I just turn loose on the playground. All the little ones want us to push the on the swings. Two Polish words I will recognize for the rest of my life are the words for “push” and “higher”. It is so much fun just playing with these kids, letting them burn off a little energy.

          I heard people talking about this at church, and everyone who had been here told me about their experience, but you can’t truly understand until you are here. These children come from places that most of us can’t even imagine. When it got warm, the little boys took their shirts off and you could see every bone in their bodies. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to cry or just take them all home with me.

          Last night the kids sang a variation of “Oh, How I Love Jesus” at chapel, and it was enough to bring anyone to tears, because they went to each child up on stage and let them sing it. You could really tell that some of them meant what they were singing. That’s what we’re here to do! I mean, that’s what this whole thing is about, and here we had children on stage singing about how they loved Jesus! Praise God!

A new feature in our chapels this year is puppet shows.  Our Polish friends call them Muppets after the Jim Henson characters that have become well known here.  Kenzie Stephens has written a series of puppet shows for the the camp.  The story is set in Medieval times and features conflict between an small village and an evil dragon ("smok" in Polish).    A young man, full of himself takes on the dragon but in unable to defeat him with his human weapons and is taken captive.  He must be saved but Rycerz Zielony (the Green Knight) who bears the Armor of God,  "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

Joel and Kenzie have worked very hard on these productions.  The facility manager here gave them complete use of the workshop and anything in it.  With scraps and odd pieces, we have built a great puppet stage.  With "Jet" and Edyta reading the Polish translation of the script and Joel, Kenzie and I working the puppets we have produced a show each morning in chapel to rave reviews from kids and staff.

The puppet shows have been a great way to introduce the kids to the day's teaching.  They then learn more in small group sessions through out the day.  Ronnie Miller leads the Bible Challenge group, quizzing the kids on what they are learning with various games.  Then in Mitch's outdoor skills group, the same ideas are reinforced using object lessons from the natural world.  Then in evening chapel, I teach using magic, experiments and other stunts.  With this reinforcement , the message is getting through and their having fun.

 

  Thursday, immediately after we reunited at the airport Henryk sprung on us that we were going straight to a soup kitchen and Doc was speaking. So we did. There were probably 45 people there, and when we sat down, I felt the Lord speak to me. Apparently, I needed to tell Doc to let me know if there was something I could do. And there was, so the next thing I know, I'm giving my testimony (with a translator) to this group of people I had never met. Not exactly something I'd normally line up to do, but it was what I was needed for. I spoke a little about my struggle with alcohol, which led into what Doc was talking about perfectly. Afterward, we were handing out bags of food as they were leaving and one man came up to me and said in heavily accented English that he had been free of alcohol for a month. Praise God! It was worth it, even if no one else heard me!

 

Friday, Gail and Ronnie spoke at a women's prison. We all know how gifted Gail is with prison ministry, and she met a woman who was in prison for fortune telling. She will get out in six months, and Gail talked to her for a while. The Irish team joined us then, and they were so tired from their trip that it's a wonder they were even still standing. Then we all met back up and went to a children's after-school club. There were about 9 or 10 kids, and we put on part of the puppet show for them. The kids absolutely loved the dragon! One little boy kept coming over and taking pictures and wanting to see it. 

 

Saturday, all of us went to the prison. This was the day the mothers got to visit with their children, which seems to be a rare event. Nothing I've ever seen has broken my heart like this did. All these women were clinging to their children, and most of the kids were too young to really understand. They loved the puppet show, and what really got to me is that these kids wanted to play musical chairs and Animals in the Jungle, but the mothers just couldn't put them down long enough. So they held their children and ran and played these games with them. The Lord put it on my heart to talk to one woman, but I had no idea what to say. That would be bad enough in English, but I didn't speak this woman's language. But I really needed to talk to her, so I decided to try. It turns out she could understand English, but spoke very little. I told her that God loved her, and that her little girl was beautiful. She started crying and hugged me, then said "Thank You" very clearly in English. I had to find a corner to get my emotions under control before I could continue. Doc shared a message with them, and it was a wonderful experience, even if it was heartbreaking.

 

Last night we went into the old city. It is absolutely spectacular. I've never seen anything like it. We had a lot of Polish language tracts to hand out, and we split into groups. It was also a lot of fun. A lot of people turned us down, but a lot of people took the pamphlets, and some even read it right there. There were a group of people drinking alcohol and blowing fire in the street for tips, and Ronnie gave them one. They actually spoke English and he talked to them for quite some time. We reached out to a lot of people, and saw a side of the city that was so rich in it's real heritage. It's an experience that I wouldn't trade for anything.

 

The camp actually starts tomorrow, but about twenty of the kids got here today after a five hour train ride. The rest will be here in the morning. And from that point to the end of the week, it will be a non-stop whirlwind. I declare in the name of Jesus that we will touch every young heart that we come in contact with and that nothing we teach them will be overlooked or forgotten. I pray that God will give us the strength and wisdom to overcome every obstacle in our way. I don’t know how tomorrow will go, other than that it will go according to God’s plan.

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I'm on my way to Poland finally.  I have been supporting financially and with prayers the children in Poland for about 5 years I guess, but in June Ronnie and I are going to teach the children about Jesus.  I have a lot to do to get ready so pray for me. 

It is hard to believe we are on day 4 already.  I'm afraid there has been little time for blogging.  All in all things have gone well.  We have a number of very difficult kids as usual, but that is why we are here.    Below is Conrad: when he is good he is very good but when he is bad.... Ahhggg!

Our team this time was cobbled together of people from all over who did not even know each other one the first day.  In spite of this, it is one of the strongest and most unified teams I have worked with.  It is beautiful to see  German, Australian, Norwegian  Welsh, American, and of course Polish all working smoothly together.   This morning as we began our day with prayer, I was moved to hear all the different languages being lifted up to our one Father in a unified plea for these children.  What a picture of our future in heaven!

Wisła, Poland

 We are now in the middle of day two here at the 2009 Wisła Winter Bible Camp.   We have gotten off to an amazingly smooth start and our plans seem to be working.  This project has been put together on a very short schedule with a team comprised of scattered individuals from all over, most of whom never met before Saturday.  On the leadership team, we have a German, an Australian, a Norwegian, 6 Americans, aWelshman and of course many Poles.

Wisła is a beautiful little town and I always enjoy coming here.  We are using the Oasis Church which has a large building housing dorm rooms, a great round chapel as well as a dining area and some meeting rooms.  This is a small ski slope just a short walk away.  The people there have been very gracious in allowing us to use their facilities.

It is often said that “little is much when God is in it.” Our witness for Christ extends farther than we will ever know. However, sometimes we get to see a glimpse of what God might be doing as we arranges the times and places of our lives (Acts 17:26).

One of the children in our camp this week was a teenage girl named Anastasia. Anastasia grew up in a traditional Moslem community in Siberia. Her family was forced to flee unrest in Siberia and ended up in a Chechen refugee camp for 2 years. Less than one year ago, her family obtained the necessary documentation to start a new life here in Poland. However, without adequate resources, they ended up in the homeless shelter at Bialoleka, and thus were invited to our camp.  Through out the week, Anastasia had many questions about the things being taught in morning and evening chapel. She told her group leader “this religion is SO different from what I grew up with.” Anastasia was deeply touched by the amount of love and joy in Christianity. Thursday evening after chapel, Anastasia accepted Christ as her savior. One of the Irish team members had obtained a Polish Bible which she gave to Anastasia. So, as a result of our camp a young Siberian refugee will take her new faith and a copy of God’s word into her home. God only knows where else she might take it.