The End

Dear Family, Friends, and chancing readers:

There hasn't been a new post for a few months now as we've been adjusting back to life in Canada. Life here is not nearly as adventure-packed as our 10 months in Poland...though it does have it's perks! We're really enjoying spending time with family and friends and anticipating when we will finally get to be on the field full time. Until then, I'm signing off and concluding this blog. God bless and thanks again for all your support and prayers to those of you who faithfully followed our adventures in Poland. And what a better time to celebrate family and friends on this Thanksgiving long weekend, so Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I have so much to be thankful for!!!!

Until next time....Dowidzenia!

Anything Worth Your While Takes Time

I thought I'd update how our Polish visit went for those of you who are wondering. Our visit didn't go quite as I had hoped it would, and I realize now I had some strong expectations of how I wanted our visit to go. I was thinking these really kind and welcoming people would be very open and respectful when it came to talking about religion, and I thought most of our conversation would be about Poland and their memories from living there almost twenty years ago. Of course they left Poland right after Communism fell, and so it shouldn't surprise me (but it still caught me off guard), that our new friends have a lot of conspiracy theories about our Canadian government and generally a negative outlook on life. They would have nothing to do with talking about religion with us and told us basically to keep it to ourselves unless we were asked. They have been the the Alpha course with some Christian friends they made before but these friends moved away and stopped contacting them and our neighbors are still quite offended by that. They also had a friend that became a Christian and then forced it down their throats and wouldn't talk about anything else with them. So taking these negative experiences into account, I can understand why religion is not a welcomed subject for them. Although they had no problem telling us all about how they believe every religion is good and that everyone goes to heaven if they are good people, and that women have the right to choose. It was really hard for me to sit there with my mouth closed and listen to their opinions and beliefs, as it seemed like everything they believed I believed the opposite. Like I said, I was not really prepared for this loaded conversation!! But for our first time meeting them I knew it was more important for me to listen respectfully than to speak my mind.

Since we live in the same housing development we shared our concerns about getting sod laid and fences and decks built this Summer as well. We did enjoy some good Polish bigos and I even got to have some pickled salmon (yumm!). Though they have been living here for almost two decades they are still very Polish which we could see in their marriage and their personalities. Speaking in Polish was exhausting, but was music for my heart and refreshing to hear once again. Stella looks after her grandson every day for at least a few hours which is also very Polish. So this was the beginning of a relationship and relationships take time. We will continue to pray for them and especially that God will use our lives to witness to them and give us more opportunities to build relationship with them and share about Jesus. It's still quite cool how God has given us Polish neighbors! What I love the most about Polish people is their hospitality and how kind and welcoming they are to strangers. Just because we had lived in Poland they treated us like family. I don't think God putting us where we are right now is an accident at all. I think he's got more for us and we just need to pay attention to where he leads next.

Polish Friends

I have a really exciting story to share! When we first arrived back in Calgary, we were leaving our house one evening and a neighbour two houses down was just arriving back home. I happened to overhear her speaking to her friend in Polish and I wispered to Jon across the top of the car, "SHE'S SPEAKING POLISH!!" So as I caught her eye walking past I said "Dzien Dobdry." (hello in Polish). She had passed the side of our house already when she realized I spoke Polish to her and she quickly walked back- shocked- and we had a quick conversation in Polish. She asked about where we were from in Poland, what I studied, how long we had lived here, etc. and we agreed to have coffee sometime.

All of a sudden a couple weeks had passed and I still hadn't followed up on my invitation for coffee. There hadn't been a day that went by that I didn't think of it, but promptly came up with an excuse not to. Then recently this wonderful preacher spoke about the importance of living in the now and how important it was to sieze opportunities and not to be a "Someday I'll..." person. I couldn't stop thinking about my new polish friend.

So FINALLY, I saw her outside on her doorstep last night and went over to chat. I was afraid that I wouldn't remember any Polish by now and, well- let's face it: it's always frightening meeting new people and having conversations with people you don't know. Ok, maybe it's just like that for me. But it wasn't as scary as I had anticipated and I met her husband and we had quite a long conversation talking about Poland in Polish....my heart swelled. It was so lovely to hear them speak to me in Polish again! They are the nicest couple and we agreed to have dinner together (Jon too) this coming Sunday evening.

I just can't get over how cool it is that I have the nicest POLISH neighbours! God is so awesome- and they are such a blessing for my heart...and I don't even really know them yet. So our polish ministry hasn't ended it seems, it just changed faces :)

Working Girl

Greetings readers!
It's been a while since I've posted anything I'm well aware, and with the transition of moving back to Canada and getting into life here there's been so much change it's hard to keep track of! First of all I'd like to report how God continues to provide for us in amazing ways. I was offered a position as the children's intern at our Church a couple weeks before we left Poland- which took a lot of stress off our shoulders. Jon applied at many many jobs before returning home and continued to look for the first two weeks we were home but strangely couldn't find anything! We now see this was God's providence for our lives as Jon was called up last week by a Christian man who has his own window washing business and offered a job. It was everything we prayed for.

Leaving our life in Poland was hard. But we found blessings in it all along the way. The day we flew home the pilot actually mentioned when we were flying over Grudziadz and we could look out the window and see it one last time. Being a small town it was strange that he mentioned it at all and we took this as a gift from God. We really miss the people of Poland...especially our youth. The night before we left they threw this party for us with sandwiches, cake, an ice cream trough, a specially made DVD to remember them by and a book they each wrote in. I remember Don saying "You can never out-give a Pole"- true indeed! To say the least- we are loved. They will always be in our hearts!

These days working in a large Church is of course a huge change of scenery for me. Every job I have had- ever, I have struggled to enjoy or thrive in. I worked in several different environments and never seemed to find anything I could put up with for longer than a few months. So, finding Summer jobs has always been a bit of a daunting task. But working in ministry in North America for the first time I can honestly say I actually like going to work every day! Just knowing that I'm doing something that will impact peoples' lives for Christ in a positive way motivates me like nothing else. So I've discovered this could be what I'm cut out for more than I thought- working and being in ministry full time I mean.

Where are we going with missions work now that we're back? We seem to get asked that a lot. We're still aiming for full time missions work as soon as we're done school in one more year. I realize missions sounds a little crazy to some...and after the trails we've been through in Poland I understand it may sound crazy to want to go back. But let me try and make things clearer: missions makes us feel alive- it's like a high that I crave and no matter how low the valleys are, the peaks are infinitely more incredible. Just hearing other workers talk about what they're doing or sharing stories from their experiences lights this fire inside that pulls on the core of my being and tugs at my heart. I don't know if all missionaries feel that same passion and desire, but I do think of other people with the same calling as me as "my people"...no matter how weird and quirky they may be. I guess that makes me a little weird too... but you know, all that matters is I love what I'm doing and God's using it for bigger things!

Leaving Poland

To share some closing thoughts on our experiences these past ten months, here is one of my favorite quotes of all time from the movie and book "Out of Africa" by: Isaac Dennison. Karen says this at the end of the story in reflecting on a lifetime spent living in Africa before she moves back to Denmark.

“If I knew a song of Africa, of the giraffe, and the African new moon lying on her back, of the plows in the fields, and the sweaty faces of the coffee pickers, does Africa know a song of me? Will the air over the plain quiver in a color that I have had on? Or will the children invent a game in which my name is? Or the full moon throw a shadow over the gravel of the drive that was like me? Or will the Eagles of the Ungong hills look out for me?”

Likewise in Karen's style I have composed the following, entitled:

Leaving Poland

In reflecting on our term here in Poland as we are about to finish and move back to Canada, I remember the words of Karen in “Out of Africa”, because we are asking ourselves the same questions… If I knew a song of Poland- of the tiny stores, and the random shrubs decorating the lawns, of the old people dressed up to go to mass by the masses each Sunday, or of the old war torn buildings that remind the people of their troubled past, does Poland know a song of me?

What are we leaving behind? What have we learned? What will we miss the most?
We will be answering these questions for weeks to come. No matter how you leave a place you have lived in, it seems inescapable that you must lose something in the process of leaving it. We have practiced how to wait this year, and I have realized that it seems we are always waiting for something- we wait… to wait. We have gained patience, but we still lack it. Perhaps we will be learning how to be patient in trials of waiting for a lifetime to come.

We will grieve leaving Poland because of the relationships we have had, the energy we have poured into ministry, and the life we have grown to love here. There’s a part of us that in a sense dies, and is left behind. This is maybe the most difficult aspect for our dear family and friends- excitedly waiting for our homecoming, to appreciate. Not that we don't look forward to being "home" again, it is just that Poland has become our home as well and we are being torn between two completely different worlds. But, in leaving one of the most exciting aspects is that of reflection: being able to see the contrast between who we were and who we have become, and counting the multitude of things we have learned, and the ways we have grown, which will not fully be revealed for years to come. And the ways Poland has changed us, perhaps forever- this we are most grateful for.

Roma!

After showing Mom and Dad Young around Poland a bit we had the awesome privilege of traveling with them to Rome! We spent three days touring around and here are some pictures of what we saw:On the first day we went through the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Basilica. This is Jon and I standing in front of St. Peter's as we waited in line to get in. I must say that my advice to anyone traveling to Rome would be to take Rick Steve's Rome book with them: we used it every day and it was very useful.The Vatican museums were just incredible: I spent most of the day wandering through these gorgeous gold-plated and beautifully painted hallways and rooms with my chin dragging on the floor. This was my favorite part of Rome, and pictures do Not do any justice to the beauty that we saw.
This was Jon's favorite painting because of how well the artist captured the emotions on each of the people's faces. Many of these paintings were larger than life . We weren't allowed any pictures of the Sistine Chapel, but that was of course brilliant. It was most impressive to me that the paintings were 3-D and the people looked like they were hanging out of the ceiling. We all felt that we could have spent a few more hours in there with some binoculars taking in every detail.During our time at the Vatican that first day it became my goal to get as many pictures of nuns and monks - without their knowing, as I could. I have never seen so many of them in one place before, and this is my best shot :) I have always been in wonder over the details of the lives of nuns and monks: what their daily routine looks like and what their outlook on life is, etc. Perhaps this fascination I have began when I first saw The Sound of Music. Alas, I have never had the opportunity to have a conversation with a nun or a monk, but until all these question are answered I continue to wonder and I guess this expressed itself through some kind of paparazzi mentality...

On that note, I also wanted to share how we confronted a pick pocket: on the bus to one of the main tourist areas we spotted a pick pocket feeling both Dad and Jon's pockets. I became somewhat paralyzed with fear but Dad pointed him out to the other passengers before we got off the bus. I was very unprepared and in retrospect will take more action next time. In case you go to Rome, be very careful to guard your stuff and especially on crowded buses.

Here are some candid photos of us enjoying our first tastes of gelato in Rome. When in Rome: eat gelato! This ice cream was the best I have ever tasted- and believe you me, I have tasted many different kinds and flavors over the years, (though I am young). I suppose ice cream will never be the same again. We also had many cappuccino's during our time in Rome and these were the best cappuccinos any of us have ever had- delicious!
The second day we saw the Colosseum. It was grand, and very old of course. It really helped to be familiar with the movie Gladiator in trying to picture what it would have looked like almost 2000 years ago in it's prime.
This field is what is left of the Circus Maximus: which was similar to the Colosseum in use, but not in grandeur. This is apparently where most of the Christians would have been martyred. Here we are walking through the Roman Forum which was the central hub of Ancient Rome where all the temples were and the building where the senate met. It was very humbling to walk over these huge old stones and realize that this is where Paul and Peter walked centuries ago. Even amongst the ruins we felt very small in the shadow of these grand buildings and statues. It was really cool to get more of a sense of what Rome was like back in New Testament days.

Just beside the Roman Forum was the Mamertine Prison where they suspect Paul and Peter were once held as prisoners. Even if it's not entirely true, they would have been held in a prison very much like this one. This was incredible- to be able to go down and stand in the cell where Peter and Paul were held. To imagine the stench of rotting bodies and rats and the awful circumstances they would have been in was very humbling. Outside the prison there was a plaque of names of early disciples who were martyred for Jesus, and we were reminded of the price so many paid for their faith in Jesus.



This is us just outside of St. Peters soaking it all in before we left. Vatican square was beautiful. Our time in Rome was perfect and delightful as we got to see everything we wanted to.

And now, friends it has come to our final two weeks in Poland after ten months of living here and writing about our adventures. I've tried to capture highlights to share with you back home, but of course there are hundreds of pictures and dozens of stories that have yet to be shared so please don't hesitate to ask to see more pictures or know more about our time in Poland. Our time here has been so brief, but I'm sure we could talk about it for weeks and months to come, and the impact this almost-year has had on our lives has been monumental, and is still being discovered. Thank you to each of you who have supported us in prayer and financially, and have shared in our memories through the stories on this blog! May God's richest blessings be poured out onto each and every one of you.