Spiritual Oppression

This was from a baptism service back in December. It was an exciting time to see five believers follow Christ in baptism. Karolina is 18 years old and a senior in high school who has been faithfully attending services and growing in her young Christian life. Until a month ago she hadn't told her parents about her salvation. Attending a Baptist church is not an acceptable thing in Poland. There has never been any Baptist Church in our city and most people have no idea what we believe and they assume our church is a cult. For the last month Karolina has been forbidden to attend services. She didn't tell us at first why she wasn't coming; I suppose she thought her parents would give in. They are deeply bothered that she has left "the church" and are adament that she not return to our church. Some of you were saved out of Roman Catholicism and know exactly what she is going through. Please pray that she would grow closer to the Lord through this time and that her parents hearts would be softened.

Mind Boggling

Over the last nine months of language school we've come across a few interesting Polish words. For right now I'll share three with you.

1.) piecdziesieciostronicowy-----a compound word in Polish which means "about 50 pages." Our Polish teacher got a good laugh at me trying to phonetically sound out this word.

2.) wszyscy---are you serious???? how am I supposed to say that word? For the life of me I can't find a vowel anywhere. It is used in reference to people and means "everyone."

3.) klasycystyczny---your guess is a good as mine

Sometimes words just aren't enough

Obtaining a two year residency visa, in Poland, is supposed to be a 90 day process. Our family first began the application ordeal back in June. I need to help you understand a few things before you can get a clear picture of what we’ve been up against. Poland came out of communism less than twenty years ago and the remnants of communist paperwork and bureaucracy still remain. In the last year Poland has closed many of its immigration branches in smaller towns, forcing foreigners from different parts of Poland to travel into Warsaw. Their system is not computerized, that’s right it’s still a paper/file system. Imagine the insanity of your local DMV in the states, multiply it by five and take away all computers, and that’s what you’ve got. Each of our applications had to be filled out by hand and in triplicate. As a matter of fact, every paper they required of us had to be in triplicate. The line for handing in your visa paperwork begins forming outside the building at 6am which is two hours before the office opens. On any given day, three or four men in the front of the line are standing there hoping to sell their spot to an eager foreigner. This will set you back about $40 but some deem it worth the cost. On our first trip to the immigration office I literally carried 15 lbs. of files in with me. We were pleasantly surprised to have all of our applications accepted on the first try, this doesn’t happen all the time. The next thirty days were quiet, but then we got a call from our case worker saying he needed another document. After hanging up, I remember being frustrated because this new information he was looking for was already in the thirty pages of my application but he either couldn’t find it or refused to look for it. I now was going to make the 120 mile roundtrip into Warsaw to drop off one, single paged, document. Little did I know that I would make this trip another 14 times before they were satisfied. Yeah you read it right, 14 times. Each time he requested one more document, each time I knew that the information he requested was already in our applications, but what can you do. Just before Christmas we were told that our visas were finished, we made the trip in only to find out that they changed their minds, but because of the lag time in a paper system they never notified us. I’m really not whining right now---I’m venting, no just kidding, I’m trying to set the stage for you.

Two weeks ago we called into immigration to check on the progress of our visas only to find out that our caseworker, the guy who’d worked with us from day one, had quit. Yeah he quit. I crossed him off our Christmas card list too. Now the new caseworker, rather than looking through our files began to request the same information again. Finally, after our co-workers advocated vehemently on our behalf, we were told that we could pick up our visas on Tuesday of this past week. Ginger and I left early Tuesday morning so we could get there right at opening. Upon our arrival I pulled ticket number 141. ARE YOU SERIOUS???? THIS HAS GOT TO BE A JOKE!!!!! The office closes at 3 pm; there was a good chance that we wouldn’t get in at all that day. You have never seen lines like this. One time I was waiting to turn in a document and it was about 30 minutes until the office closed. Probably 50 people were waiting in the hallway and an employee came out and said. “For the next 30 minutes its first come, first serve.” The rush to the office door was pretty intense, fortunately I had spent years building my body mass (at places like Old Country Buffet) for a moment just like this. It’s the kind of insanity that you can only laugh at. Anyways, back to the present, Ginger and I finally got into the office around 2pm. Thirty minutes later they had finished with four of us and Caleb’s visa was the last one to hand out. The office clerk told us there was a problem, they had no proof that we had paid for his processing fees. Let me say, that I clearly remember the day when I paid the processing fees for my entire family because it was nearly $1000. But somewhere in the process our old case worker had apparently lost the receipt and rather than admit his mistake he decided to blame us for the oversight. I asked the clerk what we could do, because we certainly didn’t want to make another trip into town. She told me that if I could make the payment down in the Cashier’s office in the next ten minutes then I could have Caleb’s visa. Well, I ran downstairs to the cashier’s office and filled out some more paperwork and when they begin processing my debit card the computer completely froze. My options are to give up or run two blocks to the nearest ATM. There’s about 8 minutes until close but I decide to go for it. Well I was able to get the cash out and when I was running back to the immigration office I noticed that the traffic police were going down the street and issuing tickets for cars whose parking had expired. It’s at that point that I realize that our ticket expired at 2:45 and its now 2:56. The traffic cops are about 100 yards from our car. I can go and put more money in but the office will be closed for sure by the time I return. On the flip side we were already spending an extra $120 on a second processing fee for Caleb; I certainly didn’t feel like shelling out another $100 for a fine. I decided to put the fine out of my mind and I ran back to the office to get the visa just before closing. We now have visas that are valid for two years, thank you for your prayers. While Ginger and I were trekking back to our car we saw a beautiful thing. The police never made it to our car because they came across a couple of hooligans and were now questioning them about 20 feet from our car. What a day but it’s finally done, I almost lost my testimony seven times, but it’s done.

Planting, Watering, and God Given Increase

Scott Dean is a missionary to Mongolia. Everytime I start to complain about the Polish language, I think about what missionaries in Mongolia face. A few days ago I came across a blog of his that hit me straight between the eyes. Please take the time to read his article on Ministering in Mongolia. I would like to know what you think.

Polish cuisine

Our apologies for not updating the blog in the last two weeks. We will now be updating it weekly again. While my mom was here visiting, Monika, our language teacher invited us all over for a traditional Polish meal. Then again maybe I wouldn’t call it so much a meal but more like a feast. She prepared 11 dishes in all--2 soups, 1 salad, 3 side dishes, 2 main dishes, 2 types of cookies, and one cake. Let me tell you, by the end of the meal, we were all stuffed to the limit. The first picture is taken after we had eaten our full. As you can see there were still tons left over. Monika tried to make a few different dishes from all the major Polish holidays. In the second picture is a Polish dish called gowomki. So far it is my favorite Polish dish. Translated literally gowomki means pigeon. Thankfully it isn’t made from pigeon. Gowomki consists of ground pork, rice, and a few different spices wrapped in a cabbage leaf and cooked in a tomato sauce.

The soup in the third picture is traditionally served at weddings. It has mushrooms, pork, sour pickles, and kielbasa in it. I have to admit I have never eaten so much soup until I moved to Poland, and I think I have only come across one that I didn’t like. The dish in the final picture is called Ryba po Grecku, which literally means Greek fish. This dish is always served on Christmas Eve. It is a tradition that all families must serve twelve dishes at supper on Christmas Eve. Some of the other dishes that Monika served us were stuffed eggs, which are a traditional Easter dish, noodle soup, and an amazing chocolate banana cake. I bet you are all hungry now, right? I guess you will just have to come visit us so you can try all the amazing food.

Blessed Correspondence (A message from the better half)

Well, Jason thinks it’s my turn to fill you in on life in Poland. It is amazing to think that we have been here for 8 months, time sure has flown by. I must admit missionary life in Poland has been completely different than I expected. I guess being a missionary kid; I expected my experience in Poland to be similar to that of Thailand. Little did I know that being a missionary mom is a whole lot different than being a missionary kid? I have a whole new sense of respect for my mom. She started out her missionary journey in a world without e-mail. Wow, how did she ever do it? I remember it use to take a whole month to get mail to and from the States, and that is if the person receiving the letter wrote right back. What are the chances of that? :0) She began her missionary journey when flying back and forth from one country to another wasn’t a normal occurrence. Praise the Lord for the ability to e-mail, and the reassurance that I am only an airplane ride away from my family.
Many people often ask, “What do you miss most about the United States?” To be quite honest, I really miss my friends and family back home. I miss not hearing from them on a regular basis. I miss not being able to run out for coffee with a friend and just talk about what is going on in my life. I miss the encouragement and hugs from the ladies at my home church. I can’t speak for other missionary wives, but I have a good idea that many of them feel the same way. Until we learn the language of the people God has called us to, it is hard to build meaningful friendships.
I am really looking forward to the day I can walk into our church here in Siedlce and have a heart to heart conversation with one of the ladies. We have so many wonderful ladies here in our church. Oh how I wish I could share my heart with them and have them do the same in return. I would have to say that patience is definitely the biggest lesson I am learning in Poland. Every day I must remind myself that I can’t learn the language in a day or even a month. I must continue to do my best everyday even if that is learning one new word each day.
Another question I have often heard is, “What can people back home do for their missionaries?” After being a missionary wife in Poland for 8 months I would say, keep in touch with your missionaries!!!! Go look on your missionary wall at the back of your church and see who your new missionaries are. Write to them, not just once, but keep in touch with them. It is hard for me to explain what an encouragement you can be through one email or even better with one real letter in the post office box.
Before I end my first little blog I thought I would share with you the best Christmas gift I got this year. My dad gave my mom a ticket to Poland. I get to spend two whole weeks with my mom. There is nothing better for a new missionary family then to have friends and family visit from home.

The New Year

This was our first New Year's Eve in Poland, they celebrate bringing in the New Year the same way we do in the States. At midnight they had a fireworks display in the center of our little town. While the display was smaller than what we were used to in the States, it was more fun because you could get within a few hundred feet of where they were launching the rockets. The boys loved it. New Year's Eve also highlighted a problem that is worldwide but more intense here. Alcoholism is the Polish drug of choice, and it was completely on display New Year's Eve. This isn't just a problem on the holidays though, it's not uncommon to see a man passed out in the grass in the middle of town even mid morning, rather than disgust most other Polish men seem to offer pity and help so as to keep the drunk from any further embarrassment. I think they also hope that when the time comes the "good deed" will be returned to them in the hour of their drunkenness. Mostly, these public displays are a source of humor. The Polish definition of "drunkenness" is reserved for those who can no longer walk, any thing short of that is not considered drunkenness." Alcohol seems so benign to most of us doesn't it? To the point that one laughs at drunkenness rather than despising it. A drunk man is funny, a heroin addict--not so funny, yet both are life dominating. For Polish men, vodka is a way to forget hardship and neglect responsibility--its also a sign of manhood (far from the Biblical model of manhood) and yet they practice a religion that can offer no help. Only the life changing belief in Jesus Christ and His work on Calvary will ever bring true help to the men and women of Poland. God help us to be faithful messengers