Thursday, May 28, 2009
I Love Jesus...
We have been teaching English in Olsztynek and the children have learned some colors, parts of the body and simple phrases like "my name is....", however they have not interacted with us in English conversations. Much to my surprise this week, one girl - just out of the blue - said; "you know, I love Jesus."
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Hello...
Hello out there, I thought I would take a minute to introduce myself to you. I am the teacher for Team Northeast Poland. Currently I teach three wonderful girls who are about to finish the second and third grades. We actually finish on Friday (Yeah!) and we have had a wonderful semester. I have been on the field for about 4.5 months and love every moment of life in Poland. It is a wonderful learning and growing experience living overseas. I had been on a few mission trips before moving here, and they were nothing like this experience. On those occasions, I had to rely on God for help and guidance, but here it is requires even more faith and reliance. I love to watch the little things that cause smiles (like 100’s on spelling tests…YEAH!). They may be the small things that most would take for granted but these small things always seem to lift my spirits and remind me there is Someone bigger and better than me out there. I love the feeling of knowing I don’t always have to be in charge of what is going on around me. Life in Poland is very different at times and then at times not so different from living in the States. There are days I feel as though I am living on another planet then others when there are seven children in our apartment having a wonderful sleepover party. This past Friday, my roommate and I had all seven American children at out apartment for a sleepover (some said we were crazy, but we thought it was fun), we had a blast. We were able to play and just be Aunts for a night. We stayed up until around midnight and then got up early and had some more fun. Friday night/Saturday morning I felt like I was back in the states, because things like that were common there. One of the funniest moments was watching the three year old press her face up to the window to see the pigeons nesting on our balcony. She just wanted to get as close as possible and she did. Besides all that fun, life here is pretty routine, school, language, coffee shop, and ESL in the villages. Over the summer I hope to get out and meet more people and have some more fun, but for now I have a blast in the classroom and the times I am with the team and the children.
Naomi
Naomi
101 New Missionaries Appointed in Denver
101 new missionaries appointed in Denver
5/22/2009
By Emilee Brandon
(Go to the bold type below to read about Chuck and Vikki Franks, new Team NEP members joining us in October!)
DENVER (BP--During a trip to Peru, Tony Llorens looked into the eyes of the people and knew without a doubt this was where he needed to be. But his preparation for missionary service at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary brought hardship to his family.
“Because of the limited job opportunities in New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina, my wife and children had to remain in Florida while I earned money for lodging by cleaning toilets in the campus dorm where I stayed,” Tony recalled.
With his master’s degree requirement completed, he returned to his family in Milton, Fla., in 2008. He and his wife then began the application process for appointment as Southern Baptist missionaries.
Tony and Tammy Llorens were among 101 missionaries appointed by the International Mission Board May 20 at Riverside Baptist Church, Denver. This service was the fourth largest appointment in the organization’s history. The appointees will serve throughout the 11 IMB regions, joining more than 5,600 others already on the field.
“It is our intention, with the help of the Lord, to serve Him by taking the Gospel to those who have never heard,” Tammy said.
Chuck and Vikki Franks, of Jonesboro, Ark., have the same purpose. They knew the Lord was calling them to the mission field; however, both were content to wait until retirement. The Lord had other plans.
While serving together in Poland on a short-term mission trip in 2008, God used a father and child praying before an icon to show Vikki that the world could not wait. So well before retirement, the Franks are packing up their things and “joyfully, obediently going to Eastern Europe,” Chuck said.
Yong and Lois Wang, another couple headed to the mission field, moved from Korea to the United States in 1998 so Yong could prepare to serve overseas in a university setting. In 2006, he earned a doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin.
Eleven years after their journey began, the Wangs are finally on their way.
“I … want to live by obeying the Great Commission … wherever I go,” Lois said. “I learned that mission is not a special thing but a natural life at the place that God calls.”
And that place is Central America, where Yong will teach at a university.
JONAH AND THE WHALE
The story of Jonah and the whale is at times overshadowed by its uniqueness, IMB President Jerry Rankin told the new appointees. The story’s message is not about the whale swallowing Jonah, but rather of a “rejected call, a second chance and God’s compassion being revealed.”
The message of this Old Testament story is still relevant today, he urged. And it is a challenge to those who go in obedience to God’s call. His urgent concern for Nineveh is the same He has for the cities of the world today.
Rankin said some people who sense God’s call to overseas missions try to bargain with God, saying they’ll serve Him in America by being faithful church members and witnesses.
“The only problem is, God was calling you to Nineveh,” Rankin said. “Meanwhile multitudes of unreached people groups perished without anyone to tell them of the hope they would find in Jesus Christ.”
According to Romans 10:14-15, “But how can they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent?”
“That is why we are appointing you and sending you out — to answer that call,” Rankin said. “Like Jonah, not to save the nations through your efforts, through anything that you can do or through your advice, but as Jonah, to proclaim the Word of the Lord.”
FUTURE APPOINTMENT SERVICES
Because of an anticipated shortfall in the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and a decrease in Cooperative Program giving during the current economic downturn, the IMB will limit the number of new missionaries appointed for the rest of the year after a July appointment service in Lebanon, Ohio. (See related story, “IMB suspends short-term assignments, reduces new appointments,” at imb.org.)
5/22/2009
By Emilee Brandon
(Go to the bold type below to read about Chuck and Vikki Franks, new Team NEP members joining us in October!)
DENVER (BP--During a trip to Peru, Tony Llorens looked into the eyes of the people and knew without a doubt this was where he needed to be. But his preparation for missionary service at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary brought hardship to his family.
“Because of the limited job opportunities in New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina, my wife and children had to remain in Florida while I earned money for lodging by cleaning toilets in the campus dorm where I stayed,” Tony recalled.
With his master’s degree requirement completed, he returned to his family in Milton, Fla., in 2008. He and his wife then began the application process for appointment as Southern Baptist missionaries.
Tony and Tammy Llorens were among 101 missionaries appointed by the International Mission Board May 20 at Riverside Baptist Church, Denver. This service was the fourth largest appointment in the organization’s history. The appointees will serve throughout the 11 IMB regions, joining more than 5,600 others already on the field.
“It is our intention, with the help of the Lord, to serve Him by taking the Gospel to those who have never heard,” Tammy said.
Chuck and Vikki Franks, of Jonesboro, Ark., have the same purpose. They knew the Lord was calling them to the mission field; however, both were content to wait until retirement. The Lord had other plans.
While serving together in Poland on a short-term mission trip in 2008, God used a father and child praying before an icon to show Vikki that the world could not wait. So well before retirement, the Franks are packing up their things and “joyfully, obediently going to Eastern Europe,” Chuck said.
Yong and Lois Wang, another couple headed to the mission field, moved from Korea to the United States in 1998 so Yong could prepare to serve overseas in a university setting. In 2006, he earned a doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin.
Eleven years after their journey began, the Wangs are finally on their way.
“I … want to live by obeying the Great Commission … wherever I go,” Lois said. “I learned that mission is not a special thing but a natural life at the place that God calls.”
And that place is Central America, where Yong will teach at a university.
JONAH AND THE WHALE
The story of Jonah and the whale is at times overshadowed by its uniqueness, IMB President Jerry Rankin told the new appointees. The story’s message is not about the whale swallowing Jonah, but rather of a “rejected call, a second chance and God’s compassion being revealed.”
The message of this Old Testament story is still relevant today, he urged. And it is a challenge to those who go in obedience to God’s call. His urgent concern for Nineveh is the same He has for the cities of the world today.
Rankin said some people who sense God’s call to overseas missions try to bargain with God, saying they’ll serve Him in America by being faithful church members and witnesses.
“The only problem is, God was calling you to Nineveh,” Rankin said. “Meanwhile multitudes of unreached people groups perished without anyone to tell them of the hope they would find in Jesus Christ.”
According to Romans 10:14-15, “But how can they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent?”
“That is why we are appointing you and sending you out — to answer that call,” Rankin said. “Like Jonah, not to save the nations through your efforts, through anything that you can do or through your advice, but as Jonah, to proclaim the Word of the Lord.”
FUTURE APPOINTMENT SERVICES
Because of an anticipated shortfall in the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and a decrease in Cooperative Program giving during the current economic downturn, the IMB will limit the number of new missionaries appointed for the rest of the year after a July appointment service in Lebanon, Ohio. (See related story, “IMB suspends short-term assignments, reduces new appointments,” at imb.org.)
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Birthday Blessing
This is me with Ewa who is Jay & Donna Smith's landlady. I have been teaching her English this past year and she made me this wonderful cake to celebrate my birthday and our last day together before we go to the States for a few months. She is a person of peace/ goodwill( Luke 10:5-9) to our whole team especially for the Smith family. She is so helpful and kind to us. We have great spiritual discussions, she has a Catholic theology degree so our discussions are sometimes deep and done in English and Polish Tuesdays have been a bright spot in my week and I will miss her sweet smile.
The Ties That Bind
Jay was able to teach, with interpreter, a few Sundays past. He shared about the proof that the Bible is scientific. I often sit amazed about where we are in our lives. God has taken us both so far from the sin that ensnared us, and it is beautiful to watch Jay being used for God's glory.For more info on the "Proof that the Bible is Scientific" go to this link at Jay's blog www.1jaybird.blogspot.com
DS
Monday, May 18, 2009
Our literature...
Here is an example of some of the information that we hand out to national believers as well as unbelievers. Because there are so few Baptists in Poland, many individuals here are curious as to what Baptists believe. This particular comparison helps to explain our fundamental beliefs and also compares them to their own faith.
Baptist and Catholic Comparison
Jay Smith
Baptist and Catholic Comparison
Jay Smith
Changes
Hello all you bloggers or blog followers. This is my first blog post in over a year! I used to do one for our family but got lazy about keeping it up, but now that we are turning this blog into a Team Northeast Poland blog and since I am a member of the team I must contribute to it some. I will try to do my best. On to the actual post...
One of the biggest things I have learned about since becoming a missionary overseas is that things change! Change always happens. It can be for the good or for the bad but it is always going to happen. I am still working on always accepting it though. Sometimes I want to kick and fight the change (getting older, saying goodbyes and schedules) but then other times I rejoice in the change (new babies, new friends, and more cool stuff available here in Poland). Either way change is going to happen!
We hope that you like the changes to this blog!!! We pray that it is a good change in that you get to hear from all of the team members and everything going on in Northeast Poland all on one blog. I think most of us will keep our old blogs (mine included if I can get my act together and actually post something) but here you will be able to get it all in one we hope.
So... start checking in on the blog more often and we hope you like what you read and see.
Blessings,
Stacey
One of the biggest things I have learned about since becoming a missionary overseas is that things change! Change always happens. It can be for the good or for the bad but it is always going to happen. I am still working on always accepting it though. Sometimes I want to kick and fight the change (getting older, saying goodbyes and schedules) but then other times I rejoice in the change (new babies, new friends, and more cool stuff available here in Poland). Either way change is going to happen!
We hope that you like the changes to this blog!!! We pray that it is a good change in that you get to hear from all of the team members and everything going on in Northeast Poland all on one blog. I think most of us will keep our old blogs (mine included if I can get my act together and actually post something) but here you will be able to get it all in one we hope.
So... start checking in on the blog more often and we hope you like what you read and see.
Blessings,
Stacey
Big Changes to the Blog
Hi all,
This is to let you know about the big changes to this blog. From today, everyone on Team NEP will have an author account on this blog and will be periodically adding blogs here for you to read. This will become a true, team blog. That means 10 missionaries (soon to be 13 or 14) will be writing on this blog each month! I know I am looking forward to the posts here, I hope you will be too! When you read a new blog, make sure to see who wrote it, you will get to know all of us a little better this way and you can "one stop shop" to find out the latest news and info about Team NEP and Most International. The members of this Blog are:
Sean & Lydia Stevenson
Bryan & Stacey Intemann
Alethea Thomas
Bailey Hughes
Juanita Roe
Jay & Donna Smith
Naomi DeVault
Happy Reading!
This is to let you know about the big changes to this blog. From today, everyone on Team NEP will have an author account on this blog and will be periodically adding blogs here for you to read. This will become a true, team blog. That means 10 missionaries (soon to be 13 or 14) will be writing on this blog each month! I know I am looking forward to the posts here, I hope you will be too! When you read a new blog, make sure to see who wrote it, you will get to know all of us a little better this way and you can "one stop shop" to find out the latest news and info about Team NEP and Most International. The members of this Blog are:
Sean & Lydia Stevenson
Bryan & Stacey Intemann
Alethea Thomas
Bailey Hughes
Juanita Roe
Jay & Donna Smith
Naomi DeVault
Happy Reading!
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