Candles lit for the Pope

This is a picture of the steps of the government offices in Olsztyn. The plaza in front of the building is named after the former Pope. All over Poland, Poles came to light candles on streets and in plazas named after him. We estimated that there were several thousand in this spot alone. Please pray with us that many Poles will place their hope in Jesus Christ alone.

The Catholic churches in Poland are packed with mourners. Here is one of the local churches in our area. Pray that many people would come to know Jesus Christ as their Savoir through this time of turmoil.

Spring has officially arrived in Poland! The water has melted in some places and the storks have returned from their long winter in Africa. We are warming up and so is everyone around us. People are out of their houses and in the streets walking around and riding their bikes. People are crowded into shoe stores buying spring shoes, there were lines today like we have never seen before. We went out today in search of storks because we heard they were in the area, Lydia even thought that she saw a pair yesterday so today we packed up the van and went to the country. Success!!! We found two. This is the one we could get closest to, isn't it a beauty? We hope you are all enjoying spring where you are and thank you for praying for us.  

The Pope

As most of you know, the Pope is nearing death. Many of you may not know that he is Polish. Our country is about to enter a time of deep mourning. Poles see the Pope as a father figure. Please pray that in this time of loss that they would seek God as their Father! Please pray for the Polish people that God would comfort them and that He would use this time of pain to draw them into a PERSONAL relationship with Him!

Today (Saturday the day before Easter Sunday) is a big day in Poland. Each family packs a basket of eggs, meat, bread, cake, salt and decorate the baskets with greenery and lace. They take these baskets to their local church for a blessing by the priest. The items in the basket are symbolic of the foods that they will eat on Easter Sunday. Pray for the people in Poland who will be eating these foods on Sunday. Pray that they will know that Jesus Christ is the only bread that will give them eternal life. 

Here is a picture from our football party. There were a total of 14 people there, 11 ladies and 3 guys. People wore various shades of blue, green and yellow to support their teams. it turned out to be very much like an American party because by the second quarter most of the ladies were in the kitchen talking. We all did come back together for the end of the game. The Packers won the game and there was mass hysteria in our apartment from the Packer fans. Okay, that isn’t true, but we all had a great time and we got to build some new relationships, and strengthen those that already exist.
 

Gray Skies Are Gonna Clear Up...

Just to make me look silly the sun decided to come out as I was publishing the last post
 

Nearly all of our snow had melted and so we thought winter was gone, but we were wrong! Tomorrow is the first day of spring here but winter is trying to hang on as long as possible by attacking us with big fat white snowflakes.
 

Rams vs. Packers

On Saturday we are having a football party at our house. We have invited all of our friends from English club and many of our other friends. It is going to be a "traditional" football party with nachos and cheese, bbq smokies, chips, cupcakes, and Coke. Our friends have chosen a team to root for and are going to wear that team's colors. Please pray that this will be a good time to just hang out and strengthen already good relationships. Also pray that we will be able to fit the over 20 people that are coming into our little apartment.

Polish/English Bibles

We would like to thank you for your prayers about the Bibles for English club. We gave about 11 away this week and have a few more to give to people who didn't come this week.

We got an email from a rather new member of our group that say's that since he has been coming to English club he has an interest in the Bible. Please continue to pray that the Holy Spirit will give our friends a desire to read His word and to know Him.

Check it out I'm Shooting Skeet

Late nights with Drunk Bikers (this is a little long but it's a good story)

Last night on our way home from Sean and Lydia's house I noticed a guy sitting on the sidewalk, in the snow, with his bike. It was really late (around midnight) so Emily and I stopped to see if he was okay and by the time we got back to him he was asleep in the snow. We woke him up and asked if he needed help but he said he was okay and went on his way.

I really started to feel like I needed to help this guy so I took Emily home and came back to him. He had made it about 100 yards in that time and was stumbling all over the place. I started walking with him and talking with him, even though he said he was fine. We went for five minuets or so before I asked him where he lived and he said in Bartąg which is probably an hour walk. I knew that there was no way he would make it so I convinced him to put his bike in my trunk and get in my car. This is where the fun starts. I should also say that this was all in Polish, and it was at about midnight and didn't end until about 1:30 in the morning.

I start heading toward Bartąg and he then tells me he wants to show me around Olsztyn. I just ask him again where he is going and how to get there. So he tells me Bartąg so I keep going towards Bartąg. When we get to this small town he starts to give me directions but I realize that he is taking me on a tour. So I again ask him how to get to his house. He tells me to turn around and then to "go straight, always go straight." We start heading toward the town of Ruś and when we get there he tells me that he lives in Bartąg but he wanted me to see Ruś. We start heading back toward Bartąg when we come up to a sign for another little city and he tells me to go toward it. So I stop the car and start to really question him while I struggle to understand his drunken slurred Polish. I tell him that he said that he lives in Bartąg and he tells me his house is in this other city. I ask him again just to make sure, then I ask him how long it will take to get there. I take him and finally he is home. He thanks me over and over again and I tell him that I want to help people because I love Jesus Christ and in the Bible He tells us to love people.

MY PRAYER WAS AND IS THAT THIS YOU YOUNG MAN, named Waldek, WILL REMEMBER THAT HE RODE WITH A BAPTIST WHO LOVES JESUS AND WANTS TO HELP PEOPLE.

A Quick Update from the USA

Hello all you great people out in cyberspace. I just wanted to write a little post to tell you that we are having a great time here in Jonesboro, AR. It has been such a blessing to us to get to fellowship here with our brothers and sisters. We have been greatly ministered too, through prayer, fellowship, scriptures, and lots and lots of great food! We are thankful that we have had this opportunity to come to Central Baptist Church and feel refreshed, encouraged, and ready to return to Poland to see what God has in store for the next 10 months.

This is the John Huss monument found in the Old Town Square in Prague. Huss was a reformer who was martyred for his faith. In spite of the fact that he was asked to forsake his Jesus, he refused and was burned at the stake. Pray for us that nothing will keep us from our calling and that we will never shy away from an opportunity to share our faith. We travel home to Olsztyn, Poland in the morning. Thank you for your prayers in the last three weeks. 

This is a picture of an old gateway that is one of the entryways to a very old fortress located in Prague. This fortress is considered to be the first place that the rulership of Prague lived. The fortress ground contains some very old Roman age structures. It is on a high hill and has some incredible views of the city. The buildings on this hill are visible from many places in the city. Pray for us as we finish our time of training here, that we will return to Olsztyn and continue to be a light on the hill pointing the way to Christ is NE Poland. 

Hi and thank you all for praying for us this weekend. We are all mostly well right now. Many of those here with us this week are or have been sick over the last 2 weeks. Please keep us in your prayers while we spend the rest of this week in Prague. It is cold and beautiful here, it is going to snow tonight and tomorrow! This is a picture of the Prague castle at night across the river. Isn't it wonderful? I wish we could be here in the summer and spend a little more time out in city. Thanks again for keeping us in your prayers. If you have a chance, drop us and email and let us know you are keeping us in prayer. stevenson@pobox.com 

This is a view from the Prague Castle overlooking a part of the city. Isn't it beautiful. We have really enjoyed being here inspite of the fact that we have done and incredible amount of work and been to meetings and training sessions from 8:30 am until 5:00 pm each day. Today is Friday and we have some time to relax this weekend and take it easy. We are going to have some fun with the kids on the town. Thanks for praying for us. Our oldest daughter was sick for two days this week and our middle daughter was sick for part of one day. Please pray for us that we will all stay healthy for the remainder of our time here in Prague. Thank you. 

This is a beautiful picuture of Prague from the Charles Bridge that crosses the river Vltava. It looks completely different today because Prague is covered by a blanket of snow! Pray for us today as we hear from missionaries from our region who are sharing thier strategies with us. We are continuing to pray about our direction in NE Poland. Pray that God will clearly show us the direction our work should take. We desire that His will is done in NE Poland!  

Emily the Brave

I'm a SKIER! Last weekend Kevin and I went to Ketrzyn to visit our friends, Ania and Michal. We went to several of their English classes and talked to their students. We had a great trip. The highlight had to be Saturday when we went skiing at a nearby man-made ski mountain. It was my very first time and I was terrified, but I tried to be brave! I was a source of great hilarity to all those around me. I would slide down the hill and scream at the top of my lungs in English. This of course made people stop and stare. Several people cheered the first time I went down without falling! It was the most difficult thing I have ever done but I'm glad that I didn't let the opportunity pass without trying! Sadly, there are no pictures of this event as no one thought to bring a camera. You will just have to trust me that this really happened!!

Here is a beautiful nighttime picture of a historic building across the river in Prague. We had a great weekend with the girls and are well rested up for this week. This is going to be a very busy week of working on our plans and strategies for NE Poland. Pray for us as we evaluate and improve everything that we have already worked on and pray that God will continue to show us His plans and His will.  

It's not very pretty but this is the Central Train Station for Prague, Czech Republic. From this station, one can travel to any other country in Europe. This is the station that we arrived at on Sunday. Although Europe is made up of many diverse countries, they are all interconnected. A great movement of God in Europe will move along the paths of communication and transportation from where it begins. Pray that God will change the hearts of the people of Poland and that movement will radiate throughout Europe. 

Day 3 in Prague. This is the national museum. It is a beautiful building full of interesting things that we hope to see in the next few weeks! We are doing well, tired but well. We are learning quite a bit. Continue to pray for us as we work on our strategy development for NE Poland. 

What time is it?

Hi everyone! We are in Prague, Czech Republic attending a conference for missionaries in our region. We will be here for 3 weeks and we thought you would like to see some photos while we are here. We will be posting photos from around Prague from day to day so you can experience it with us. This is a photograph of a church that has a GIANT clock in it! It is at least 30 feet across, maybe bigger. It is visible on both sides of the building and you can see through it from one side to the other. Pray for us while we are learning and planning for future work in NE Poland. Pray that we will use our time wisely and that we will have strength and endurance to accomplish what the Lord wants us to do while we are in Prague.

Fat Thursday

This past Thursday was "Fat Thursday" in Poland, it is similar to Fat Tuesday in the U.S. This is the day when everyone in Poland eats a type of filled doughnut called paczki. Some eat as many as they can, one man in the paper said he was going to eat 17! That's a lot of doughnuts! This is the beginning of the Lenten season in Poland. Pray for the people of Poland that during this time of fasting they will experince hunger for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Here we are working on 200 small "momento" gifts for children in Arkansas. Kevin and Emily are going to be at Central Baptist Church in Jonesboro, AR in 2 weeks. They will be sharing with the church there about our work in NE Poland.  

It has finally turned cold enough here in NE Poland for the lakes to freeze solidly. We have been feeling quite frozen lately! This is a picture we took today at nearby Lake Ukiel. Lake Ukiel is about 1 mile away from our house. It was the first time any of us have walked on a frozen lake, it was really neat. At the shore, you could see through the ice to the lake bottom. The girls had a great time sliding around on the ice. The region we live in is a tourist area. In the summer there is sailing, fishing and swimming and in the winter, ice sailing and ice fishing. 

Do you ever have one of those days where you can totally see the sovereignty of God? One of those days that God keeps putting the same person on your heart over and over again. Yesterday was English club night and we saw God put every thing together for his glory and to draw one of our friends closer to Him. We were supposed to have several people come last night, but through different circumstances, school, work, sick children, etc…God brought only one person, the exact person that he wanted to be there. It was great to get to talk with our friend, study the scriptures, discuss things that she has doubts and questions about, and at the end of the evening, get to pray for her. I pray that soon, she will put her faith and trust in the Lord and not wait until she has all the answers because we won’t have know all of the answers in this life.

Here's a funny story from the other night. On Thursday nights I play football (soccer) with some of the guys from church. Before I left one of the guys came by my house to pick me up, not knowing I already had a ride. He said it was better anyway because he had to drop off his wife and daughter before we played. When he showed up at the game he told me that he had to explain to his daughter who I was because when she saw me in my red hat and puffy beard she thought I was Santa Claus.

Second Grade, Polish Style!

Our oldest daughter had a class presentation in her second grade class at her polish school. She was a snowflake. She loved it! In this scene, she and the other two snowflakes are throwing snow on a little girls who sells matches to make money. You can tell that they all are having a great time! In polish school, the parents sit around the edge of the class and watch the presentation. When it is over, the room moms serve hot coffee and tea and the kids play games. It was very nice for us and our daughter had a big smile! It is exciting for us to see here fitting in with her classmates, speaking and singing in polish and having a great time! Thank you so much for praying for us and our daughters as we serve the Lord in Poland! God bless you all!

It's just a little different over here!

Even after 2 years in Poland, there are times when we are just struck by how different things are over here! This week Kevin and I went to our corner grocery store to pick up some snacks for our trip to Torun. It's the kind of store where everything is behind the counter and you have to ask for what you want. I got my pretzels and juice, and Kevin want a Coke so he asked for one and the woman said, "just a minute" She came out from behind the counter, walked over to the Coke machine, plugged it in and unlocked it to get him a Coke. It seems that the Coke machine was is mostly for storing the Cokes, not cooling them! Then the next day when we were in Torun, we were all really excited because there was a Mexican restaurant there. When we were ordering, Sean asked the waitress what she recommended...She recommended the chicken filet, the pierogi, and the glamki (stuffed cabbage rolls). We should have been nervous since she didn't recommend any ACTUAL Mexican food, but we pressed on. I ordered a Chimichanga and when it came to the table, it looked pretty good. However, it was a tortilla covered in marinara sauce, and was filled with some sort of Manwhich meat and chopped pickles. INTERESTING! It's always an adventure in another country!

Lydia, Emily, and the girls watching ice skaters in Torun on Thursday. 

This picture was taken Saturday night at a baptism ceremony. In this picture, two local pastors, who we work with, are praying for these new believers.
 

Tonight was our first night back with English club. We thank you for your continued prayer for these groups. We are excited about this new session and the opportunity it brings to help improve our students' English and the sharing the of Scriptures. Please pray for our new Bible study; the next six weeks we will be looking at key stories from the Old Testament. Please pray that they will see God's faithfulness in His promises, and that now He has provided the final and PERFECT sacrifice for our sins.