Happy Easter from Poland

 

Yep... snow for Easter! Happy Easter from the Stevensons!

Happy Birthday Becca

 

Happy 8th Birthday Becca! We had a big party with all our friends in Poland.

The Girls Prayer Card

 

Here is the prayer card the girls gave out at the GIC at Central Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Platyny Goodies

 

Most of you know our history with Platyny, it has been complicated to say the least. We have continued on there feeling that truly God is at work. We have felt like we could not let this little village go. They have so many needs. Jesus being the number one need. But, there are so many physical and emotional needs that need to be filled. This past Wednesday was our first day back after a long break. The first thing that was different was that there were lights on in the Swietlica( a sort of after school place for kids to hang at). Secondly, we did not have to search or fight anyone for the keys to get in, and thirdly there was heat!!!! We had a great English time and then the biggest surprise of the night came. We were invited to coffee, tea, and cakes. It was such a precious time. It feels like we have turned a corner. Pleaase pray for this village and pray for volunteer team plans coming together for July. This picure is of our team and Krystina one of the few believers in the village. Imagine being one of five believers in a village of 500. Please pray for Krystyna.

First classes in Waplewo

 

Our first English classes were held on Wednesday afternoon this week and we were shocked and pleased at the turnout! There were 35 kids and 25 adults including 12 teachers from the school! It was an awesome start to this new ministry! We also went to Platyny and two of our team are working today in Olsztynek and in Jemiolowo! Thanks for your continued prayer for our team.

MD's Serves Up Breakfast

 

Thought you would all get a kick out of seeing this ad. Today (Feb. 1, 2008) McDondalds introduced breakfast into the two McDonalds restaurants in the town we live in. We were there, of course, at 9:00 am or so. It was all very exciting.

Waplewo

 

This is Waplewo (Vahp-levoh), a village south of Olsztynek where we are starting new work on Wednesday's beginning in two weeks. Pray for us as we begin planning our work there and prepare to build many new relationships with students and teachers in the primary school in this place. This work is connected to our work with Pastor Marcin from Olsztynek and will be similar to ministry we have in Platyny and Jemiołowo.

Christmas in Jemiołowo

 

We traveled a week ago to Jemiołowo to share Christmas presents with the kids we work with there. The village administrator invited the vice-mayor of Olsztynek and the whole village to this event. The kids prepared a Christmas play for us! We had a wonderful time there and are in the process of planning our spring events in this village. It is winter break right now and so we are not meeting there. However, last week was a youth winter camp up in the Polish mountains and 4 youth girls from Jemiolowo made decisions for Christ! Pray for our work in Jemiołowo this spring. We met several parents at the Christmas party and received invitations to visit in several homes. We will be following up on them this month. Thanks for praying for us!

Merry Christmas

 

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! From the Stevensons in Poland! Thanks for praying for us!

Christmas in Jemiołowo

 

Here is a picture of the kids in Jemiołowo. They are receiving thier presents on the 11th of January when we return from the states. However, it was our turn to be surpised, the brought us each small gifts! It was our turn for Christmas! Please continue to pray as we work in this village in the coming year. We have an open door with the Sołtys (village administrator) who invited us to come and visits with us each week.

Christmas in Platyny

 

Here is a picture of the group receiving Christmas gifts in Platyny last night. Continue to pray for our work in Platyny, we continue to have an open door there for teaching English and sharing the gospel.

Christmas in Nidzica

These are pictures from an Operation Christmas Child type of outreach in Nidzica, Poland that took place tonight! There were 20 kids and their parents along with two of us "missionary" types and the pastor of the Polish Baptist Church in Olsztynek. We had an awesome time and the kids had a blast. Continue to pray for our work in Nidzica, the groups that already meet should continue to grow after this outreach.

Santa Day (Dzien Mikołaj)

Today, we celebrated Santa Day here in Poland (actually it is celebrated Thursday but Sean will be in Prague). On this day kids put their shoes out and if they are good they might jut get a present. The girls received candy and a teddy bear making kit. They had fun stuffing their bears. We have been studying Christmas traditions from around the world, the confetti picture is from a Christmas cracker, a tradition from Great Britian. We also made straw ornaments from Sweden today. It has been interesting learning about different countries and their traditions. As we study more countries I will include pictures.

Please pray for Sean and for us as he tavels to Prague tomorrrow for a conference. He will return Saturday just in time (hopefully) to do an Operation Christmas Child outreach in Olsztynek. Pray for safe travel on the train (over 12 hours on trains) and pray for us girls while he is gone. Please pray for the outreach on Saturday that many lives would be touched as we give out presents, food and tell many families about Jesus.

English in Jemiołowo

Here is our team member Amber Dykes teaching English to some of the kids we work with on Wednesdays. This is in a small village of 400 near Olsztynek called Jemiołowo. Pray for us as we work in this small village.

Alethea had a B-day

Our newest team member, Alethea, had a birthday!!! Happy Birthday Alethea! Send her a greeting at... alethea_thomas@yahoo.com

If it's Thanksgiving Day then it must mean...

Bryan ate too much! WOW, did he eat the whole 32 pound turkey???

If it's Thanksgiving Day then it must be time for...

A GIANT TURKEY! This years bird weighed in at 32 pounds! It was awesome and tasty!

If it's Thanksgiving Day then it must be time for...

BUCKEYES!!! Yes, it's that hap, hap, happy time! Time for buckeyes! If you've never had one, they are wonderful. Chocolate and peanut butter, mmm... Here are the girls happily dipping and tasting! Happy Thanksgiving Day from Team NE Poland! Wish we could share them with you!

Cara in the Snow II

Here is Cara modeling her new winter coat during our snowy walk last week. Everything went geat last week in her testing and her medication has been reduced! Thank you for praying.

Cara in the snow

Here's Cara in the snow. Pray for her tomorrow. She is going to Warsaw for a check-up. We are hoping that we will be able to reduce her medication again and that soon she will be off of medication altogether.

Abby checking out the snowball plants

Here's another snowball plant picture... can you believe they grow like that here?

Snowball Plants Found Growing in Poland

I will bet you didn't know that snowball plants grew in Poland did you? Here's the proof! Sean and Abby captured this photo of the rare Snowball Plant (Iceuspherus Roshlinius) in it's natural habitat. It snowed last night and we all went for a walk today to see the snow. It was beautiful. We will post more pictures later this week. What's the weather like where you are?

Monday Bible Study

This is one of the ladies we meet with to study the Bible on Mondays. We meet in her shop for about an hour to discuss what she has been reading on her own and to study a weekly Bible study that Marcin and I write during the week. This week's study was about the Bible, what it is for, where it came from, etc. Pray for us on Mondays when we are out sharing the gospel.

All Saint's Day Photo Album

Check out the photo album that Bryan put together with the picture taken when we were prayerwalking on All Saint's Day. You can find the album on Bryan's blog here: http://web.mac.com/intemannx4/kojava/All_Saints_Day.html

Jemiołowo

 

Here is a picture of our first meeting in Jemiołowo (Yem-ee-oh-whoa-voh). It was taken with a cell phone so the quality is not that great but you can see Jessica and the kids she is working with! Everyone had a great time and it was a very good first meeting. Pray for our future work in this village.

First Snow

 

First snow of the year! It wasn't too much but it did snow and the kids were VERY excited!

Mondays with Sean

Hi all. Here is a short slide show of my typical Monday. I start out in the morning in Olsztynek working with Pastor Marcin, writing and translating our Bible studies for the day. Then we move to the local market (targowisko) to meet with a young lady who runs the clothing store you will see in the pictures. Next we drive 30 kilometers to Nidzica to do two more Bible studies with two different extended families. We often move on from there to Platyny to lead one last Bible study, however, today we stayed in Nidzica to visit with two poor families and leave them with some food and an invitation to Operation Christmas Child. These families were very poor and living in squalid conditions. You will see a picture of the block building they live in at the end of the slide show as well as photos of the other homes and pictures of the cities of Olsztynek and Nidzica.

New Link Added

Take a minute to check out the links! There are links to teammate blogs and webpages, current weather in Olsztyn and the NEW LINK: Webcam - Olsztyn Oldtown. See a live webcam picture of the oldtown here available 24 hours a day! Want to know what the weather looks like this winter? Check it out here!

All Soul's Day

 

All Saint's Day (Nov. 1) has given way to All Soul's Day (Nov. 2). This is a picture from our prayerwalking last night, it was a cool, cloudy and gloomy evening ending in rain. Today is sunny, windy and cold. Today is the day that Poles go to Mass to have the names of their dead loved ones read by the priest. The hope is that enough prayer and devotion will be made by living family to somehow procure the release of the loved one from purgatory and entrance into heaven. Please pray with us on this day again for the living. Pray that they would set their sights on Christ and what can be accomplished through His sacrifice for their own lives. Pray that many Poles would come to know the living Christ in their lives now!

All Saint's Day 2008

 

Today is All Saint's day, the day when Poles go to the cemetaries to place flowers, light candles and pray for their dead loved ones. We will join them today in the cemetaries and pray for the living. Will you join us?