Team NEP Outing

Here we are all together at the Karczma Warminska, an indoor/outdoor restaurant near Olsztyn. We just finished touring Gietrzwald, a near by place that we go to periodically and pray for the Polish people.

Important Discovery

We finally found the answer to the question "Why do our boxes from Poczta Polska always come crushed?" Apparently, they cram them tightly into hatchbacks for transport! Now we know. Enjoy.

First Storks of Spring!

Spring is officially here! Among the other signs of spring we saw yesterday (crocus, green grass, tree buds), we captured this picture of two storks hunting for food in a field. Witaj Wiosno, Welcome Spring!

Pray for Olsztynek

This is Pastor Marcin and the Baptist Church of Olsztynek in the background. Olsztynek is 25 kilometers south of Olsztyn on the way to Warsaw. Please pray for Pastor Marcin and the church as they seek to reach out to their city and start new work in Plantyny and Nidzica.

Jessica and Amber at work

Here we are in Nowe Kawkowo in an area west of Olsztyn called Gamina Jankowo. Jessica and Amber are teaching these little guys some English. We go to this village once a month to work with a school there. We are looking at starting some work there with adults in the future.

Seventh Birthday

Rebecca turned 7 today and celebrated her birthday in true "Princess" style along with her sisters! Here they are all dressed up like Snow White, Cinderella and Belle. In the background, notice the "castle" cake.

Family Picture

Here is another shot from Warsaw of the Stevenson family!

Visit to Warsaw

We all went to Warsaw a few weeks ago to take care of some business. Here are a few pictures!

Sledding in Olsztyn

It snowed a bit this week and we all went sledding! We are still waiting for one, really big snowfall! This is Abby and Cara racing!

Visit Olsztynek

Team Northeast Poland visited a small Baptist church in a nearby town called Olsztynek today. Sean was invited to speak briefly about the nature of our work and to introduce our team. We ate lunch together with the church members and visited a village that the church is doing ministry in.

Look what's missing!

Guess what? Rebecca has lost BOTH top teeth! Look at this happy face with no teeth!

Ministry in Gamina Jankowo

Hi and sorry about the long break! We're back in full force with lots of great news and pictures of what's happening here in NE Poland. This is a picture of the crowd of kids that came to our first outreach ministry event with the local Baptist church here in a small village called Nowe Kawkowo, in the Gamina of Jankowo. (a gamina is kind of like a county) 

Rebecca's artistic talent honored

On Tuesday nights, our daughters go to an art class at a local community center. One of Rebecca's paintings was chosen for a calendar printed by a local construction company. She was very proud and wanted you to see her picture! All of the children chosen were invited to a party a week ago and received copies of the calendar and other gifts from the construction company. Congratulations Rebecca!

Operation Christmas Child

Hi and welcome to our blog in 2007! These are our new team members; starting from the right, Jessica, Pasty and Amber. On the left is Agnieszka, a young lady from the church in Olsztyn. We spent the day delivering Operation Christmas Child boxes to children in Olsztyn. It was a blast and the three ladies have some great stories!

Gingerbread House

We thought you would like to see our Ginger Bread House from this Christmas!

Wigilia

The Polish Christmas Eve dinner consists of 12 meatless (not including fish) courses. Our landlord and his wife brought us this sampling of their evening meal. It included an "oplatek" (pronounced: Opwatek) which is a wafer of very thin bread like material, similar to Lord's Supper wafers but thinner. Polish family members take turns breaking off pieces of each other's oplatek and giving each other wishes for the next year. You will notice, the wafer they brought us has been broken a symbol that they have given us good wishes for Christmas and the next year.

Feliz Navidad

No, it's not Polish. The girls are studying Christmas Around the World this week and so they made Farolitos on the day that they studied Christmas in Mexico. It was a nice reminder of New Mexico for Sean, he grew up there! Wesołych Świąt... now that's Merry Christmas in Polish!

The First Christmas Box

Here are the girls opening a box from Greenlakes Baptist Church in VA. It was a real blessing and the girls has a blast! Thank you!

All I want for Christmas...

Becca lost a top fron tooth this week and the other is loose! She may loose it by Christmas, but I she will be toothless for awhile!

Raising the Tree in Old Town

I just happened to be in Old Town today and witnessed this exciting event! Christmas is almost here in Poland. Soon this old tree will be covered in all kinds of decorations made by the children of Olsztyn. We'll post more pictures later! Enjoy.