The week after my wonderful little trip to Opole for Easter, I was still off from work here in Warsaw. Although, I was thrilled for another whole week to be free to explore and settle in more, the week actually turned out to be really difficult. The reason for this struggle seemed to be that all the mental and physical exhaustion from making this move so quickly and trying to figure everything out here decided to catch up to me all at once during this week off when I was completely alone in Warsaw without even my colleagues with which to connect. Don't get me wrong, I am not at all complaining, but it was definitely the most difficult week of my time here so far. God has been so clear all along in His guiding me here to Warsaw and I knew through this week I just needed to continue to trust Him and get through the time of adjustment. Well, as many of you know, I have also been having a challenging time finding a church to attend and during this particular week just passed Easter, I was really struggling with not really feeling connected with local believers. Since I know God has called me to Poland to minister and reach out to the people here, I knew God must have a plan for me, but I couldn't seem to make the connection. One afternoon, I had planned to go to the center of the city to do some exploring; but I was feeling very discouraged, so before I left my apartment, I prayed something desperate sounding like "God, please just do something in my time out today." While I was downtown, I was thrilled to find a British-themed pub (no, I don't drink, but have you tasted pub food?....seriously.). This did cheer me up a bit and I ordered some food to take home and enjoy, but then in my mind I said something like "Okay, God, umm, thanks, this is nice, but I guess I was hoping for something a little bigger to happen today than just finding British food." Well, as I was heading to take the subway back to my apartment, I heard Christian music playing loudly at the metro station. It is always surprising to hear Christian music playing in such a public space, so I made the decision not to be shy, but to just go up to these people and find out who they were. It turns out, they are from a fairly new local church and were doing an evangelistic outreach that day. I was so excited! I was able to introduce myself a bit and get some information on the church. God provides hope exactly when we need it. Thank you, God.
It took a few weeks for me to make it to a service, but this morning I was able to find this church and get a little more connected. I found out that the mission of the church is to reach out to the lost in Warsaw, but specifically the homeless and hurting in this city. "Oh, what's that God? You brought me to a church that is seeking to do the exact ministries that I am most passionate about?" I don't even know how to express in words my amazement at this. God is so sovereign and so good and how can we be anything but thankful for Him? After being called into missions many years ago, I felt more and more strongly to minister to those "on the outside" or those who are abandoned and need healing both physically and spiritually in their lives. To be honest, it really brings me such great joy to work with at risk youth that it is so much fun for me to minister in this way. I have no idea how long God will have me here in Warsaw or even at this church, but I am so excited to see how God will answer my desire to do both missions and inner city work here in Poland. I don't know how long this chapter will be or even what will happen tomorrow, but I know today God gave me another (huge) glimpse into the big picture of His sovereignty over my life. Decent story, aye?
For those of you who are praying for my time here, I would ask that you please be praying over the next month or so for my continual adjustment here. The first several weeks in a new place is such a whirlwind, but as I started explaining in the beginning of the post, recently I have started to feel a little more stress in adjusting to cultural differences and in remembering to focus on the big picture of why I am here. Please pray that God would continuously remind me to keep Christ as the one main focus in my heart and mind. Also, please be praying that I can be a patient, kind and compassionate minister to my colleagues and students as the work days can feel long and exhausting to all of us. This past week felt a bit rough as several of my colleagues were somewhat ill and the children seemed extra tired as well. Blame it on the rain, I guess.
Anyway, if you've gotten through my ramblings up to this point and are still reading, please enjoy these two photos. I apologize for not having more photos to post, but I honestly haven't been out exploring much in the past couple weeks. Thank you to everyone who is keeping in touch with me and encouraging me on this new adventure. You are each such a blessing in my life.
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| Stained glass window in a bank where my students, my colleagues and I went for a field trip :) |
