Skoczow it is!

From Ellie Just::

Today was a day of broken hearts and shaken spirits. This morning we packed up in Krakow and made the trip to the death camps. We visited Auschwitz and Birkenau. This is where our hearts were broken for the families impacted by the genocide and our spirits were shaken by the reality of the capacity of evil in this world.

            After the camps we made our way to Skoczow. On our way, we took a detour to see H2O, a facility purchased by Josiah Venture in 2006 for the ability to hold English camps and to have a home base for the Poland Josiah Venture staff for training. In the middle of all this, their goal is to be a self sustaining camp – so they are a hot spot for weddings, school outings, church dinners and other outside events.

            We made it to our hotel safely and enjoyed a couple hours of relaxation filled with walks, lody (ice cream), card games, and ping pong. We then had a great evening of fellowship, good food and great friends at the home of the Wania family (Ala and Michal). We got a chance to get to know Domi, Ania, and a few others who will be a big part of camp. Many laughs were had!

            Continued Prayer requests::

-       A restful and yet productive day of planning tomorrow. Many of us did not have a good night of sleep last night due to our jet lag.

-       That our hearts and minds would be settled and ready for a great day one of camp on Saturday

-       The youth group here at the church

-       The campers who will be attending the camp. There are at least 30 who have no connection to the church at all.

-       That we would stay energized and healthy- mentally, physically and spiritually.

-       That our plans would be sof God.

Training day

Ahhh.... Day two in Poland. A day full of relaxation, sightseeing, food, and games; right? Wrong! Though it has been a great day. Today started off with breakfast at around 7:30 here at the hotel: eggs, sausage, cereal, yogurt, bread, orange juice, and not to mention some of the BEST apple juice I've ever had. Breakfast was delicious but it was only the beginning...

From breakfast we went to our first meeting with the Josiah Venture team along with the two other churches here from Colorado. We pretty much learned what to expect from the Polish people and learned about their culture and main religious beliefs. Now THAT was interesting. Chris and Kelly (they are the top dogs here) decided that instead of telling us what the Poles believe about faith, they made us go out and ask people...like in person. Although scary at first, it turned out to be quite eye opening. It turns out that most poles would say they faith his a huge part of their culture and history but they don't really care about it or have ever heard that a relationship with God is possible. 

Next was lunch (AMAZING) followed by free time!!!! On the menu for lunch was kababs, either garlic or spicy. These are pretty much chicken wraps, but much better. So that was fun. For free time our team went to the castle, Benito (Ben) and Carlos (Carl) decided that the wanted to we the "Dragon Den" so they went down to it. However, we didn't know that the sign read "one way exit", so we spent a good bit of time waiting for them. I think it's safe to say that until we found them we thought they had been eaten by dragons, or at least Carl was. Ben would have been safe. Then next was the mall. It was huge, and it even has a Starbucks. (Yay!!)

We had dinner and then went to the training session to end the day. Not only did we learn a lot more stuff and praise God, but we learned the camp dance. Ellie (Erholtz) and I are pros now, just saying.

Dziekuje Bardzo (thank you very much) for your prayers!!! We appreciate every one of them. Please continue praying for the saty of the ram and of the campers we will meet. Also please pray that God will open the eyes of our heart to Him, and that we will be able to have a lasting impact on everyone we meet!!! God Bless!!!!

(From the voice and heart of Zach Northenscold)

We Made It!

From the voice and heart of Ellie Erholtz::

Minneapolis to Chicago, Chicago to Munich, Munich to Krakow...After roughly 11 hours in the air (and many more in the airport) we made it safe, sound and efficiently. There were many opportunities for things to go wrong, so we feel very blessed that God had his mighty hand in every situation.

We were greeted, at our hotel, by the Josiah Venture interns and staff. After that we went around the square here in Krakow. Walking the streets of Krakow is truly like looking back in time. Beautiful buildings, cathedrals, and shops were just some of the amazing things we got to experience our first night here. We had dinner with the other two teams running camps in Poland this summer. After that we tried 'lody' (icecream) and retired to our rooms for the night. We are looking forward to training tomorrow!

Prayers would be greatly appreciated! You could pray for: our jetlag and sleeping patterns, the teens going to our camp- that they would be ready to experience and grow in Christ, the Josiah Venture staff= that they could lead and prepare us for the ocming week, Abby- that all the planning is executed smoothly and that she is able to have fun and still be our fearless leader, the team- that our only concern would be listening to God's direction and to be willing, at all costs, to follow that direction.

Thanks for all your support! We wouldn't be here without you all!

Here We Go!

Welcome to the 2013 Mission Poland Blog!

The day has finally arrived and we will be off in about 2 hours. 

Our bags will be packed. Our goodbyes will be said. Nothing else will stand between us and experiencing all that God wants to do in and through us in Poland. Well, nothing except a few plane rides. 

We are excited and expectant. 

Updates will be coming your way as often as we can.

Until then, thank you for your prayers, your encouragement and your support. We can't say that enough!!!

We're baaaack!

Dear Friends,

The Timberwood Mission Poland team has made it back to Minnesota. Actually, we flew back in Tuesday night, but we've been recuperating and making the transition back to daily life; so this post is a few days delayed.

Our trip was amazing. Wonderful. Miraculous. Powerful. Life-changing. You name it. We were in awe of God's Wonder and the ever-mighty power of prayer. Many who went on this trip had expectations of helping change the lives of a few Polish youth. Little did we realize how much it would also change our own lives.

Thank you, again and again, for your support - whether financial, in prayer, or both. We honestly could not have done this without you. We made awesome connections and hope to stay in touch with many of our new Polish friends to continue encouraging and supporting their new journey in Christ.

If you are physically able, we invite you to attend any one of our three services here at Timberwood on Sunday, August 19th. Our team will share some of our experiences, as well as a special presentation during the second and third service in Room 109.

If you are willing, we'd ask for your continued prayers for the people of Poland; for the youth who have already dedicated their lives to Christ, or for the ones who aren't quite sure but had a glimpse of the "good life" last week at camp. They will be forever in our hearts.

With love and thanks,
The Timberwood Mission Poland Team 2012

Coming Home

It's hard to believe, but this is our last night in Poland. We have spent the day in Krakow debriefing with the Josiah Venture team, then did some souvenir shopping, dinner, and took in the evening lights of the Krakow square. Breathtaking.

That same word also seems to sum up our adventure here in Poland. Over the last two weeks, we have undoubtedly witnessed the Grace, Love and Mighty Power of our Lord. This has been a time of tremendous spiritual growth for so many of us. While this trip may be ending, our journey has just begun.

Thank you, many times over, for your support of our mission work in Poland. We look forward to sharing some of the stories that exemplify the Glory of God working in the lives of our team and the youth of Poland. We have truly been blessed to have been a part of this team; and for that, we are eternally grateful.

All our love,
Abby, Amanda, Angela, Claire, David, Grace, Jenny, Joy, Rick, Ryan, Sarah and Tim

An emotional day

I started this blog earlier in the day going one particular direction, but after the events of this evening - I knew I had to take a different approach. 

Our day started out much too early, following an exhausting day yesterday. Many of us were short on energy following a train ride, a hike in the mountains, worship time and swimming. We also noticed our campers were also feeling a bit sluggish during English lessons today. But relationships continue to be made daily. Many of our team have had deep conversations with some of the Polish youth regarding their faith and beliefs. This has been exciting to see walls being torn down, brick by brick. 

Praise God for giving us the right words to say in these situations. And thanks be to the translators who have helped break down language barriers. 

We have also witnessed great growth in one another. God has helped some of us come out of our shells to be 'uncomfortable' and to be a vessel for God. It is heartwarming to see the younger male campers look up to the men on our team. Or to see our teens making connections and lasting friendships with other teen girls from Poland. 

Today, students were encouraged to participate in a labyrinth of sorts. They would go, individually, station by station, to examine themselves and their relationship with God. It was heartbreaking to discover some of their stories. Young children coming from broken homes. Young children who are the sole believer in their family. Young children who feel they are not worthy of God's Mercy and Grace. It was our job to convince them that they are indeed worthy and loved more than they could ever imagine. 

We gathered afterward, the Timberwood team and our Polish youth group friends, to debrief. It was an emotional experience, sharing stories and praying together. The Holy Spirit was working through each and every one of us. 

Tomorrow is our last day of English lessons; however, camp runs through Saturday. We ask for your prayers for many on our team who are feeling rundown. We recognize Satan will do everything in his power to keep us from spreading the Word of God. Pray that we stay strong end healthy until the very end. We have done big things and we're not about to stop now. 

We also pray for every single child, regardless of nationality, that they will come to know the love and compassion of their Savior and that they are more than worthy.