Our team heading home via Berlin

We’ve returned home after 35 days on the road. Our travels took us to Romania, Slovakia, and Poland. The last 11 days saw us teaching English at an evangelistic family camp in Borowice, Poland. More than 100 people attended, from babies to grandmas, with every age represented inbetween.

The schedule included early morning staff prayer meetings, chapel, a grammar class, a Bible lesson based on Jesus’ parables, crafts, games, and workshops. The latter included hour-long sessions about marriage, parenting, and spiritual growth and development. Other activities included horseback rides, soccer, volleyball, hikes, roasting s’mores and Polish sausages, and even taking an excursion to the Czech Republic where we visited a site called Adrspach Rocks.

at Adrspach Rocks in Czech Republic

This morning I poured a cup of coffee and sat in my favorite spot to spend a few minutes alone with God and His Word. Psalm 26:6b-7 spoke to me: “I come to your altar, O LORD, singing a song of thanksgiving and telling of all your wonders.” Here’s a brief list of my highlights from this camp. Let it be a song of thanksgiving for God’s wonders!

• Teaching a youth English class. The teenagers were a ton of fun and eager to learn conversational English. They enjoyed seeing me try to understand their tricky new rules for playing Uno!
  

  Meet my English class!

• Meeting two reps from the publishing company that recently released the Polish version of Moving from Fear to Freedom: A Woman’s Guide to Peace in Every Situation. I was delighted to actually see my book in Polish, and thrilled to see the women’s response to it. We even had an impromptu book signing.
  

  "Moving from Fear to Freedom" available in Polish! Who would have imagined?

• Teaching a daily Bible lesson. What a joy to explore God’s Word with several others, some of whom had never read it until now.
• Spending private time with at least a half dozen women who requested meetings with me. They shared their personal struggles and (thanks to translators) I was able to encourage and pray with them. At the end of the week, several said, “You’re like a mother to us.”

Back home, my heart bursts with the joy of having seeing God at work everywhere we went for the past five weeks; my body feels like it needs a very long sleep. I’m looking forward to spending time with my kids and grandbabies, to enjoying the BBQ in our backyard, and to tackling my ridiculously long to-do list. Maybe I’ll even have time to take a little ride on our Gold Wing motorbike.

My focus now changes to preparing for upcoming speaking engagements, writing two articles, and doing marketing follow-up for the Moving from Fear to Freedom teaching DVD and Bible study. I look forward to getting back to regular blogging, and also to dialoging with you.

So…here’s a question to get started: What song of thanksgiving can you offer to God today?

With hugs from my home to yours….Grace

Aerial view of Greenland on our flight home.

Fortress seen earlier this week.

When you read this, I’ll be involved in hosting an evangelistic family camp in Poland. We’re working with a team from North America, a Polish pastor and his wife, and several people from their church who are helping with the kids’ programs and as translators. We’re expecting good things! By that, I mean we’re anticipating that many men, women, and children will discover new truths about God and His great love for them through English classes, Bible lessons, crafts, games, and workshops.

Sometimes our volunteers feel a little uneasy about their tasks. They feel stretched beyond their comfort zone, they’re functioning on jet lag, and they’re dealing with a new culture and language. And yet, God who called them to the task has promised to be everything they need to get the job done.

Driving through the Eastern European countryside gives plenty of opportunities to view castles, or fortresses. The other day I saw this one, and I immediately thought of Proverbs 14:26—“He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge.”

Today, our staff will experience God as their fortress, their stronghold in time of weakness, their protector from the enemy who seeks to thwart the good things that He wants to accomplish at this camp.

I pray that you’ll experience the same. No matter what you face today, remember that God is your fortress. Here’s a little prayer taken from 10-Minute Time Outs for Moms. May it bless you today.

“God, in the morning I will sing of your strength and love, for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. O my Strength, I sing praise to you, my fortress and my loving God (Psalm 59:16,17). Amen.”

The taxi ride wound for 22 miles through lush countryside and took us across the Polish border. The road had partly washed out in several places, so it narrowed to single lane access periodically. As we approached the first Polish village, the driver  pointed at a building on the right. “Train,” he said. Then he pulled over and stopped.

We’d expected to board a train, but our directions told us that our station was in the next town. The taxi driver motioned with his hands and verbally assured us that this station was okay, so we climbed out and whispered a little prayer. Gene stepped inside the station to inquire about tickets to our next stop and was delighted to find that the agent spoke a little English. She, too, assured him that we could catch the proper train at this station. Gene paid the driver, and off he drove, back to Slovakia.

Cold drinks are not always readily available in these countries, but this wee station had a cooler with a sparse supply of Nestea and Coca-Cola products. Cold lemon iced tea never tasted so good. A tiny grocery store across the street had a freezer filled with ice cream, and a good selection of yogurt and bananas. We felt like we’d struck gold! But the best part was the conversation with the train station’s ticket agent.

Her name was Iwona. A beautiful blonde gal, she was, about 24 years old. She seemed delighted to practice conversational English with us. She plugged in a kettle and made me a cup of instant coffee for no charge. I gave her a new cloth grocery bag, a souvenir of Canada, in exchange.

Iwona asked if we were tourists, traveling the world. I said, “No, but we come to your country once or twice every year.” I explained that we bring North American volunteers to teach English at family camps. Her eyes lit up. “This is wonderful,” she said. As we spoke, a thought came to my mind: Give her a Bible and tell her about your book that’s now available in her language.

And that’s exactly what I did. Just so happens that I’d stuffed bookmarks in my backpack before leaving home—bookmarks that show the covers of my four books. I gave one to her and pointed to Moving from Fear to Freedom. “This book has been written in the Polish language,” I said.

Iwona’s eyes nearly popped. “You speak Polish?”

“No, but someone translated it,” I said.

“I must buy this book,” she said.

My husband had been sitting nearby, doing some work on his laptop. Overhearing our conversation, he opened a file containing the cover image for the Polish edition of Moving from Fear to Freedom.

Moving from Fear to Freedom -- available in Polish!

I showed Iwona the picture and gave her the internet link to the Polish distributor that carries the book. Then I handed her a copy of the New Testament (New Living Translation—the same translation we distribute at our family camps here). She gave me a beautiful smile and clutched the Bible to her chest. “Thank you!” she said. “I’m so excited. So very excited!”

Why did the driver drop us at the train station prior to the one our directions stated? I think I know. A young woman named Iwona was working there, and God is drawing her to Himself. What a joy to be part of His plan for her life. Would you pray for this gal? Ask God to give her a desire to read the Word. Ask Him to help her understand it and grant her the faith to believe it.

The train arrived a few minutes later, and off we went. I stood, looking out the window at the station as we chugged past, knowing that the likelihood of meeting Iwona a second time are nil. Then again, I met the Romanian granny two years in a row. Never say never.

The train ride lasted one hour, followed by a two hour bus ride. Well….maybe two will stretch into more because we hit road construction and had to take a detour. The bus on which I’m sitting now reminds me of the buses in Nepal. We’re winding along narrow country roads and chugging at walking pace uphill. Sometimes a breeze blows through open windows, but most often not. There was no cargo compartment, so our suitcases are stacked atop each other beside the driver’s feet. At least they won’t topple down the stairwell when they’re stacked like building blocks (as opposed to standing upright).

Another half hour or so remains. Then we’ll catch another train. That one will deliver us to Krakow where we’ll spend the night in a hostel. We’ve been there many times before, so the owner knows us. It feels like home away from home. Tomorrow we’ll catch another train to Gorzow. This leg will take 12 hours but require only one change. Praying for air conditioning and more divine appointments!

“That’s easier said than done,” says me.

I recall several of the biggest challenges I’ve faced/am facing:

• Being separated from my newborn daughter when she was flown from Nepal to the US for surgery. International airlines refused to issue me a ticket, saying I was a medical high risk after having had a C-section.
• Being in Hungary for ministry when my dad died back in Canada, and not being able to return for his funeral.
• Being in Poland for ministry when my father-in-law died in the US, and not being present to comfort our kids at the loss of a third grandparent within three years.
• Moving several times – uprooting our kids, saying goodbye to family and friends, and starting all over again.
• Having hopes dashed by publishers’ and editors’ rejection letters.
• Dealing with the constant pain of arthritic spurs in my neck.

My human nature is prone to whine when facing tough stuff. It likes sympathy. It relishes attention and the words, “Oh, you poor thing.” In a warped way, it enjoys wallowing in self-pity. But Scripture challenges me to a higher plane.

“Let all that I am praise the Lord,” it says. It offers no exception clause, and it encompasses every part of my being. Let all that I am praise the Lord, not just a part of me. Every day, no matter what befalls, I’m to immerse myself in the practice of praise even when my emotions would rather wet only my big toe. Believe me, I’ve had lots of opportunities to put this verse to the test.

What happens when you and I praise the Lord with our whole being, especially when we don’t feel like it? Our focus moves from our challenges to His character. From our woes to His eternal will. From our insufficiency to His sufficiency.  God changes our entire perspective, and we find inner strength and renewal to face whatever comes our way, because, after all, He dwells in the praises of His people. Transformation is guaranteed when God’s on site.

And so, I’ll continue praising with every part of me even when tempted to do otherwise. How about you?

Question: What is one of the biggest challenges you’ve ever faced, and how did practicing praise make a difference in your outlook?

www.christianphotos.net

“Freckles,” I said. Her response made me laugh: “Hmmm. Maybe you should cut them out.”

Anna asks a lot of questions, as do other children her age. That might grow wearisome at times for their parents and caregivers, but that’s how they learn, right? And so we want to provide them with the answers, or show them how to discover the answers for themselves.

Another question kids often ask is: “What is God like?” They’re not alone in their curiosity.  Many grownups – myself included – wonder the same thing. Here’s a clue I recently discovered:

“Take note of the fortified walls, and tour all the citadels, that you may describe them to future generations. For that is what God is like (emphasis mine). He is our God forever and ever, and he will guide us until we die (Psalm 48:13,14).

Last summer I visited a fortress in Poland. It towered like a stone giant atop a hill, providing a panoramic perspective. Once upon a time its walls, approximately 18 inches thick, provided protection from attacking marauders. No human force could penetrate its strength. That is what God is like to those who take refuge in Him.

In the case of the Polish fortress, however, lightning struck and fire destroyed it. But God, our fortress, remains forever and ever. No matter what situation we face, He surrounds and protects us from the enemy’s attacks. So long as we remain in Him, we will not be defeated. This promise holds true until the day we die. And until that moment comes, it’s our job to communicate this truth to the next generation so they, too, can understand that this is what God is like.

These words pump me with confidence. No matter what difficulties or pain I face, God promises His presence and victory. He is my fortress, my protection, my deliverer. He is my safe place. And He is my defense against the enemy. The same is true for you, if you walk in relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.

What insights can you share re: what God is like? I’d love to hear them.

Eastern European fortress

Ha! Those were our famous last words. We knew a surprise was headed our way when our bus driver pulled over and stopped in an unfamiliar place. “The old parking lot is no longer there,” he announced in Polish. “You must begin your hike here.”

Flexibility is a key word we stress when training our short-term volunteers. And it’s a word we have to put into practice every day on a ministry trip like this. And so we practiced flexibility….all the way up a rocky, very steep mountain road. I didn’t time the hike, but I’m sure that we panted and puffed for more than an hour. Each time someone lagged, I asked if they’d like to turn back or wait by the roadside for the others’ return – and I graciously said that I’d turn back or wait with them. Unfortunately, no one accepted my offer. And so I plodded on.

The view at the top made the trek worthwhile. Fields and mountains stretched for miles, dotted by red tile roofs. My eyes lingered on the beauty before me, and my imagination pondered the heart-wrenching history of Poland and its amazing people. I felt an overwhelming love for our campers who live in poverty and pain as a result of circumstances beyond their control, and I thanked God for the opportunity to bring hope and healing through the message of Jesus Christ.

Campers and staff still happy after the hike

Castle-top view

The hike provided a great opportunity to build closer bonds with these precious campers. We  walked together, we shared snacks, and we swapped stories about life. Then the clouds rolled in and we broke a speed record heading downhill in the pouring rain.

Besides good exercise and bond-building, the hike also provided me with a touching visual image: A young man, about 20 years old, holding the hands of his younger brother, 11, and sister, 9, as they navigated the rocky road in the pouring rain. They’d lost their mom to cancer only two months prior. Their dad had since suffered a stroke. It took a lot of courage for this family to come to camp and be immersed in a setting so unfamiliar, and the older brother’s care and tenderness towards his siblings warmed my heart. It’s not often you see affection between siblings demonstrated like this. It’s an image I want to keep forever.

I’ll write a bit more about the trip on Friday’s blog and then switch back to devotionals. Blessings on you today, my friend.

The word camp often conveys the impression of being rustic – tents and outhouses in the woods, cooking over an open fire and sleeping under the stars. That’s a far cry from our family camp – it was held in a hotel. Granted, it wasn’t a 5-star facility but it was totally adequate for our purposes.

Our days were packed from beginning to end. We began with a staff prayer meeting at 7:15. Breakfast followed – rolls, sliced meats, cheeses, tomatoes, cucumbers, and sometimes yogurt. Cold cereal – Cocoa Puffs – was served with hot milk. And after breakfast, we enjoyed a short chapel with praise and worship songs in both English and Polish before dismissing for our daily English reading class.

The English reading class can be likened to a Bible study. 

Exploring God's Word

 Adults and teenagers split into small groups where they read Scripture based on Jesus’ parables. Our job was not to teach the study. Rather, it was to facilitate learning and discussion. Many of our campers had never read a Bible and they’d certainly never heard that a personal relationship with God was possible through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. They’d been taught by their priest that salvation is possible only through good works and that he alone provides access to God (for payment). This class was the nuts-and-bolts of camp because it revealed truth to those who had never heard it.

An English grammar class followed. Campers were divided into groups according to their English-speaking competency. Gene and I taught a group of high-school students. They loved playing games such as Uno to learn the English words for colors and numbers. One day during class we walked to a nearby store to buy ice cream treats. Enroute, they saw and named objects for every letter in the English alphabet. Ie: ‘d’ was for dog, ‘t’ was for tractor, etc.

Lunch followed the morning classes. Then came the afternoon schedule – crafts or free time for families to spend a couple of hours sightseeing.  

Beads are a favorite craft

 At 5 o’clock, we ran two workshops (parenting and addictions) and an optional class to practice conversational English. Most campers attended the workshops and absorbed the information like human sponges. After supper, we played group games or enjoyed skits and then settled into chapel with more singing, two staff testimonies and an object lesson for the kids. By then it was 9:30 P.M. Most folks were tired, but they weren’t ready to shut ‘er down yet. They put their little ones to bed and then showed up for the marriage workshop that Gene and I taught. Thirty people – four nights in a row – attended these classes that ran for an hour. In 11 years of fulltime Christian camping ministry in Canada, I’ve never seen that kind of hunger here.

And so went a typical day at camp. Hours and hours of interaction with campers made it possible to build relationships that our career staff will follow up. With email and Facebook technology, we can further those relationships ourselves, too.

Anyone interested in coming with us next year? Actually, we could use volunteers for camps in Slovakia, the Ukraine and Romania as well as in Poland. The harvest is great but the laborers are few.

Perhaps the element that strikes me most is the peoples’ openness toward spiritual things. One woman said outright that she was seeking God and came to the camp hoping to find Him there. One man said he’d never been in such a group of people who prayed directly to God – he’d always communicated to God via a priest. These comments and others proved that spiritual hunger and interest is very much alive in Eastern Europe. So is the desire to learn how to raise kids and how to do marriage well.

Gene and I taught four workshops about marriage. Because of the days’ busy schedules, our sessions began at 9:45 PM. Yes, you read that correctly. It should have been bedtime, but that wasn’t the case for the 30 individuals and couples who showed up for the hour-long classes. I was thrilled to see so many attend. Many of the young adult singles (most of whom do not have godly role models) commented that our messages and personal example gave them hope for a God-centered marriage someday. PTL!

This year our team also offered workshops about parenting and about how to cope when a loved one suffers from alcoholism. These, too, were well attended. Our prayer is that these wonderful Polish people will have discovered new and practical strategies to help them face the challenges of everyday life. And our praise is that God is so big that He can use the likes of those of us on the team to accomplish anything of eternal value.

Passengers come and go on these trains. For several miles, two men in their 60s sat on the bench across from us. Theirs was an animated conversation until one turned his attention to me and began jabbering in Polish. His eyebrows shot up when I told him that I couldn’t understand because I spoke only English. He moved closer, grabbed my hand and kissed it.

I was okay with this display of Polish culture but squirmed inside when he began to squeeze my hand and pat my arm with his other hand. Then he leaned toward my face. All of this happened within a few seconds. A teenage boy in the next seat began translating what the man was saying, at which time Gene stood up and asked the man to back off.

The man responded by speaking louder and squeezing tighter. Gene repeated his request. The man turned up his volume and now leaned towards my husband. Visions of his punching Gene popped into my head. I shot up an arrow prayer for help.

At that exact moment, the conductor stepped into our train car. Understand that conductors routinely walk through the cars to ensure that all passengers have purchased tickets and aren’t freeloading. This conductor hadn’t set foot in this car for the past hour despite the train making numerous stops and collecting passengers along the way. His sudden appearance at that exact moment was nothing short of an immediate answer to prayer.

Without speaking a word, the conductor sized up the situation and took control. He pulled the man away from me and kicked him off the train when it stopped a few moments later. Everyone in the car heaved a sigh of relief. “I’m sorry,” said the conductor as he walked way.

“No problem,” I said, whispering a big thank-you to God under my breath. He showed up as my protector in the form of a train conductor – how awesome is that? While it was quite amazing to see Him answer prayer so quickly, I truly hope He won’t have to do it again!

“A leetle,” she said.

A leetle was good enough for me. “We’re going to Katowice,” I said. “Do you know from what platform the train leaves?” She shook her head but said something about taking a bus instead of the train. I thanked her and ran up two flights of concrete stairs to Gene who was guarding our suitcases where we’d deboarded.

I told him the clue I’d learned, and together we hauled our luggage down the stairs into an underground tunnel. Now it was my turn to guard the luggage while he dashed to the ticket counter up a different flight of stairs to get more information. He returned a couple of minutes later. “Go outside,” he said. “There’s supposed to be a bus waiting to take train passengers to the next city!”

We grabbed our bags and hauled them up two different flights of stairs to a sidewalk above ground. Two buses sat idling there. Gene ran to one and asked the driver if the bus was bound for Katowice. The driver grunted, stared out the front window and waved his hand as if to brush Gene off. One passenger saw what happened and tried to help but his English was as sparse as Gene’s Slovak. Finally Gene saw a list of cities printed on the bus wall and pointed at the one we wanted. The passengers shook their heads. “No, no,” they said. As this was happening, the other bus pulled away from the curb. Too bad – turns out that was our bus.

And so our 10-hour trip turned into 15 hours. Thankfully it wasn’t all on trains. We found a coffeeshop with wireless (albeit intermittent) at the station. We enjoyed ice cream and cold drinks while catching up on emails and working on our Bible studies for the upcoming Polish camp. Chalk it up to adventure. Be still and know that He is God over every little detail. Turns out that we met a guy from Ohio on the train we eventually caught, and we were able to plants seeds of truth in his life through conversation with him.

While at the train station, I had an interesting cross-cultural experience. I had to use the WC (water closet aka toilet), so I found my way to the appropriate room. Two women about my age sat at a ticket counter at the room’s entrance. A sign on the ticket counter window told me that I had to pay 20 cents in Euros (about 30 cents CDN). I pushed the coins through the window toward them. The women smiled and pointed at a roll of toilet paper on the counter. I picked it up, they nodded their permission and I went on my way, mindful to return it for the next customer. BTW, men have to pay only 15 cents to use the toilet, unless, of course they require paper. Then the price goes up to 20 cents. Add that to your travel manual!