Lubin, Poland
September 2007


“Summer Planting Brings Winter Fruit”


As I walked out of our front door the other day with our neighbor who just gave us grapes, beans and berries, I noticed our pear tree and how many pears were hanging from it. When I asked Jolanta if they were ready to be picked, she told me not yet because they were winter pears. This was sort of odd for me as I thought, fruit being produced during winter?

These thoughts came back to me later. I thought how appropriate it is that we just had a summer full of ministry and sowing seeds. I wondered what kind of fruit will be harvested during the winter.

The pears on the tree are still very hard. In fact, the other day as I was playing tag with our dog, my head came into contact with one of them and yes, I felt it. It was hard! People may have heard and seen the gospel this summer, but their hearts are still hard like the pears. Our neighbor said to pick the pears in two weeks and let them sit to ripen. We are earnestly praying that over the next several months the hardness will turn into softness, and the Spirit will open the eyes of people's hearts and they will be ready to be harvested. If we don't pick the pears, they will fall off the tree and rot. We are praying that while letting the hearts “ripen”, we would have wisdom as to how He would like us to follow-up on the contacts made over this past
year and summer.

Tomorrow, this fall or this winter, we don't know God's timetable but we're praying for ripening of the seeds planted and watered to be harvested. Please pray with us for a spiritual awakening!


Since May, we have had 4 teams and an individual come to serve with us. They were able to build many relationships with people in the Coffee House and within the community. They were able to minister to ladies in a Women's shelter in a nearby town. The director is a believer and attends our church. They were able to help in English classes and conversations. They were able to do community projects such as building a playground in a low-income housing area and plant trees for the city. They were able to go on trips, play many games of Uno, give concerts and build relationships with people in the Coffee House. They were able to reach out to kids through running a Vacation Bible School. I could continue to write ways in which they were involved, but the important thing is that God used each person who came to reach out to people here.
Thank you for praying in the harvest. As always, we are so grateful for your partnership with us, more than we are adequately able to express in words. Summer pears or winter pears, lets pray for ripe ones!


Harvesting together,
Paul, Carlene, Andrew, Aaron, and Alaina (and our dog, Toffi)

September 2-8
Praise: Praise for a very busy but very rewarding summer and a couple weeks of vacation for rest and refreshment.
Prayer: The kids start school on the 3rd. Andrew will be in 4th grade, Aaron in 2nd and Alaina in kindergarten. We know most of their teachers—pray for the continued building of these relationships and opportunities to share Christ. Pray that when needed, we’ll be able to find a tutor or someone to help them in their schoolwork as the Polish homework is getting more advanced! Pray also as more often they (mostly Andrew) wishes at times he could be in America. They are at home here in Poland, but sometimes they miss family and being there. They’ve lived more of their lives here but still sometimes… Please pray for a great school year!

September 9-15
Praise: Praise for a new teammate coming this week! Praise that a wonderful apartment has been found for her in a perfect location!
Prayer: Pray for Andrea Hagen who will be arriving on the 12th. She will become part of the Lubin Regional Impact Team. We’re excited and we ask you to pray that the Lord would give wisdom as to what He would like exactly for her to be involved in during this year to year and a half. Pray also that we would be able to find some basic furnishings for the apartment easily and for good prices. Pray for her quick adjustment to living here and make some friends easily. She will be taking some Polish lessons as well.
Pray also as Sunday school for the children starts up again this Sunday after the break for the summer. Pray for the 7 children (3 of them ours!) who regularly attend-- for their spiritual growth this year. Pray also for numerical growth.

September 16-22
Praise: Praise for those interested in continuing to learn English and for the seeds planted last school year.
Prayer: Classes for our Language Center start the 17th. Pray for wisdom for Bogusia, our Polish teammate, who is heading up the sign-ups and scheduling. Carlene will continue to teach English classes to elementary age children and Paul will continue to have conversation lessons. Other teammates will be teaching the adults. Our main goal is to meet new people and continue to build trust and relationships with continuing students and talk with them about the Lord. There are several interested in having a Bible study using English this year. Pray for our teammate, Pat, who will be leading this. Pray for God to work this year mightily through these classes.

September 23-29
Praise: We continue to be grateful for the care we receive through our teammates and SEND leadership.
Prayer: After the summer months where everyone here almost literally “takes and break” and usual activities are “put on hold”, we are well into the Fall activities now that we are at the end of September. This just always seems to be a constant request but as the new school year is well underway, English classes have begun, regular Coffee House hours have resumed and Paul continues to give leadership to the church plant, we constantly ask the Lord where and how He would like for us to be involved. Which activities and events does He want us to have? This year we desire and know to be His will to have Bible studies within the church and amongst our contacts to follow-up with the many seeds planted this past year and summer. Please earnestly pray for the Lord to draw people to desire to study His Word.

Intresting article from IMB

Journeyman's tattoos present him with witnessing opportunities
7/23/2007
By Sue Sprenkle
LUBIN, Poland (BP)--Drab, high-rise block apartments cut a dirty, jagged line against the gray sky. Two rough-looking young men walk in the buildings’ shadows. Unsmiling, they nod to friends smoking and drinking alcohol outside a small grocery store.
The two duck inconspicuously into an out-of-place, single-story building. Once inside, their hard exteriors melt as warm golden hues, soft red lights and pulsating techno music provide a hip – yet safe – environment for Polish youth. They flash huge smiles and bound over to greet their American friend, Rich Ellis, making coffee behind the counter.
“Are we still on for pickle soup and Bible study Monday night?” they ask. Ellis, an International Mission Board journeyman missionary, answers with a smile so big even his dark beard and mustache can’t hide it. Just a few months ago, no one was interested in coming to the coffeehouse, let alone learning anything about the Bible. Now, Coffeehouse Logos is packed on most weekends.
Technically, business isn’t “booming” – most of the youth never order drinks and snacks from the menu – but that doesn’t matter. What does matter to the small Polish Baptist church sponsoring the coffeehouse is that people are exposed to the love of Jesus Christ.
Ellis partners with the church in reaching the surrounding neighborhood for Christ. The Kentucky native serves coffee, cleans toilets, teaches English classes, plays ping-pong and foosball, and teaches the Bible. His willingness to do anything endears him not only to the church, but to the neighborhood as well. He doesn’t know a stranger. He chats with anyone just as if he were back in his hometown, Warsaw, Ky.
Something about this young missionary captivates people.
Is it the piercing in his lower lip? Perhaps it’s the tattoos adorning both arms. No, these help him blend in with the rough neighborhood. More likely, it’s the love that emanates from this journeyman. Young people flock to him because he cares. Whether it’s roughhousing, playing games or sharing American goodies out of a care package from home, Ellis shows his love by investing in lives.
“There’s not much around here to do but sit outside, smoke and get drunk. The kids we work with are rough, but we’ve seen some changes in the last year,” Ellis says. “One way to reach these kids is by building relationships and trust. You do this by hanging out.”
PICKLE SOUP AND BIBLE STUDY
Four guys barely fit in Ellis’s small kitchen, despite their slight build. A big tub of dill pickles sits in the middle of the table. Someone fishes out a pickle and grates it for the soup. Another peels potatoes as a third prepares the carrots. The fourth tells an animated story in between text messaging his girlfriend.
“When we started Monday nights, none of us knew how to cook,” one of the guys says, holding a knife awkwardly over the clutter on the cutting board that’s supposed to end up as a traditional Polish meal. “Look at us now!”
“Yeah, look at our mess,” Ellis jokes back, wrist deep in pickle juice. “Seriously though, nothing beats a hot bowl of pickle soup on a cold night.”
Pickle soup night started with a few guys coming to Ellis’s house on the night the coffeehouse is closed. The group started with just a few guys, but now even girls join the Monday night ritual.
Ellis says the close quarters in the kitchen provide opportunities for the Polish youth and young adults to ask questions about God. Monday night regulars seem to be searching for a deeper Bible study than what is offered Thursday night at the coffeehouse. Not one of the regulars is a believer, but all claim to be Christians, having grown up in a predominantly Catholic country.
Nearly 78 percent of Polish people claim to be Roman Catholic. The Protestant population numbers around 0.4 percent, according to Operation World. Ellis explains that in the past, Baptists and other Protestants were considered to be sectarian, or a cult. A change in thought is slowly taking place as those willing to take a stand share their faith in Jesus Christ – like Ellis.
ME? A MISSIONARY?
“If you had told me a few years ago that I’d be a missionary, I would have thought you were crazy,” Ellis says, shaking his head in disbelief. There are some days he still doesn’t believe it.
With his tattoos and piercings, this former drummer in a heavy-metal band looks the part. Ellis quickly learned his tattoos provide a witnessing opportunity on the heavy-metal scene. All tattoos have meaning, so people who have tattoos ask each other about them. On a volunteer mission trip to Poland a few years ago, Ellis found the same was true in Europe. Pointing to Ellis’s leg, a schoolboy asked what John 3:16 meant.
“When I found out I was going to Poland for two years, I decided to get a tat (tattoo) in Polish because I knew they would ask about it,” Ellis says. One arm displays an artistic rendition of “One Truth” in English. The other arm says the same in Polish.
Every day someone at the coffeehouse stops Ellis to look at his tattoos and ask him questions. Even strangers on the street stop him to ask about his Polish tattoo. Today, a young boy brings a group of his friends to view his tattoos. He grabs Ellis’s sleeve, pulls it up and points out the Polish writing. Rich smiles and encourages the boy to share with his friends the meaning behind it.
“God uses my tattoos to help witness,” the journeyman says. It provides an opening and a chance to share about Christ.
“God uses everything unique about us to tell His story.”
Glancing around the packed coffeehouse, he adds, “I can’t believe they call this work! I get to hang out all night with friends and try to talk about God. I love it!”
--30--
*A journeyman missionary is a single college graduate between ages 21 and 30 serving two years with the International Mission Board. For more information about the Journeyman Program, go to going.imb.org/journeyman.asp.
Prayer requests:
Pray for the Polish young people who visit the coffeehouse. Pray specifically for Kames, Agniszka and Damien, leaders among those who come. Pray that they realize their need for a relationship with Christ. Ellis feels that if these three make a decision, it will spread through the entire group and could change the whole neighborhood.
Pray for more workers. “We need more people to come,” Ellis says. “There are also other places that need workers, just like here. People need to learn about having a relationship with Jesus Christ.”