Flexibility is a Virtue!

This week has been a lot different than last week. It started on Sunday with our first Polish church service and meeting some of the members of the congregation here in Sopot. Of course Holly and I could not understand the services in Polish, but we could listen to the songs and take the Lord's Supper just the same. I tried, but failed, to pronounce the words in the songs! After the service was over, almost every person there came over to say hello and to shake our hands! Even though we could not communicate much because of the language barrier, we still loved meeting everybody! In all the countries I have been to, it always amazes me that I can go across the world and sit with a group of people I have never met, speak a different language, and yet have such a familiar feeling in the setting of a worship service. Worship to God is obviously universal! After the services, we had an English Bible class with Mrs. Molly and Annabelle over the first chapter of the book of Ruth. It was a really wonderful lesson!

Annabelle and Mrs. Molly were then out of town in Berlin to meet some of their relatives from Monday morning until Wednesday night. Because we did not have time to complete our training last week, Holly and I could not start teaching lessons without Mrs. Molly and Annabelle here to supervise and help us out. We will hopefully be able to start teaching next week. They did not leave us with nothing to do, though! Holly and I spent the next days preparing lessons for when we do get to teach. Our homework was to finish the review questions for the first 2 books and write out ways to introduce new vocabulary words and check the students' comprehension. It doesn't sound like a lot, but I only got through the first book! It was not very difficult homework, just time consuming. I really loved reading through a large portion of the Old Testament throughout the week! It is always good to refresh my memory! I notice new things every time I read a passage, even when I have seen it a million times! Holly and I got out of the apartment into Sopot each day to avoid getting cabin fever. We took our lesson books to cafes all over town and killed three birds with one stone - work on lessons, get coffee to help us focus, and explore our new town and the people in it! We have definitely made a dent in preparing a lot of the lessons we will be teaching!

We were so excited when Mrs. Molly and Annabelle came back to Sopot on Wednesday night! They brought their relatives with them for a few days, too. We had a good time with Mrs. Jan and her two college-aged daughters, Sara and Jessica. It was nice to have some other people in the apartment besides just me and Holly!

The return to Sopot was not completely a perfect occasion, though. Unfortunately, Mr. Mike's father (Annabelle's grandfather) had been in the hospital before they left for Berlin, and he passed away on Wednesday. They were all very close to him, and it will be a hard road ahead for them. Because of this situation, our schedule has changed a bit. A funeral is in the process of being planned, so other things must be postponed. Annabelle and Mrs. Molly were not able to come sightseeing with us as much as they had been planning to, but Holly and I were able to show Mrs. Jan and her daughters around Sopot and go with them to a couple of other places.

On Friday, Holly and I went with the visitors to Malbork Castle, about an hour and a half from Sopot. It is the largest brick castle in the entire world! It was an amazing place to visit, and I'm so glad we were able to go! It was really useful to see, in person, some of the history of the Polish people. The castle is very well built and defended, so it was never taken during any war in history. Mostly everything there today is the original structure. Inside of the castle was a display of amber, weapons, magnificent architecture, living quarters, a well, gates, gardens, and even a tower that we were able to climb for a great view of the beautiful surroundings. When we returned from the castle, Mrs. Molly and Annabelle had prepared for us a wonderful meal! They invited us to eat with them and Mr. Mike, and it was lovely! What a special thing to spend hours in conversation over the dinner table!

Today, we were able to go to the Old City of Gdansk before Mrs. Jan had to go to the airport to get on her flight back to America. Instead of beginning to teach English lessons on this coming Monday like we were going to, we will have to wait until after the funeral, which will be on Wednesday. This is a first-hand account of something I have heard over and over again in my classes at Freed-Hardemen - living and working in a foreign country involves a lot of flexibility. You have to be able to and comfortable with going with the flow. Plans will change, and that's okay. We've already gotten some great first-hand lessons about long-term work from Mr. Mike, Mrs. Molly, and Annabelle. It is wonderful to be able to observe everything instead of just learning about it in classes!