The Next Leg of the Journey

This week has been another one filled with learning experiences and productivity! The funeral for Mr. Walenty Dawidow was on Wednesday, so Holly and I were able to put our helping hands to good use for the first half of this week. There was a lot of work to be done before, during, and after the funeral. In the United States, funeral homes take care of almost everything in the planning of a funeral but, in Poland, the family has to do all of that. Annabelle, Mrs. Molly, and Mr. Mike had so many tasks to complete this week in just a few short days! They bought flowers to decorate the auditorium where the funeral was held. They put together a very nice room with tables and chairs decorated for a meal for the family. They bought and cooked food for over 40 members of the family and friends that came to the funeral. They organized everything with the gravesite. They had to get a lot of paperwork done. They ran here and there all over town for a few days. Mr. Mike prepared appropriate words to speak at his father’s funeral. Before and after the funeral, everything had to be cleaned and put away.

…and all in the midst of such tremendous grief and heartache.

Holly and I were able to vacuum and clean the auditorium, help set up the fellowship hall for the meal, bake a pound cake for the family, help put together the many food dishes needed for the meal, serve food and beverages to the family, wash and dry the many dishes, clean up after the funeral, and many other things. I say this not at all to boast, but to show you, my supporters, that the money you graciously contributed to get me to Poland is, indeed, going to good use. Not all good work is Bible study; some is lightening the load for those who are hurting and showing the love of Christ to others through their observation of the way we live. Mrs. Molly even commented to us that she suspected that God had sent us here to help them during this time of need. I am so glad we were here and able to help in a very tangible way.

Even if it may, on the surface, seem like this situation was an interruption of our work here, which was supposed to be teaching English Bible lessons, I do not consider it an interruption. We were not idle but, rather, trying to be the hands and feet of Christ. We were learning lessons about mission work and about relating to people all along the way as well as building up relationships.

It was an absolute pleasure to work along next to my Polish brothers and sisters in Christ during these few days. Everyone in the congregation here is very ready to help whenever it is needed. They are selfless and loving. After spending these past couple of weeks here, and especially the first part of this week, I can now say that I actually know several members of the congregation. I can address them by name, and some of them even speak English! I had some wonderful conversations with people here and have begun to form relationships with the lovely Christians and others here in Sopot. I am beginning to learn a few Polish words here and there just from seeing them over and over again on signs or hearing people say them a lot. I have learned how to pronounce different sounds of words so I can now try to sing along with the hymns during church. I can recognize the members of the church on Sundays now, and they always greet me with a warm handshake or a hug and a smile! My cup overflows.

On Thursday, Holly and I were finally able to begin teaching lessons! I had four lessons on Thursday and one on Friday morning. They generally last about an hour each. My lessons covered different parts of Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses, and John the Baptist this week. Each student is at a different point in the 6-book series, so there is a huge variety of topics for which to prepare. Throughout the day, I discussed Adam and Eve being banished from the garden, Abraham being promised he would become a great and chosen nation, Moses receiving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, and John the Baptist preparing the way for the Lord and being beheaded. The texts selected for each lesson really do spawn a lot of questions and discussions from both the student and the teacher. The Dawidows have put a LOT of hard work into preparing these books and related materials, and it has really paid off. There are binders for each lesson with prepared worksheets, maps, memory verses, visual aids, quizzes, and unit tests. By the time a student completes a lesson, he will know the text and the principles from the text like the back of his hand. It was really interesting for me to watch people read certain excerpts of the Bible for the very first time that I have been hearing about since before I could talk. It is an amazing thing to see understanding and amazement light up across a person’s face! 

The Word is so able to speak for itself and to work its way into the hearts of people! What a blessing!