Ministry News

Passing Out Packages

 The church in Szczeczinek participates in Operation Christmas Child, and we were asked to create a program for the time when they pass out the presents. Each meeting, we began with Katrina singing a traditional Polish Christmas carol by herself. We then joined in and lead the group in singing several Polish Christmas carols. As they sang, Carol Lynn played her flute and Craig played the guitar.

Following this, we sang Away In The Manger for them in English, and Craig and Carol Lynn gave a short talk on traditions and the need to invite Christ into their lives this Christmas. Many Poles would say that they should give Christ their hearts as a Christmas present to Him, but knowing that this is what they should do and toing it are not the same thing. Pray that the Word we shared, will help to lead others to Christ.

Want to see more pictures of Operation Christmas Child? Click here!

In mid August, we packed up the home we lived in. sold most of our large furniture pieces, gave away some of our belongings, and moved to the other side of Poland. We now live in a town, called Szczecinek, with about 40,000 Poles, and are actively involved with the Baptist Church here.

We had been in Szczecinek during the summer to help organize a kids club. During that time, we also looked for housing. At that time, the best we were able to find was a two room apartment (In Europe, every room that is not a kitchen or bathroom can function as a bedroom.) which is owned by a member of the church who is now living in Wales. Although it is a third or a fourth of the size of the home we rented in Lublin, we felt it would be a good choice, because it is in walking distance of the church and the kid’s school. Also, we would be able to rent a second garage to store extra items. and we could possibly buy a new apartment in another year which is being built in the same complex.

When we arrived in Szczecinek, we had to stay in a room at the church for several weeks, while the family whose apartment we were to move into completed their move to Wales. This actually turned out to be a good transition point for us since it allowed us to get used to a much smaller space, before moving to the two room apartment. So far, we really like the apartment, and are grateful that God provided it for us.

Our fellow Pioneers missionary, Paul Hostetler, did an amazing job in interviewing church planters and organizing the information into a form that we hope will inspire churches and individuals in Poland to start an evangelical church where none exists today.

The book is already in print in Polish and is being given out to pastors and seminaries all across Poland. Soon, the book would be available in English as well. If you are interested, in receiving a copy in English, please let us know.

Our teammates, Amber and Katie, our friend Adam, and our neighbor Kasia all joined our nephew Jake and us in Szczecinek during the first week of July. The church invited us to help them run a kids’ club camp. In all we had well over twenty kids show up, most of which were from the neighborhood, not from the church itself!

The worst part of the camp was the weather. It rained pretty much every day. Whenever possible, we went outside and made the most of the good weather. This included a boat trip and a bike trip around the lake. No matter how bad the weather was, we were able to find something fun or interesting to do. Our nephew, Jake Cantleberry was touring Europe with his college choir and then came to spend time with us, since he was in the neighborhood! Thank God he did, he was a great help. Although he could not speak the language, he taught a great craft, and took care of the audio video part of what we did, and did whatever else needed to be done.

Craig gave the daily messages and his talks centered around understanding the basics of faith. The response to the camp was so overwhelmingly positive, that when we offered to do a club during the school year, almost all of the kids told us they would come, and so far, they have.

Want to see more pictures of our ministry in Szczecinek? Click here!

More Teammates on the Way!

Within the next year or so, we hope to have a few new members on our team. Amy Thomas (not pictured) will be joining us for a one year internship, and the Johnston family (pictured above, hope to join us full time.)

This month, we will have a retreat for all the members of Pioneers Poland. That would be 10 adults in all. Considering five years ago, we were the only members of Pioneers in country, that is pretty exciting!