After the 3rd Group

hey everyone....sorry Im late in doing because the group of 32 from second baptist in warner robins left last Saturday but i havent gotten a chance to update because i have been so tired when i sit down to update so then i end up not doing it....but anyways so they left on Saturday morning about 4am.... it was a great week and the group of 32 mostly highschoolers was a good group....though it was very tiring since i was getting to bed late and getting up early... but anyways the things that they did through the week, just to give you a rough outline, was in the morning there were two groups: half of them went prayer walking and the other half went to the cemetery (doing the same thing that the last groups did) then we ate lunch then in the afternoon a little more than half on them went to do at day camp with children at Pan Ricks and the rest of them (about 8) went to the cemetery....then in the evening most of the guys went to play basketball with poles that came and everybody else went to do a coffeehouse at Pan Ricks....so that was the week in a nutshell

I guess ill start with the thing that i did the most of which was being in charge of doing the cemetery part....but we just continued as i said early to clean, remove brush and overgrown stuff as well as move and step up the headstones that we could... it went really well...we didnt get as much done as the other groups had done...but considering the amount of time we had out there and the number of people that we had out there.... we got a pretty good bit done....we under covered a lot of graves that we didnt know were there because grass had grown over them....it was like pulling up sod that covered them.... but i think overall we stood up or turned around the right way about 20 something i think....and then we uncovered as i said a lot that we didnt know were there....it overall is was a good week with the cemetery....

I would give you an update on prayer walking but i never got to go since i was in charge of doing the cemetery but from what i heard...it was an awesome time.... they mostly prayer walked through more of Otwocks in parts that hadnt been done before and they also went and prayed walked at the loading ramp in Otwock where they loaded many Jews on the cars to send them to deathcamp back in WWII....one of the days Steven went to explore along with the prayer walkers lead by Jane in Celestynow...which is where we are going to do the next groups coffeehouse....and that went good because they found a lady that was very open into helping us and so that was really good...overall i think that they all enjoyed the prayer walking and from what i heard it went really well

The daycamp went really well as i heard too since i never went to it either....But me, bruce, and steven sometimes went to get the kids from a housing project as well as some from Josefow.... and we usually picked up around 16 kinds in all maybe a little more or less....but anyways on the first day they had 40 something kids which was very awesome...i never heard how many kids there were by the end of the week though but im sure it was more by the end of the week....thats about all i know but i heard that they did an excellent job....

The coffeehouse i never went to either because i was at the basketball but i heard that it went pretty good...i think someone said that they had about 10 or so people come so thats really cool...but it was a good time to build relationship and continue to grow the ones that we already had...so it was good...

Basketball went really good....there was about 13 of us guys that went and a handful of the girls that went as well...there was a pretty good bit of Poles there as well...i think on the first night there was about 20 something....so the first day we just played basketball with them...and of course they wanted to play Americans versus Poles....and we beat them course it is an American Sport....but they were pretty good...On the second night we continued to play basketball with them and pretty much did the same thing and there was a little more Poles there....On wednesday the third night....we continued to play basketball but after we played a little while....we had a break and did a basketball half court shootout thing...and gave away prizes to the first 3 that made it which actually took a while so we had to move it closer but anyways after that some of the Americans did a drama with music and then we handed about new testaments (little gedian bibles sp?) to them all (about 40 of them) and they all gladly took them and were interested in what they were... and they got everybody to sign them and that was cool because its a cultural thing for them to get people to sign something so they know who they got them from....Then on Thrusday we continued to play basketball and they did another skit that night and then we invited them to a grill to say goodbye on the next night that we were having at Pan Ricks...so the basketball was a real success....

On Firday we had a grill at Pan Ricks had an awesome time.... the families from the kids from the daycamp came as well as people from the coffeehouse and some of the guys from the basketball came too which was really cool....i think there was close to 100 people there which was really cool....And they presented the gospel to them as well as the group doing another skit....by the way the kielbasa was really good too...umm but it was a very good ending to a great week....and peter zyanburg(sp?) which is the head of the Jewish community in Warsaw was there as well and he gave thanks to the group for the work in the cemetery that was done and so that was really cool to see them there too....but in all the group was really good and got much accomplished but also very tiring but thats ok

I'm sorry this is sooo long but just to give you an update of whats been going on these last couple of days since the group left....the saturday that the group left...i went to sleep and slept alot then that evening me and steven's family went to pizza hut and then to a movie and we went and saw Pirate's of the Caribbean 2...which was really funny and a good movie...but it was a good break...the next couple of days we got to rest except for sunday which we went to church....then nothing on Monday and Tuesday...then on Wednesday me, steven, and bruce went to clean out the vans then along with Monika we went to a pizza place in Celestynow to see if we could rent it for the coffee house for the next group and she said yes and said we didnt have to pay for it that we should just buy some pizza and some drinks....so that was really awesome and definitly from the Lord....then there was another meeting in Otwock that was the leadership meeting of the Church which was all in Polish so i dont know what they talked about...anyways then yesterday Me and Ashton went to Old Town to do all our souvenir shopping and then went to the Warsaw Uprising Museum which was really cool...so that should catch you up til now....Im going to Budapest for a week and we are leaving tomorrow evening and its a 13 hour train ride so that will be interesting then coming back on the 7th of August which the next group will be here and so i will go straight to Otwock where they are and then after they leave on the 13th....i leave to come back home on the 15th...so thats the rest of the time in a nutshell....ill try to give an update in between there somewhere....

Anyways sorry it was so long if you got this far and i hope that everyone is doing awesome...thanks for all the prayers that are coming....oh and please pray for my knee because i might have tendonidus in it or something because it has been hurting since last wednesday night....i have been wearing a brace but it still doesnt feel right when i have it off....but thanks for everyone and hope to talk to yall soon!!  

NEW UPADTE!

hey everyone i hope that your summers are all going good and that the Lord is teaching you all some mighty things....well the second group from Hampton GA has come and gone....they came in on July 1st and we took them to the Jewish Retreat Center where they would be staying like all the other groups that have and will be coming this summer.... The plan at the beginning of the week was for them to build a wall/enterance way into the cemetery that monika has designed called the "wall of light" and they were also going to clear out an appoarch way from the road that would lead toward the enterance....BUT God had other plans for this group because we werent able to do all that because of some official permission stuff with the city that owns the land that is around the cemetery....so the group continued to do what the first group did in clearing out the sticks and over grown stuff and then started picking up fallen headstones as well as peicing the broken ones back together....One other thing was planned for this group to do which we did get done or i guess we got done is that we got a land surveryor to come out and he found the four corner property stones so we have a boundary for the cemetery so that was really good....But back to the cemetery work that the group did...we started where the first group left and kept pushing towards the end of the front side... and we ended up getting all of that cleared which was a lot...and then we started picking up and putting headstones back together....the first group had set the bar high at 34 headstones...but i think that they made a little compatetion out of it and this group the ga guys ( and maters....inside joke) picked up and put back together about 51 headstones....i was soo amazed at what God had accomplished through them and at the end of the group's work at the cemetery He captured  many hearts for the Jewish people because everyone hated to leave and stop working....So within pretty much 2 weeks time both groups combined for almost 100 headstones as well as clearing and restoring the whole front eastern side with a depth of about 300 feet into the cemetery.... It is really awesome to see what God has done through these 2 groups....But there's still a LOT of work to be done....One thing I want to share with yall is that this is very evidently touching the lives and hearts of the jewish people....there was a group of jewish young people taking a Yedish course which is a form of Hebrew....but anyways they ended up coming out to the cemetery to "pratice" and read some of the headstones....and so they all came out there and me and steven were working on a stump and about 3 of them came and started polish to Steven so i didnt know what was going on but anyways they came up to him and said "We have NO words to describe what this means to us" and later on that week Mehow was able to share Jesus Christ with 2 of them and plant seeds that maybe someone someday can reep them....and it was really awesome to see how the Lord is working through us just doing a simple thing like cleaning up a cemetery....well maybe not easy....

Anyways the second part of the mission, well for the younger people, was to do a coffee house.... and God also did a good work through that as well....the first night we had about 13 young polish people show up so that was really cool seeing is how we only had about 5 during ours in march....the second night though all 13 of those came back and we also had more than that because i lost count but i think we had around 26 young people...and it was really awesome to see that people were starting to open up to us and were curious to see what we were about...so we had that all through the week as well at night of course....so it was a long week for me and i was very tired because breakfast was at 8am which meant getting up at 7am and then i wouldnt stop until we got back from the coffee house which was usually around 11 which i wasnt able to get in bed until 12am or 12:30am....but i think the Lord for giving me the energy....

After the week was over we took them and went to Krakow and then to Auschwitz again which was really cool becuase i didnt get to see all of it when i went the first time....and to tell you the truth i still havent seen all of it yet just because it is soo soo big....so we got back and then we took them to the airport around 5am which we had to leave at 4am so i didnt get any sleep that night....and after that i went back to my apartment and slept ALL DAY long....Thank God for sleep....which speaking of i am with the next group now and so i should prolly go to bed so that i can get some rest because there is 32 of them and most of them are all in highschool and are around 16 or 17 in age... and a group like that can wear you out....but anyways i will give everyone an update when i get done with this group....Hope you all are good....and miss you guys 

Update Before Second Group

hey everyone... i just wanted to give yall an update before i left for about 12 or so days with the next group that is coming in....this week was the second week that us 5 summer missionaires were alone in Warsaw....Steven and Susan will be back tomorrow morning and as well as other group from GA as well as another girl that we be with us for two weeks and also Bruce and Jane, some of you may know them, though i havent meet them yet....but anyways thats tomorrow....this past week has been pretty good....we have had English clubs from Monday to Thursday...as well as just haning out with the polish students....the ones that arent tied up in exams anyways....but it has been good... this past Monday we only had one guy named Patrick come but that was ok and we had a good time with him and getting to know him more....Tuesday was better as we had 3 people...Patrick, Gosha, and Magda....and we also had a good time with him just talking about futures and school and whatever else that came up....after that some of us went to a Desco Tech with them and so that was interesting....and then the rest of us stayed and watched a soccer game from the World Cup....i cant remember who it was but I have watched all most ALL the games and it has been soo fun....Wednesday was kind of a let down because at first we didnt have anybody to show up....so we started watching a movie and then a guy name Merick came and brought a friend of his but they only stayed for maybe 15 to 20 minutes...so we just finished our movie and called it a night....but then Thursday we had a really good turn out....We had Patrick, Gosha, Ania, Joanne, and another older guy though i cant remember his name at the moment but anyways we had a good time and had some good conversations....so i think it went really well....Also on Wednesday we went to the Warsaw ZOO!!...Woohoo...so that was cool and fun....Today we went praywalking at one of the many campsus that are here in Warsaw and then later tonight had a time of Worship and Reflection on the week....Tomorrow theres is a girl coming in at 11 so i gotta go with Steven and pick her up and then Bruce and Jane come at 2 i think so we have to go back and get them and then the group comes at 5 something so we have to go back again to get them and then we are going to be taking and staying with them in Otwock....They are a group from Ga...hampton actually which is really close to Griffin...but anyways they are going to be building the wall that we are putting up at the Jewish Cemetary as well as cleaning up and picking up headstones and all that....which is what the first group did...so thats what i have been doing in a nutshell and we basically be doing for the next 12 days or so....

So just be in pray that God will use this group in the way that He wants them to used and that they will be a reflection of God and his beauty....Thank YOU ALL for the prayers that are being sent my way....I really appericiate them....I love you all and hope that your summer are going as well as mine is....Hope that everything is going well....You are all in my prayers and I hope that God is teaching you all SO really much!!

So just to give everyone that reads this an update since the last group left....the other 2 girls that are coming this summer for 2 weeks to help us have come...they actually got here on the 15th of this month....Steven Reece and the other missionaires that live here are gone to northern Poland where they are attending a conference that they attend every year...they will be there for two weeks...well one more since they left last monday....So the 5 of us summer missionairy interns have been here by ourselves in Warsaw with no translator which kind of an adventure i guess you could say but its not too bad....But last week and this week the 5 of us are holding English coffee houses as well as just hanging out with the Polish students to build relationships and let them practice their English and then maybe getting into some Spritual conversion if God allows it to go into that...So thats basically what we are doing....God has been soo good!!....Saturday the other 4 summer people went to Krakow but i stayed behind just to spend some completely alone with God...I just felt that i needed it and i had just got back from Krakow so i guess you could say it was a divine appointment with God....It was defenetly a refreshing time for me ...He has taught me and refreshed me soo much (did i say that already?!?) from yesterday and today through a book that i am reading as well as through his word.

I wanna share something that reading "Wild at Heart" and i am learning soo much....Theres a quote from the book that i read through today....its talking about being in battle against the "unholy trinity" of the world, the flesh, and the devil and how they seek to destroy your communication so that they can take you easily....it says "Time with God each day is not about academic study or getting through a certain amount of Scripture or any of that. It's about connecting with God."....its basically saying make sure that you keep those lines of communication open because thats one of the biggest weapons that we can use against the unholy trinity and our enemy...which is having God on our side....So i encourage to make sure that you are connecting with God each and every day because if you dont then you will be defeated like i have been many many times before...i guess i've learned the hard way....

Anyways...i hope that everyone is doing well in where they are this summer...and i hope that God is teaching you just as much as He is teaching me....Let me know how you are....and remember that God is with you ALWAYS!

GOD IS SO AWESOME AND AMAZING!!