I Need an Irish Translator

A teammate and I spent the last week at camp with children from orphanages and low income (very low income) homes. The camp was hosted by a team from Northern Ireland who did an absolutely amazing job. The children at this camp were as young as 6 and as old as 15. They were unlike any children I've ever met. Perhaps the best description of this experience can be summed up in what a Polish man working at the camp said. "I'm somewhere between becoming annoyed and wanting to kick the next child that walks by." Chaos reigned during the week.

The team from Northern Ireland was a privilege to work with. They faithfully gave testimonies, sang, and told Bible stories. They challenged the children to think about their need for Christ and begged them to consider His gift of salvation. All this was done amidst, screaming, kicking, hitting, biting, and general unruliness. In spite of all this there were a number of salvations.

One boy was particularly horrible. The last morning at camp he seemed calmer than he'd been during the week, and I put this down to sheer exhaustion. During the closing service the children were asked to give a testimony if they had accepted Christ during the week. Konrad went to the front, which he did whenever anyone was speaking. Instead of causing disruption I was surprised to see him wait patiently while another child finished speaking. To my complete shock Konrad shared that after watching The Chronicles of Narnia the night before, he went back to his cabin and thought about this week and asked Jesus to be his Savior. I'm still shocked by the change in this child - he's about 11 years old. After the service I found Konrad walking toward the bus with his things. I wanted to take his picture, but he had been crying. He said he didn't want to go home, but did let me take his picture. (He's the boy on the left.) Konrad didn't want to go home not because he'd had so much fun at camp. He didn't want to go home because he lives in conditions that we can't even imagine, and I'd rather not describe. Konrad is a different child, but he will face things at home that no child ever should. Please remember to pray for Konrad, that he will grow in his faith and be strengthened in the knowledge of a God who loves him.

Just a note, I know that Irish is not actually a language, but I couldn't understand what most of this team from Northern Ireland said. As they shared their testimonies I found myself waiting for the Polish translator so that I could understand what they'd said! I laughed at myself when I commented to my teammate that I need someone to translate the Irish for me...Pray for this group as they have another week in Poland. They are being used in an amazing way!

Tesco = Wal-Mart (Not)

In our city there are 3 stores that seem to resemble Wal-Mart, where as everyone knows you can do one stop shopping. Rather than being called supercenters, they are called hypermarkets. These hypermarkets look remarkabley similar to Wal-Mart. Both Wal-Mart and these hypermarkets sell food, clothing, home decor, and seasonal items. Right now, just like all Wal-Marts, these hypermarkets are stocked with back to school supplies.

This morning I went to Tesco because it usually supplies all the requirements for taco night. It is the only store in town where we can buy tortilla chips, and it almost always has ground beef and cheddar cheese. Unfortunately Tesco has been out of the tortilla chips for the last 2 weeks, and today they were still out. Worse the place where the chips are normally displayed is hosting a different product! Our tortilla chip eating days may have come to an end.

In the US we definitely have an abundance of products all made by multiple manufacturers, while there are limited choices in Poland. There are however a few things that always make me smile when I go to a hypermarket. First is that you can always find avocados...in Poland, really?
Second there are more tea choices than you can begin to imagine. An entire row of every hypermarket is devoted to tea and none of it is iced! The tub of live fish -the kind you eat, not the kind you feed- is always good for a smile. Seeing people leave the store with the fish of their choice in a plastic bag is even funnier. Funnier still is seeing all the fish that have been purchased for Christmas dinner being taken to the dinner table via the city bus. I also get a kick out of the chocolate aisle, especially at Christmas time. The chocolate aisle sells chocoalte bars-Snickers, M&M's, and other candy have their own aisle. You can buy white, milk, semi-sweet, or bitter chocolate bars and any of these can be bought in combination with various flavors like mint, toffi, raspberry, or strawberry. During Christmas time the chocolate aisle is constantly being stocked and restocked. They move a lot of chocolate.

So, today I left Tesco without tortilla chips or ground beef (which they were also out of). I couldn't help but think that Wal-Mart would have had both products. What's the point of this? Really that I am perfectly happy without them. I'd rather be here than anywhere else in the world.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support of Lottie Moon that enable to us to live and minister among the people of Poland.