Please forgive me in my delay of getting the information out on our glorious trip to Poland! Glorious is a good word to describe our time with our sweet sisters in Christ in Poland!
We started the fullness of this journey in the airport in Chicago where the entire team came together for the first time. Three of our team members had never met the rest of the team in person. It was the beginning of watching the incredibleness of God! The one prayer that we prayed over and over is that God would do incredible things on the trip.
The team was just as all the teams are that travel together with Pure Joy-- His perfect team for the place we were going to minister.
We arrived in Krakow in the afternoon and got checked into our hotel. We then went out to dinner in a little hole in the wall establishment known for its authentic polish food. It was great! It is amazing the things they can do with sausage, cabbage and potatoes.
Then back to the hotel for rest. Got up the next morning and headed out for a day of sightseeing. Lots of thanks to Jerry and Saber who were our drivers and guides. We visited Auschwitz concentration camp where Hitler took many lives, not just Jews. We then visited the ‘Old Town Square’ of Krakow (thanks Susie for getting us around) which was very quaint and beautiful. Then we returned to the hotel, had some great pizza and began putting things together for the retreat.
Thursday we continued preparations for the retreat until around 3:00 p.m. when the ladies began arriving. We did have one group come in very early because they had ridden a train all night to get there. Of course they went sightseeing for a few hours, as many of the women had never been to Krakow. By dinner time we had all but two of our women signed in and ready to go. The other two were there by morning.
I cannot even begin to tell you what an incredibly sweet time we had in the LORD. The worship was wonderful, the messages right on, the hospitality just right, the fellowship great, and the free time a blessing! These women had great hearts for their people groups and while no different than the rest of us dealing with marriage, family, children, finances, work, etc., their love for Christ and desire to serve Him in spite of their circumstances was obvious.
We visited a house church on Sunday with some of the women and it was so sweet to watch them minister to the locals. They have three services a day. One in Polish, one in English, and one in either English with a Polish interpreter or was that Polish with an English interpreter? Anyway, you get the picture.
All and all it was ‘incredible’!
Now, we move on to our next place of ministry. Please pray as we prepare to go to another undisclosed location to minister to our ladies overseas. We will be going in September. The team is already coming together and our theme is “Where is Your Treasure?” Our theme verse is, “For where your treasure is, there your Heart will be also.” Matt. 6:21
Please begin to pray for the team, the ladies in the undisclosed location, for provision for the trip. So far we have 18 ladies already signed up. Pray and ask God to show you how He would have you be a part of this trip, if at all, in the area of prayer and giving. There are some other ways to be involved if you or your church are interested contact me at vickie@purejoyinternational.org
Again, thank you all that journeyed with us to Poland through prayers, giving, and going!!! May God Bless you many times in return.
His,
vickie
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