The Invasion of Nerds!

In July a young woman from the Seattle area was visiting and she brought with her a deck of cards. Who would have thought that such an inocent thing could start a new trend. She taught us a couple of games but the one that seemed to stick was Nerds. I remember playing in Junior High but it had been a long time since I had played it. It was sort of like riding a bike. But the amazing thing is that it has become away of creating an atmosphere of "family fun" in my household as well as I have been able to share it with families in Brzesko where I have been teaching parenting classes and this weekend I've been playing with my Polish friends in Ireland.

It truly is an invasion of the most unusual kind!

Thanks K for ministering the gift of fun!

Ireland

I want to thank all of you who have responded to my request for prayer it really DOES make a difference. Things seem to have calmed down a bit or at least it's not a landslide of "strange" events & praise God I haven't had any more insects in my shorts.

Thursday I leave for Ireland for 10 days on to visit and to see what God is doing there among the Polish immigrant population. I did a bit of research and found that Ireland has a population of less than 4,000,000. Believe it or not there are more than 60,000 Poles living and working in Ireland. From the studies and first hand reports the Poles are hard and faithful workers but they are very isolated from the mainstream Irish population.

I don't know what God is doing but I know that my Polish friends have been begging me to come visit and that there are a number of other lonely Polish people living in Ireland.

Pray that the Lord would open my eyes and ears to what he is doing there. May the Lord Open Doors that can't be shut.

Jesus transforms Me

Sometimes life travels at such a fast pace that it seems like it was just last year when I made my first visit to Poland or last month when I moved here. Yet when I look around I have to pinch myself to believe that this is really Poland, daily life has changed so much. I have done many things over the years from speaking at camps and churches to starting a church and hosting a large international youth camp. But the one thing that has remained the same is that I have been one who has loved and shared the life of Jesus in the truth and grace of God's word. And particularly with young adults.
Today was our 4th Bible Study on the Sermon on the Mount: Confronting the Culture in which we live. Every week has been different...not because I planned that way but because that is how God chose to meet the needs of those who came. I like order and some element of consistency but this has not resembled anything that I would have planned. It has been on different days, different times, usually starting late and ending when we end. But through it all there has been a distinct presence of the Holy Spirit. It isn't about me, or the format, or even the content...it is about Jesus and us sitting at His feet and listening to his voice.
Today was particularly special as we had 5 people (other than myself) 2 of whom I would say are individuals seeking to understand who God can be in their lives. And tonight they were able to really voice that desire. The others really shared what they wanted to see Jesus do in their lives not just things they wanted to have or be changed but how they wanted Jesus to live in and through them.
I'm always surprised how Jesus can use the same tools (me, Bible Study, etc) in new and different ways. I guess that is why in my heart I'm still "28" though I can tell "I remember when ..." stories like an eighty year old.