Highlights from this week

What was your highlight of the day/week?

Today I met Victor Ashe the US ambassador to Poland. What delightful person! He came to Krakow and on his agenda was to visit the grand opening of "More than a Cookie"'s second cafe.

Ambassador Ashe cutting the ribbon, Quenten, Cindy & Paul Marty

This is the work of an American family who worked as missionaries to Ukraine for years & when their time was up decided to make their home in Krakow and start a business that the whole family can participate in. Today Paul & Cindy Marty, together with their son, daughter, their spouses & a number of children greeted the public & the US ambassador while treating everyone to free samples of American baked goodies. Please pray for this family as they share the love of Jesus through their baking, care, & service.

Cindy & Paul @ the main More Than a Cookie shop

I met with Cindy earlier this week to share stories. As we talked we found many places I lives connected. One of those was the cafe. Some of you may remember that number of years ago I had the vision of starting a cafe here where the church could reach out to the community, serve good coffee & American style baked goods. "More than a Cookie" is just what I had envisioned. So we are talking about how we can support one another & looking into the possibility of a More than a Cookie cafe in Nowy Targ. It is the early stages but very cool.

It seems to fit with the Lord challenging me to believe for MORE!!!!!

Krzysiek @ The More Than a Cookie in the Krakow city center.

Another Highlight this week...was driving on a new stretch of highway that has just opened between here & Krakow. I can't wait til they finish the road repair than the new section of highway will really have an impact on my "commute" to Krakow.

This is a section of Zakopianka that I'm waiting to be worked on.

A third Highlight was meeting with my Friend Pastor Wojtek in Krakow. I always come away inspired & encouraged. We talked about our plans & schedule for the next 9 months or so. Pray for me that I will keep motivated to do the "paperwork" stuff of these plans. The nearest events is an outreach in NowyMe with Pastor Wojtek & Bob (Sue not pictured) Taber are missionaries in Poland

Huta (subburb of Krakow) August 10-12 that Wojtek is doing. Then there is an outreach in Brzesko (where I did the parenting classes) August 13-14. I will try to get some of the people from Nowy Targ to come be a support. It is a great opportunity for us to work together for the Kingdom & to support & encourage one another. Please pray that the Presence of the Lord would be felt & that many would come into a personal relationship with Jesus.

Wojtek also invited me to a meeting with some other local pastors the end of August. This is a group of leaders who can help to get the fellowship in Nowy Targ registered. This is a big deal & can make a big difference on what & how we do things. Please pray for favor & the Lord's divine direction.



I also dreamed of the "new car" the Lord would find for me. I thought one of these might be nice...or at least a lot of fun to drive.

As some of you know I was hoping to get enough money from the re-fi of my condo to purchase a replacement for my current car. It has 245,000 kilometers on it & is starting to need more & more maintainence. Unfortunately, the re-fi only provided $6500 of the needed $10,000 & the dollar has lost ground against the Polish Zolty. What I'm looking for is a 2005-7, 5 door Opel, Ford, VW, KIA, power locks, security system, power mirrors. I would prefer a diesel as it is about $1.00 least a gallon (so I would pay a sale price of $4.00/gal). For my own "sinful" wants I would like to have a good CD/mp3 player, 4-6 speakers (I love my time in the car with Jesus), a fun color (everything seems to be red or silver...I've had both) & AC.



I'm looking forward to see what creative ways God is going to do this! Please pray with me that it would be seen as God's provision & miraculous finance.

Finishing Well....

Over the past few years there has been a number of conferences, sermons, & teaching on finishing well. Yet I find myself particularly struck by the fact that one who really finishes well is the one who hears "well done good & faithful servant" when they enter into God's kingdom.

I myself am (Lord, willing) far from that day. This weekend I was reminded how quickly our end can come. I had the opportunity to attend the funeral of a dear brother who I have known for more than 20 years.

I was reminded of the high price Stasiek paid to follow Jesus in this town when it was Communist time & there was no protestant work of any kind in Nowy Targ. The closest fellowship was more than 2 hours away in Krakow (the roads were not as good & the cars...let's not even talk about that). Keep in mind that during Communist time all fuel was rationed, so if you had a car & you had money to buy fuel you might not have the coupons to actually get the fuel.

Stasiek, together with his wife stepped out in faith to give their lives to Jesus, be baptised & they started holding Bible Studies in their home. This may not sound like much to you but here they could have lost their jobs that were communist backed, they were shunned by their Catholic neighbors, friends, & family. But they persisted. They became one of the foundational families that the current Pentecostal Church in Nowy Targ is built on.

I met them soon after the church was started. They became the family that so generously & graciously hosted me every summer & winter when I was commuting to Poland. We shared our lives together with Jesus. I was privileged to watch their 2 boys grow into fine young men, who are incredibly gifted musicians.

When I think of Stasiek I think of Paul's letter to Timothy when he talks about the character qualities of an Elder in the church.

Stasiek was a man who's life was beyond reproach in a time & place when the common practice was to find ways to steal from the government & to look after your own interests first.

He was faithful to his wife & his boys. Yeah, he made mistakes along the way but he earnestly sought to find God's way in being the best husband to his wife & father to his boys. These ideals were not even on the radar of most people at that time.

One of the qualities I appreciate most about Stasiek is that he could exercise self-control...I know this because there were times when I was OUT OF CONTROL & he was there to calm me down & turn me to Jesus. He was a man of peace & I believe that he was a man of good reputation...which in this town is not always easy when you are not Catholic.

As I mentioned before, his home was a place of great hospitality. For those of you who don't know about communist time or even remember that it existed in Poland, hospitality to Westerners (particularly Americans) could draw unfavorable attention with the government officials, especially if the nationals were actively involved in Christian activities. So the hospitality that he & his family showed to me was a risk.

Finishing well...Stasiek was diagnosed with cancer 2 months ago. After a relative brief stay in the hospital he went home & back to work. Though he was in pain, he continually praise His God. Two weeks ago his youngest son was married. As his eldest son shared with me on Saturday, Stasiek was faithful to his God to the very end.

Well Done Stasiek, faithful servant of the Living God!

I am truly blessed to have known this man of God & his family.

Please pray with me for the people who have been left behind & the huge hole that is in their hearts. For his family: wife, 2 sons & new daughter-in-law. For the Pentecostal Church & all the lives he impacted there as a member & elder in the church.

It does leave me asking myself what would people say of me when I am laid to rest?

Am I a person who is willing to risk it all for Christ?

What price am I willing to pay today to stand up for Jesus?

Coming Home

Last week at this time my plane had just taken off from SeaTac headed for Frankfurt Germany & Krakow Poland. It would have been good if I had actually slept on the plane but.... I landed on time in Frankfurt to be greeted by my dear friend Petra. We went to the center of town to be joined by another dear friend for an early lunch & lots of catching up. Then off to the airport & on to Krakow where 2 of the "men" in my life picked me up to take me home.

The week has been sprinkled with phone calls & greetings from friends & neighbors who have missed me. Saturday there was a prayer meeting I was able to join & later that day there was a welcome home party. Now if I can just get on the right sleep schedule all will be well with the world.

It's funny .... it used to be that I would sense the spiritual heaviness when I would come & go from Poland. It was even difficult to breath but this time after being gone for such a long time (the longest I've been away from Poland in 23 years) I actually could breath easier once I got here.