I was in Swiebodzin, Poland with the first group. They were a "hometown" team from Charlotte, NC. The church in Swiebodzin has taken an old building and renovated it, really doing an excellent job. We have come alongside to help them finish the project. This is the second team that we have had in Swiebodzin, the first was a little over a year ago. Our tasks this time were to build a fence around the property, put down laminate wood flooring in the upstairs rooms, and paint the upstairs. We ended up having to tear down some old concrete posts and break up the concrete. then we had to dig a footing around the whole building. Lots of hard work, but good exercise. We then poured concrete and set new posts. It was definitely a labor intensive job, but I think for the most part we enjoyed it. The wood flooring and painting upstairs was all finished and looks really good. It was great being back in Swiebodzin again. The church people are wonderful and have become good friends. I think all of the Polish and Americans really had a good time working and getting to know one another. It is amazing to see again and again how relationships can be built between people with different languages and cultures in such a short period of time. That's just one of the great dynamics of short-term missions. To really see the Holy Spirit work across physical barriers to knit people together. One guy on the team, Eduardo, was originally from Argentina. He really hit it off with one of the Polish guys who was working with us. It was really cool seeing them try to communicate with a little English, Polish, Spanish, and Ukrainian. But it worked. It is awesome to think that God knew when Eduardo was still in Argentina that he would be ministering and working in Poland one day with a group of Americans. God has a plan and purpose for all of our lives. Isn't that great to know. Thanks to United Faith for sending such a great team!
My next team was a team from Jacksonville, FL that came also came in 2005. It was great to see a lot of familiar faces at the airport! Both times they worked on the Teen Challenge in Postovice, Czech. Last year we spent the whole time digging about three feet of dirt out of the inside of a building. It had been backfilled during the communist times, so we needed to get it back to the original floor level. It was difficult work, but we got it all finished. This year, the team from Crestview, Fl started filling it in with stone to prepare for concrete (after the plumbing, etc. had all been run). So, after digging it out last year, the Jacksonville team got to finish putting in the stone and pour concrete. They got to finish the job they started one year ago! It really looks good now with a lot of the concrete done. Now, only a small amount of work will enable these rooms to be used. It was great to see Pastor Baggett and all of the people from Oceanway once again. They have been a huge blessing to Czech TC and to our family. Thanks!
My last team was from Wichita, KS. We worked on the seminary in Warsaw, Poland. Our main task was hanging and finishing sheetrock. Every team that went to the seminary this year worked on sheetrock. There is a LOT of sheetrock there. But after this group it finally seems to be getting closer to the end. We did some finishing on previously hung sheetrock, but the biggest thing that this team did was hang all of the sheetrock in the sanctuary. That was no small task. It was a lot of sheetrock but it was much more diffficult because the sanctuary is two stories high. Even though it was much slower because of working off of scaffolding and dealing with the height, they finished it all. It looks great. Thanks to all of the guys from Colonial Heights for all of their hard work. It was a pleasure to get to know them and work with them.
Now, for a couple side notes. We had a special Thanksgiving this year. Our friends from Czech TC, Petr and Michaela Csutortoky, wanted to see what an Amercian Thanksgiving was all about. So, we invited them to come and stay with us for Thanksgiving. They stayed with us for two days and we had a great time. We had turkey and all the other great "Thanksgiving" food. We also had the Kuechler's, our fellow missionaries here in Dresden, over as well. It was a lot of fun to fellowship together and celebrate an "international" Thanksgiving.
During our Thanksgiving weekend, I got a call from Nathan's luge coach and he asked me if I wanted to try doing the bobsled. You know, like the Olympics. He said we had a chance to do it for free. I thought it would be really cool and the price was right, so I said sure. We went to Altenberg to the bobsled/luge track. We did the four-man bobsled. We had a driver and a brakeman and two of us "rookies". I brought along Petr, from Czech TC, who was still with us. It was awesome! You can't imagine how fast you go and the pressure in the curves. What an experience.
Sorry for all of you non-sports fans, but I have to mention this. What a season for my Wake Forest Deacons! Picked to finish last in the pre-season. Then losing their starting quarterback and running back to injury for the season. Disaster, right? They end up going 11-2, ACC championship, and in the Orange Bowl! What? Yes, a truly fairy-tale season. It was great to be able to follow the season in Germany over the internet. I was even able to watch some of the games. Go Deacs!
I want to give out a special thanks to all of the teams who came to Central Europe this year. Every team worked hard and did a great job. It is truly a privilege for me to get to work with wonderful people like all of you. I pray God's blessings on all of you. Thanks for coming and helping to make a difference in Central Europe. You're all welcome back anytime!
Thanks to all of you who have supported us with prayers and finances this year. Thank you for your faithfulness and generosity. We would not be here doing this work if it wasn't for all of you. You guys are the best! We are so thankful to have such awesome partners on our team!
Merry Chrismas!
Chris, Lenee', Nathan, Aaron, Matthew, and Madelyn
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