Day 3: things are underway

The time we spend together as a group each morning before we head out to work is a great encouragement, and it always gets the day off to a good start. Today, Rafał spoke to us about our uniqueness (Matthew 13: 44-52), having us think about our own stories - - what has influenced my perspective of God's Kingdom? What kind of people has God been putting in my way? How do I see them? Rafał spoke about how God has influenced who we are today. Sometimes we think that we are too damaged to be used by God and that our past is too bad and that we are not worthy. Or sometimes we feel like our past is boring and uneventful. The bottom line is that God wants to use each and everyone of us and using our uniqueness both past and present! We may not know how God is going to use us in every situation, but we need to trust that God is going to use us no matter what, we just have to be open and willing!

INDIAN VILLAGE started today! Over 70 kids (age 4-7) came! Most stayed until lunchtime, playing games, making crafts, and participating in fun competitions…all the while being taught about God.

WE MADE IT - onto the National News!!! A Polish national news station reported on Hope in Action here in Łódź! This is the first time we have gotten such coverage! Having a report like this on the national news is an excellent gift.

PROJECTS continued! Lots of hard work was put in again with painting, scraping, cleaning, weeding, etc. Each project is going well, and everyone was so encouraged…and encouraging!

SOME OF THE apartments we are renovating belong to people who are desperately poor, ill, and have disabilities. Their apartments are in extremely rundown and unsafe neighborhoods. Most apartments are filthy, with tons of water damage and mold. Each day our teams go to these apartments, clean them, scrape them, and paint them, taking this unique opportunity to do something exceptional for the people who live here.

While the volunteers work in the apartments, the residents are actually there as well. Each team has at least one Polish person who can also speak English, and the great thing about this is that each member of the team can communicate with owner of the apartment and encourage them, love them, pray for them, and get to know them. God is using every one of these volunteers to reach out to the people they are helping.

Łódź is the second largest city in Poland, but it is very poor. The city streets, apartments, buildings and parks are quite rundown, dirty, covered with graffiti. Unfortunately, most areas are unsafe after dark.

As people arrive back at the dormitory, all of them look tired from such a hard day of work, but you can see the joy and fulfillment on their faces because they know that they stepped out of their comfort zone and let God use them!

We had amazing worship this evening lead by the Ukrainian volunteers. They sang worship songs that we each knew and could sing in our own language. The beautiful and unique sound of multiple languages blending together in one voice filled the room, and God’s presence wrapped warmly around us all. He is always with us.