Day 2 ~ School Outreaches

We split up into three groups to do different outreaches. One group went to pull weeds and paint a fence at the local cemetary. Another group went to the park to begin to build relationships with local kids by playing soccer with them.

A third group of only eight (as many as they could pack in two cars!) left bright and early to speak at a junior high schol about an hour away from Visla. That outreach was hugely successful, and they all came back with the familiar glow of having spent time at the center of God's will. We are praying for more opportunities to speak in schools and for more of our class to get to share in this experience.

The group split up and spoke in different classes at the shool. Matt talked about purity. Jerimiah and Ryan talked about choices. Shortly into their talk, the two of them noticed that adorning the back wall of the classroom, written in polish were the words: "Jesus, Faith, Hope, & Love". After seeing this, they felt compelled by the Holy Spirit to abandon their outlines and use this as their outline.

Because Poland is a Catholic country, it is not a conflict to speak directly about Jesus like it would be in America, so they were able to share directly about how Jesus had transformed their own lives. The kids were so entralled with the presentation that they asked their teachers to let them stay for an extra period. The schools here are a lot more flexible in their schedule than many American schools are, and with a quick okay from the teacher for the next period, they were given permission to stay. This allowed time for a full presentation of the gospel to the kids, and to really hit home about how they have a choice to have an attitude of "I can't" or an attitude of "I can" and how in the bible it says that throgh faith we can have hope because hope doesn't fear.

After their presentation several of the kids came up individually to the speakers with lots of tough questions they were struggling with like if God loves us so much why is there so much desparity between the rich and the poor? One kid in particular, Jacob, had a lot of questions as he previously had believed in God but was now facing doubts about his faith and they had the opportunity to encourage him. They ended their presentation with the powerful question--you have a choice to receive Jesus, what are you going to do with that choice?

Only two days later Monica is already getting emails from a couple of the kids she spoke with at the school. The kids had asked whether they could meet with us Americans more and talk "lots and lots and lots". These kids really want to get to know us. God's been showing us that in Poland, the kids are why we are here; their hearts are wide open, and they are looking for something--they have a choice of where to fill that void in their heart, whether to fill it with Jesus or with drugs and alcohol.