August 2009

“Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth!“

Psalm 47:1-2

Dear Family and Friends,

We have been having a great summer here in Poland and have enjoyed the ‘many’ groups and visitors that have blessed us in an abundance of ways. There is no way for us to be able to acknowledge everyone who has ministered with us these past months, as there were so many, but we would like to share with you some of the help received from a few visiting groups, as well as a couple of our summer ministry highlights!

MISSION HELPERS

Actually, groups started coming to share in the work here in May.

We had a group come from Holland who has been coming each year now for several years to serve wherever they are needed. This year they not only were a blessing in serving here at the Mission, but they also gave a special ‘playground swing’ used for handicapped children to the Children’s Home. What a huge blessing this swing has been to these special children! The Children’s Home itself is government run, however due to limited financial help the Mission is able to assist them (often through the help of groups such as these), in a variety of practical ways.

A wonderful team of dedicated women from the Faith Baptist church came again this year in May. They are from the American military community based in Germany. Among their group was a Medical Mission team. We used the Evangelism Bus to go into several different villages in our area to pray for and help with the medical needs of over 500 people over a two day period. It was a fantastic time which God used to touch many people, to be able to make a difference, one person at a time!

Another great gift from the “Faith” ladies was the renovation of one of the main corridors in the Mission’s Palace. It is a well used corridor that was lying untouched since we moved into the Palace 16 years ago, and now has been amazingly renovated to look as it may have, hundreds of years ago!!

Again, there were other groups who came as well to minister with us and to share the love of Christ with people in our area! Through various groups, God has provided beautiful flowers for the property, the restoration of the mission fence, much clothing for the Free-clothing Room, cleaning, gardening, painting and many other gracious helps.

Please know that we are thankful for each and every person who gave of themselves with such love and servant filled hearts! May the Lord continue to use the many ‘spiritual seeds’ that have been planted to further His kingdom and draw others to Himself!

CAMPS

Throughout the year God has filled the Elim grounds with many camps, groups and families. Each group comes with their spiritual aims, and from a variety of locations or countries. We have had the privilege of seeing and hearing of what God has done on many of these camps, and we thank Him for using Elim to bless, save, restore and encourage so many people.

One of the most recent camps was a group of French teenagers from a Children’s Home in France. It was run by a Christian group from France, and several leaders from their Children’s Home came along also. It was so wonderful to see how God changed and blessed so many lives on this camp. These camps are not only a blessing for the campers, but for us as well who live and serve at Elim. What a tremendous privilege to see God at work in so many lives in such amazing ways!

LOCAL MINISTRIES

Throughout the year God has continued to fill the Clothing Room with beautiful used clothing which has been a great blessing to the many needy people in the community. He has also provided food for the Mission kitchen, which continues to have an open door to those in need, as well as for the group of school children who continue to come on a regular basis. Food packages, furniture and many other helps for the needy have been met by our loving Father in heaven, who has used many gracious people bringing donated items to the Mission. Thank you to all who have been a part of supporting such ministry by your gracious giving.

TOWN FESTIVAL

Thousands of people come yearly to our town from our area as well as other parts of Poland for a large summer festival. For several years now we have been able to participate using the Evangelism Bus. For three days we are able to meet many people who come to the Bus. We have free drinks available, with tables set up for people to sit and chat, offering Christian movies for children and free face painting. Both Mission and church people are available to those who like some fellowship or who are in need of some type of counsel. It has been great to see the church people be involved with reaching out! We were also given a two hour slot on a Festival stage where we were able to present the Christian message in a variety of ways – through pantomimes, song and word. It is really quite amazing how God has given opportunity to share publically from the stage about the up-coming VBS, as well as youth ministries etc. Wow – He is good!

EVANGELISM BUS

The Mission’s double-decker Evangelism Bus is now 40 years old, and has celebrated this year its 20th year in ministry service! What a faithful God we have, who has fulfilled the vision that He gave over 20 years ago for the mission of the Evangelism Bus! It has been used regularly as a tool for ministry throughout those many years, and this year it has been used again in three major Mission outreaches. Thank you God for your faithfulness, and for letting us see the fulfillment of your Word.

RELIEF HELP

God has continued to use Elim as a place of shelter for a variety of people with different needs, staying anywhere from a week or two, to many months. Some are here for spiritual strengthening, some for restoration, some for protection, some for other special needs. Soon the Mission will be welcoming a family for a long term stay. Marzena, (a Christian) and her children were abandoned by family, and so she will be moving into the Mission with her son this week. She will be helping out at the Mission, and we see her stay as possibly being long term. Please pray for her as she relocates and begins her life anew.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL

Thanks for your prayers for the VBS this year. We felt that it was significantly different this year than other years. Although the VBS had downsized by moving the venue to our Church’s property in the town, we felt that it was more effective in many ways.

Seeing that the 500-seater tent was no longer available, we moved the VBS from the Elim Mission to the Bethel church property. The Bethel Church is in the center of the town, whereas the Elim Mission property is about 2 km out of the town. This made the VBS more available for the local children, youth and parents to come easily. We also did not offer transport to the surrounding villages which meant that it was mainly for the local town’s people.

The VBS was filled to capacity (with a daily average of about 250 children/youth and more than 40 parents). We felt that the atmosphere of a smaller VBS – and the one-on-one contact with the children was better. A special discussion group was also formed for the parents throughout the 5 days, and we felt that holding the VBS on the Church’s property broke through barriers for the local people regarding coming onto the Church’s grounds.

Even though many parents have not previously allowed their children to come to the church throughout the year, it did encourage us to hear personally from the children/youth how their faith in Jesus had remained since the previous VBS times.

Please pray for the upcoming months now, as we begin a follow-up with a new Children’s Club on the Church property, and various Youth ministries, and that the parents will feel encouraged to allow their children continue to come.

CHURCH

It has been wonderful to see several of the Church’s young adults going off to Bible School this last year or two. Two have just graduated from a Polish Bible College, one is finishing her 2nd year at ‘Christ for the Nations’ in the USA, and another has just been accepted for a 2 year Bible School in Poland. We will also be welcoming a 20 yr old Polish member of our church into mission service at Elim for the coming year, (Madzia is a local convert from the English school ministry from several years ago).

Over the last months we have seen a number of people coming to Christ in the church. They are young and old, and from a variety of backgrounds. Please pray for their spiritual growth and life in Christ.

SHORT TERM HELPERS

We were blessed to have had a number of short term Mission helpers this year, coming with a variety of gifts ranging from computer skills, to building skills, willing to do any and every task that needed to be done. This is a great blessing and help for us!

STAFF

Briefly – Robert and Aneta’s twins are both healthy and doing well, Marian Kulanica has had a major back operation and still needs prayer as he recovers; Judy will fly to the States for a short visit soon: Tomek and Gosia are expecting another baby early next year. Thank you for your kind prayers and support of those who serve here at Elim – we are very grateful to God and to you!

We are also thankful to many of you who, though you are not able to physically come here, but have given of yourselves to the Work through your prayers, your encouragement and through financial support. The Lord continues to bless the work He is doing here in Poland and it is a pleasure to be a part of what He is doing through people such as you. Please know how thankful we are for each and every one of you!

Blessings and peace to each of you!

The Staff of Elim Christian Mission
Lwowek Slaski, Poland

May God be your strength and hope, no matter where you are in your life’s journey!