Poland: Responding to God's Call

Since getting involved with L.I.F.E. Ministry, I've been given the opportunity to go to Kraków, Poland, with them. While I'm very excited for this trip and have been looking forward to going and seeing what God will do during our time there, I also know and am very aware of the spiritual preparation that needs to take place, even now, just about a month before I fly out. When I was first given this opportunity, I had prayed and asked God if He wanted me to go and if so, to prepare the way. 

and the Lord answered.

Not only did He make a way financially and with my schedule, He also prepared my heart. When I heard a “yes” from Him, I asked Him to break my heart for what breaks His, especially since we'll be ministering to war-weary refugees, as well as those who live in Poland. Knowing that there will be numerous children as well already broke my heart. They need to know Yeshua! They need hope—and it needs to be the hope that the Messiah offers. When I responded to God's “yes” to me going on this trip, I felt in my spirit that I was open to whatever He had in store for me, including having a heart for these people and feeling compassion and love for them in the midst of their brokenness, in the midst of war, and I knew that at this point of my commitment, there would come attack. 

And it came. The devil doesn't want us to do the Lord's work; he doesn't want people to know the love and hope of the Gospel; he will do anything he can to stop or discourage us from living out the truth of God's Word. 

Thankfully, our leader is incredibly aware of this, and tasked us with reading the New Testament, as well as the book of Psalms before we fly out. And it's been a challenge, not only time-wise, but also retaining what I've been reading and seeing how God will use it to build me up in His Word, which is critical and crucial for preparations for this trip to Poland. 

While the enemy is working, God is stronger; His Word is powerful, alive, and active (Hebrews 4:12) and when I recognize and know that God is for me, I know I'll be able to overcome the battle and spiritual warfare that the enemy is waging—first, against God.

God's Word will not return void. What a beautiful promise we can hold on to! 

The second thing that God revealed to me when I accepted His call was 2 Corinthians 12:9—But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness” (TLV). In going to Poland, the primary language spoken is Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, and while I can understand Russian well, I feel that I've lost some of my knowledge in Russian, and just wasn't sure how it was going to go when I'm over there. And God gave me this verse, that even with the limited Russian I feel I have, He is the One who be glorified, in spite and despite my shortcomings. I've since learned that I do not have to worry about sharing the Gospel in another language (since English is now becoming more common, globally), however, I believe God wanted me to see my own willingness to rely on Him. How encouraging it is to know the Lord is on my side! 

Over the last two months, while I've been preparing for this trip, I'm amazed at how quickly the devil will distract, and how important it is to be in watchful prayer. Our leader has also given us Colossians 4:2–6 and the importance of prayer in thanksgiving. I'll admit, I've had trouble in this area over the last few weeks, simply because there's so much going on, and a lot to do. However, God has given me the tools to overcome, and I realize (again) that it's my responsibility to actually do what the Bible says. I am to be thankful. In this thankfulness, God reveals Himself to me in ways that I didn't expect: He gives me joy, expectant hope, and the strength to continue preparing for this trip. 

The spiritual state of Poland is also something that we need to prepare for as a great majority of them are not believers—they don't know the Lord! But people are hungry—we've already seen a great number of people register for our various activities and I know that the Lord is preparing something great for the duration of these two weeks. I pray that I'll be able to step into what He wills and whatever His plans and purposes are for this trip. 

With a little over a month left before I leave, I woke up this morning just “not feeling it” and I was praying and asking the Lord what was going on. He revealed to me that it's a spiritual battle. The war wages on, literally and spiritually. Will you join me in praying for God's deliverance for the people of Ukraine, both literally, that the war would come to an end, but more importantly, spiritually, that those we come into contact with would know and feel and see God's love through our ministry? That they would come to receive Him as their personal Lord and Savior? Pray also for us, that we would be able to stand strong and fight against the schemes of the enemy (Ephesians 6) as we prepare to travel and when we share the Good News.

Thank you all for your prayers in advance, and I'll try to keep you updated as this trip comes closer and how God is working in the midst. For more information on LIFE and what they're doing in Poland: https://lifeclt.org/crisis. 

Be blessed, my friends. 

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He told them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the Good News to every creature." —Mark 16:15 

A father of orphans, defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling. —Psalm 68:6