Poland: The Presence of God

Whew, it’s been a whirlwind of a week already and yesterday we visited Auschwitz, which will have its own post at some point, but I wanted to share some of the things that have been happening, both within the L.I.F.E. Ministry and in my own life. 

A couple days ago, when we were prepping with L.I.F.E. Poland and Oasis, I was talking to a leader from the Poland team, and through that conversation, the Lord reminded me that I am to not discredit the presence of God in my life. I asked Natasha what her favorite part of ministry is, and she said it’s the people—and she’s right: the people are who we are trying to reach. Natasha was explaining that when people visit the office, they feel a good “aura,” which we both knew is the presence of God. Out that simple phrase, the Lord reminded me that I have the presence of God within me, wherever I go. From that renewed sense of purpose and knowing and feeling the love and presence of my King, this came to me and the Lord reminded me:

Be careful to not discredit the presence of God living in you! Even if you don’t feel it or see it within yourself, you never know who around you can. 

God is living in me and it’s my job/responsibility to allow Him to shine through. From this I realized I was in the way and asked Him to remove all the stumbling blocks I had in my heart. He is the One who makes my cup overflow! I did not fully realize that people here can really see something different in me as a believer, and after my conversation with Natasha, I understood better how people are desperately searching for the hope that is in me (Colossians 1:27).

After this, we went out to the city, and as I write this, I realize how God answered my prayer. Even as I was busy taking pictures and taking part in that way, I found myself able to simply approach people and start a conversation—and sometimes they want to engage and sometimes they don’t—and that’s okay, but when I allow the Holy Spirit to lead me, I realized how open people are to just talk. To just have someone hear their story, to hear what they’ve been through, and to be present with them where they are. In the midst of that, I believe God was able to use those moments and those conversations to shine His presence through me. 

Of those I’ve met so far, there is one young girl that come to mind. For the sake of privacy, I will not release her name, but she is an 11-year-old Ukrainian refugee, who had been in Poland since the war began and she has a younger sister and grandmother with her during our festivities (City Quest and the LEGO tournament). I learned that she had to learn Polish and go to school in Poland, but what warmed my heart was her excitement to move back to Ukraine later this summer, and get back to some kind of normalcy in her life. As we spoke, I stood amazed at her positive outlook on life and the talk of war did not stop her from being confident in Messiah. 

When I asked her if she knew Him, her confident “yes” was beautiful. Through all of this, she has a peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7), and I asked her grandmother of her relationship with God, and she is open to knowing more about the Lord and who Yeshua is. Please be in prayer for this family, and especially this grandmother, that she would come to receive Messiah as her personal Savior. I hope to see her again this week and continue conversations with her. 

As for the events I mentioned, City Quest is a scavenger hunt, in which teams are given clues about Kraków, and they are to find each location, such as a historic landmark or a place that is a part of the city's history. When they come to a location, a short game or activity is played as determined by a leader and the Gospel is shared, planting seeds through verses and stories. After City Quest is over, Mike would then share the Gospel in full, giving people the full picture of what the Good News is. 

The LEGO tournament this weekend was based around the truth that God has given us a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone (Ezekiel 36:25-26). The entire day involved short lessons and Bible verses on how to receive this new, reconstructed heart. Throughout the game, people were able to create their own interpretation of the lesson and build a heart using LEGO pieces. So many of them put their heart and personality into these figures, and you can see what they came up with in my Instagram stories.

Overall, these past few days have been incredible and I’m beyond amazed at how the Lord works. Please continue praying for numerous opportunities this week. Be blessed, my friends, and thank you again for all your prayers!

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"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and shalom in trusting, so you may overflow with hope in the power of the Ruach ha-Kodesh." —Romans 15:13