My mom and 4th Alpha Meeting

Hey everyone,

My mom is having back surgery tomorrow morning at 10:30am (Central Standard Time).  She, being the trooper that she tries to be, seems to be doing well with the anticipation.  They will be basically making some room for her nerves and discs to relieve a lot of pain and numbness that she's been experiencing for awhile now in her legs.  We'd like to ask you all to join us in praying for her and her doctors tomorrow morning.  It's hard for us to be away when we wish we could be there with her!!

We hard our fourth Alpha Course meeting tonight.  From a numbers standpoint it didn't go too well -- 5 people counting Vicki and me.  But, knowing that God's economy is vastly greater than ours, it was a tremendous success spiritually.  The couple that was here tonight has been trying to answer many deep questions and basically they have just been trying to come to that point of really being able to trust what they're hearing...to accept the love that God is offering them.  We, along with Tomek (the pastor of Genesis Church) had an incredible time of discussion with them about tonight's topic: How to have assurance of our faith.  We don't think they would have opened up if all of the others would have been here.  It is just really exciting to see them going through this process...really seeking to work through all of the mazes that have been built up in their minds since childhood in order to one day give themselves fully to the Father!  

In the states decisions to "become a Christian" are made very quickly when compared to here in Poland.  But after those decisions, many times anyway, people lose interest and their passion quickly.  In Poland, generally when that decision is made it has been after a lot of contemplation which only increases the person's passion and interest in their new life.  There is much to be lost, in terms of culture and even family, here which adds a completely different dynamic to peoples' spiritual journeys that makes it so different than in the U.S.  You can be praying that in coming weeks the Holy Spirit helps this couple come to that point of giving their whole selves over to Jesus and that they will be the beginning of a wave that will impact the rest of our group!

Thanks for continuing to pray with us as so much has been happening lately!  You are all so dear to us!

Much love and thanks,
All of us

Check this out...

I got a fun gift from a great friend in the mail today and figured out a way that we can all enjoy it (well, maybe).

Try going to this link and the wonderful wide world of our street will be opened up before your eyes:

My New Webcam

Don't you just love technology (and friends that send it to you)!!!

Adoption Update: After hearing

I sent this email out to our newsletter group.  In case you're a reader that doesn't get our newsletter messages, here's the latest:

Things went exceedingly well today in court.  The judges (actually there were 3 dressed in nice robes) were quite positive about everything.  After hearing from both of us and the kids' case worker they have decided that they are basically putting the letter from the Warsaw agency aside and requesting a new set of tests on us and the bonds in our family.  

The great news: no one is taking our kids.  The judge told us to tell them to "live peacefully" knowing that they are not going anywhere and that everything looks great for this all to work out.

The "bad" news: there's no way to know when all of this is going to work out.  While time is something we have there is still a lot of stress on us and on the kids from all of the constant waiting.

This is what now has to be done:

- Meetings and tests with a Poznan agency (could be a question of a few weeks or a month, depending on when they schedule us and how long they take to prepare  their official opinion)
- Agency's opinion must be sent to a different Warsaw agency (along with all of our documents) so that they will qualify us for adoption.  (again the timeframe is unknown)
- Another hearing must be scheduled to review these new pieces of "evidence".  The judge commented that barring something extraordinary the adoption would be approved at that time.  The timing of this hearing is really dependent on the speed at which the above two items are completed.
- There is a 21-day waiting period after the hearing at which time the approval can be appealed.  If it is not appealed then the adoption will be final after that 3-week period.

As always thank you for your prayers.  We felt very calm and confident this morning and we were greeted by a courtroom of workers with very positive attitudes and stances toward our case.  And there is no way to overlook the answered prayer of that letter from Warsaw basically being ignored. 

Thank you Father for your grace and mercy....which you poured out on us this morning and which you will continue to supply us as we continue down this road!!

The celebration is getting closer and closer!  

Many blessings to you all!
Michael, Vicki, Paulina, Piotrek, and Maciek

United we stand

After sending out the latest updates last week about this week's adoption hearing, we received the following email from my aunt Jackie. I wanted to share it with you all and invite you to consider fasting and praying with us.

As you prepare for the Friday hearing I want to commit and invite others in the family to fast and pray on Thursday in preparation. While we can certainly pray without the fasting, it is a good remembrance during the day as hunger alerts set in to pray specifically for the situation. I would even encourage you to invite your prayer warriors to do the same.

In those prayers I would specifically ask:

• That God bathe you with His peace in the midst of the emotional storms that Satan prefers you to have
• That God will allow the judge to hear only what is beneficial to the children
• That God will bring you and the children closer to Him and to His will
• That God will express His love to you in a clear and felt way.

"Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns,once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. I Peter 5:7

The only prayer motive I am personally adding to the above list is that the judge make the decision to finalize everything this Friday. There is no reason he cannot do this. It is simply his decision.

For us, this is one of the bigger (if not the biggest) spiritual battles we have faced. That said, know that we cannot express enough the gratitude, appreciation, and love we have toward all of your who are battling through this with us. I read this passage a few weeks ago and again Sunday morning, thinking about all of this:

In times of trouble, may the Lord respond to your cry.
May the God of Israel keep you safe from all harm.
May he send you help from his sanctuary and strengthen you from Jerusalem.
May he remember all your gifts and look favorably on your burnt offerings.

May he grant your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans.
May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory, flying banners to honor our God.
May the Lord answer all your prayers.
Ps. 20:1-5

I look forward to this all ending. I look forward to shouting for joy when we hear of His victory. I look forward to flying banners to honor our God before an unbelieving world!

Another adoption update

I thought I'd give you the latest information to keep you completely up-to-date.

• We have a meeting Tuesday afternoon with the kids' case worker.  She will be meeting with us and the kids separately so that she can report as thoroughly as possible on the situation to the court.  She will be talking to the kids about this whole debacle which we are a little scared about.  We are praying that they don't fall apart.

• We talked to the psychologist again today and she wants, in light of everything going on, to have another visit with us.  That will be next Thursday afternoon.  She typically comes over every couple of weeks just to observe us together.  She has had NOTHING but extremely positive comments to send to the court, saying that she sees no other option than to allow this to proceed...that it is definitely in the kids best interest.  I might add that she told me that she and the adoption agency in Poznan (where she works) were both very shocked to hear about Warsaw trying to do this.

• We also found out that the people from Warsaw will most likely be at the hearing next week (the lawyer wasn't sure about that yesterday).  This will afford them the chance to give their reasons for what they are doing...to our faces, so to speak.  That should be interesting.  I am already praying for a calm spirit because the warrior in me DEFINITELY does not need to come out in the courtroom when I begin hearing all of their junk.

We are doing better today.  We just continue to feel like there is really no way that the judge is going to overrule the mountain of evidence that he has, favoring this baseless information.  That just doesn't seem possible when everyone who has been tasked with the process of evaluating the kids' relationships in this family have agreed about their future with us.

Thanks so much for continuing to pray with us through all of this.  I'll update as I get new information!

Adoption Update: Spiritual warfare

We received a call from our lawyer this morning that the adoption agency in Warsaw is trying to block our adoption of the kids.  They actually have nothing to do with anything...have never met the kids, have never met us, have never even talked with us over the phone.  But they have decided to try to intervene.

It turns out that the judge WAS ready to move everything forward and basically approve the adoption...but then he received the document from Warsaw.  According to law he had to put the brakes on.  Our hearing on the 27th will be to hear the different parties involved (Warsaw agency, children's home, kids' social worker, psychologist that's been visiting us, us, and eventually maybe Paulina).  

The bottom line is that he can choose to listen to this agency above EVERY OTHER voice he is hearing.  If this is the case things would end with the kids being taken away from us.

We are praying...and see no other realistic option...that the judge considers the mountain of evidence before him and rejects this baseless claim from Warsaw.  If he is at all sensible and has any regard for the welfare of the kids he will do just that.

Please be praying for the kids and for us.  Honestly we don't know how much more stress we can take.  We know that Paul was right in saying that we will never be given more than we can handle and that God will always provide a way out so that we stand strong under the pressure.  But, as it feels like we have at times caught the eye of the Enemy himself it is just sometimes hard to know how to even take the next step.

May He be glorified in it all...no matter!

Adoption Hearing

I posted several days ago that we have our adoption hearing Oct 27 (next Friday).  The psychologist that has to visit every now and then was talking to us about the hearing and said that typically adoptions are finalized 21 days (a mandatory waiting period) after the hearing!

I can't stress enough how much we want this to be true...for way too many reasons than I can even get into.  This is definitely another thing you can be praying with us about!  

It's amazing to think that we could just be a month or so away from having all of this behind us!

Alpha Update: 2nd Meeting

Ebbs and flows are part of life and thus, part of ministry. Our first "ebb" occurred last night as we only had 9 people at our second Alpha course meeting. The good thing is that the evening was still a success in our eyes.

Really the idea of success in ministry has long been in need of an overhaul. Obviously we would love to have a couple hundred people attending Alpha (although likely not in our front room!). That would be incredible! BUT the incredible thing in God's "economy" (aka Kingdom) is that our level of success is not based on the bottom line -- how many people are at a given event. It's based on our faithfulness in following Him and living/working out the directions He's given. With that in mind, even when there's just one person who has been (hopefully) guided closer we can celebrate success.

Last night was a big success because we were able to have some great conversation about the evening's topic: Who was/is Jesus? There was especially one couple present that has been openly drawing closer and closer to deciding to follow Jesus. Hearing them talk about everything was a real blessing.

So, all in all, while the whole group wasn't present (hopefully they'll be back next week) it was still a great night. You can continue to pray with us, and not just on Tuesday nights, that these great folks will continue opening their hearts to the movement of the Holy Spirit within them. It's obvious that they are being drawn closer to Him and we just need to support them in prayer as that journey progresses!

A friend's blog: Missional Church

Our great friend Angela Hamm is a deep thinker. She's not satisfied with status quo and she is BIG on seeing real spiritual transformation occur in peoples' lives. That jives (don't you love that word) so much with Vicki and me.

Last Monday she posted the following:

Characteristics of a missional church:

1. Looking outward.
2. Changing as culture continues to change.
3. Faithful to the word of God.
4. Going into the community.
5. Incarnational rather than attractional.

We have talked a little about the "missional church" here and so, when I saw her posted I spent a little while reading it and letting it soak in (really I've been thinking about it since then).

Sometimes we are pretty quick to evaluate the companies or organizations...the structures we find ourselves in. There's nothing inherently wrong with that. However, what we sometimes forget is that we are a living part of those structures.

Thinking specifically about the Church...what we're really evaluating is ourselves. We are the Church! So, as we read those characteristics above we should give evaluating ourselves a shot.

Let's think about these questions:

1. Am I looking outward?
2. Am I changing as culture continues to change (or am I stuck in the past and fight change?)
3. Am I completely faithful to the Word of God?
4. Am I going into the community (not spending all of my time in church circles)?
5. Am I being incarnational rather than attractional? Do I seek opportunities to "be" the Gospel - through personal ministry - or do I just wait for people to come to me with questions?

Alpha Update: 1st Meeting

For all of you who were praying for us last night, we thank you. We had 17 people, a mix of believers and seekers. The atmosphere was great...everyone was speaking openly and freely about the intro topic -- basically whether or not church today is boring and irrelevant.

Unfortunately none of our frisbee friends came. But we had a good showing from our baseball families ("I love it when a plan comes together" -- Thank you, Lord).

Alpha will continue for the next 10 weeks (I was wrong on that figure before) each Tuesday night at 7pm. So you can continue to pray with us that our friends here will be opening their minds and hearts to what they are hearing and that they will come to see their need for forgiveness and reconciliation with the Father.

It's really amazing to serve God sometimes. It's like seeing a really beautiful day and soaking in the sunshine and breathing in a big breathe of fresh air...you just can't get enough. We've seen hundreds or thousands of days like that and yet each time it's like we're experiencing it for the first time. Same way with God. We've seen Him work a multitude of times. Yet it never gets dull or boring. It's always amazing to soak Him in and to experience and be a part of what He is doing in our and in other peoples' lives.

Alpha Course

For anyone who isn't on our mailing list, I'll post here for your viewing pleasure.  Along with Genesis Church in Poznan we're starting a 14-week (or so) project called the "Alpha Course."  

The idea of the materials (developed through the Anglican Church and used widely by Catholics and Protestants in our region) is to introduce people to the fundamentals/basics of Christianity.

Questions like:
• Who is Jesus?
• Why did Jesus die?
• What is the Bible?
• And others about prayer, the Holy Spirit, faith, etc.

The material, although at times quite charismatic, is really good.  Of course anything that can bring people together in a setting where the Gospel can be introduced in a relevant, personal way is great.

So, tonight at 7pm (our time) we'll be hosting around 20 people at our place (yeah, going to be tight).  There will be food...an introductory video...more food...small group time to talk about the video...and hopefully some more food.  So, if you're in the neighborhood stop by...it'll be a blast!!

Don't get it (again)

Checking out my daily RSS news feeds, I saw nothing too out of the normal interesting. I even clicked on cnn.com to check out the more "minor" headlines...nothing caught me eye. But after turning on BBC while eating my sandwich I hear about how the Catholic church is going to likely be changing their...(don't know what to call it) let's say minds about the whole limbo idea. [No, I'm not talking about the bending-under-the-stick game...hehe.]

Here's the deal...for hundreds of years there has been a tradition in the catholic church (which is generally held on equal level with Scripture) that babies who have not been baptised before they die will not be allowed to enter heaven or hell. Instead they are relegated to this neutral state, limbo.

Why change the idea? Well, for one, it's not Scriptural. But this is not what is being reported. The reports I've been listening to are mentiong a lot about how the current pope is wanting to give the Catholic church a fighting chance against the rise of Islam in under-developed countries where infant mortality rates are extremely high. The problem is that many would-be converts have been put off by the Catholic tradition of limbo because they have babies who have died and the church is telling them that their kids are just out there...somewhere.

My point with all of this. Christianity is not a political chip that we use to win points with people. It's not something that we have the right to twist and contort for our own gain or even for the gain of our denominations or religion as a whole. I don't understand why Catholics around the world don't have been questions about all of this. It just seems to me that I would have a big problem with an organization that first has a foundation of these baseless traditions and second, that has someone running everything who can just up and change this and that with ultimate authority.

Does this make sense to any of you? Maybe I'm making a big deal out of this and I should just be quiet and be glad that they are scrapping this tradition that many have been taught (as if were Scripture -- don't get me started down that road) for generations and generations.

I'm just sayin'.

Adoption news

We received word from the court that our first hearing will be on October 27. Wanting more information I called our lawyer. Turned out they hadn't received that letter. But she said that basically it would be a chance for the court to ask us any questions they have about all of our documents (man, there are a lot!), about our ability to be parents, our relationship with the kids, etc. We're looking forward to it.

We have really been praying that this whole process could be completed before the end of the year. We want so badly for this all to be done and behind us, allowing us to move on from all of the stress that "the process" brings with it.

Thanks to those of you who have been praying with us through all of this!