Update 3  Day 6

today was very much the same schedule. I'm on team one who went at seven this morning and made sandwiches for the Ukrainian consulate down the street plus for refugees who came in at breakfast time. And I manned in the front area and helped with copying printing and my barista duties. We were much more busy today than before.

today bored than ever I sensed a feeling of desperation. There were several grandmother, mother and daughter groups who were going to be refugees in different countries including Canada. All without their husbands and grown sons.  I felt in them a deep sense of loss but also a sense of bravery has they forged ahead with their lives.

our team has been terrific. The construction team helped demolish walls etc. in a fourth floor apartment that they're turning into more of a common room. And the teachers spent time with Ukrainian and Polish children. Team two showed up and just pitched right in. I feel God has just brought a unique group of people together for this week to minister to the Ukrainians.

As I was praying, I came to realization that there is no easy answer for many of these families. Life goes on, but much of their family has been split apart and many have died that are close to them.  The loss is very deep and very emotional with a great amount of sadness.

There is no real easy way to help them other than to be kind and serve them, demonstrating in a small way the love of Christ.  One grandmother who is so sweet, and is alone, bought the team some chocolate crackers to show her gratitude for the kindness we showed her. Felt like the widows mite, but she was just beaming when we accepted the gift.  

thank you for all your prayers and support. The team feels very well prayed for and has watched God work in some special ways already.  

Update 2  Day 4 and 5

so we broke up in the teams. I'm on team one which is breakfast duty and lunch duty plus I work in the greeting center for the refugees. And the greeting center I make espresso's and cappuccinos ( apparently offering coffee helps them feel at home) so I love playing Barista  I also helped make copies and printouts  for various papers and official documents  and I warmly great them.

most of the families are women and young to middle age children, very few males around.  My favorite memory yesterday was a three-year-old came in with her mother and her grandmother and wanted to play peekaboo with me. Such a simple thing but saw Joy on all three faces.

I also got a chance to talk to a pastor from Belarus who brings refugees across the border. I won't name his name for safety. Many of refugees who went to Belarus for safety had a hard time crossing into Poland. The embassy wants money for papers and then church has to rent a bus to drive them across the border.

He has seven children and his mother lives with his family in Belarus.  That church is taking many chances in doing this work.

today was breakfast and lunch day so worked in the kitchen and actually baked chicken and potatoes. Felt like a real active service for the people who've been doing this for quite a while. I think they felt the burden was lifted for some period of time.

I also helped babysit a little girl named Eva who is six months old and spent most of the night in the hospital with pneumonia last night. She is doing better so we were taking turns helping mom care for the baby.

I really can't relate to the loss of a future, not knowing if your spouse is alive or going to be alive in the next day week or month, how many have lost their family homestead forever. I also see the church here helping them with food and clothing and places to sleep. I sense that it's a real experience of Jesus incarnate with them. Such an outporing of love and meeting needs by the church here. 

We did get a chance to eat Polish food last night, I had real Polish pierogies.  Yum

Update 1  Days 1 and 2

So, The flight to Amsterdam and then on to Kraków went really well. I set beside a Romanian grandmother on the The lake to Amsterdam. She had a cold and kept coughing which made me nervous, so I wore my mask the whole time and no problems!

after a few hours sleep in Kraków hotel, we walked to downtown Kraków and saw different churches and sites. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant with the whole group which was really fun  

The next day we went to Auschwitz in the morning, the Polish concentration camp. Very heavy visit, so hard to see mankind at its worst, with over one. 1 million people murdered by the Nazis and unimaginable cruelty and hardship.  While I walked around, looked at the photos and personal belongings of those in the camps, I couldn’t help but think: How could this happen? How could anyone kill a child, or a man, or a woman, a community, just for being Jewish? Or one of the other ethnicities?

It is hard to wrap my head around how so many people could be involved in the hatred, cruelty, and mass murder of so many others. My main thought was that evil can exist at this level.  At a national and community level.  I also thought that I have not been tested like this, what would I have done? Also made me thankful for the freedom we live in in the USA.

This really provide me a perspective on what's going on in the war in Ukraine. So many civilians just outright killed by bombing.  

After Auschwitz, We got to the train station and took an express up to Warsaw met up with Ken Brandscombe and Bill Wood for dinner.  God has been really watching over us, as all the travel and Luggage transfers have gone smoothly.

Day 3

we have an orientation this morning at the Pulaska church and start our work with the refugees later this morning.  

prayer requests  

on day one and two my back was acting up, but today is much better, but appreciate your continued prayers for strength and healing.

also just continue to pray for divine appointments with the Ukrainian refugees, and they would see our heart of service toward them. The team that was in the country he told us last night that everyone is just exhausted. Every church member has a Ukrainian family in their home, which are not very large to begin with. So we are hoping that we can add our hands to help lift them up

All the best and Blessings to you.

Trip to Poland to work with Ukraine Refugees

So, I am not sure how this happened, but after leaving church one day God really put on my heart to apply for this trip to Poland to work with Ukrainian refugees. Through a strange set of events, I am going on one of the Perimeter Church trips to Poland.

We will be working with several of the Perimeter Partners in Poland and working with the refugees in several ways including helping with their paperwork, children's activities and possibly working on renovating a hotel that will be used to house them.

I would appreciate your prayers for the journey - especially for spiritual impact and divine appointments but also for health and safety.  As a part of the trip, we have been asked to fundraise part of the costs.

Two ways to give if you so desire:

Send a check (made out to Perimeter Church) or cash with their info so they get tax credit. Indicate the trip date and your name so Accounting knows how to apply it.

OR

Goto www.perimeter.org

Click on GIVE in the upper right corner

Scroll slightly down on the giving page until you see: “ONLINE” then click on “give online”

this takes you to the giving page.

Enter the amount you wish to give.

Choose a designation: Click on the circle that says “other”

A box will appear that says choose a designation. From the dropdown choose: Mission Trip

A box will appear that says choose a mission trip. From that dropdown choose: Poland|Ukraineian Refugee|6/14/2022

A box will appear that says choose a participant. Choose Dan Brown

Thank you all for the spiritual support and for helping along the way.