February Partners Update

Every year Poland has a two-week school vacation in January or February. We stepped away from the classroom for the second and third weeks of February and enjoyed the chance to do things besides teaching English. We kicked off the month with a volleyball game on the 1st. This was great fun and an opportunity to interact with students outside of class. On February 5, Alex’s brother and three other friends came to visit. A couple of days later Alyssa’s parents also showed up. It’s always meaningful to have friends and family come and see our lives here.

Winter Bible School

Kristin writes,

Hi Everyone! I’m writing to give you a small glimpse into a special time we recently had with our youth group. We hosted a zimowisko, aka winter retreat, at our church from February 13-16. It was lovely to spend this time with our youth, as well as some guests from other parts of Poland. We had sessions each day which included a time of singing, as well as someone sharing from the Word. We had three different speakers: Lavern, and two other inspiring men from the local area, Gustaw and Andy. To add a sense of adventure to our weekend, we had “fire drills,” organized by Alex. Fire drills happened when I blew a whistle at random times, and small groups then scrambled to find each other, racing the clock to complete tasks such as reading children’s stories, drinking a liter and a half of water, finding new words and definitions in the dictionary, singing songs, etc. In addition to activities such as prayer groups and panel discussion groups, Lyndon and Alyssa organized a scavenger hunt. Panel discussion groups consisted of 4-5 people, with time set aside on Friday and Saturday to dig into the Bible to find answers to some specific questions they were given. Each group had a different question, such as: “What is faith? Is it possible to have faith and doubts?” “Do all religions lead to God? Is it possible to get to God apart from Jesus?” “What is love? Is it loving to judge other people’s actions as wrong? If I love someone, shouldn’t I want them to be happy?” It was a blessing when we gathered on Saturday evening to hear each group present their thoughts on these topics, backed by many Scriptures dealing directly with their questions. We wrapped up the retreat on Sunday by spending the evening at Lavern and Lolita’s home. We made good memories, and had meaningful conversations. The Lord worked in beautiful ways during our 4 days together, and we are grateful.

Trip to Graceland

Alyssa writes,

During the last week of winter break, most of the teachers from Gateway To English spent two days at Graceland, an English school in Kraków. We participated in several youth and adult group classes and were able to reconnect with several students we had met during our previous visit to Graceland. A highlight of the trip was spending time with the Graceland team and hearing stories of their first years in Poland. As always, it was a time of encouragement and refreshment, and we returned to Gateway to English with a renewed vision of sharing the Gospel with our students.

Printing Books about Christian Martyrs

In 2017, AIM worked with Grace Press to distribute tracts and evangelism material to Seed of Truth subscribers. We are working with them again to publish two books about Christian martyrs during the reformation: In the Whale’s Belly and Whom Shall I Fear? Grace Press has done the work of translation and is covering part of the printing cost. AIM is printing 2,000 each of these titles to distribute in Poland. We anticipate a printing cost of around $1,500. If you would like to support this project, you can earmark your contributions accordingly.

Give to AIM

Donors may indicate preferences for where their gifts are used (such as staff support, Gateway to English, or Seed of Truth) and AIM will honor preferences where possible. AIM reserves the right to assign all contributions where needed. If you would like additional information about how funds are used or if you wish to pledge ongoing support, please contact Matthew Mast at homeoffice@aimpoland.org or 814-789-4394.

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