How have you experienced Polish people welcoming you into our city and church community?

Jaden: I am not immune to the feelings of isolation a foreigner feels. Yet from the day I moved here in August 2018, I felt welcomed. We benefited from the foundation that others, especially the Lavern and Lolita Hershberger family, had laid. Our church family here at Agape rallied around us and would have helped us above and beyond what we asked for. A visitor to Poland may notice the straight faces and hear about the importance of formal language. But I have special memories of being welcomed into strangers’ homes.

Jewel: People are fairly gracious with the language difference and our stumbling around in Polish, while calling us to study more and use the language. Many in our city know us or know who we are. Cashiers have gone out of their way to help me, showing on their fingers the amount I owed, picking through my handful of change to find the correct amount, or using some English to help me.

Our students invite us into their homes; they teach us Polish words, culture, history, and care about us and our lives. One of our secretaries likes to teach us how to cook Polish food like crepes or potato cakes.

It is difficult for church life to have people coming and going every year and getting to know someone who will leave again soon. Our church families are kind and open, encouraging us and spending time getting to know us and helping us orient ourselves here.

How do you try to create small spaces of community with other people in your daily life?

Jewel: I do this by checking in with people, following up after a conversation, remembering on Tuesday to ask them how the doctor appointment was they told me about on Sunday. I try to pray with others, especially after a conversation about their worries or relationships with other people. Enjoying food or tea together, hosting, being hosted, or meeting at a coffee shop, letting others care for me, or to see my vulnerability and weakness–all these things have drawn me into a circle of community here.

What dreams do you have for your family and its experience of community?

Jaden: Living in an urban space is significant for me. Of course, we can also have community in rural settings as my own roots are in the country and there are parts of that I miss. Here in Mińsk Mazowiecki we live on the fourth floor of a block of flats containing 30 apartments. Getting out of the house is more complicated and finding nature to spend time in takes more effort. A garden and chickens are out of the question. But I cannot get away from the reality that there are an estimated thirty thousand people (out of forty one thousand) in my city living in apartments. I would like to get to know my neighbors through the sharing of food. Jewel and I love to cook and in particular we love making bread and cakes. Both of those things are very important to Polish culture. That is a practical dream I have for my family in how we could connect with our community.

Jewel: I want our home to be a safe place for people to come, be themselves, and receive support, with our children as an important part of this. I want our family to be open and compassionate, able to receive care from others, and committed to building relationships with those around us. I dream of our church community being a place where we can confess our sins and be honest about our failings and weaknesses, supporting each other through prayer and encouragement. I pray that we can find healthy ways to talk through differences.

Why does living in community matter?

Jaden: The appeal to live an independent life is strong. Who naturally wants to ask for help? Who loves the inefficiency of waiting to act until everyone has spoken? Who wants their physical and emotional space infringed upon? To welcome others requires a leap of faith, and it doesn’t always “work.” But a church is a community of believers who name Jesus as their Lord. I think we can welcome others into that community even as we take the community to our homes and work. The times I have let go of independence have been hard but rich. I challenge you as I challenge myself to consider ways of living that bring others into this community