Warsaw Revolution

Seek and Ye Shall Find

2011-10-04T10:56:00.003+01:00

Ihave this friend. Recently she lost a baby. A little while ago I gotto hang out with her and listen to her story. When she was in thehospital a priest came to see her. I still can't believe the wordsshe heard.... basically he told her a 'story' of two mothers, onegiving birth to John Paul II and the other to Sadam Hussein. Inconclusion of this story she should be thankful for what happenedbecause she doesn't know who she would have given birth to.

Ithought about it, and realized how horribly this misrepresents whoGod is. I have never lost a baby so I can't tell her that I know howshe feels. But I know, I KNOW God does. I shared Psalm 139 with her.I told her to read it, and find the Truth for herself. God says thatif we seek we will find. I know that He can find her, I know He wantsto find her. I also know that dark places are the best places forletting God find us, and for us to experience His care andforgiveness. I know I don't have to do anything else. I introducedher to Jesus, and He is attractive enough to bring her to Himself. Ipray that He would 'rain down' on her and convict her of sin. I trustHis word that He doesn't want anyone to perish.

Things that make you go "grrrrrrrr...."

2011-08-25T08:52:00.002+01:00

I just spent a few weeks learning what condition this country is in. We were on roads in Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary: all countries of the former Eastern Bloc. The roads in Poland are depressing because they are virtually non-existent. Whereas in Slovakia and Hungary (and Czech, but who's counting) they have an actual highway infrastructure that works. It took us 4 hours to drive 150 km from the southern Polish border to Krakow. Then, after we came back from Hungary, I ended up in the hospital. And not just any hospital; A Learning hospital, a university hospital where the future medical establishment of this country is getting their education. The building is in horrible shape. The interiors are in horrible shape. And on the 3^rd day they ran out of medication. Oh, Tim also had to bring me fork, spoon and knife so I’d have something to eat with. Tim also had to bring me toilet paper and paper towel because the hospital doesn’t provide it (unless the inspectors are paying a visit, we are told).

Then I came home only to find out that Kaleb’s hockey club was forced to raise prices because Warsaw (the capital city of a northern nation, and has a population of 2.5 mln people) has ONLY ONE ice rink and the management of this ice rink acts like a mob, they do what they want when they want it. Oh, it’s nearly 60% price increase. I am depressed. I don’t know how to live here.

We came back from great CONNECT, our staff conference. We came home revived, we came focused and hopeful for the future. We have exciting plans to launch spiritual discussion groups in a nearby pub/restaurant and…. I need God’s mercy and God’s grace to get over this very strong desire to pack and leave this country and go live somewhere where I can give my kids the best. I need to hear from God again that indeed we are meant to live here, in Warsaw, in the country currently holds the European Presidency, BUT has decrepit infrastructure, medical system, public school system, while having no programs for kids and seems to offer very little hope for the future.

Unpacking

2011-07-27T23:21:00.001+01:00

After three years in Poland, in Warsaw, I am actually unpacking into the will of God. We have painted the walls in our apartment. We will be reorganizing our bedroom and kids rooms. I have bought new clothes for myself for the first time in 3 years. I feel like I am ready to start the mission. And all this because God has taken me back to the days when we were fund raising and reminded me about who He is and who He is calling me/us to be. Yes, I have been intentional about my ‘work’ here in Warsaw but now, I am also relaxed about it. It was an eye opener to hear that I might have to wait for 8 or 10 years before I see ANY results of ‘my labour’. I ceased running after projects and being obsessed with doing and talking…. Being relaxed helps me walk to the beat of His heart and see people more thru His eyes. I laugh with people more, and I cry with them more. I let people inside my walls, figuratively and literally. And amazing things are happening…. Jesus one way or another is always a part of the conversation. When I am not ‘striving’ to work FOR Him it’s easier to live my life WITH Him. I am more honest in my relationship with Him, so my relationships with people are more honest. I have arrived at the place of accepting where I am .... I have accepted “the Truth” and the “Truth” has set me free.

Lucy is born!!

2010-03-16T11:58:00.002+01:00

Hey all, she's finally here. Lucy Ann Constable born on March 15th at 12:25 CET. She weighed in at 3.2kg/7lbs. 9oz. and 50cm/20in. long. She is doing well, doctors are very pleased with her, and she sleeps and eats very well. Both mommy and daughter are scheduled to come home tomorrow (Wednesday). Labor was relatively short, and the actual birth was incredibly fast. Doctors were also admiring how Lucy had tied her umbilical chord into a knot while still in the womb. I am told she tried to take off sprinting when the pediatrician held her up for the "walking test". If she has the speed of her sister and the laid-back personality of her brother...
Maja and Kaleb are both eager to meet their little sister.

Two Things

2009-08-09T13:04:00.003+01:00

Two is the number of the week. We have two children. Maja turns two years old tomorrow. She had her 2nd birthday (for family) yesterday and will have two friends over tomorrow for the "friends" birthday celebration. That makes two parties.
As Maja turns two, we announced earlier this week that we are expecting again and Renata is due on March 21st. She is in her second month and the new one was measured at 2cm long.
In two days we leave for our annual Staff Conference. This year it will be in Muenster, Germany. So we will only travel through two countries this year, as opposed to the 5 we did last year. And we will do the trip in two parts as Maja finds it more difficult to go for too long on the car.
That's what we've been up 2. And you?

Renata Goes To Jail

2009-06-30T19:44:00.007+01:00

The first time I visited the prison I was scared. I was scared that the women would see judgment on my face, or that they would look at me and know that I was wondering what they did to be put in prison. I prayed on the way there: Jesus let me look at these women with YOUR eyes. Then I stood in the hallway, in front of the bars waiting for the guard to open a gate for me to come in and I felt huge compassion for these women. I saw faces of really messed up people, dressed poorly and very often toothless; and then I felt joy and privileged to be there. It was then that I was scared that I was going to spend my time there crying for these women instead of helping them. Well, God took care of that. The first visit was awesome. I met some very broken people. We have a Gypsy lady, we have ‘white-collar’ women, and we have homeless alcoholics coming to meet with me. I met all sorts of women, all of them from the fringes of society, all of them lost, all of them scared. Only now when I meet with them every week do I learn how difficult it is to break free from the lies and psychological baggage we carry around from our childhoods. God is mighty, and only He can break these chains. Most of the women there have husbands in prison too. Their children are in orphanages because they don’t have anyone else to take care of the kids.

Now, when I’m writing, I am realizing more and more how much compassion I feel for them. When I hear the stories from them directly I see how broken they are.

Last Saturday I went with a team from Kentucky to this prison to celebrate “Kids Day” for these women’s children and their families. The team brought gifts, they had a puppet show, and shared some of their life stories. We taught from Ephesians that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against powers and authorities….Then we played with the kids and moms and dads and we laughed, forgetting that we were surrounded by bars.

It was the first time that I saw the moms in prison meeting with their kids. Most of these kids are ages 3 – 7 and some are young teens. It took me a prayer and 15 minutes to get myself ‘together’ again.

Every time I am in this prison I realize that only by God’s grace I am not there. Every time I talk to these women I am fully aware of God’s power in my life. I remember times when I abused drugs and alcohol and hung out with wrong crowd. I remember one time sleeping on the bench because I had no place to go…. It is by God’s love and grace that I have beautiful family, that I am alive and I feel such a strong desire and want to tell these women about His beauty, His love, and how He pursues us (this is my message to them: God pursues us). Oh, how much they need to be told that God cares for ragamuffins.

We pray. We study the Bible and I even had the privilege last week to witness one of these ladies accept Jesus into her life. Something happened in her because only Holy Spirit can produce tears; she cried that day during our meeting and discussion about God’s gift of Love.

I still learn to deal with my emotions when I am there. Two weeks ago I couldn’t put two sentences together because one of the women (Danka) shared her story and her journey (she is in Alcoholics Anonymous and her two kids aged 3 and 8 are in the orphanage and her boyfriend is in prison as well). I pray that God will help me balance compassion with my ability to talk to them, to study the Word with them, to help them.

-Renata

the photos below show Renata translating some teaching and a puppet play into Polish and kids playing games with their parents for Children's Day at the prison (this was the first time the organization has ever been allowed to bring cameras into the prison)

Summer Sundays

2009-06-15T14:27:00.003+01:00

There are a lot of things going on now that the warm weather is upon us. And the last two Sundays we have done a couple of things for the very first time. Last Sunday we went to the airshow and spent some time with our good friends Luke and Marisa and their son Alex. Some some really cool stuff. Looking forward to seeing more next year (we had to leave early for church and missed the MIG-29).
Yesterday though we went to a Knights' Tournament at a castle south of the city. Kaleb, of course, LOVED that. Seeing knights battle with swords and full armor, watching archers on horseback ride by only a couple of feet from us. And they had some great food. That's what I love. I'll put some photos up to our album in a bit so you can see all this stuff.

Summer is here again

2009-06-15T14:13:00.002+01:00

We can't believe that it is already summer again. Not that we're disappointed. It just seems as though the last school year went by way too quickly. At times it feels as though time has slowed to a crawl. The next thing you know, you are down the road 10 months and wondering where the time went. But here we are, enjoying the warm sunshine that we have been enjoying intermittently for the last month and half or more.
Things are alway moving along here. We continue to "press buttons" and "whack the bushes". I am trying to be more intentional about meeting with some of the guys with greater regularity. It's hard to schedule time with most of them each week or even doing the same thing each time. But I am seeing what I can do and what kind of response I get.
Renata has really found some ministerial rhythm with her two newest ventures. She's in a teaching rotation at a moms group at one of the Polish churches here AND she goes to a women's prison each Friday morning. Both of these have really breathed new life into her desire to teach and work with women. It's a gift she's always felt she had, but never had a chance to use or develop it. Now she does. Very exciting.
A more detailed update is ready to go out today. So stay tuned. I'll close this catch-up post so I can get back to a regular post. (-:

Has Summer Arrived in Warsaw?

2009-04-04T16:06:00.003+01:00

I figured I'd jumpstart my long-desired return to blogger today. Renata and I keep talking about it, but never get back to it.
I met a new guy in the park today. He's been in Warsaw now for about a year with his Polish wife. He seems really cool. He's an artist (painter) and was out in the park to take pictures of his art to post online. We talked for a while about where we are each from, what we're doing here, and all the cross-cultural things that people like us talk about. We exchanged numbers and I hope we get together with him and his wife soon as they live pretty close (hence the advantage to meeting people in the aforementioned park). Funny thing is he heard me talking on the phone to my friend R who was asking me if he could come to our church to have communion. His church is not having communion til next week (as Easter is so early in the month) and he's going to be out of town. He's divorced and is "not welcome" in the Catholic Church, much less partake of the Eucharist. Attending church is important to him, but hasn't yet really been introduced to Christ. He often has spiritual questions and it's fun to engage with him on those.
I am finding that people have questions, they just don't feel they have access to anyone with answers or to help them find the answers themselves.
I'm loving our playground in the park.

This is A park near us. Not our playground park where we seem to meet people all the time. This is what the park should look like in a few weeks. Beautiful day.

October in Toronto

2008-10-07T21:21:00.002+01:00

We are in Toronto for the next month. We are trying to expand our support base and also spend time with family and friends. We've had some good fun so far and had chances to connect with a few people. The next 4 weeks will be more intense that way though. Two days after we arrived I went on a roadtrip with my brothers and my dad to celebrate his birthday. We spend the better part of 5 days driving around upstate New York, Vermont, and even a little bit of New Hampshire. We had a really good time on our first trip all together as adults.
So now we are busy scheduling the rest of our time here and getting things we need for the kids and ourselves (that we can't get in Poland-- or at least at a good price).

One thing I wanted to draw to people's attention just in case this would be convenient for you is a way of making financial donations to Christian Associates online via credit card. You can go to www.canadahelps.org to make a donation. The thing to keep in mind if you choose to use this method is that 3% is deducted before CAI receives the donation. Christian Associates deducts 10% for administration after that.

Back in Wa-wa

2008-08-03T17:29:00.003+01:00

We have been back in Warsaw for about 3 hours now. We had a fantastic week in Sopron, Hungary for our annual Christian Associates staff conference. This was our first one since the summer of 2005, so we were very excited to get there this year. First, we had a terrific time driving down there. We stayed for one night in the mountains of southwestern Poland (to which I had never been) in a town called Ustron. While asking for directions, our family was invited to a "garden party" at a restaurant/pub. So after finding our hotel (driving halfway up a mountain) and settling in, we headed back down the mountain for some food. I sampled a bean stew called grochowka (gro-hoove-kuh). Absolutely fantastic! Renata said it was the best she ever had too. I like food.
The next day, after breakfast, we headed back down the mountain and into the Czech Republic (normally just called Czech over here. Sort of like saying "France" rather than "Republic of France"), then Slovakia, then Austria, then Hungary.
It was a really refreshing, rejuvenating, relaxing week (the three R's). It always feels great to be with people that are doing the same thing as you and are often dealing with many of the same life and ministry issues for that reason.
Greg Boyd really challenged us on the fundamentals of how we act towards the world around us and therefore how we do ministry. You can listen yourself to some of the talks we had by clicking here .
It was encouraging for us also in sharing with others what is going on in Warsaw. I told Renata that I was getting excited listening to myself talk about it all. I was thinking "wow! this is pretty cool stuff that's going on." We felt very affirmed by those we talked with.
It was a fantastic week for Kaleb in Kids Club. He was there 3 times a day on most days. A group of volunteers (mainly high school and college age) came over from Maryland to look after our kids while we were in sessions. They were terrific!! We never worried about whether he was having a good time or whether he was taken care of. We also knew that he was receiving a good dose of biblical learning. Each day had a different story and scripture they would work from (Good Samaritan, Samson, etc.).
So the week is over. We ended sessions on Friday night, packed up yesterday morning and headed for the Austrian border. We stayed in Ustron again last night and then finished the drive home this morning and afternoon. We are glad to be home although we already miss our friends. At least now our kids won't be waking up at 5:30am cuz they're sleeping in the same room. Separate rooms. Divide and conquer. maybe we can get a bit more rest now too.

Only In Europe

2008-07-31T10:12:00.002+01:00

We had a good trip on Sunday to complete our journey to Hungary for our staff conference. We travelled through 5 countries in one day. Only in Europe can you do that by car. Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary. The amazing thing too is that, as of last December, all of those countries are part of the Schengen Zone--meaning that we did not go through any Customs or Passport control the entire trip down here. Much fun.
We did discover, unfortunately, that McDonalds is much most countries other than Slovakia. We passed one as we entered the country and passed another on the way out a couple hours later. Disappointing when you depend on McDonalds stops to keep the kids happy and fed while travelling. Oh well, it was a gorgeous drive anyway--with lovely low rolling mountains and a decent speed limit.

On The Road Again

2008-07-26T19:59:00.004+01:00

I'm writing this from our hotel in Lower Silesia (southwestern mountainous region of Poland). We are in fact a little outside the small town of Ustron and well up on a mountain. We are on our way to our annual staff conference, called CONNECT, in Sopron, Hungary. This is our first time back at staff conference since the summer of 2005. We are very excited about seeing old friends, getting encouragement from fellow church-planters, and having a generally refreshing time.
We left our apartment at 10am today and arrived in Ustron at about 3:45pm to conclude a generally good and fun drive with the family.
When we stopped at a bar and grill to ask for directions to our hotel, we were invited back to a "garden party". So we went back after checking into our hotel, dropping our stuff off, and Renata getting her long-awaited and much-enjoyed massage. The food was terrific. I had my standard kielbasa and fries, but this time i also tried, for the first time, grochowka (gro-hoove-ka)--bean and sausage stew. Absolutely marvelous. The kids had a terrific time playing in the very large yard which included a sandbox. Maja's first time in a sandbox. We're still shaking the sand off of her.
Will keep you posted on the rest of our trip.

Grandma Prayers

2008-06-13T09:44:00.003+01:00

I forgot one of the most important things about Renata's grandma getting married. She is a hardcore Catholic who thinks we are part of some sect (much of the country thinks of Protestants as a sect). For as long as I have known her (and likely much longer) she has been praying for us to return to the "true Church" and she has likely been paying the priest to conduct masses for us. So viewing us as apostate, she would never get into anything too spiritual with us. Well a week or so before her wedding, she asked Renata for us to pray that God would give her and Adam at least 5 good years and bless their marriage. Blew us away. We are excited about that. Thought you'd enjoy hearing about that.

Great Weekend

2008-06-09T10:04:00.003+01:00

We had a really good time this weekend. On Friday we met with a couple of our good friends for our little guys to play together and for us to talk about the next steps in ministry here in Warsaw. It feels like we are finally making forward progress with our home ministry plans. Our friends are excited about it and together we tend to generate more ideas than on our own. All this while sitting in the beautiful sunny park and eating kielbasa (sausage for the uninitiated) and fries. What more could I ask for?
Saturday morning we were on the road by 9am to drive 100km to the town where Renata was born and where her grandma and some of the rest of the family live. The reason for our trip this time: Her 84 year-old grandma's wedding. Yes, you read that correctly. He's 3 years younger, and they have known each other for 62 years. It was a really fun time. It's hard to explain why that was so fun. But just imagine how wonderful it is for 2 people who don't have a lot of years left to live yet choose to spend it together despite being far less energetic and agile than they once were (when the met). Just a really happy time. It felt so light and free. One of the most amazing things we learned about on Saturday is there was another potential suitor who nearly fainted when he heard that Renata's grandma was getting married. Not bad for an 84 year-old woman, huh? (said suitor, impressively, did attend the wedding)
We had been wanting to have a couple of our neighbours over since we moved back in December, but something always came up and it didn't happen. This is a couple that we have known for 4 years now. So finally, we had them over for breakfast yesterday. I went downstairs to confirm with them on Saturday evening and ended up staying and talking with them for an hour or so. Had a good time talking about life (and tested my Polish pretty good). The very first time we had them over 4 years ago, I cooked bacon and pancakes and had real Canadian maple syrup (you can buy it here, but most people don't. Still a real treat for most Poles. Especially when it's homemade syrup from my mom and dad), so yesterday morning we did it again. We had a great time spending time with them and knowing them more. We started talking about the Euro2008 soccer tournament that started on Saturday and the first game for Poland against Germany last night, so as they don't have the channel that is showing the games, we invited them up to watch the game with us. So once again we got together and spent a good time together. This is building relationship in Poland. We are so excited that we have finally been able to connect with this couple and spend quality time with them. They have been on our hearts for a long time. Unfortunately Poland did not win yesterday. They did not even score a goal (unfortunate depending on whom you talk to--some Poles are glad for the outcome as the two top players on the German team are actually Polish guys that weren't recognized by the Polish Soccer association for their talent and went to play where they could develop. Both German goals came from Lukasz Podolski yesterday).
All the same, a very satisfying weekend for us.

Kaleb's first fieldtrip

2008-05-20T13:27:00.006+01:00

Yesterday Kaleb and I joined the rest of his classmates and some other parents on a trip to the farm. We saw cows, horses (even a couple of foals less than 10 days old), ducks, and lots of chickens. We saw farm machinery and tools--modern and traditional, different kinds of nests and eggs (ostrich, duck, and chicken), and we cooked kielbasa on a big fire. Oh yeah, we even rode in a horse cart, on a horse itself, and chased chickens around the yard while waiting for lunch. Quite a day for 3 and 4-year old munchkins.

Kaleb and daddy riding the horse cart.

Kaleb riding a horse for the first time. (daddy walking behind holding him on AND taking the picture).

Chasing chickens.

back from Toronto

2008-05-18T21:29:00.002+01:00

I"m back. from Toronto, that is. Settling in with the family again after being apart for a week. Got a lot done during my time there. Looking forward to being back there in October/November for our scheduled visit. Of course, next time we'll all travel to Toronto, instead of just me.
So now I am getting back into the swing of things with coordinating worship and arts at ICF for the next few months, developing myself artistically/spiritually/in leadership, building relationships with Christians we could maybe work with in the future, and building relationships with non-believers as we seek to be ministers.
Kaleb is supposed to go on his very first fieldtrip tomorrow with pre-school. We'll see if he goes (and daddy with him) as he was sick during the night last night and for much of today. So we'll see what tonight brings and the morning too.
Maja is a little terror. She moves so fast now, you have to watch her all the time. She actually knows her way around the house now and moves towards destinations rather than just where her curiosity guides her. She actually came and found me in the bedroom this morning. She was so pleased with herself.
Renata's busy as ever as she takes the lions' share of the time with the kids. After a week with both of them by herself, she was pretty tired. But she handled them wonderfully.
I'll leave it at that as I need to get back to cheering Pittsburgh to their imminent defeat of Philadelphia.

Family photo

2008-04-27T11:23:00.003+01:00

Picture we had taken in The Hague so that people in the congregation at Peoples Church would have something to look at while they listened to Charles Price and me talk on the phone. Quick photo, but I like it.

End of April already?

2008-04-25T16:56:00.002+01:00

The last couple months have gone by so quickly. My brother Ben visiting for a couple of weeks, heading of to Holland for two further weeks of training with Christian Associates. We had hoped initially to stay a little longer and spend time with friends and mentors, but by the end of the (not even) two weeks we were all just too tired and wanted to get home to rest and get back into our regular routine. We also didn't want to move all of our stuff AGAIN (moving into another place for the time we'd remain there and then out).
We had a good time there. It was Maja's first road-trip and she did really well. Only a little intolerable screaming in the car. Kaleb is a natural after having done so much travelling already in his life. Since we got home he has constantly been asking when we are going on a trip again.
It was a rather interesting trip. We got away late because my brother's flight reservation got messed up and he missed the flight. So after trying to help him deal with all that, we hit the road trying to make it to Frankfurt on Oder (5 hour drive under normal conditions) before we would have to stop. When we started it was sunny, then dark, then rainy, then snowy, then we hit construction. All of this while getting progressively more tired. The construction under normal circumstances would have been unbearable. But the kids were sleeping well, and then Renata and I both went to sleep. YES, went to sleep. We were standing still for about an hour. So that little respite helped us keep moving. We finally made it to the hotel in Frankfurt at nearly 2am. Boy did bed feel good. Otherwise the trip wasn't bad. Over the last couple of years the length of high-quality motorway has increased by at least 100% which makes the drive within Poland a lot easier.
So we are now back in the city. Following new inspiration for ministry and developing more ideas.
Highlights of the last few weeks: my brother Ben hangin with us for a little while, going something like 200metres down into the earth in the salt mines near Krakow, talking with Charles Price on the phone while 3500 people listened in, hanging out with some of our good friends in The Hague, doing my immigration interview in Polish, Maja standing up easily (not to mention charming anyone near her when we are out in public.), going out to my favorite restaurant in the city for my birthday with Renata. Oh yeah, and the Ottawa Senators going out in the first round of the playoffs.
I'll post photos later today.

I'm Legit

2008-03-03T16:00:00.003+01:00

Today was immigration appointment day for us. Well, for me actually, but we all went. We were nervous going in that I might have to leave the country for a day and then come back. This was because I am within a couple days of the end of the 90 days I am allowed, as a Canadian, to stay in Poland. Things have been complicated with this a little bit now that as of December 21, 2007 Poland joined the border-free Schengen zone of Europe (no border patrols from here to the coast of Portugal). So now rather than simply hopping to Berlin and back, I would have to go to the UK or Lithuania or Russia or some other country not part of the Schengen zone. BUT, that is no longer a concern as my application for residency in the Republic of Poland has been accepted and should, barring some freak occurrence, be approved as EU law stipulates that as a spouse of an EU citizen, I must be granted residency unless I am a threat to national security. As far as I am aware, I am no such threat.
We are very thankful that we had a very nice official at the immigration office and that they accepted the application. We still have to get a couple of more things to them, but they have accepted it nonetheless and I don't have to leave the country.
I'll write more later about what's been going on with us over the last little while, but after today.

Moving Right Along

2008-01-22T08:41:00.000+01:00

Things have been changing pretty quickly in our house here recently. In the last two weeks: I have started Polish language lessons, Kaleb has pretty much started and finished potty-training, Maja has gotten her second tooth and has started eating some solid food. I have also started learning the new technical systems at International Christian Fellowship so I can start training a tech team of ICF's own. This coming Sunday I will also lead worship for the first time at ICF in more than 2 years.
We have been reconnecting with friends, both Christian and non as we seek to develop those relationships as well as get a better feel for what is going on in this city spiritually.
Don't blink, things are moving fast.

Happy New Year!!

2008-01-01T12:44:00.000+01:00

It is amazing to us that we are already into the New Year. What this means to us is: we have finished moving back into our apartment, we had a terrific and terrificly busy Christmas with 21 people in our apartment on Christmas day (most we've had) for more-or-less traditional North American Christmas dinner, and we have been here for nearly a month.
We didn't plan it, but Kaleb saw fireworks for the first time last night. He was woken up by people setting them off out his window. So we stood in his window watching them go up and burst a little above us (we are on the 7th floor so they don't go that much higher). He absolutely loved it--both the burst and the sound of the explosion.
Things are going well here as we ease into the Warsaw scene. Things change so rapidly here it takes a while to get caught up after a prolonged absence. We've met with some church leadership in the city and will continue to do so in the months to come as we look at what our role should be and what is next for the Church of Warsaw.
We are reconnecting with a lot of people right now that we have not seen--in most cases--for years. We are looking forward to practicing the gift of hospitality and establish meaningful relationships through which we can be Christ to others.
Pray for this city. It is growing very very quickly (1000 people a day move to the city) and there is so little in terms of Christian witness.

We wish you a happy new year and hope it will be even better than the last.

Kaleb is 3

2007-12-13T23:34:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was Kaleb's birthday. It's hard to believe that he's been a part of our lives for that long. We had a bit of a party here with his grandma (Renata's mom) and us. He also got a new bike from his great-grandmother. It was waiting for him when he came down the stairs. He's been working hard on riding it.
We are having some of his cousins over on Saturday for a bit more of a kids' party. But I think he had a good time yesterday all the same. He doesn't get to blow out candles that much, so he really enjoyed doing that...multiple times.

Arrived

2007-12-09T08:39:00.000+01:00

So we are all now in Warsaw safe and sound. Renata and the kids arrived early Wednesday afternoon. I left on Wednesday morning and arrived on Thursday afternoon. We are working hard to get things out of boxes and into the right place. We're making progress. It's the biggest move we've ever done.
We are enjoying being back in our own apartment as well as seeing familiar places. Today we'll be back at ICF (International Christian Fellowship) as regular attenders for the first time in 2 years. Much has changed during this time and we are eager to see how we can best serve this community. ICF is one of the churches we'll be connecting with as we look ahead and try to determine what is next in this wonderful city. I'll fill you in more later as far as what our time here is going to look like.
In the meantime, I'll eat some kielbasa for you.

Here We Go Now!!

2007-12-02T19:42:00.000+01:00

I am sitting with boxes all around me; some full, some empty soon to be full. The movers arrive for part two of the shipment tomorrow likely some time between 1 and 2pm. Slowly but surely we will be ready for them. We hand over the keys to our apartment on Tuesday, I start the drive to Warsaw immediately afterwards. Renata and the kids will fly on Wednesday morning after they spend the night at some friends of ours. I am hoping to be in Warsaw by the time they arrive. The movers will deliver our stuff on Wednesday afternoon and we start the process of settling back into Warsaw.
Today was our last Sunday at Crossroads. It was a good time. For me it's good to know that people valued my contribution to the community while we've been here. I must be doing something right.
There is an amazing amount of stuff ahead of us that we will start to navigate almost within hours of arriving in Warsaw. The very first thing is to renew my passport which expires on February 10. This is important for my application for a temporary residency permit. And that's just the start. I'll tell more of what we will be working on later. After we get to Warsaw.
I have to eat something now and then continue packing. Please pray for safe travels. Pray for Renata too as she will be taking the two kids on the plane by herself. It may well be a very tough 2 hours.
stay tuned...

Warsaw or Bust

2007-11-05T15:22:00.000+01:00

It's official. We are ready to make our move back to Warsaw. We are still playing with the exact date, but we will leave during the first week of December. I will likely drive with Kaleb and make it a two-day trip, while Renata will fly with Maja the next day.
Needless to say we are incredibly excited to be going "home" yet we are quite anxious about all the things that need to happen before we leave here. Not to mention all the things that come after we make the move in terms of settling back into the city and the spiritual community there and seeking how best we fit in and how we can serve the Church.

We took a little time the other day to enjoy the beach and the lovely crisp North Sea. We will definitely miss the lovely fish & chips of The Hague. This was Maja's first time on the beach itself. So i'm including a picture of her enjoying her surroundings.

Lessons in Democracy

2007-10-22T15:34:00.000+01:00

I know, I know. Two posts in one day. But there was an election yesterday in Poland and as that's where we intend to live and serve, it's good to keep you all in the loop on things related to that country.
Polish voters overcame apathy yesterday and learned that their vote does, in fact, make a difference. In 2005 when the last election was held, low voter turnout eliminated the chances of the Centre-Right party Civic Platform. Most of their supporters just didn't go vote because they figured that one vote didn't matter. So they got the government they deserve, as the adage goes. So for the last 2 years they have been increasingly embarrassed abroad by a ultra-Catholic nationalist/populist party who allied themselves with parties even more conservative-Catholic nationalist/populist than they were. The end of that coalition is what triggered this election. In the last election 2 million plus turned out and voted. The winner received about 27% of the vote. This time, 7million plus voters turned out sweeping Civic Platform to power with nearly a majority of seats--unheard of in multi-multi-party continental European nations. There were line-ups of Polish expats voting abroad. In Paris alone, it was a 2 hour wait. Not since the first free election in 1989 was voter turnout so high. This time, the winner received more than 41% of the vote.
On a more humorous side of things: As the party that was in power (Law and Justice) is largely supported by the more aged eligible voters, there was a campaign organized to "hide granny's ID card". Not sure whether it worked or not as the number of voters jumped from 2million to 7million. But funny all the same.

legend: PO - Platformy Obywatelstwa - Civic Platform
PiS - Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc - Law and Justice
LiD - Lewicy i Demokracji - Left and Democracy
PSL - Polish Peasants Party
S - Samoobrona - Self-Defense
LPR - Liga Polskich Rodzica - League of Polish Families
*interesting party names, i know.

Back to Normal?

2007-10-22T15:05:00.000+01:00

Field Orientation pt. 1 is over. We will go through pt.2 in April. It was a tough time, but I think generally a good time. It's tough enough to do it while you have small children, but when one of those children gets quick sick with a nasty cold and has a fever for 4 days, that makes it much more difficult. That made it hard for Renata to attend many of the sessions during the second week.
We were challenged by much of what we talked about. Everything from cultural adjustment to how we live as the church in our communities and in the context of modern-day Europe. I'll share two quick things that we are thinking or talking about now (Renata and me): the first is the cultural adaptation. We have lived in the Polish culture for a reasonable period of time and feel we have a pretty good grasp of things there. But then it struck me during our first week of FO--I have never worked with primarily Poles in a context that would be considered their "turf". Living connected with international communities gets you around doing that sort of thing. But we are going to put ourselves in a Polish community, not an international community. So things will be interesting.
The second thing we've been talking about is the idea of blessing others around us. Particularly those we either don't know or are not part of our church-community. It's hardly an original concept, but seems to be rarely practiced when we get into the rhythm of just living life. But it's an interesting thing when we take the posture of desiring to be a blessing each day to people with whom we cross paths. Not doing this because we have a chance to tell them about Christ, but because we have been blessed with everything we have. Mind you, once we start doing it, it becomes fun to do. Especially in much of Europe where this is not expected. Laugh if you will, but I was so happy yesterday when I was able to give just 10cents to the young muslim girl in front of me in line at the grocery store. Buying about 5 cartons of juice she was going to have to leave one behind because of being short a measly 10cents. You should have heard the cashier when I put down 20cents to cover it. Just 10 stupid cents, but it was so much fun to do that. Trying to live as a habitual blesser.

off to FO

2007-10-09T10:27:00.000+01:00

today we go north to Amsterdam where we will be until Sunday and then back her for part 2 of field orientation. could be fun because the people. could be a pain with Kaleb waking up at 5am. pray that things will go well for the next 10 days.

Pretty darn good day

2007-10-06T22:28:00.000+01:00

So yesterday (Friday) was a pretty good day for us here (for me in particular). Although it started before 6am (thank you Kaleb) I dropped our oldest munchkin off at preschool for the morning (I always enjoy riding with him on my bike), then went to my favorite little espresso bar near one of the palaces of the Queen. I met a friend of ours there and got a chance to discuss some of the things he's been working on and with and got to pick his brain about all that (as well as having a terrific pastry and a couple of cappuccinos). From there I headed down to meet my friend and supervisor (within CAI) at his house and talk about Warsaw and how things are going with us, and to touch base after we had an industrious conversation a few weeks ago about what I'd like to focus on the remainder of our time in The Hague. It was a very encouraging meeting for me (as meeting with him usually is) and I came away greatly lifted. Heading back to the office I spent some time reconnecting with some of the staff I haven't seen a lot of in the last couple of weeks and then got to working on some videos for this weekend. So after doing that, I was affirmed by people's reaction to it and was again satisfied.
Now, one more really cool thing happened yesterday. Our good friends Rob and Sandra got married (we haven't heard anything so we assume all happened as planned). They were two friends we really thought should be with someone great yet had none. Not that one or the other was actually looking. In August 2006, while sitting in our living room in Toronto (after having thought about it for a couple of weeks) I finally suggested to Renata that I thought Rob and Sandra would really enjoy each other's company because of their personality types. Renata agreed and we set about our work of introducing them. As you now know, they did, in fact, enjoy each other's company. We are so happy for them and happy also for the fact that we will have our anniversaries one day after the other as Renata and I were married on the 4th. Pretty cool huh?!

Yesterday

2007-10-05T07:04:00.000+01:00

So yesterday was Renata's and my 4th anniversary. It seems like it's been so much longer, but I mean that in a good way. It's been a pretty full 4 years.
It's difficult to do much to celebrate when you have such young children (Maja, at least) so we just had a nice evening here at home after Renata came back from meeting with her mentor in Amsterdam. It was also the first time we've had the resources to get each other gifts. Renata did good. She got me something I have wanted most of my life. An electric slot car track. Got a chance to play with it a bit last night after Kaleb was in bed. I'm going to set it up later and Renata and I will race.

lots of things goin' on

2007-10-01T10:28:00.000+01:00

Okay, so yes it has been a long time since i wrote anything here. Sorry about that. The last couple of months have been rather occupying. Even now I don't have much time to write, but thought I'd just give a quick online update as to recent and future events. I attended the Global Leadership Summit this last Friday and Saturday. I really enjoyed that. Very challenging time and quite refreshing.
Tomorrow, a few of us from Crossroads have been invited to the U.N. Peace Palace to play "Abide With Me" at a celebration put on by the Indian Ambassador. It is the first annual international day of non-violence (i guess violence is okay on the other days of the year) and Mahatma Gandhi's favorite hymn was apparently "Abide With Me". So rather bizarre, but we'll roll with it.
We'll be in Field Orientation from the 9th until the 20th in Amsterdam and here in the Hague.
And in the meantime we are working on defining what our role will be at least for the interim once we return to Warsaw, as well as continuing in our roles here and making sure we finish well.
More to follow later.

Our First Week With Maja

2007-08-17T09:53:00.000+01:00

It's been almost 1 week to the minute now since Maja was born. She's cuter by the day. Relatively speaking things have been pretty easy with her. Kaleb had a fever early in the week which meant we didn't sleep well with him waking up in the middle of the night, but that was gone quickly and we've had a good week since. Renata is recovering physically from the ordeal of pregnancy and is eager to feel a little more normal again. We are also still figuring Maja out in terms of what her rhythms and tendencies are for feeding and sleeping. But we're off to a pretty good start.
Kaleb loves being a big brother; helping mommy and daddy with Maja, holding her hand when she's crying, bringing her toys he thinks she might need, and even helping with her bath. And, of course, giving her lots of kisses.

I added a bunch more pictures in the last couple of days that you can take a look at in the web album (with downloads). Enjoy.

Maja Sue born this morning

2007-08-10T13:27:00.001+01:00

Hey everyone. Our daughter was finally born this morning (okay she was only 2 days late, but still feels like long last). She arrived at 11:10am CET and weighed in at 3.82kg (8lb 6.7oz). Both Maja and mommy are healthy and resting. She's a strong little thing already pushing with her legs. Click on our photo album (downloadable)to see more pictures of Maja.
We are officially a typical nuclear family. We need 0.4 children or something now to be perfectly average.

This Week in Holland

2007-07-19T10:28:00.000+01:00

Hey all. So first of all, I thought I'd post a couple of pictures from Kaleb's first day in Creche (pre-school). He loved it and can't wait to go back. This week, he was there just for Tuesday morning, but soon he'll start doing two mornings a week. There are a few blessings here: it gives Kaleb a more regular time for socialization and learning (music and crafts); it gives Renata a chance to get some much needed rest or come to the office for our staff meeting, etc.; it is basically on the way to the office which makes it very convenient; with many creches here there is a 2-year waiting-list which makes it difficult for those of us here temporarily. But this one is just opening, is run by a British/Dutch couple, and is much, much less expensive than your average creche. We are really happy that Kaleb had such a good time on Tuesday and that he evidently feels it is a safe place.

Second of all, I want to apologize for most of you receiving our update last week in your email inboxes anything between 25 and 47 times (as we have heard). It is a glitch in Microsoft Outlook that rears its head sometimes when you are sending an email to large numbers of people. We haven't had a problem with it in a long time and send it to small numbers of people at a time, but c'est la vie. So we apologize for that. Please don't hate us. (-:

Worship Night

2007-07-11T08:53:00.000+01:00

This last Sunday we had an evening of worship at Crossroads. People really enjoyed and really engaged in worship. It was the end of a long weekend and a long day, so I'm glad it went well. It was also my first time leading a service since the autumn of 2005, so took a bit of time to get back in the groove. More to come.

Back in Den Haag

2007-06-27T22:51:00.000+01:00

We are back in Den Haag tonight. We are glad to be back in our home as it's always nice to be there...wherever your home is. We drove more than 2700km in the last week. It was a terrific trip. We got to hook up with some of our dearest friends in Warsaw, meet some people that are new there, spend time with people we hadn't had a chance to before, celebrate the wedding of the last of Renata's cousins to get married, and spend time with many members of the family besides. It was so nice to be in Warsaw again. Our main frustration is that one week is WAYYYYY too short for any visit there. Glad to have gone though.
Kaleb was really good on the whole trip. He enjoyed spending time first with Gus--the dog of the friends at whose house we stayed, and then with his cousins, in particular with Veronika (who is coming on Friday with her mother and grandmother to spend a couple of weeks with us) whom he is calling "Vivi". He's wonderful. He makes parenting seem easy a lot of the time.
I'm adding some pictures to our photo album. Videos of our little dancing fiend will follow shortly.

On The Road Again

2007-06-18T11:48:00.000+01:00

We have a car!!!
After dealing with Dutch bureaucracy (the worst we've dealt with in the number of countries in which we've lived) in a round-about way, we are possession of a car. We are leaving tomorrow to spend a week in Poland. So, better to drive with a car than without. I won't explain "round-about" way here as it would take too many pixels. We believe we paid a very good price for the car and are happy to have a car that should serve us well for a number of years. But a million things yet to do today before we pack and head out tomorrow. So I'll leave it at that. Will add a picture later. Looking forward to the German autobahns tomorrow. Woohoo!!

My Celebrity Look-Alikes

2007-06-14T21:34:00.000+01:00

Just did this as a joke. Friend of ours in Paris did the same. They returned 10 people. Fortunately I was able to remove Jean-Paul Aristide and Jean Chretien. Scary!

Street Party

2007-06-13T15:14:00.000+01:00

A few days ago, mysterious signs appeared on every lamppost on our street. They said there would be no parking on Nieuwediepstraat between 10am and 6pm. At the bottom of the notice was written "nationale straatspeeldag". Not entirely sure how "nationale" it really is, but flags went up on Monday evening and our street emptied of cars through the morning. I have never experienced a "block-party" or anything like that, but I love places you can get cotton candy (suikerspin), caramel corn, and waffles with half a cup of powdered sugar on top. With the stage Kaleb is at he can enjoy such a thing quite a bit. He got to sit in a fire truck (pickup), and see an ambulance up close. His favorite thing to do is dance though. So he was literally running around the street to the rhythm of the music. He played foosball for the first time (with a little help from aunt Andrea) which makes his daddy proud. Check our videos to see a video or two of Kaleb dancing or our photos to see more photos of Kaleb at the party.
**a note to Jays fans: please excuse the Cubs hat. They're a national league team with no real chance of every winning the series, so for now let's pretend the "C" stand for Constable.

Play it again

2007-06-09T07:52:00.000+01:00

Last Sunday we had a worship night at Crossroads. It was the first time I have played since November 2005. A long time it has been. I really enjoyed it and my hands have largely recovered since then. It is the second time we have had a "worship night" at Crossroads since Renata and I arrived here in February. We had more people this time and the feedback we are getting is very positive. In fact there is more and more of a desire to have another "service" in which we spend more time in musical worship and have a more interactive feel, i.e. we take communion at stations around the room where there are also people to pray with you if you desire. People were very responsive this last time. We focused on being hungry for God. People are. I will be leading the next one on July 8th. Talk about ratcheting things up for me. I will probably start working on that in the next week.
I will try and get some pictures from the first worship night we did added to our album. I was taking pictures that night. That way you can see where we work and some of the people we work with. Don't know that anyone was taking pictures this last time.

6 months in Europe

2007-06-09T07:20:00.000+01:00

We can hardly believe we left Canada to come back to Europe 6 months ago yesterday. A lot has happened in those months and we've moved a great number of times. For the last 3 months we have been living in our apartment here in The Hague.
Things are coming along here. Renata is meeting with women leaders in the Crossroads community in order to mobilize women in the church that want to lead or be a part of a womens' ministry that focuses intentionally on life transformation that comes from relationship with Christ. They will likely start with a group study of Brennan Manning's book "Abba's Child". Renata has been meeting with her mentor for the last month and a half or so.
I have been helping Crossroads take their technical production and service execution to the next level as after 10 years (celebrating 10-year anniversary this fall) things have gotten pretty static. I am leading the technical teams and am looking to develop an arts group over the summer with a number of people who's gifts are not being utilized. At the same time I will be meeting with a mentor who will help me prepare for arriving in Warsaw. We'll work through the personal and theological as well as our vision for a new project in Warsaw, casting vision, and developing as a leader. I am excited about that.

Gettin' Around

2007-06-02T09:45:00.000+01:00

I thought I'd post a picture of us with our means of transportation. This is generally how we travel the whole city. On Sundays I often spend about 2 hours on my bike. Very important to have these. Kaleb loves riding. He's still learning how to pedal his trike around the house.

Pictures

2007-05-23T21:15:00.000+01:00

We just got a new camera today. First time I've purchased a digital camera. The stores here are really pushing them this week and the one that I wanted was selling at a good price. So I took a few pictures that you can see a little of life here.

Ultrasound

2007-05-14T10:24:00.001+01:00

So I finally uploaded a couple of clips from our ultrasound done about a month ago. Part 1 is a large part of the ultrasound (even then it's only about 1/3 of the whole thing). On part 2 you can hear the heart beat. Just thought you might want to see it.

Part 1
Part 2

p.s. We are in week 28 right now, due August 8th.

Easter Weekend and Big Bird is blue

2007-04-13T10:50:00.001+01:00

Hey all. Yes, it's been a while since I posted anything here. We are settling in more and more to regular life here in The Hague, and in the meantime it has been quite a busy time here with Good Friday, Easter, and other things here at Crossroads. To top it off, my computer has been somewhat incapacitated.
Easter weekend was a good weekend for Crossroads. We had a Good Friday service Friday evening (which works better for lighting in a room with windows--no daylight). There were about 200 people in attendance. It was an evening of lament, meditation, and worship. It was the best service at Crossroads since we have been here.
On Easter Sunday we also saw very good attendance totalling about 325. This is very high given how many people leave town on holidays like Easter.

On a side note, the Dutch version of Sesame Street is called "Sesamstraat." The theme song is loosely based on the version we North Americans all know so well. The rest of the show has a very Dutch/European feel to it. The most interesting thing to me, however, is that Big Bird--that gigantic perpetually 6-year old yellow flightless bird--is BLUE in the Netherlands.
Just thought i'd share.

Day in Leiden

2007-03-28T20:45:00.000+01:00

One of the projects that Crossroads is working on is a churchplant in Leiden, a little north of The Hague. So yesterday I headed north 20 minutes by train. This is a university town of 100,000+. Quite a nice town it is. Very stereotypically Dutch with lots of canals and bridges. I went up there with my colleague Remko and a group of 7 people from Spokane, WA. Most of them are in the process of exploring what God would have them do in the area of mission. 3 of them are actually in the pipeline of becoming staff with Christian Associates. So we went into the center of the town and surveyed a number of people as to their perception of spirituality, Christ, the Church, and their town. After a debriefing session for that, we walked the town praying for the city, the people, and what God might have us do in that city. It was my first experience doing this sort of thing. It's not the most natural thing for me to simply approach someone on the street and ask them questions. At the same time, this is an area in which I am growing--as Renata can attest. I only got to two surveys, but once we got going, it was a good experience. The Dutch tend to have opinions and are quite willing to talk to you if you ask. They do tend to have a rather brusque exterior that can put friendly North Americans off. Get passed that, and they are quite friendly. There was nothing extraordinary or revolutionary in the responses gleaned yesterday, but they were the first surveys done and were helpful nonetheless.
It was a good day and a good introduction for me to the initial stages of church planting in European cities. We will continue to do this sort of thing in Leiden in the months to come as well as when we return to Warsaw.
Leiden is a place you could be praying for especially over the next year as the process continues of putting a project in place. Being a university town it is very oriented towards knowledge and the esoteric. Towards spiritual things it tends to be highly ambivalent or, at the most, oriented towards a buffet-style spirituality where you simply take and do what suits you.

So needy, but relative wealth and comfort obscures their awareness.

Role Call

2007-03-15T20:12:00.000+01:00

We are finalizing what shape our ministry here in The Hague will look like over the next year. In a few meetings with the Kevin Johnson, the lead pastor at Crossroads, we sculpted our roles based on our individual giftings and experience and areas in which we really want to develop ourselves in the months to come. So…

Together, we will be putting together a 20-something’s leadership team in order to establish a real sense of community and connection with others at Crossroads.
We will be starting and leading a small group (hopefully in our home here) together.

Renata will be networking with women at Crossroads to plan 2 or 3 events directed toward initiating an ongoing ministry among women. She will prepare and develop a women’s Bible study on the book of Esther with another experienced woman. She will also be an active leader on the Crossroads Communications team as they raise the level of awareness of the Crossroads in the community and the level of excellence in its communication materials and venues.

I (Tim) will be working directly with Kevin and the associate pastor Scott Curley in developing services and improving artistic expression within (along with developing myself artistically personally).

Also, where possible, we will be assisting in Leiden, town 15 minutes north of The Hague, in a church-planting project taking shape there.

So there you have it. That’s the gist of what we’ll be up to for the next little while. Thought you’d like to know.

Cows and Beaches

2007-03-12T22:15:00.000+01:00

Today, Kaleb and I gave Renata a chance to get some much needed rest. Being an absolutely beautiful and sunny day (take 'em when you can get 'em in this part of the world) we went to one of the many children's farms the city has to offer. Kaleb was very happy to see cows, goats, chickens, ducks, and sheep. For the rest of the day whenever I mentioned that we got to see animals, he starts "moo-ing". Once we were done with the animals, we headed northwest to the dunes and the beaches. The only part that Kaleb actually walked was over the dunes--both directions. When I suggested that he put the sea shell, that he had chosen for his mommy, in his pocket, he had to pick up a second shell as he realized he had two pockets.

Just a funny thing

2007-03-06T19:21:00.000+01:00

We saw this the other day while riding to church on the bus. So here you go.

In The House!!

2007-03-06T17:04:00.000+01:00

We are in our new apartment now. We are settling in and getting all the little things that we need to make our home here (mop, bucket, dishwasher detergent, etc.). Our sofa was delivered from the second-hand store yesterday and that was the final major piece of the puzzle, although we would love some more chairs for the dining room table. I am even getting more used to the bike ride to and from the office (25 min.). Today was the worst ride i ever had as there was very strong wind and rain on the way home (lowest gear on the bike all the way). I was soaked by the time i finally arrived. Will be finding rain gear within a couple of days.
I mentioned Kaleb's race car bed in an earlier post. So i am including a couple of pictures i took yesterday with my phone. We had just assembled it (Kaleb was so excited he wanted to get in it almost before we had the pieces together). He's not sleeping in it yet, but he thinks it's incredibly cool. Pictures of the house (exterior) and what we did this last weekend to come in a later post.

Tomorrow

2007-03-01T21:28:00.000+01:00

So tomorrow is the day we move into our new apartment. We have moved a fair bit of stuff in already (mainly kitchen stuff and a couple of chairs and lamps), but tomorrow we move matresses, some short cabinets, and Kaleb's new (for him) race car bed. On Monday our sofa arrives (we bought it today at a wonderful second hand store). So, exciting stuff. I even got a pretty retro rotisserie and a gourmet set for free yesterday. All i need is a fondue set. Also still looking for my "lazy-boy" chair. Kaleb is also very pleased with the stuffed toy poodle that he snagged yesterday.

After moving in,i'll be pretty busy Saturday and Sunday as a music instructor from the U.S. is coming to work with the worship bands at the church here. Should be a good time.

Kaleb has a cold now and has been getting up very early the last few mornings. So that's taking it's toll on us, especially Renata.

That's the latest. Sorry now pictures yet. Soon they shall come.

Establishing Ourselves

2007-02-25T22:23:00.000+01:00

We continue to take steps towards being established here in The Hague for the next year. On Friday, we signed the contract for our new apartment, of which we take possession this Tuesday. We are blessed to have many people offering furniture and other household items to help us make a home. Kaleb will even have a race care bed. We went this last week to meet a lady selling some maternity clothes. She had a couple of boxes full of kitchenware that she said we could have. And Kaleb will be going back there for playdates with her 2 1/2 year old son.
We'll start moving into our new place on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.
I bought transportation for myself yesterday also. Seeing that we are in the Netherlands, I purchased a good second-hand Dutch bike. So now I'm getting used to riding in the bike lanes and on the roads here. We've been fitting Kaleb for a helmet as he's going to be doing a fair bit of bike riding this year. We'll see how he likes it.
We are also getting a much better idea of what our roles will be with Crossroads Church here for the next year. After we move into our apartment this week, we'll be able to focus on our ministry functions.
We'll try and add some pictures in the next few days.

2007-02-18T22:29:00.000+01:00

Touching Down in Den Haag (The Hague)

2007-02-18T15:46:00.000+01:00

We have now been in The Hague for two weeks. In every way we feel as though we are finally getting our feet on the ground; literally, when our plane landed in Amsterdam; and figuratively, now that we are all more-or-less healthy (after several days of stomach flu for some of us) and are close to settling into an apartment of our own. We are also working out the details of what our internship here in The Hague will look like for the next year, but we are happy with the progress there. As we will be staying in the country for a whole year we must file for residency and get plugged into the system here for health care and what all.
We'll add pictures as soon as we can. Anyone want to contribute to our camera fund?

2006-06-07T04:18:00.000+01:00

inaugural post

2006-06-07T04:05:00.000+01:00

So we have taken the plunge, putting months of deliberation into what we should call our blog/site behind us. We'll start small and grow this baby. The revolution is here!