Winter 2008/2009 has been a whirlwind so far...and the definition I refer to is "to move or travel quickly" not "reap the whirlwind, to suffer the penalties for one's misdeeds" (random tangent: I found it interesting dictionary.com listed a biblical verse [Hosea 8:7] as one of their definitions. *end random tangent*).

December brought us a number of visitors & excursions to Krakow which of course we suffered through. Laura & I are such troopers - tolerating many visits to "More Than a Cookie" (a cookie store owned & operated by an American family), "Coffee Heaven" (Poland's answer to Starbucks), & "Subway" sandwiches....in all seriousness, these frivelous things help us with our bouts of homesickness. Radom is more stereo-typical Poland so it's nice to have a taste of home once in a while.

I was able to spend three days with my best friend Lesley & another friend as they visited Krakow. I actually managed not to hyperventilate from excitement the entire time she was here! An amazing feat! Immediately following, Laura's sister came to visit us in Radom for just over two weeks. She very nicely put up with me asking around 150 questions about Catholicism; it helped me to be able to understand the Polish people's identity being entwined with their religion. What makes them tick, how to not accidently insult them, how to nurture relationships with them, etc. We ended 2008 by celebrating in Krakow playing games & such with some fellow IM co-workers, then went down to the Old Square to watch the fireworks at midnight & enjoy the concert.

We just wrapped up a two-week camp. The first week we went into local high schools & gave presentations on American Culture as well as sharing about our camp; the second week was the actual Youth English Camp. In addition, each evening for those two weeks we had activities at our church. We now have about 20 teenagers who requested to be on our email distribution list for youth parties & bible studies. Although practically we know that we will lose contact with some of these kids, we will continue to hold out hope & be persistent with them! We are praying that our local church youth will reach out to the newcomers & integrate well. Laura & I had an additional six kids come to our bible study last week - we are hoping to retain those numbers this week!! We had an absolutely wonderful American Team come to the camp - a mixture of Nebraskans & Marylanders. Two extremely different breeds of people, meshing together perfectly into one family, who I am already pining for. To be selfish, it was refreshing to be able to banter back & forth at "East Coast" speed. There aren't many english speakers in Radom, and those that are here you have to remember to be careful to talk slowly & without slang. Something which is very hard for me to do!

This weekend coming up we are excited to be able to spend time with Darwin & Darlis Anderson (from IM). We have periodic staff care visits from IM which really mean a lot to us. After this weekend, my "normal" routine commences again....

In case you are wondering, here is my standard weekly schedule (with occasional minor changes):
Sunday: Church (morning) & Street Ministry in the park (evenings)
Monday: Lesson Planning (afternoon) & Teaching (evening)
Tuesday: Women's Bible Study (morning), Polish lesson (afternoon), give Advanced English lesson (afternoon), & Celebrate Recovery program (evening)
Wednesday: IM Meeting (morning), Lesson Planning (afternoon), & Teaching (evening)
Thursday: Lesson Planning (morning), Polish lesson (afternoon), give Advanced English lesson (afternoon) & Teaching (evening)
Friday: Off!
Saturday: Co-lead a Youth Bible Study; once a month we hold a Youth Party at our flat