So much has happened since Christmas break, and even during Christmas break that I never shared here. Don't worry I won't try to fit it all into one post. But i did feel that I should share a little update on this semester before I launch into my more recent adventures over spring break and departure from Europe.
That title is sarcastic, I'll let you know right off the bat. Most of you have probably already heard this story, but for those of you who haven't I will attempt to summarize the last leg in my Christmas break journey. Flying out of Spain I was all too aware of the awful snow storms raging all around London area, however when my plane took off as scheduled my worried evaporated and my thoughts were consumed with my Christmas break required reading and thoughts of how I would get from point A (London Gatwick Airport) to point B (the Morton's house where I was planning on staying) once we landed. So needless to say I was just short of speechless when after circling Gatwick for a good hour the pilot announced our plane had been diverted to Bournemouth- the southern coast of England, and even more shocked to hear after sitting on a runway for a couple hours that the airline would do nothing to get us to London or provide longing for the night. So as an 18 year old girl, alone standing outside what I'm convinced is one of the world's smallest airports, with but 10 or so Euros in my pocket, I was pretty scared to find out that the roads and rail lines to London were all shut down. So climbing into a cab with two complete strangers from one of the other 6 flights that were sent to Bournemouth I was able to pull out some money and ended up sharing a travel lodge room with my cab buddies. after a few hours of sleep I headed out the next morning and after a few debit card complications managed pay the ridiculously high train fare to London. Finally feeling like I was back on my feet again I settled in for a relaxing ride up to London with a missionary I met on the way from South Korea. Getting off the train and making my next connection should have been a simple task, and it would have been - had I not forgotten my backpack on the train in my hurry. So making a mad dash back across the Waterloo station on central London I arrived back at my platform just minutes after the train left carrying my backpack and all it's precious cargo away with it. In near tears I explained to the security officer my situation, how my back pack contained not only my most of my schoolbooks, but also my laptop, my Brazilian passport, and a whole bunch of tickets and official papers for insurance and such. The man just looked at my incredulously - unbelieving that I could forget such a thing (obviously i could believe it either!). What followed was one of the most ridiculous days of my life. my definition of ridiculous? Well to me ridiculous could mean a lot of things. Annoying, Difficult, challenging, incredible, awesome, memorable...well this day was ll of those. The security officer stationed me at a cafe, bought me coffee and lunch retuning to me every hour and a half or so to update me on my missing backpack.
I sat in that cafe for around 7 hours, missed all possible transportation to the family I planned to stay with, struggled to give up my will and control over the impossible situations I found myself in, saw how God kept me sane by giving me little things like free hot chocolate, and saw Him reveal himself, his protection, and work as I've never seen him do in my life before. It was a long 7 hours, but God certainly provided for me and in the end my backpack was returned to me with only one or two postcards missing from the front pocket. There is so much more I could share here, but I haven't the time. This adventure literally changed my life when i think about it. It taught me to trust the Lord on a more practical level than I'd ever experienced before, and I know it's something i will not quickly forget!
~~My 13th country in a year: POLAND!~~
Every year sing team has on weekend ministry trip this year we spent a weekend in February in Poland a WOL winter camps there here is the letter I sent out to my supporters for the trip with all that happend - once again God proved Himself marvelous beyond my imagination!
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(above right: view from the hotel window)
God bless,
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Dear Friends and Family,
I hope this little update finds you well! I just wanted to thank you all so much for supporting me and the sing team on our missions trip to Poland! God was able to do some awesome things during our long weekend there. I know it is a trip I will never forget.
Sing Team and a few select others set out on our seven hour journey to Poland early Friday morning, winding our way through the mountains of Slovakia and up into the snowy slopes of Zakopane, Poland. We made it there around 3 o’clock without mishap. Thank the Lord, we had heard the horror stories from previous trips! We were soon ushered up to our rooms in a beautiful chalet style hotel that Word of Life Poland had
rented for the winter conference and camps to follow. Although the weather was somewhat dreary during our stay the scenery that surrounded us looked like something out of a picture book. (below: Fanni, Yana, and I at winter camp)
Our first ministry opportunity was that Friday night where we were able to perform a few songs, translated into polish and then enjoy WOL Poland director Tim Good’s thoughts on the weekend theme: prayer. The next two days of the retreat were something of a blur. Because of the many blizzards across the USA recently the conference speaker was unable to make it until Sunday- the last day. Through out Saturday and Sunday Sing team and all the other staff and students that made the trip with us were stretched to our limits, filling in the empty spaces left by an absentee speaker. We crammed in a few quick practices and threw in a few new songs, solos, and sermons. By God’s grace lives were touched, even under such last minute circumstances. I got the chance to sing part of one of our Hungarian songs in English, our sing team leader Gabor, got to lead a few meetings, and our staff joined with Poland’s to put together several beautiful special numbers. It was great to see how all the details worked out, despite our worries.
Sunday morning we were all very happy to listen to the intended conference speaker share the thoughts he originally had five hours to share. Of course because of all his traveling issues he only had two hours to communicate what God had placed on his heart. Nevertheless, despite the time crunch, I don’t think there was a person there who was not touched by what he had to say. Also on Sunday Sing team preformed a skit. Some may be familiar with the Lifehouse skit: everything. It is a very moving pantomime about a girl who begins her life in wonder at her creator and the world he created, but then a charming young man comes along and steals her heart. What follows is one thing after another: money, drunkenness, eating disorders, and finally physical abuse and suicide until the young girl realizes what she gave up in the beginning and throws herself toward her Savior, warring against the sins of her past until Jesus steps in and sets her free. If you’d like to see one version of this skit here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_M33GcJAmU Thank the Lord for using our feeble attempts to express his grace to touch other peoples hearts. Some were moved to tears. Many people were challenged to take there lives with the Lord to the next step, and some even to place their lives in His hands. Praise the Lord!
Of course we also managed to fit in time for fun, including skiing and snowboarding for some, shopping in town, and lots of fellowship. We also got the chance to visit Auschwitz and Birkenau the holocaust concentration camps. Walking through old gas chambers, prisons, and execution sites paints life in a completely different way. It is amazing the cruelty that we are capable of, and I am left even more in awe of a Savior that would die for the likes of us. (right: the famous gate at Birkenau, Auswitz 2)
Over all the Poland trip was a time of growth, ministering to others, fun and fellowship with believers from all across the globe. And I just want to thank all of you for investing your time money and prayers in making this possible! The Lord is SO good!
Mishaela
