Greetings from Rzeszow!

Top(from left to right): Kaitlyn, Anthony, Daren (in back), Kerri, Justin (in back), Ashley, Luke
Bottom: Amber, the long-term missionary

These past two weeks have been packed-full with orientation, planning, and learning. Here are a few highlights of what the team has been up to lately:

-A day in the capital city, Warsaw. Here we got our first taste of Polish language and culture and visited a museum about the Polish Uprising.

-Several days getting used to our new home for the summer, Rzeszow (pronounced zhe-shoov). We have experienced several delicious Polish meals (typically some sort of meat, salad, and potatoes), walked around the town square, and spent time with new friends.

-A three day trip to the "cultural capital" of the country, Krakow. We enjoyed the vibrant town square and beautiful architecture and also learned much about Poland's rich history and devout Catholic beliefs. We were able to walk through Wawel Castle and its cathedral, where many of Poland's most important leaders are buried. A difficult day was spent at Auschwitz, the world's largest death camp, in use during the time of the Holocaust.

Overall, the team is busy but well! Amber is doing a wonderful job hosting and helping all of us learn about and experience the culture here in Poland.

Here's a look at the upcoming week:
-Daily Polish lessons
-Spending time with locals and continuing to build relationships
-Involvement in the local church - this week Anthony will be preaching and the the team will be leading worship
-Prayer walks around the city

We are grateful for your support and prayers and thankful for your partnership in this new ministry God has called us to. We look forward to sharing what He continues to do here in Poland!

Z Bogiem (with God),

The Mountain Team

Top: St. Mary's Cathedral in downtown Krakow

Bottom: Downtown Krakow

Top: Overlooking Krakow from the belltower of Wawel Castle

Bottom: One of the most delicious meals here in Poland - Zurek (sour soup) in a bread bowl

Remains of Auschwitz-Birkenau

Perspectives of the Mountain Team: Our first week in Poland

There is an obliviousness to the Heart of this place. Everyone seems to be convinced that they are going somewhere; some sweet place promised to them by a forgotten hope salesman left down the road of broken dreams, disappointments, and failed relationships. Each new advertisement, cigarette, and girlfriend brings something yet explored; awakens the very desire they so desperately tried to kill the last time their hopes rose, only to fail them. Signs on church buildings prohibit the entry of the scandalously dressed, never letting us escape the reminder that Jesus Christ is only for the “righteous enough,” only for the pious, only for those wealthy enough to afford clothes. He is NOT for the promiscuous, the broken, the whores, the abused, the hurting, the alcoholics, the womanizers, and those caught in the asphyxiating grips of their sin. Here, we must be well dressed to pay homage to the temples men have built. It was Voltaire who once said, “God made man in His own image, and now man returns the favor.” Hope here is a flicker, but it is a flicker not easily blown out.
Jesus’ words are wooing as He beckons these people to bring their weary souls to find rest in Him alone. That way is hard: it is hard to love a God your culture sees as out-dated, obsolete, and as boring as the stained glass depictions of bearded men on crosses portrayed on the sinless folks’ buildings. It is hard to leave sex, marijuana, the pursuit of money, and alcohol when they have been kind enough to provide you with a name, a purpose, and to take up your thoughts and your time. Jesus never said that the Easy Way was not beautiful, enticing, and full of the people that you want to be just like. He never said that the hard way was glamorous, either, but it is GLORIOUS.
When Jesus came, to where was it? May we be reminded of these words, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” As Christ, pure goodness and beauty, superimposed Himself with the broken and the ugly, so these two Ways, while spiritually set apart by an ocean of Grace and waves of Holiness; torrents of pain and rainbows of promised joy, are physically intertwined like two lovers sharing their first embrace. As the multitude of Poles head to an eternity of sorrow and “what-if’s,” may the Redeemed forsake all of life’s trifles and fight to tear down the walls of Jericho in the hearts of the lost; the Babel’s of confusion in the minds of the hurting. May we come out of our church buildings and our “Kingdom-of-one’s” to look the countless “I-never-knew-you’s” in the face and tell them of a Treasure buried in a field that is worth selling everything we have to possess. May we lose our lives that they may live. May we be captivated by the seductive words of a Savior: “Follow me.” Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. May we be precious!
"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” EVERYONE.

by Daren Fomin