POLAND 2009 - Guitar Lessons for Youth

Piotrków-Trybunalski, Poland

Thursday, February 26, 2009.
Guitar Lessons For Youth
At the Free Evangelical Church here in Piotrków-Trybunalski, there is a man named Andrzej who is the leader of children’s ministry. In fact, we have written about and put up pictures of this lovely couple, Andrzej and Kasia, and their children, Jakub and Filip on our blog in previous posts.

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Andrzej very much has a heart for the youth of this city. In fact, Andrzej is very much involved in administration of the Kid’s Club VBS that takes place at the church. In Piotrków-Trybunalski, there are other after school programs for children run by the city, called świetlica miasto (city kid’s club), three of which the church here is connected with, and it is from these after school programs that many youth come to the Kid’s Club VBS held at the church.
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Andrzej has had it in his heart to stay connected with these after school programs, more than just on Tuesdays, when the church holds a weekly Kid’s Club meeting, or twice a year at Summer and Winter Kid’s Club, which is a one week VBS. So he had an idea that we could visit these after school programs on a weekly basis, and give guitar lessons to youth who are interested. He asked if I could partner with him in this, and of course I thought it was a great idea. Every Friday, Cho Nas and I join Andrzej, giving guitar lessons to some of the youth who are come to the church here.
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So far, we have taught the youth how to play these guitar chords: Em, D and C. They are actually doing quite well. Of course, if you have ever attempted to learn to play the guitar, you know that it takes time to build up calluses and to not touch other strings while you are trying to press down firmly enough to get the correct sound out of the guitar. But these youth are making great strides. They usually want me to play and sing one of my original songs every week as well. So this is a very practical way that our family can shine the light of Christ among the youth in Piotrków-Trybunalski, while building relationships. We thank the Lord that we can serve this way.
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Christian Young

POLAND 2009 - Praying at Historic Sites

Piotrków-Trybunalski, Poland

Saturday, February 21, 2009
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Catholic Church of St. James
Our warfare prayer team chose to pray at this historical site, first. It is the site of Kościol famy pw. Św. Jakuba, which in English is “the Catholic Church of St. James.” I think that you will be blown away at the history behind this place, as we have been.
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In pre-Christian times there were two hills in the place where downtown Piotrków-Trybunalski now lies. The pagans of that day dedicated these two hills to two different sets of “gods.” One of these hills was dedicated to the “white gods,” on which was built the more used Catholic church in town, the Catholic church of St. Bernard. The other on of these hills was dedicated to the “black gods,” on which was built the Catholic church of St. James, which we prayed at today. So even before Christianity came to Poland, there is a dark past surrounding this site of historical and spiritual significance.

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In 1555, a synod took place at this church. One bishop whose name was Łaski (which is a form of the Polish word meaning “grace”) was involved in the reformation that was taking place in England. He was actually impacted by the reformation and came back to Poland with a desire to see some reform take place in the Catholic Church in Poland. In fact, the synod was actually open to these ideas from Łaski, and agreed, at least in part, with the desire to see some reform. Łaski died in 1560, and another bishop named Łuchanski came to Piotrków-Trybunalski. Łuchanski was also originally open to the idea of reform. In fact, all of Poland was seen up to this point as a very open nation. Poland was open to different expressions of religion, having no problems with the Orthodox church and Lutheran church, or even the Muslims at that time.
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Sometime during the next twenty years after this synod, the Council of Trent took place in Europe. This was the Catholic Church’s response to the protestant reformation that was taking place in Germany and elsewhere, which was historically a response of strong disagreement with the protestant reformation. After the Council of Trent, the Catholic Church sent a bishop from Italy named Hozjusz (Jose) to Poland to carry out decisions made at the Council of Trent in Poland.
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Another point of history about this church, the Catholic church of St. James needs to be stated, as well as the history behind the name of this city, Piotrków-Trybunalski. Piotrków-Trybunalski literally means “Peter’s tribunal” (with obvious Catholic overtones as Peter was the first pope in Catholicism). The king of Poland often met with the senate (sejm) here in Piotrków-Trybunalski. Many political and religious decisions were made for the entirety of Poland in this city.

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In 1577, another synod took place at this church. It was at this synod, in this church, at this time that the decision to embrace the counter-reformation took place. This was agreed upon in this church by the Catholic Church, the king of Poland and the senate. Following this decision at the synod in 1577 ensued massive violence and resistance against any protestant groups. And not only this, Poland from here on out would be as a whole a closed nation, not open to other religious groups at all. Many non-Catholics were persecuted, mistreated and even killed by Polish Catholics after this synod that took place here at the Catholic Church of St. James in 1577. Catholicism and nationalism became even more entwined. The history of Poland from this point on is a sad one. Poland even came to a point in the following years where it began losing territory and eventually even had no borders and was literally taken off the map, being invaded and kicked around by other oppressors. This decision at the synod in 1577 also opened the door to anti-Semitism in the area which would allow Piotrków-Trybunalski to become the place of the first Jewish ghetto in Poland.
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Upon searching the Scriptures it was found that 430 years was exactly the time period that Israel had been in slavery for in Egypt. WOW! You see, there have been many prophecies in the past concerning Poland; that Poland would be a place of great revival. We believe that Satan caught wind of these prophecies and has done all he can to squash what God has wanted to do here. Yet, God is greater than the Enemy, and we believe that His desire is that this 430 year period of spiritual slavery be ended. So it starts with us. Praying at this place where decisions were made that have resulted in much spiritual darkness over all of Poland for centuries. Repenting on behalf of the Polish people for these ungodly decisions that were made in hopes that somehow, the undoing of these curses brought upon this country would begin to take place.

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It was on these benches that decisions were made which affected all of Poland.

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A neat picture of the light of God shining into these dark places.

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The Jesuit Church
Under the umbrella of the Catholic Church of St. James is the Jesuit Church. In fact, the two churches are so connected that they are referred to as, “fara,” which really links the two of them almost as one entity. This church also has historical significance, as many of the counter-reformation decisions were made at this place as well. Our warfare prayer team decided to pray at this place as well. Today, the Jesuit Church houses Piotrków-Trybunalski’s painting of Mary, which I will comment more on when I write about the Old Town Hall below.

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Piotrków-Trybunalski's painting of Mary, "The Queen of Poland."

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The Old Town Hall
In 2008 the city began to dig up the foundation of what was once the Old Town Hall, right in the middle of the old town square (stare miasto). I am not quite sure on the history of when and why it was destroyed. My guess is that it happened sometime during the Nazi occupation of Poland during World War II. Anyway, there is historical and spiritual significance at this place as well.

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In this Old Town Hall, is where they would often have senate meetings that would impact the whole of Poland. Poland became a Catholic nation back in 966. There has been a very unhealthy fixation on Mary, the mother of Jesus, towards the beginning of this Catholic nation’s history (please feel free to read back into the archives, and even watch one of the videos from 2007 when our team went to Częstachowa, where the cult of Mary was fueled even more so when the Polish Catholics in the city were being attacked by the Swedes, and prayed to the “Black Madonna,” a painting of Mary and Jesus, who supposedly gave them victory over the Swedes). Every city in Poland has its’ own painting of Mary specific to that particular city. Piotrków-Trybunaslki is no exception. In fact, during the time period mentioned before, when a senate meeting was to take place at the Old Town Hall in PT, the city’s painting of Mary would be taken out of the Catholic Church of St. James, in a sort of procession, and hung up in the Old Town Hall, so that “Mary would preside over the senate meetings.”
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Weird stuff. The connection between Piotrków-Trybunalski and the rest of Poland goes even further. Just recently, it was decided by the Polish government that it would be the painting of Mary that belongs to PT that was to be put up in the senate building in Warsaw, where these senate meetings now take place so that “Mary would preside over the senate meetings.” This goes to show how much of Poland’s roots are actually here in Piotrków-Trybunalski. In fact, we believe that it is no coincidence that just last year the foundation of this Old Town Hall was dug up and elevated so that it can be seen in the old town square. We believe that there is symbolism in this. At such a time as this, the foundations of what has taken place in this city need to be looked at and prayed over. As John the Baptist said in Matthew 3:10, “And even now the axe is laid at the root of the trees.” We are going after the root of these things that may very well have caused 430 years of spiritual slavery in Poland. We prayed at this site today, as well.

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The general sense during today’s warfare prayer walk was two-fold. On one hand, there was definitely a sense of oppression at the historic sites. Something that was really neat, was that there were clear skies today, something we haven’t seen for a few weeks here as there has been a lot of snow. One of us commented, that as they were walking in the shadows, there was in one sense that oppressive feeling, yet they felt as though when they would come into the light there was a sense of hope; a paradigm shift from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. We believe that today was a stake in the ground for the kingdom of God here in Piotrków-Trybunalski. We know from Scripture that “what is bound on earth will be bound in heaven.” May the demonic strongholds over this city and country have been shaken today. Thank you for praying with us in this spiritual battle for souls.
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Christian Young

POLAND 2009 - Yummy Poduszki Cereal

Piotrków-Trybunalski, Poland

Friday, February 20, 2009
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Yummy Poduszki Cereal
It’s often the simple things in life that bring us much joy and laughter. One thing that our kids love here in Poland is a certain cereal that they don’t have in the U.S. It’s called, “Poduszki.” Our kids rant and rave all the time about this cereal, so we had them write a short paragraph each today (for a homeschooling writing assignment) about this yummy cereal that they have come to love in Poland:.
PODUSZKI. I LOVE PODUSZKI. PODUSZKI cereal is absolutely delicious. It is coconut. I LOVE IT.
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Justine Young
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PODUSZKI. yumminess! I love Poduszki cereal. It’s yummy!! Wheaty outside, coconutty deliciousness on the inside. I vote ***** (5) stars. 3 Buzz words: Delicious. Yummy. Delicious.
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Jordan Young
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PODUSZKI: (which literally means in English) The little pillows! The main reason I love poduszki is because of it’s marvelous taste. When you take a bite, it’s a wonderful coconutty sensation. Then went the milk at the bottom tastes like coconut, it finishes off your breakfast.
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Jonas Young

POLAND 2009 -Dużo, Dużo śniegu

Piotrków-Trybunalski, Poland

Thursday, February 19, 2009
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Dużo, Dużo śniegu
Lots and lots of SNOW! This is what I am saying in Polish. For mid-February this may seem a bit odd back in Vancouver, Washington (though believe me- we had dużo śniegu in Vancouver this winter). We have been seeing snow pretty much daily for the past two weeks. And for Cho Nas and I, one of our jobs as we are living at the church, is to shovel snow in order to keep the driveway and sidewalks clear. Yesterday, I think I shoveled snow at three separate times during the day. Phew!

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I must say, it is quite beautiful, though. Seeing a blanket of white covering the city is actually really cool. In fact, Cho Nas and I thought we would head to the park next to the church after we came back from Tina’s Pizza the other night and try to take some cool pictures. So here are a few pictures from our expedition to the park at night when it was snowing. One of them looks like it could be a picture straight from Narnia. Only if I really did see Mr. Tumnis around the lamp post at that time of night, I may very well have crapped my pants (sorry for the crudeness- all who this applies to). Anyway, enjoy the pics!

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Christian Young

POLAND 2009 - Prayer Meetings

Piotrków-Trybunalski, Poland

Wednesday, February 18, 2009
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First Prayer Meeting
This weekly prayer meeting at 5:30 pm on Wednesdays is specifically focused on warfare prayer over the city of Piotrków-Trybunalski. In attendance tonight were our missionary friends, a Polish couple who are believers, us and one other young lady, also a Polish believer. We discussed with each other what God has been doing in our lives this past week, especially in the area of hearing from Him on warfare prayer points, with our spiritual map of PT in front of us. I had told them all that I was praying for each one of them this week, that God would speak to them, giving them words specific to our upcoming prayer walk downtown this coming Saturday.
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After our discussion time, we went to prayer. It was an awesome time of prayer. After the we had all prayed for a while, we discussed if the Lord had revealed anything to anyone. The Lord gave one of us a verse, Psalm 24:7, which reads, “Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.” Along with the verse, God showed us that we need to pray at each one of the roads leading into Piotrków-Trubanlalski, Poland, and that these were the “city gates.” We need to pray specifically that nothing will hinder the King of kings, Jesus Christ, from entering this city and having His way here.
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Someone else had a vision. They saw a verse from Scripture written on cards. The verse was Romans 5:20b, which reads, “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” He saw these cards with this verse written on them placed all over the city. And then these cards began to bloom and blossom like flowers over the entire city. Praise God! Looks like I will be getting some of these cards ready for this Saturday. I’ll write them in Polish, in case the demons here can’t read English.
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Second Prayer Meeting
This weekly prayer meeting is at 6:30 pm on Wednesdays and was very well attended this week. It was my turn to go to this meeting tonight, and I must say that the power and presence of the Holy Spirit was felt as prayers from the hearts of His saints were uttered heavenward to the throne of God, like a wonderful aroma of incense. I love hearing prayers in Polish. They are lovely. At this prayer meeting, everyone gives prayer requests, often about things going on in their families and ministries, that we can bring before the Lord.
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Before we all began to pray, Jan (pronounced “yawn;” he is a man, not a woman named, “Jan”), gave us a verse from Scripture that had spoken to his heart this past week. It was Jeremiah 33:3, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” I felt that this verse also speaks very much to the heart of what we are praying for over PT. In fact, after the prayer meeting, someone told me that they also felt that way and that I should read Jeremiah 33:3-11. I just read that passage and these verses stuck out to me concerning our spiritual warfare efforts in this city:
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Jeremiah 33:6, “Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.”
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Jeremiah 33:8, “I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me."
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Jeremiah 33:9, “Then it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them.”
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I am hanging on to these verses for this city. Also, when I was praying during this prayer meeting, I felt that God was showing me something that had to do with our previous prayer meeting about praying at the “gates of the city.” It is something that John the Baptist had said about his role in Jesus’ coming. It is Matthew 3:3b, “Prepare the way of the Lord and make His path straight.” In Jesus’ time, when a king would enter a land, he would send out forerunners to go and clear the roads that the king would enter the land by of any rocks and debris, so that nothing would prevent the king from entering the land. I believe that this is what God is doing with this small remnant here in Piotrków-Trybunalski. He is sending us as forerunners to spiritually remove any obstacles that would keep the King of kings from entering this city and having His way.

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Christian Young

POLAND 2009 - Warfare Prayer Team

Piotrków-Trybunalski, Poland

Sunday, February 15, 2009
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Warfare Prayer Team
We have come to believe that something cataclysmic is taking place in our lives and in the heavenlies. The Holy Spirit is revealing to God’s people what His desires are here in Poland. This afternoon, a group of us began to meet, research and pray. We met with some fellow American missionaries and a Polish couple who are believers. In the following blog posts on spiritual warfare in Poland will be documenting the things that God is stirring in the hearts of a small army (like Gideon’s) that He has assembled to engage in this spiritual battle.

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God has revealed to one Polish believer that there were things that have happened here in Piotrków-Trybunalski that have SADDENED GOD and that have AFFECTED ALL OF POLAND. We are so glad that there are Polish natives with us on this team, and that they have been really digging into the history here, because some of what we will be doing at these historical places will be public repentance on behalf of the Polish people, as Daniel, Isaiah and Jeremiah modeled in the Scriptures.
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Please pray for us this week as we are seeking wisdom from God as to specifics in our prayer time for this Saturday. Also, every Wednesday afternoon, our team will be meeting at our place at 5:30 pm, focusing specifically on spiritual warfare, then will join the prayer meeting downstairs at 6:30 pm with some other lovely and faithful church members. God is so awesome! When we have told people that we are missionaries in Piotrków-Trybunalski, they look at us strangely and even ask, “Why?” It seems as though many people think that this is just some forgotten city that has no real significance, and that it would make more sense to be missionaries in places like Warsaw or Krakow. We have even wondered why God would bring us to this place. I mean, we love the people, Pastor Daniel and the church family here. But why Piotrków-Trybunalski? It is becoming so clear to us. We have been brought here by God for such a time as this. A time when God is speaking to His children and saying that this little city of 80,000 people has a history that has affected the entire country of Poland.

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Take a look at the map attached here. All of the areas in white on this map of Poland are counties that have not one evangelical congregation. This is staggering as you look at it. You won’t find a country per capita like this in Europe. Why is there such a lack of born-again Christ followers, and gatherings of them together in Poland? I believe that God has been revealing answers to this question, and we believe that amazingly, within the city that we live and minister in, Piotrków-Trybunalski, lies a key that has locked the door to God’s Spirit moving freely in Poland for centuries; a key that has wrapped up the entire country of Poland in bondage for centuries; a key that has even led to the downfall of the nation of Poland in the past, allowing other oppressors to come in and bully the Polish people. Yet we know that Jesus, when He died on the cross, descended into hell and snatched the keys of death and Hades from Satan. The keys that Satan has leveraged against people for thousands of years were ripped out of his hands at Calvary. Another set of keys that Jesus has given His followers are the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus says in Matthew 16:19, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
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“We thank you, Lord, for giving us these keys to the kingdom of heaven. May we use them, here in Piotrków-Trybunalski, Poland, to unlock the door, behind which you have a gift that you desire to give to Poland. The gift of revival that comes by means of thousands and thousands of people in Poland repenting of their sins and falling in love with the One who loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die in our place, removing the curse of sin, that WHOSOEVER would look to Him and believe in Him, receiving Him into their hearts would be SAVED and SET FREE. I pray that as we come against these strongholds, in the name of Jesus, to undo any curses that have been brought upon this country, that you would pour out your Holy Spirit on this dry and thirsty land. We claim souls for Your kingdom, Father.”
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This afternoon, we gathered around our friends' table with a map of Piotrków-Trybunalski open as we marked places of spiritual importance, and prayed. We prayed with authority and in complete humility. After praying, we felt the Holy Spirit flowing in and through us, causing us to shake in His presence. One of us also saw a vision of these different colored ribbons coming down from heaven into the old square of Piotrków-Trybunalski, and then branching out down the different streets and alleyways of the city. Thanks again for joining with us in this battle.
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Christian Young

POLAND 2009 - Midweek Bible Study

Piotrków-Trybunalski, Poland

Friday, February 13, 2009

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Midweek Bible Study
Every Thursday evening at 6:00 pm, people from the church here gather in one of the classrooms downstairs for a midweek Bible study. Every Wednesday evening at 6:30 pm is the midweek prayer meeting. It was pretty crammed in that little classroom as more than 20 people from the church came to study God’s word.

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This week, the Bible study was on Psalm 143, which is a Psalm of David who is crying out to the Lord for help in a time of great trouble. I am really excited as I am just now able to pick up on a little of what is being discussed. I almost feel like a burden as Daniel and others take the time to translate for us at this meeting and others. But it is nice to be stretched to really listen to everything being said. I can pick out words here and there that I know, and that feels good, though we are all a long way off of really “knowing Polish.” I heard a statistic the other day saying that Polish is in the top 5 most difficult languages to learn. I must say, it’s the toughest one yet. But we’re up for the challenge, no matter how long we stay in Poland, to learn the language as much as possible so that we can communicate the gospel of Christ to these people in their heart language.
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So the Polish word for the day which I would like to teach you is: “scszęsliwy,” which means “happy.” Here’s how to phonetically pronounce it: [sh-chen-shlee-vih] Ha! Try to say that one as fast as you can ten times in a row.
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Christian Young

POLAND 2009 - Spiritual Mapping and Prayer Walking

Piotrków-Trybunalski, Poland

Thursday, February 12, 2009
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Spiritual Mapping and Prayer Walking
We are at war! Literally. Not a war waged against human governments or over oil prices. But a spiritual war for the souls of people. Specifically, people here in Piotrków-Trybunalski, Poland.
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Every morning we spend time in worship and prayer before home schooling starts. The weapon of our praise is a powerful one! We sense the Lord strengthening our arms as a family for battle.
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Today, after Polish lessons during the kid’s home schooling time, we put up a map of Piotrków-Trybunalski, next to a map of the region, and began spiritually mapping this city. As a family, we are starting with the area immediately surrounding the church (the church is marked in the picture with a RED push pin, the area of focus is with the square marked by the GREEN push pins). This is an area of approximately two blocks on the north, south, east and west of the church. We will prayer walk this area weekly, adding more and more areas on the map as we sense the leading to further the boundaries around the church.

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Today we started by praying in the church building itself. We anointed every door and window of the small chapel and claimed it as a safe place, praying against any demonic spirits that would try to hinder what God would want to do in the lives of the people who enter that place of worship every week (Maybe this has happened already, but we are new here and aren't sure, so we proceeded anyway). A verse came to us: Romans 16:20, “And the God of peace will soon crush Satan underneath your feet.” We proclaimed this out loud and pleaded the blood of Jesus over the church building. Wow! What a powerful time of prayer it was!

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We headed out and prayer walked the area around the church. Our prayers were (and will be) focused on: (1) God loosening the grip of any spiritual strongholds in that specific geographical area, (2) God removing the blindfolds that the enemy has placed on people’s lives, (3) God preparing the hearts of the people to hear and respond to the gospel, (4) Opportunities for the Christ-followers here to share the gospel with the people in this area and (5) That the peace of God and the Holy Spirit would powerfully sweep through the area, into every home.

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We would absolutely love it if you would pray over these five prayer points with us. Let’s do battle together. Scripture says something to the effect that just one of us can set a thousand to flight; just two of us can send the legions fleeing. What if a whole bunch of us were hitting our knees in prayer? How frustrated and scared would the enemy be? This last Wednesday afternoon we began praying together; some missionary friends and us specifically doing spiritual warfare together. This Sunday, we will be meeting with them and a Polish couple who are believers, along with our missionary friends at their house after church. We will be looking specifically at things done throughout the history of Piotrków-Trybunalski that may have opened the doors to the oppression and strongholds that have dominion here. Then we will seek God’s wisdom as to how to pray against these things, and even go to the places where footholds may have been established to pray. We will keep you filled on as this war progresses.
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Christian Young

POLAND 2009 - Making New Friends Through Facebook

Piotrków-Trybunalski, Poland

Monday, February 9, 2009
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Making New Friends Through Facebook
What a marvelous thing the internet can be. Before we left the States, I had searched Facebook for anyone who is living in, or originally from Piotrków-Trybunalski, and wrote them a note that our family was going to be moving there and we that we were hoping to make new friends. We had a handful of people write us back saying that they would love to get together with us after we arrive.

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Well tonight, our family was able to meet up with one of these Facebook contacts for pizza at Tina’s Pizzeria (our favorite, and close by to our home, the church building). We met with a lovely young couple named Iga and Piotr. They are both originally from Piotrków-Trybunalski, and are in town visiting their parents as they are currently living in Katowice where they go to university. Damian came with us as well. We had a great meal together and got to know each other through discussions around the dinner table. Iga speaks English very well, as does Piotr, so that made it a little easier on us, though we are continuing to hit the Polish language learning hard. Anyway, I just thought it was really neat that we are able to make new friends through Facebook. Our hope is to continue to build this friendship with Iga and Piotr.
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Christian Young