Warszawa, PolandThursday, August 20, 2009
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Three Day Outreach in Warsaw
A couple of months ago, a girl named Milena from the Pentecostal Church in Radomsko told me that she was leading mission teams all across Poland for the summer. She asked if I would be able to come to Warsaw to assist in doing outreach with the mission team this week. After some prayer about it, I decided to commit to spending three days with the mission team this past week. The area of Warsaw in which we ministered is actually the least desirable district of the city, where more crime and poverty exist. Jonas, Damian and I headed out to Warsaw early Monday morning.
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DAY #1, Monday, August 17, 2009
After two hours of driving, we arrived at a small Church of God in Christ building where the mission team gathered every day. When we arrived we met most of the people on the mission team, who ranged from the age of 15 to 23 years of age. They are a great group of young people who love the Lord Jesus and who sacrificed this week of their summer to reach out to the lost and hurting in Warsaw. We spent the late morning practicing six of my original worship songs with those who would back me up with other instruments. Damian played the bongos and a guy from Gdynia named Radek played electric guitar. We practiced all of the songs a couple of times. A bass player was to join us later as we would practice outdoors before the outreach that would take place in a neighborhood near the church building.
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After lunch, the mission team then went into the neighborhoods with invitations to the outreach, or “concert” as they called it. Damian, Jonas and I decided to walk to a nearby park with a lady named Ania who was from the local church where we had been practicing. I brought my skateboard as I thought there might be areas where local skaters might hang out. Well there wasn’t any skaters, but there was a group of four or five young people hanging out on a bench where they were jamming on a couple of acoustic guitars. We came up to them and greeted them. One guy in particular seemed like he was having a bad day. We just started talking to them and invited them to the outreach. They asked what kind of music would be there and who would be performing. When we told them it would be rock music and that I would be performing, they asked for a demonstration on one of their guitars. I gladly played a couple of my songs for them. We asked them what they thought. They said that they would be at the “concert” for certain. As we headed back to the church, we rejoiced for this divine connection. We then set up for the outreach back at the church, and didn’t see the guys we invited yet. As the outreach was to begin in a few minutes, Damian prayed for them, and the next moment they were walking toward the chairs, with a new friend they invited as well. Praise the Lord!
DAY #1, Monday, August 17, 2009
After two hours of driving, we arrived at a small Church of God in Christ building where the mission team gathered every day. When we arrived we met most of the people on the mission team, who ranged from the age of 15 to 23 years of age. They are a great group of young people who love the Lord Jesus and who sacrificed this week of their summer to reach out to the lost and hurting in Warsaw. We spent the late morning practicing six of my original worship songs with those who would back me up with other instruments. Damian played the bongos and a guy from Gdynia named Radek played electric guitar. We practiced all of the songs a couple of times. A bass player was to join us later as we would practice outdoors before the outreach that would take place in a neighborhood near the church building.
.
After lunch, the mission team then went into the neighborhoods with invitations to the outreach, or “concert” as they called it. Damian, Jonas and I decided to walk to a nearby park with a lady named Ania who was from the local church where we had been practicing. I brought my skateboard as I thought there might be areas where local skaters might hang out. Well there wasn’t any skaters, but there was a group of four or five young people hanging out on a bench where they were jamming on a couple of acoustic guitars. We came up to them and greeted them. One guy in particular seemed like he was having a bad day. We just started talking to them and invited them to the outreach. They asked what kind of music would be there and who would be performing. When we told them it would be rock music and that I would be performing, they asked for a demonstration on one of their guitars. I gladly played a couple of my songs for them. We asked them what they thought. They said that they would be at the “concert” for certain. As we headed back to the church, we rejoiced for this divine connection. We then set up for the outreach back at the church, and didn’t see the guys we invited yet. As the outreach was to begin in a few minutes, Damian prayed for them, and the next moment they were walking toward the chairs, with a new friend they invited as well. Praise the Lord!
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The outreach consisted of me and “my band” playing six original tunes, a couple of dramas the team performed with explanations afterwards, a couple of testimonies and a message that Milena gave at the end. Some of the people from the neighborhood, especially the younger kids seemed a bit distracted, but the group of guys we invited really enjoyed it, as I’m sure others present did as well. Many seeds were planted. Afterward, we took all the equipment down and headed back to the church building, where we held a youth meeting for the teens in the neighborhood. We played group games that were familiar to us from the U.S. and had a blast together. They were to hold these youth meetings every day this week, with games and relevant messages through skits and such.
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It was late when the youth meeting wrapped up, and we headed to the room that we stayed at the local Pentecostal Seminary. After dropping off our luggage, we ran to McDonalds to eat an 11:30pm dinner. After eating inside McDonalds, we walked outside to a shocking sight. In the parking lot where our car was parked, two big bald guys who we had seen in McDonalds earlier were fighting each other. I mean, these guys were beating the crap out of each other. The fight was actually lasting a long time and we wondered what would happen. It was very violent. The one guy who was a little taller kicked the other guy in the mouth very hard and it looked like some of his teeth flew out of his mouth, as well as a lot of blood. The guy who got kicked then tried to get away from the other guy by heading into the store next to McDonalds. Then one of their friends, another big bald guy tried to confront me and asked what the **** I was looking at (in Polish). I said we were American, which didn’t seem to impress him at all, as he continued to curse at us. We walked away and around the group of all their friends who looked more like a mafia of sorts. We got in the car, locked the doors, and headed first to a store, then to the seminary with very heavy hearts. We talked about how we all were feeling, especially about the area in which we were ministering until we fell asleep.
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DAY #2, Tuesday, August 18, 2009
We woke up early, ate some dry cereal for breakfast and headed to the church building where we joined the mission team for devotions. We prayed and worshipped together, as well as debriefed about the previous day’s ministry. Then the drama team practiced in preparation for the outreach that would take place that evening. Then a group of musicians and I gathered together to practice what we would play. We changed things a bit from yesterday. This time, we were to start the outreach with two songs, one of my originals and one of Radek’s originals, with only him and I playing, me on acoustic, him on electric. Then for the following four songs we were to do worship songs in Polish. Damian joined me on another acoustic guitar. We added a keyboard player and two female vocalists. After practice, we had lunch together.
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Today after lunch, Jonas, Damian and I took a couple of the girls from the mission team with us and headed out to a skate park that we heard about which was a 10 or 15 minute drive across the river closer to old town. When we got there, we found that it was a covered skate park. I noticed that there weren’t any skateboarders, but only BMX bikers and rollerbladers, which I didn’t mind at all. I skated for a little bit, then decided I would try to talk to some of the youth who were on bikes and rollerblades. Damian, Jonas and the girls followed me and continued the conversation with some youth as I continued to skate and talk to others. We told a couple of the youth about the “concert” and come to find out, they actually lived close to the part of town where the church is, which is amazing! Damian actually got one of the guys’ number so that he could give him directions to the church later. He didn’t end up coming that evening to the outreach, but did come the third night. Thank you Lord for all of these divine connections and people responding to our invitations!
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We left the skate park and immediately started setting up for the outreach. The music and the dramas all went well. And this day I was to give the message. I spoke on John 10:10. How “the thief (Satan) comes to kill, steal and destroy,” but Jesus comes “to give life and life abundantly.” I talked about the fight we saw at McDonalds and how Satan was trying to kill, steal and destroy in Warsaw, but that Jesus was here to give abundant life. I used the illustration of a puzzle, and how sometimes when you have almost finished putting the puzzle together, you find that there is a piece missing. I talked about how part of the thief (Satan’s) plan is to get people to try to fill that empty space in the puzzle with other things, but that only Jesus was the puzzle piece that would fit into that empty space. I then gave an invitation for people to find someone from the mission team to talk to or pray with. Again, people responded to that invitation as Damian and Monika talked to a couple afterwards about these things, and Milena was also able to speak to a lady who was touched by the outreach, and who was very open to the gospel. Thank you, Jesus! Jonas and Damian stayed at the youth meeting, while I spent time talking to Radek and two other girls. One of the girls is Doma who is from Gdańsk. The other girl is Marianna from Warsaw. The three of them have piercings and wild hair styles, so I was drawn to them immediately. Marianna is 16 years old and in a wheel chair because she was born prematurely and had some damage in here brain. She can feel her legs but cannot walk. We all talked for a while and I asked if we could pray for Marianna’s physical condition tomorrow, as well as her emotional and spiritual condition as she has had some problems at home. She agreed. Jonas, Damian and I headed back to the seminary to get some sleep.
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DAY #3, Wednesday, August 20, 2009
Woke up. Had personal devotions. Ate “breakfast” in our room. Headed to the church for devotions after packing all our things in the car, as this would be the last day we would be in Warsaw for the outreach. During devotions Milena talked about being in unity as a team out of Ephesians. It was very moving as we know all so well, that a team made up of different people with different personalities, even though they are believers, can have issues with each other, which can lead to division. I guess some of this had been happening. I could even feel it a bit in me. I was led to pray for grace and humility, and knew that we were there to serve, not coming in with any agenda. We also talked about praying in the neighborhood in teams before the concert to “prepare the soil.” I also talked about spiritual warfare and about past experiences regarding this kind of prayer before going to evangelize. So it was decided that teams would go out to pray this afternoon to do so.
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After devotions, we did the same thing, practicing drama and music. Damian was able to play the part of Jesus in “Jesus Lives” to the tune of “Everything” by Lifehouse, which is a very powerful drama. Our team would play and sing the same four sings we did yesterday. But for the first two songs today, Radek and I were to play two “dueling” electric guitars, doing two of my original heavy metal songs. Even though it was a little strange without bass and drums, we thought it was a good idea, and a great way to grab the younger generation’s attention at the beginning of the outreach. Then we had lunch together again.
.
The team had personal devotions after lunch, then went in groups to do warfare prayer in the neighborhood, praying for compassion for the lost and for Satan’s blindfold’s to be removed from the people’s hearts (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) so that they could hear and respond to the gospel. We prayed, but also rested in some shade that we felt drawn to go rest under. I pushed Marianna in her wheelchair into the shade while Damian began a conversation with an elderly lady who looked quite lonely sitting on a fence near a block of flats. She opened up to him about her life, that she moved to Warsaw just before the war in 1939, and about how she was dissatisfied with the Catholic Church. Damian shared the gospel of Christ with her. After his conversation he gave her some tracts and a Polish New Testament, writing her name, Irena, in it. Thank you, Lord, for these opportunities.
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Earlier in the week I was touched by a story that a girl, Ola, told about her mom being in the hospital in coma for a month after having a heart attack. We asked if we could go pray for her mom in the hospital, that she would come out of her coma. She said that she would love for us to come and pray for her mom. So Jonas, Damian, Ola, Monika and I drove about a half an hour to the hospital where she was in Warsaw. Our hearts broke for Ola and for her mom as she was laying there, with breathing tubes in her nose and feeding tubes in her veins. We anointed her with oil, laid hands on her and cried out to the Lord for a miracle, and that her mom, Danuta, would come out of the coma. The doctors said that she had suffered brain damage after the heart attack, and that it would be a miracle if she came out of the coma. We continued to pray with authority, pressing in on behalf of Danuta. At one point, as Ola was talking to her, she opened her eyes and moved her head and mouth a bit. I felt as though something was happening, but Ola said that it was involuntary movements and that she had them before. Danuta didn’t sit up in bed, coming out of the coma, but I felt in my spirit the words stirring, “she was healed that very hour.” Even as we left, I prayed that Ola would get a call from the hospital saying that her mom had woken from the coma. I began to talk to Ola about the heart of Jesus, and about healing on the drive back to the church.
We left the skate park and immediately started setting up for the outreach. The music and the dramas all went well. And this day I was to give the message. I spoke on John 10:10. How “the thief (Satan) comes to kill, steal and destroy,” but Jesus comes “to give life and life abundantly.” I talked about the fight we saw at McDonalds and how Satan was trying to kill, steal and destroy in Warsaw, but that Jesus was here to give abundant life. I used the illustration of a puzzle, and how sometimes when you have almost finished putting the puzzle together, you find that there is a piece missing. I talked about how part of the thief (Satan’s) plan is to get people to try to fill that empty space in the puzzle with other things, but that only Jesus was the puzzle piece that would fit into that empty space. I then gave an invitation for people to find someone from the mission team to talk to or pray with. Again, people responded to that invitation as Damian and Monika talked to a couple afterwards about these things, and Milena was also able to speak to a lady who was touched by the outreach, and who was very open to the gospel. Thank you, Jesus! Jonas and Damian stayed at the youth meeting, while I spent time talking to Radek and two other girls. One of the girls is Doma who is from Gdańsk. The other girl is Marianna from Warsaw. The three of them have piercings and wild hair styles, so I was drawn to them immediately. Marianna is 16 years old and in a wheel chair because she was born prematurely and had some damage in here brain. She can feel her legs but cannot walk. We all talked for a while and I asked if we could pray for Marianna’s physical condition tomorrow, as well as her emotional and spiritual condition as she has had some problems at home. She agreed. Jonas, Damian and I headed back to the seminary to get some sleep.
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DAY #3, Wednesday, August 20, 2009
Woke up. Had personal devotions. Ate “breakfast” in our room. Headed to the church for devotions after packing all our things in the car, as this would be the last day we would be in Warsaw for the outreach. During devotions Milena talked about being in unity as a team out of Ephesians. It was very moving as we know all so well, that a team made up of different people with different personalities, even though they are believers, can have issues with each other, which can lead to division. I guess some of this had been happening. I could even feel it a bit in me. I was led to pray for grace and humility, and knew that we were there to serve, not coming in with any agenda. We also talked about praying in the neighborhood in teams before the concert to “prepare the soil.” I also talked about spiritual warfare and about past experiences regarding this kind of prayer before going to evangelize. So it was decided that teams would go out to pray this afternoon to do so.
.
After devotions, we did the same thing, practicing drama and music. Damian was able to play the part of Jesus in “Jesus Lives” to the tune of “Everything” by Lifehouse, which is a very powerful drama. Our team would play and sing the same four sings we did yesterday. But for the first two songs today, Radek and I were to play two “dueling” electric guitars, doing two of my original heavy metal songs. Even though it was a little strange without bass and drums, we thought it was a good idea, and a great way to grab the younger generation’s attention at the beginning of the outreach. Then we had lunch together again.
.
The team had personal devotions after lunch, then went in groups to do warfare prayer in the neighborhood, praying for compassion for the lost and for Satan’s blindfold’s to be removed from the people’s hearts (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) so that they could hear and respond to the gospel. We prayed, but also rested in some shade that we felt drawn to go rest under. I pushed Marianna in her wheelchair into the shade while Damian began a conversation with an elderly lady who looked quite lonely sitting on a fence near a block of flats. She opened up to him about her life, that she moved to Warsaw just before the war in 1939, and about how she was dissatisfied with the Catholic Church. Damian shared the gospel of Christ with her. After his conversation he gave her some tracts and a Polish New Testament, writing her name, Irena, in it. Thank you, Lord, for these opportunities.
.
Earlier in the week I was touched by a story that a girl, Ola, told about her mom being in the hospital in coma for a month after having a heart attack. We asked if we could go pray for her mom in the hospital, that she would come out of her coma. She said that she would love for us to come and pray for her mom. So Jonas, Damian, Ola, Monika and I drove about a half an hour to the hospital where she was in Warsaw. Our hearts broke for Ola and for her mom as she was laying there, with breathing tubes in her nose and feeding tubes in her veins. We anointed her with oil, laid hands on her and cried out to the Lord for a miracle, and that her mom, Danuta, would come out of the coma. The doctors said that she had suffered brain damage after the heart attack, and that it would be a miracle if she came out of the coma. We continued to pray with authority, pressing in on behalf of Danuta. At one point, as Ola was talking to her, she opened her eyes and moved her head and mouth a bit. I felt as though something was happening, but Ola said that it was involuntary movements and that she had them before. Danuta didn’t sit up in bed, coming out of the coma, but I felt in my spirit the words stirring, “she was healed that very hour.” Even as we left, I prayed that Ola would get a call from the hospital saying that her mom had woken from the coma. I began to talk to Ola about the heart of Jesus, and about healing on the drive back to the church.
.
The outreach seemed to go better than the other two evenings, and the people seemed more responsive and moved by the music, dramas, testimonies and message. I believe it was the direct result of the groups doing warfare prayer in the neighborhood before the outreach. I was especially moved by the drama, seeing Damian play the part of Jesus.
The outreach seemed to go better than the other two evenings, and the people seemed more responsive and moved by the music, dramas, testimonies and message. I believe it was the direct result of the groups doing warfare prayer in the neighborhood before the outreach. I was especially moved by the drama, seeing Damian play the part of Jesus.
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We prayed for a little crying teenage girl, Paulina, while the youth meeting was going on as her dad hadn’t come home for a few days and she was so concerned. We were then also able to lay hands on Marianna for her healing. She didn’t say that she felt anything happening in her legs, but that she felt a sense of God’s peace in her heart. I talked to her about hanging on to Jesus for a healing, as Jacob would let go of God as they wrestled until he received the blessing. Marianna is a precious young lady, who touched our hearts deeply. We got contact information from everyone, said our goodbyes (they all wanted us to stay for the rest of the week), and headed back to Piotrków-Trybunalski. Had fun on the way home, flashing pictures to oncoming traffic on the motorway in the photo-radar zones and watching them all hit their brakes and slowing way down as they thought they were getting a picture taken of their license plate because they were going too fast. Maybe it wasn’t funny to them, and even a little cruel, but we laughed so hard that our stomachs hurt. I believe that our three day outreach was a success. Once again, I thank the Lord for allowing to be able to minister in so many places in this lovely nation.
.We prayed for a little crying teenage girl, Paulina, while the youth meeting was going on as her dad hadn’t come home for a few days and she was so concerned. We were then also able to lay hands on Marianna for her healing. She didn’t say that she felt anything happening in her legs, but that she felt a sense of God’s peace in her heart. I talked to her about hanging on to Jesus for a healing, as Jacob would let go of God as they wrestled until he received the blessing. Marianna is a precious young lady, who touched our hearts deeply. We got contact information from everyone, said our goodbyes (they all wanted us to stay for the rest of the week), and headed back to Piotrków-Trybunalski. Had fun on the way home, flashing pictures to oncoming traffic on the motorway in the photo-radar zones and watching them all hit their brakes and slowing way down as they thought they were getting a picture taken of their license plate because they were going too fast. Maybe it wasn’t funny to them, and even a little cruel, but we laughed so hard that our stomachs hurt. I believe that our three day outreach was a success. Once again, I thank the Lord for allowing to be able to minister in so many places in this lovely nation.
Christian Young
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