The Poland team is hard at work

Work. Work. Work!

The Poland team is hard at work on all three project sites. I’ll divide up each work site by a paragraph to help give clarity.

The old church (where we are staying): Most of the interior walls (3-story building) have been painted white and we are working on second/third coats. The railings of the steps, doors and doorframes, and various other places are being painted with an oil-based paint that is a light yellow color. The team is learning to clean up after themselves and to keep this church better than we found it. It may have been a learning curve at the beginning, but I think they got the hang of it now. And no, you CANNOT clean oil based paint with water, lol!

The “new” church (a 15min walk away): The crew has made good progress here as well. The end of last week and the first part of this week was spent screwing small wooden slats to the underside of the second-story floor joists to hold up the insulation and lining the space between the joists with a vapor barrier. Yesterday (Wednesday) we started measuring, cutting, and installing a thick layer of fiberglass insulation in between all the joists; and today (Thursday) we have begun installing the wooden planks that will be the first layer of the floor. It has been hot, dusty, itchy work, but (after a bit of a rough start on Monday) the team has really stepped up to the plate and been working hard with good attitudes and a willingness to serve wherever they are needed. We are also preparing to build a fence at this location to conceal the trash bins of the neighboring restaurant from view at the front of the church. Fisher E. and Nate M. have been scraping and sanding the rough-cut lumber that we will be using to prep it for Brooklyn B. and Sadie P. who have been doing a great job of painting it. Levi S. cut the grass in front of the church and helped Mr. Jake cut up a load of firewood that will keep the church warm this coming winter.

The Jewish graveyard (a 15min walk away): The work here has been a bit more sporadic, but we have been making good progress on the days that we are there. Dylan I. and Lindsey N. helped our host pastor and his son rebuild the top row of a portion of the block wall around the cemetery. Kaley M, Sadie W, and Emily P. picked up all the sticks and mowed the grass, and Mr. Brandon did the string trimming around all of the headstones and monuments. It’s looking very nice! Today there is a professional arborist coming to drop one dead tree and one that has grown up and damaged a portion of the wall. When he is finished, our job will be hauling off the firewood, branches, and debris from these two trees. We had hoped to also be able to rebuild the portion of the wall that was damaged by this tree, but we are learning that there is lots of paperwork and permits required for virtually everything here and it does not look like the paperwork for this part of the work will be processed in time for us to begin.

KP continues to rotate turns and work diligently! We are working hard to keep our area clean, sanitary, and organized. We’re also working hard to create yummy and nutritious food! We get food donations of expired or almost expired food every night at 10pm from local businesses. Mrs. Maddi sorts through and picks out what she can use for the team. It has been a blessing! We get fresh salad with almost every meal and all kinds of fruits: blueberries, cherries, apricots, pears, apples, peaches, bananas, oranges, and kiwi! We even had shrimp scampi for supper one night because of the donations! Yum! Our hosts have also been very generous in providing lots of tea, coffee, and pastries from a local bakery that the team has enjoyed at breaks on the job site and even some that showed up at our door last night after supper!

Please join us in praying for stamina and team unity as we finish the work week. We plan to work a half day tomorrow morning (Friday) and then do some evangelism and outreach at a local festival in the afternoon. We are also looking forward to a weekend of travel and sightseeing. The plan is to take a train into Germany (2 hour train ride). We will sightsee on Saturday and give a presentation at a connected church on Sunday. What a fun surprise to visit two countries this summer!

As always, it’s all for His glory alone!

From the team:

“Poland is awesome! It is so beautiful and we are getting a lot done for the church. The people are amazing, too. I cant wait to share with you all the amazing things God has done.”- Siobhan

“This summer has been quite the experience. God was really working on my heart during Boot Camp. He showed me the sins I had been carrying. With Boot Camp over, I was very excited for Poland. It turned out to be more amazing than I could have imagined. This week we are laying insulation and painting! Be praying as we evangelize this Friday.”- Fisher

“I have really enjoyed Poland so far. We have gotten a lot done on our work sites, and grown a lot as a team. I’ve noticed a growth in my spiritual walk, and in others. I love our leaders! Hi mom and dad love you.” - Maddy Q.

“Howdy friends and family! How’s life? Poland is amazing! Our missionaries/host are some of the best ones I’ve ever had. One low note was me getting an ingrown toenail, but Mrs. Maddie is an amazing leader and fixed me up good as new. We are going to Germany this weekend, which is exciting. Love y’all. Hope you guys have a great week.” -Sadie P.

“I love it here. Work is going well and the people are fun! The food isn’t fake here and everything is so quiet. Church was fun and hearing people sing in unity in two different languages is so nice. Prices here are great. You can get everything you need for a really good deal.” -Kayley M.