I was away in Poland for 5 days and when I returned last Wednesday, I was surprised at how much new life has sprouted all around Allerheiligen in that short space of time. Yes, life is bursting forth in a most fascinating way. It really makes you take a second look at your surroundings and think, "Hey, was this plant here all this while??" :-)
Pia, Stefan and I conducted a 4-day introductory seminar on inner healing in Lublin. We emphasised our chosenness and blessedness as the people of God, touched on some areas of our lives that may have wounded us, shared some basic tools on the renewal of our minds and encouraged them to be wounded healers - helping others even as they themselves journey to wholeness in Christ.
This seminar was personally very faith-building for me because I experienced our Lord's tremendous love and affirmation for His people and His great desire to bring healing and restoration into our lives. The people were very hungry to receive God's message. From their animated discussions during the workshops, we can see that they had a lot to share on the topics they have heard. Many were touched by the love and truths of God and strengthened by them to continue moving forward.
It was my first time serving in a seminar of this nature and it humbled me to see that God chose to use us - cracked pots as we are - as His channels of grace. What we had to offer was modest. What God did in the hearts of people was far too tremendous to describe. This brought home to me the truth that we are not called to be anyone's saviour or solution. Jesus alone is. We are just called to give of ourselves and to speak the truth of what we believe and testify to what we have received from God. That realisation was very liberating for me and enabled me to serve with joy and conviction. Being on this mission brought for me new thankfulness to God for the calling He has placed in my life.
I shared my testimony of God's love and healing in my own life using the image of a sparrow which Jesus referred to when He spoke about God's providence and care for us. And it was very moving to discover sister sparrows in Poland that day - people to whom God is restoring the fundamental sense of belonging and significance.
We also met members of our sister covenant community in Poland called the New Jerusalem covenant community. It really helps me to experience this covenantal relationship when I meet these brothers and sisters face-to-face!
.JPG)
While there we were treated to Polish hospitality and cuisine (sausages, smoked pork, potato bread, beetroot soup, mushroom soup, and more soups...), both of which were simply wonderful. I must say that Polski kawa (coffee!) is the best coffee I have tasted to date!
When you read this, please offer up a prayer for the people who attended the seminar. That God will protect the seeds of healing and faith planted in their hearts. That they will persevere in renewing their minds with the truths of God and rejecting old lies and scripts, that they deepen their trust in God and love themselves as God loves them. Danke!
I will write again to update about our lives in Allerheiligen where the School of Missions is moving into its outreach phase, after completing 3 months of lectures and ministry times.
