Zakopane Trip

Today we went to Zakopane which is two hours south of Krakow in the Tatra mountains. The picture shows cheese vendors on the main strip. Needless to say it was beautiful. After we left from there we went to a nearby village where a group of Roma (gypsy) live. We visited a family who are believers. They've gone through many heartaches. They've lost two infants and have a third son who is 3 months old but suffers from the same complications. The doctors don't know what it is. On paper they say he should be healthy but he's not. As new believers, the parents (Andre & Ola) are confused why God would allow this to happen but they know He has a plan. They asked us to pray for their son (Zachariah) and for their witness to fellow Roma in the village. Would you pray for them too? Also pictured with Erin is our Polish interpreter Mirka, who will be a missionary next year with her husband Andre to a remote part of Russia. Would you pray for them as they raise support?

Let It Snow! (but not too much)

This morning we woke up to our first serious snow storm. It was crazy but beautiful. We don't like the idea of driving in it or walking in it but we don't mind looking at it. Enjoy your warm homes while you watch our video.

All Saints Day

Erin and I were surprised to find out that Poland's biggest holiday of the year is not Christmas or Easter but All Saints Day on November 1st. There is no Halloween celebration but All Saints Day is where families go to the cemeteries to say prayers for their deceased loved ones. The idea is that some of their family may need prayers to make it out of purgatory or maybe their loved ones are close to God now and can intercede for those still on earth. We went to the cemetery to see all the candles that were lit (representing prayers) and it was a beautiful but sad sight. Beautiful because every grave had candles but sad because prayers offered for the dead and to the dead don't line up with the Bible. It is one of many new experiences for Erin and I and we ask you to pray that the Lord would give us greater understanding of this culture so we can do His work here.

Some Snapshots of Our Life

We are one week away from having our own internet so blog updates are going to come regularly now. There is so much we want to catch you all up on but we'll just try doing it a little at a time. First we'll start with our apartment. We were shocked when we first saw it. It had bright orange walls in the living room, bright pink in the entrance, and neon green in the bedroom. And our couches were made of a blue shag material. All that was missing were the lava lamps. But now that we are experiencing dark at 4:30 PM and it will soon get dark at 3:30, I see why someone may choose the bright colors. It has grown on us and we are making it our own a little at a time. We love our neighborhood. It is full of mature trees. We have a grocery store less than a block away, a video store, a bakery, and a cukierna (dessert shop) all within half a block. We also live across the street from our boss and his wife which is great because they are really fun and they have two teenagers we hangout with. Our days here are revolving around learning the language. We go to lessons every day for three hours then spend some time doing homework. Erin is helping to teach an ESL class every Wednesday night while I play basketball on the same night as an outreach. I’m also trying to get a feel for the campuses here in Krakow. Please pray for us to be able to share the gospel even though our Polish is very poor. We always try to remember why we're here. We love and miss you. Thanks for your prayers.

Very Important Update

Our new email addresses are sebainpoland@yahoo.com and erinvzqz@yahoo.com. Our sbcglobal account closed. Please send us an email and let us know how you are. Seba & Erin

We made it! Actually we made it about two weeks ago but this is really our first chance to update our blog. A quick timeline of everything that has happened. Arrive in Krakow on Thursday, October 4th. Recover from jetlag from Thursday to Saturday. Church and first team meeting Sunday. Visit a Roma (gypsy) village on Monday. Left for Lithuania on Tuesday for conference. Arrive back from Lithuania on Monday. Tuesday – Friday (today) get settled into our new apartment. Our team is incredible. The team that was already here has been so helpful, you’ll read about them later. The new people on the team, like ourselves, are great as well. We pray that God does great things here. Our apartment is very Polish but it is home and we love it. We’ll send pictures as soon as we fix it up (maybe some before and after shots). We are already meeting important people for our work here. Erin has been in contact with a university student here who is a believer. We just found out that we have six university students on our floor. We also met and exchanged phone numbers with a young professional on the plane ride over, the customs agent that overcharged us, and a young international couple that also just moved to Krakow. Please pray that God would allow some of these quick encounters to take root and become real friendships that lead to people coming to know the Lord. We’ll write soon with more to tell. We miss you all but we are so happy to be serving God here. Seba & Erin

Last week!

A couple of Sundays ago we experienced African worship. It was so different because many rural tribes in Africa have church under a tree rather than in a building. It was actually a lot of fun but I imagine it would be less fun in 100+ weather. Would you pray that Erin and I would be accepting of the many differences in culture and worship that we will face in Poland? We got our airline tickets today and it really hit us that we’re leaving in 7 days. No cold feet over here but a little bit of nerves. Would you pray that Erin and I would learn to trust God better through this experience? I also wanted to unveil a video that Erin and I made on our new computer. It shows pictures of people in Central and Eastern Europe (our region). Sorry for the low quality but I wanted everyone to be able to see it on the web. Enjoy!

God Still Does Incredible Things

I had the chance last Sunday to share with the entire group (about 350 people) the story of how an IMB missionary led my great grandfather, Angel Vazquez, to the Lord. I told them that because one missionary was brave enough to go to another country, learn a new language, and share his faith, four generations of our family has served God as ministers (Angel, my grandfather Ramon, my father Raul, and my brother and I). As I was sharing this, a man stood up and said, "I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for your family! I was saved under your grandfather, Ramon's ministry". It also turns out that my dad was his Sunday School teacher as well. This man's daughter is leaving as a missionary to Spain at the same time Erin and I are going to Poland (that's why he was there). I was floored but I immediately realized that no one, not even I can really grasp the domino effect that obeying God causes. It was hard to finish the story after being blown away by this man's testimony but God helped me spit the rest out. I also had the chance to share my testimony with Hispanic pastors and missions leaders. We asked them to pray for us to get an apartment and the next day our supervisor found one (tentatively). On a lighter note, I fractured my finger playing flag football. It shouldn't be a big deal but I thought you might enjoy the X-ray. Please don't forget to leave a comment, it makes us feel great. Blessings Seba

Having fun...

On Saturday, our regional team, had a great time helping out a new church-start by going into the neighborhood and asking people from house to house if they would like to be a part of a neighborhood book club. The people would get a free copy of the book (Purpose Driven Life) if they signed up to come to the book club which would meet in one of the neighborhood houses. Twenty-five households signed up and some people on our team were able to share the Lord with them so thank you for your prayers. After that, we went to a park and had a cook out. There was a couple there with the IMB that had lived in Poland for 9 years as missionaries so we were able to sit and chat with them. It's so nice to hear how much people miss living there. We get more excited as the day approaches! At the park...

For the curious minds...

Here are a few pictures of where we live, play and eat! The weather has been beautiful the last couple of weeks. We are enjoying all the warmth we can before we live in the snow for the next few months! Our Dorm...nice and peaceful...really! Our Backyard...haven't ventured here yet! Community Playgrounds...a nice break for the parents! Cafeteria...flags from every country are represented in here, it's a beautiful, colorful sight!

SPECKA

I wanted to share with you some lessons we have been learning before going to Poland. One of our challenges is to teach people how to read the Bible for themselves instead of depending on a preacher (or even a missionary). We practice doing this ourselves by using an acronym called SPECKA. The way it works is that we read a chapter of the Bible and look for the following: ...a Sin to confess ....a Promise to keep ...an Example to follow ...a Command to Keep ... Knowledge to learn ...an Application to make in our lives. Every Sunday we have churches in our dorms as you can see in the picture. We sing some and pray but no one preaches. We just take a chapter of the Bible and share with each other what we found using our SPECKA method. I challenge you guys to try it. Take one of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John) and read a chapter and see if you can find anything using SPECKA. It has worked well for us and I hope it does for you too.

Shot Day...

Yesterday was our first round of shots...we got three each. We will have two more days of shots while we are here at ILC. I was surprised how quick and painless they were....but the same didn't hold true for Seba. YIKES!!! Yesterday while we were eating lunch, I looked up and saw Marshall Kitron. I had the same look on my face that my students had when they saw me at Walmart and not in the classroom-he wasn't in the right place...but it was a great surprise!! He was traveling through Virginia and stopped by to say hello! We got to visit and go to Dairy Queen for some much needed dessert! Marshall was our youth pastor at South Haltom Community Church and is now serving in Peru as a missionary. Last Friday was my birthday so we went to an outdoor mall called Short Pump. They have live music every weekend during the summer and we got to hear some JAZZ. Seba wasn't feeling very well that evening so we are going out tonight to "recelebrate" my birthday and to celebrate his birthday which is this Monday.

Learning so much

Erin and I have had a great week of learning at the ILC. The president of the International Mission Board, Jerry Rankin, spoke to us all this last week about the spiritual, physical and emotional challenges that we are going to face on the field. It was inspiring when we considered how many missionaries before us sacrificed so much for the cause of Christ. It made us realize that going without a few creature comforts like air conditioning and living on the 4th floor with no elevators was really no big deal. It sort of put us in the right mindset that we are not doing this for us but for God. Our comfort is not really the goal, but Christ being worshipped around the world is. Our supervisor, Mark, asked us to write out a two minute testimony of how we came to follow Jesus. He and his wife then translated that testimony into Polish on paper and on cassette tape. Erin and I are now working on learning our testimony in Polish so that we can start to tell people our story immediately. Its hard because we really have no idea what we are saying and only know our colors and numbers in Polish. But we'll get it. I also received a copy of my great grandfather's testimony he wrote for a Russian magazine. We had it translated and read about how he tried to start churches in north east Poland in the 1920's. His message was so unpopular that they burned down his house while his family slept. They escaped and continued to do their work. His mother-in-law asked him why he didn't just pray in a room by himself and stop trying to hold meetings and start churches. He replied that his life was all about trying to please God not men. This was a reminder and a challenge to Erin and I that times will be tough but we are working for God not for men. Below is a picture of my great-grandfather in front of a Baptist Polish seminary. He is the one in the middle. We love and miss you and we thank you for your prayers. Please look at the prayer requests to the right and don't forget to leave a comment, it lets us know that you are reading. Peace, Seba and Erin

We Made It...

...To Virginia, not Poland yet. Erin and I arrived at the ILC (International Learning Center) for two months of training. Amazingly but not surprisingly, all that we asked you to pray for came to pass. We sold both vehicles (the Honda on the last day before we left), packed all our posessions into 6 footlockers and two suitcases and spent good time with our family and friends. Thank you so much for your prayers. We want to especially thank Erin's mom and dad (Ron and Kay) for housing us the last week and giving us all that we needed to prepare to go. We also want to thank Pastor Ryan of Grace Baptist Church for putting this blogspot in their bulletin and mentioning us during their service. We miss all of you already (except for Chris Sheppard) but we are extremely busy here learning all kinds of details of our assignment. Please pray for us to be able to retain all that we are learning and also for us to build meaningful relationships with other missionaries here. God Bless, Seba and Erin Here we are with Rachel and Shea Massengale (our team members) and Mark and Susie Edworthy (our supervisors).

Thank You!

Erin and I are convinced that many of you were praying for us this week because some incredible things happened. On Monday our doctor prescribed medicine to last us over year (not a common practice) which gives us time to find a good doctor in Poland. On Wednesday we recieved an awesome gift from some very generous loved ones. On Thursday, we sold our Tahoe (a great financial help to us). Friday we ate dinner with Mel and Bobbie Karger and chatted away on their back deck. Saturday we had a garage sale starting at 8 AM. By 10:30 everything was 50% off and by 11:15 everything was free. Everything was gone before noon (thanks Mom and Dad for your help). Two things we asked you to pray for were answered this week (selling one car, and emptying our apartment). How ever it is you're praying, keep doing it, it works! This last Sunday morning was very special for us. South Haltom Community Church invited us and others to share what we would be doing. I had the opportunity to preach about answering God's call to a new direction in life. The church prayed over us and others and sent us off in a manner worthy of God. Thank you church and thank you to all our family and friends who came to see us there. We love you all! We had a great lunch afterwards (once again Melinda's sopapilla cheesecake did not dissapoint). Please pray that we sell the honda and can enjoy some time with family. God Bless-Bog jest dobry (God is good) Seba & Erin

An Amazing Weekend

What a weekend! We started out with a party at the Sheppherd's and loved seeing everyone there. Chris and Amy made some great fajitas and Melinda Elliot made the best sopapilla cheesecake. Early Sunday morning we attended Glenview Baptist and saw many old friends and were prayed for during the service. Later that morning, I preached at Cityview (a short sermon since the air conditioner was out). And we ended the afternoon at the Allison's who gave us a goodbye lunch (Angela made an awesome Polish Flag cake). We had so much fun and are so thankful for the people the Lord has surrounded us with. 3rd John 6 says "you will do well to send them (missionaries) on their way in a manner worthy of God." Thank you for being faithful to that verse in how you have treated us.

Special thanks to Pator Dennis and Pastor Rick for letting us have part in the service.

Seba and Erin

Not Quite Clear For Takeoff!

Erin and I are trying to get ready for our new and exciting life in Krakow, Poland. We are moving, storing, packing, throwing away, giving away, and selling stuff all at the same time. Our biggest concern is selling our two vehicles and emptying out our apartment by the end of the month. If you could pray for us to do those two things without going absolutely nuts, we would appreciate it. Thanks for checking out the blog and God bless you! Don't forget to subscribe to the blog below so we can send you a link each time we update it! Seba and Erin