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.