First, meet my dear friend Ewa
Scieszka:
Ewa started out as my private
English student, but quickly grew to be my friend. Now she’s my very dear friend, so I think I
might be taking advantage of her because she still pays me, but sometimes we
just meet and talk for a couple of hours J. Now we’re such close friends that I have no
doubt we’ll always be close, even after I go home, and I look forward to her
visiting me in Texas someday.
Ewa was born in Katowice and
her parents still live here. She went to
medical school, and is a Radiologist at the Children’s Hospital. She loves windsurfing and travelling. She took me on a trip to the beach in
September. We went to Jastarnia and
also visited Gdansk. Ewa has a passion
for finding God’s will for her life and her favorite scripture is Jeremiah
13:11. I also love her because she gets
my sense of humor!
Now, meet some of the young people of Załęże!
Paulina, me, Nikola, Wiktoria, Kinga, and Wiktoria
I started teaching English to
these young people in September. They’re
all from the neighborhood of Załęże, which is where I live (where the church is
located). They are from homes with
difficult circumstances; alcoholism,
neglect, abuse, unemployment, drug abuse, etc . . .
Every Tuesday afternoon, the youth leaders here at Betania invite them
from 4 pm to 6 pm for games, snacks, Bible Study, (and now English lessons). Some of them have been coming here for
years. It’s a safe place for them. I have fallen in love with these kids. They’re a challenge, but they’re so precious.
The first day I met them, I asked
them their favorite part of coming to Betania.
One of the first things they mentioned was Christmas. I realized that some of them can’t expect
supper when they get home, much less Christmas gifts. When I asked Gosia, the Youth Director where
she gets gifts for these kids, she said from different sources, and they don’t
yet know where the gifts will come from this year.
So, I'm ON THIS. I want to ask my friends to consider sending
one gift,
or the money to buy one gift to help with Christmas for these kids this year. Of course, money is easier to send, but the kids get SO excited about American
stuff. I had some American candy and
gum that a friend sent me and you can’t believe how fast they identified it as
American. There are a total of 2 boys
and 10 girls in the group; all between the age of 12 and 15. Please think and pray about this. If you have any questions, message me on
Facebook or email me at niski@aol.com.
“Whatever you did for one of the
least of these, you did for Me.” Matthew
25:40
Happy Thanksgiving!
