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Happy New Year!
Uwaga: Caution this email is long. Feel free to skip to prayer requests!

We want to thank you for praying for us during the Holiday Season. God gave us family and friends to share in our days, hopes and dreams during the holiday season. We enjoyed family worship time: lighting candles, singing carols and reading scripture. God also gave us the wonderful technology of SKYPE to share Christmas day with our stateside family and friends. I know you are all wondering if we had carp in the bathtub. We opted for a pig in the refrigerator that transformed into a pork roast! God is our provider.

We also celebrated the season by learning about Christmas customs in Poland. We attended a Christmas party hosted by our language teacher and visited a museum displaying handmade Nativity scenes. We enjoyed a special worship service at our church complete with Polish carols. Someone recently asked us, “Why have you come to a country that already knows about Jesus?” Our answer....We pray that people would understand that Jesus is more than a baby in a manger and a man on a cross. We pray they would understand that He is alive today and wants to have a relationship with them.” Our desire is to see people in Poland come to know Jesus in a personal way, study His word and have fellowship with our Father in Heaven. Join us in this prayer.

Our Polish church participated in the Samaritan’s Purse Project. We attended a party where 45 needy children received shoe boxes filled with surprises. A small group from our church performed a play for the children and their parents. While the children played games, the parents were treated to coffee, cake and they heard the gospel message presented by our pastor. After games and fellowship, each child was presented with a gift prepared by our congregation.
Our family watched in anticipation as our gift was given to a small girl named Victoria. Please join us in praying for Victoria. We pray that this small act of kindness will lead her one step closer to claiming Jesus as Lord.

One of the highlights of our holiday was a visit to a nearby Roma Village. We visited in a home of a family who recently experienced the death of a child. We heard how their faith in God has sustained them and influenced others. We shared scripture and prayed for this family. Andrzej, the father, asked us to pray that God would allow he and his wife to adopt a child. From a human standpoint, it will be a miracle if this family will be given a child to adopt because they belong to the Roma population. Please join us in praying for the miracle of adoption for this family. If your church had youth or children who attended a FUGE camp: Centri-Kid, Mission-Fuge or Crosspoint last summer, our missionary friend and this family were highlighted during the missions emphasis. Missions offerings taken at these camps were given directly to the Roma Ministries in Eastern Europe. We can see your gifts transforming lives of people through the gospel message of Jesus Christ. (find out more about ROMA in Europe- http://teamromapoland.blogspot.com/)

We ask for your prayers as our family joins Henryk Podsiadiły to help with a Bible Camp for orphan and needy children, January 18-23 in Wisła, Poland. Pray that we can be used of God to share the message of salvation and hope to these children.

Our experiences during the holidays and the upcoming camp, give us a renewed sense of urgency for our language lessons. God has given us a life-changing message for the people of Poland. After our first week of language 2009, Beverly concluded, “That was not so bad.” God is a God of miracles! We appreciate your prayers for our language studies.

We are also enjoying WINTER. We received about 6 inches of snow last week. Bev and Megan enjoyed a day of sledding. UWAGA! (Attention, Watch Out!) Of course this amount of snow did cause a problem driving up a hill in front of Megan’s school. Megan Beverly, Jacob and a taxi driver pushed Ted (and the car) up the hill! Ted bought snow tires that afternoon. Temperatures have been below zero F but today we experienced a heat wave of 32 F!

Megan also started back to school with a good week. She finished the week by saying, “This week went by fast!” YEAH God.

We celebrated 28 years of marriage on December 27. We are praising God for allowing us to celebrate 28 years of marriage in a romantic European city! AHHH!

All this to say, God is Amazing. He loved us so much He sent His Son to be our Savior. He loved us so much He allowed His Son to die for our sins. He loved us so much He raised His Son from the grave and gave us eternal life. If that was not enough, He has given us the blessings of a wonderful family, caring friends, daily bread, His word and His church. He has also provides us with snow tires, educational expenses , a warm cozy apartment, warm clothes and good food. All of our physical needs are being met through gifts of Southern Baptists Churches through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Thank You for giving!

Thank You for enduring to the end of this email! Your continued love and support are so encouraging to us. We also want to thank everyone who sent holiday cards and goody boxes. We received so many cards and packages, our postal clerk was wondering what was going on in our apartment! Each item is greatly appreciated. We also enjoyed loving emails, prayer-grams and phone calls. Most of all we felt A PEACE THAT PASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING as God’s people lifted prayers for our family. Each of you are a blessing to our family.

Beverly, Ted and Megan

We praise our Father for
a wonderful holiday season
supplying all of our needs
good days for Megan at school and Beverly at language lessons
28 years of marriage and three wonderful, amazing children

Please join us in praying for:
Andrzej and Ola as they begin the adoption process. Pray God will give them a child.
Salvation of small girl named Victoria.
Continued progress in language learning.
Bible Camp in Wisła, January 18-23.
Megan as she shares Christ with teachers and students at ISK (International School of Krakow)
Megan’s residency card to be approved. (We need one more document from Richmond)

Beverly, Ted and Megan

Dear Friends,
Thank you for your prayers, e-mails, cards and care packages over the past month. God is working through you to give us encouragement and joy. It is thrilling to open the mail box and receive a REAL piece of mail! There is something about seeing, touching and feeling something that someone you love has sent. A person’s handwriting speaks love, care and concern. Although, e-mails are great too! There is also a rush of anticipation while waiting for the INBOX to appear! Another thrilling moment is when the SKYPE phone rings on the computer! Now there is an adrenaline rush! We are thankful for every contact we receive from you, every contact is God at work.

This week God touched our lives through two special contacts. One came from a friend whom I have not seen in person for 30 years but we have been re-acquainted via computer technology. Monday was full of challenges and I felt frazzled by life. I had allowed the enemy, Satan, a victory. I sat down at the computer that evening and discovered an email with subject “Thinking of You.” The following sentence from this e-mail released me from Satan’s trap: “ Keep your eyes on the Master and you won’t have any problem He can't solve.” Wow. The person who sent this email had no idea that I would be reading it after a day of defeat by the enemy. Thanks DC for allowing God to lead and guide your thoughts and actions.

Another great technological leap occurred as we participated in a SKYPE worship service with our family at Forest Hills Baptist Church. We were part of a program titled, Sing Around the World. The children sang songs from around the world and shared about Christmas customs in that country. We were able to share about how people of Poland celebrate Christmas. We also worshipped with our church family by singing together “Infant Holy, Infant Lowly,” a Polish Christmas carol. It was exciting to see familiar faces in God’s sanctuary that holds so many memories and to hear the voices of God’s people praising Him together. This service also confirmed in our hearts that the Christmas season is about the Nations. God created the Nations for His glory and praise. May we all join together in praying and giving so that all nations, of every tribe and language, may hear the Good News of Jesus and experience true Hope and Peace for eternity.

Thank you for your prayers for our family. Also, thank you for giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering/Global Missions Offering. Your support goes to over 5,000 missionaries plus support personnel all over the world. You are providing the Holmes with an apartment, transportation, Megan’s education, language lessons, food and clothing. Team KRAKOW is using your gifts by sharing God’s Message through cooking classes, Coffee House, youth Bible study, family Bible studies, Campus Ministries, Ladies Bible Study, monthly outreach activities, sport camps and day camps. Also, one of our team members has a special team focusing on the Roma “Gypsy” population in Poland. Your gifts help them have a special ministry center, Kids Club, preschool, weekly bible studies, family camps, mentoring for lay leaders, and a weaving class! Your missionaries are using God given gifts and talents to share God’s message. Thank you for praying and giving so that “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.”

We Love You,
The Holmes
Ted, Beverly and Megan

Please Pray ...
that we would stay focused on the Master: His word and His plan
we would continue to make progress in language learning and be bold in using phrases
for opportunities to share Christ with others
as we celebrate the holiday away from friends and family
for Megan as she continues share Christ with her classmates and teachers

Thanksgiving Update

Dear Friends,

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving week. We were thinking of you and praying for you. We had a wonderful meal with TEAM KRAKOW. Team Krakow includes 19 adults, 6 youth and 11 children so you can imagine our gathering was very exciting! Each family brought food to share and we certainly had a feast. We enjoyed cornbread dressing and sweet potato casserole thanks to friends at Forest Hills Baptist who sent needed food items that are not available in Poland. Beverly had the joy of preparing THE TURKEY. We were able to get a turkey for around $50. Everyone enjoyed the meal and visiting with each other. We thank God for providing us with a missionary family, Team Krakow.

While many of you were hitting the mall for shopping, we headed to a quiet village in the mountains of Poland – Wisla. Last week, someone prayed a special prayer for our family; they prayed that God would delight us this week with something unexpected that we would know is just from Him, something to thrill our hearts. God answered that prayer during our trip to Wisla. The scenery in the mountains was beautiful. We enjoyed seeing snow laden trees and cottages with smoke rising from chimneys. We enjoyed traditional Polish food in a warm, cozy, mountain restaurant. We took a stroll through one of the oldest cites in Poland and on a short climb to the top of the city we saw remains of a 14th century church and castle. The beautiful scenery reminded us that God is creator and He is in control. The first snow white and clean reminds us that each day God makes all things new. Being surrounded by buildings that are centuries old, reminds us that God has been at work since the beginning of time and His work continues today as we are obedient to Him. We ended our trip by enjoying coffee and cake in a small café in Wisla. When our cafe latte’s were delivered to our table, we were surprised to see the design of a heart, stenciled with cocoa, on top of the creamy foam. The heart was another reminder that our Heavenly Father loves us and He has a plan for us and for all His creation. This weekend, God spoke to our heart in an unexpected way, just for us. Thank you faithful prayer partners for praying for us. If all this was not enough, God provided wise counsel from a good friend. We were challenged to celebrate and use what Polish we already know (don’t worry how much you don’t know), to allow God is use us in small ways to love people with our actions and to spend time with and trust in our Heavenly Father.

One more blessing...we awoke to a beautiful breakfast served in a cozy breakfast nook, overlooking a snow laden rooftop with Christmas carols softly playing in the background. We enjoyed fresh scrambled eggs (from the chicken next door), cheese, bread, jam, (real) butter, yogurt, juice, tea and coffee. Amazing.

What a wonderful weekend God gave to the Holmes Family. All of these blessing came our way, because one of God’s servants took the time and energy to invite, plan and prepare a wonderful time of refreshment for our family. I am thankful that he was willing to be used of God in such a quiet and humble manner. His service is an example for us to follow. We are praying for you this Holiday Season, that God will bless you in a fresh and unexpected ways and that you will have opportunity to bless others.

Continue to pray for
Language learning and opportunities to use phrases
The Baptist Union in Poland. We had the privilege attending a meeting, celebrating 150 years of Baptist work in Poland and a meeting to constitute a new church in Krakow. Pray for wisdom as we seek to join the work that God is about in Poland.
Megan as she attends the International School of Krakow. Pray for open doors for our family to be a light for Jesus in the school community.

Fun Facts: It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Poland. On December 6, Santa Clause delivers gifts to children. A highlight of the Christmas Celebration is a spectacular meal of 12 dishes and a midnight church service on Christmas Eve. On December 25, family gifts are exchanged. December 26 is reserved for visiting friends. The Holmes already have a nativity scene up in their apartment and a tree will soon be decorated. Looking forward to celebrating Christmas in Poland.

Thanks again for your prayers,
Ted, Beverly and Megan

The Faith of a Child

The Bible tells us to have the faith of a child as we seek Kingdom issues. Parents can remember the stage of their children’s lives when they asked so many questions. The most often asked was WHY? This week, the question of WHY came to mind several times....

WHY am I riding in a bus packed to the brim (every part of my body was touching someone else’s body), with each person wearing hat, scarf, coat and carrying a bag, windows fogged on every side, sweat running down my back?
WHY can I not pronounce the number “trzysta trzydziesci trzy” (333) and my teacher can’t say Switzerland (how easy is that)
WHY do people speak so many different languages? Was the tower of Babel really necessary?
WHY does Megan have to ride a tram 45 minutes to get to school?
WHY does it take one hour to go anywhere?
WHY am I separated from my family during the holiday season?
WHY does everything I bake turn out to be a FLOP?

Looking out our apartment windows, God answered these questions; we can count the windows that belong to 1,162 family units (Ted counted). Beyond these windows, we can see another 20 apartment buildings. This is just one small neighborhood in Krakow. This visual helps answer our questions. The challenges we face are to bring the message of Jesus Christ to the people of Krakow. Just within our view everyday, we are surrounded with a sea of people waiting for the GOOD NEWS of HOPE and SALVATION.
Maybe today, you can look out your window and see who you can see, they too are waiting for someone to share with them the hope and peace only found in Jesus Christ. See photos below.

Thanks for continuing to pray for our family. God is answering prayer.

SCHOOL--We attended parent teacher conference at Megan’s school. Each teacher commented on the positive influence/energy that Megan has brought to Grade 7. God has provided Megan with courage and strength to face the challenge of a new school in a new country. God is working through her to show her teachers and classmates the LIGHT of the World. One day last week, during a quiet moment in class, a boy blurted out....”I HATE JESUS.” I personally believe that Megan is experiencing a spiritual battle each day as she goes to school. Please continue to pray for her.

FAMILY—As you can imagine the next month is going to be difficult being separated from our children. Family traditions are changing for us and for Jennifer and Lindsay. Pray for all of us we adjust to a new way of sharing the holiday season.

LANGUAGE—We are being consistent in attending class and doing our homework. Please pray for opportunities and courage to use the phrases and word that we are learning.

CHURCH-Next weekend the church we attend is celebrating their anniversary in conjunction with the anniversary of 150 years of Baptist work in Poland. Pray that we will have wisdom and direction in joining them in Kingdom work here in Poland.

FUN FACTS— It is SNOWING! Last night our family took a picturesque walk through the park as snow was gently falling all around. A turkey cost $100! Is turkey really necessary at Thanksgiving!

Update - Holmes Family in Krakow

“Za wszystko dziekujcie, gdyz taka jest wola Boza w Chrystusie jesusie wzgledem was.” 1 Tesaloniczan 5,18
“Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

We thank Him because......

• We see God at work in our lives.
• We know the assurance of our Salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord
• We have completed the paper work towards receiving our residency permits in the country of Poland
• We celebrated Megan’s 13th birthday in Krakow Poland with so many cards and gifts from friends in the USA
• Beverly drove to the school and back and did not get lost
• God is teaching us to rely on Him, even when we don’t understand His plan
• We know 278 words and 29 phrases in the polish language
• Ted has successfully communicated in Polish on several occasions
• We can navigate the city on trams and buses
• We received three boxes of goodies from special friends (candy and muffin mix) Yeah!
• We are living in an ancient beautiful European city
• We found a really cool place to eat Pizza
• We observe Polish people being kind to each other on the tram
• God is showing us who to pray for
• God has given us an awesome team to work with in Krakow
• God has given us opportunities to worship Him in Polish and English
• God has introduced us to the wonderful Roma people through their music and dancing
• We found an orthodontist for Megan
• Friends have provided needed supplies for a wonderful American Thanksgiving Dinner...Yeah for pumpkin!
• We had a SKYPE conversation with the FHBC Middle School youth at 2:00 a.m.
• Beverly talks to Jennifer, Lindsay and her parents several times a week via SKYPE
• We have internet to keep in touch
• God has provided Megan a mission field at her school. (look up Baha’i religion, several families practice this religion)
• Ted and Bev gave their testimony at the International Church, Megan read scripture during the worship time
• The Holmes have childcare at the International church this Sunday evening (yeah, we get to love on babies)
• We have enjoyed bright sunny weather
• Gustaw Cieslar, President of the Baptist Union is a great friend
• Our prayer network has expanded to Mississippi and South Carolina
• We have two WMU circles praying for us
  

We want to thank you for your prayers for Poland as we celebrated All Saints Day. Our family visited two cemeteries to observe and to pray. The cemeteries were actually beautiful. Most people visited the graves as families, standing in somber silence to remember the dead. We could hear the chanting of the priest in the background as people made their way into the chapel to offer money in return for a special prayer offered on behalf of their loved one. There was a large crucifix at one end of the cemetery, we stood and had a family prayer time for the people all around us. We prayed they would come to know the assurance of their salvation through a relationship with Jesus Christ. We prayed that God would use us to share this good news with people of Poland. Thanks for praying for us as we observed this Polish custom.

All Saints Day - Cemetery Decorations

This week we also celebrated the Polish Independence Day. We attended a parade and ceremony in the Rynek. It was unlike parades in the US. The mood was very somber and reflective. The ceremony was attended by thousands of people but the crowd was almost silent as they remembered the ones who gave their life for the country of Poland. Young men in Poland are required to serve two years in the army unless they are students at the university.

Tram Life—We use the tram system and bus system every day, several times a day. We have been observing tram behavior. People squeeze into the autobus or tram until the sides seem to be bulging. In this mass of people, there is utter silence. The only noise you may hear is the word Prosze (please) or Przepraszam (Excuse me). Younger people are eager to give their seats to anyone who looks older. On the slightest bump or touch, the other person is quick to say Przepraszam (Excuse me). Sometimes my American self wants to jump up and yell out, “Hey Everybody! Let’s sing Row Row Row Your Boat or how about The Wheels On The Bus.” So far, I have yielded to temptation and sat quietly in my seat. God has given me a ministry of TRAM PRAYER. I have started noticing the same people coming and going. I have started praying for them....the young adult with cerebral palsy, the two women who are always together, the babcia and the dziadek (grandmother and grandfather).

Please continue to pray for:

Language learning. Pray that we can remember vocabulary, pronounce the words and that God would give us opportunity to use our new language

Megan’s adjustment to school. Pray for good friends and opportunity to share Christ with classmates and teachers

The Krakow Team has they share Christ through athletics, coffee house, bible study, International Compass Fellowship, cooking classes and personal evangelism

The people of Poland. Pray that they will hear God’s word and seek a personal relationship with their Father through His Son, Jesus Christ

Jennifer, Lindsay and our parents Ted and Helen Holmes and Jack and Peggie Bond as we celebrate holidays apart from each other.

We are also praying for each of you. We are praying that God will use you to share His story with your friends and neighbors. We are praying for a little boy named Collin who was born early at 30 weeks.

Sorry for the long update. We just wanted you to know we serve an AWESOME GOD.

Happy Early Thanksgiving,
The Holmes
Ted, Beverly and Megan