Month: September 2003

Just a quick update…

I’m in Wratsclaw, Poland which is about 5 hours northwest of Zakopane. Pray for wisdome and guidance as we meet with other church leaders. I should have regular access to the internet in two weeks. God is good, all the time.

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the delays… but have no fear the internet is here… but at a cost, so i’m afraid this is going to be short. I have quite a few “offline” entries I will post, but they will have to wait until I have an internet connection at my place… right now i’m using the “pastors” computer and internet/phone line, which is costly… and I just checked my email and it took almost an hour for 24 messages to read and respond… Anyway I love you all… keep the Poles in your prayers… more to come soon (I hope). God bless. Tell Alexis I love her!

Hello everybody, these posts are not going to be the clean kind that your use to. I’m not using word to write this, and probably won’t for a while. Anyway, i’m in Bratslava, Slovakia for a conference, the town i’m actually living in is Zakopane, Poland, which is about five hours away from here. The apartment i’m living in is great, it has two large rooms, a nice sized bathroom (w/o a shower curtin, this is normal here), and a very small kitchen, when I can i’ll post pictures. My roommate is awesome, his name is Chris (when translated to English). On Monday they offically named the first foursquare church here, and it is “Tree of life” foursquare, the idea or picture is Christ is the roots of our lives, and so on… in english the picture is easier, but for the Polish its not as easy. Life here is negative, and the majority of Pole’s don’t understand the hope which Christ gives, because they’ve never had that before. Please pray for God’s awesome power and might in the lives here.

If you have any questions just post them in the comments section. I’ll be happy to respond. I think that’s it for now, it’s a little crazy around here, thanks!

So, I left Seattle yesterday at 2:00pm, it was bitter sweet, bitter because I really am going to miss all of my friends, and of course Alexis. I would have lost it and balled right there in the airport but, I?m a man, and men don?t do that in public? right?. Anyway? the sweet part is I?m so excited to do work for the Lord!

I called Alexis from the terminal at Seattle, she had just gotten home, and I could tell she had just gotten done crying. Then I called her in Chicago, and just an hour or so ago, I called her from here in Frankfurt, and it cost me something like 16 euros? and it was 5am in Seattle? woops. Anyway, she?s doing great, and she?s excited to hear what is happening with me. God is good, and I think I like the traveling life.

The culture here isn?t too different from the states, except that the majority of the people actually speak two languages, and most of them speak English. I?ve noticed some people starring at me, apparently I?m an obvious American, oh well. I don?t mind all the drinking that people are doing, but I do mind all the smoking areas, there?s one to the right of me right now, and it stinks, I tried to get out of the way, but this is the closest electrical outlet I could find, and i’m sitting on the floor because there are no chairs near the electrical outlets… i’ll post a picture when I can. The internet access in all of the airports has been horrible, Frankfurt has internet terminals, but the lines are ridiculous, and the wireless internet at all of these airports has issues, major issues. So, right now I?m typing this in Word, and hopefully the connection will stay alive long enough to post. As soon as I?m settled in Zakopane I?ll upload some pictures. Oh yeah, that reminds me, if you want to snail mail me anything here is my address.

Travis Mielonen

ul. Andrzeja Struga 3/6

34-500 Zakopane

Poland

So, that?s about it. God bless, and lets pray the customs people like me in Krakow, I found out in Seattle that if I?m planning on staying more than 3 months I need to get a visa, well? I don?t have one, so they added reservations to my tickets for me to have the ?chance? to leave Poland within the three months. Anyway, god bless again, and I?ll be posting soon again, I hope.

And just a little FYI: I don’t know when i’ll update again… it may be over a week, becuase i’ll be doing some missionary touring and conferences for the next 8 days…

Okay i’m going to post this really fast, while this stupid wireless internet is working, it keeps quitting on me.

So, the paradigm in which I live right now is shifting. A year ago I was going to two churches, because I didn?t have the guts to ?leave? the other one, yet I wanted a place with people my age, but I was serving in the other church. Today, I am attending one church, but in a week, I?ll be half way around the world, worshipping in yet a different group of people. One year ago, I would have thought this was never going to happen, me a missionary? I don?t have any bible school background (yet), and I certainly didn?t (at the time) have any kind of real ministry background, but over the past year I was co-leading Campus Crusade for Christ, and learned a lot about ministry with young adults. Plus I?ve been actively involved with my young adults group at church, so here I am now? less than a week before I leave, the paradigm is certainly different that last year. Now I feel confident, now I feel like I?m knowledgeable, now I know I am at least equipped for ministry as best I can be. I know I will have hard times, I know I will screw up, and I know I?ll be frustrated. But with the power of Christ, I will be okay, I just need to depend and lean on him. Thank you for your prayers, and I will be praying for all of you.