Meet the Polish Football Coach

This is Wojtek and Greg. Wojtek is the coach for the local American football team. He's a heavy metal lover and is hooked on American football. They are looking at the poster that was printed and distributed to promote the American football clinic that our team will be doing July 21-28. Wojtek's team is called the Silesian Miners and they are in the running for the championship game. Some of his guys will be helping us with the clinic. The team will be arriving in only two weeks.

Oh yeah, my passport came on Thursday before July 4th, finally. We had a good trip other than a couple of long layovers. Sandra and I arrived on Thursday and were pretty tired. After a couple of nights' sleep we are better today. The weather has been more like fall than summer but is due to change back soon. We are enjoying the change ourselves!


Tomorrow I preach at a local Church of God. Totally unprepared since they asked me just this afternoon. But I will simply share somethings from the exchanged life repertoire and Greg will translate. Hopefully they will not throw us out of the church!!

Getting Close

Well, we're still waiting on some of our passports to come. What a hassle! And one wonders why the Department of State had to have problems this year of all years! I spoke with an agent last night - the second time in the last two weeks - and she said mine was completed and would be mailed some day soon! What does that mean?

As we get closer to departure, things are beginning to take shape as to what we will actually be doing with our time. Ed, Jeremy, and Ross are taking the lead on the American football clinic...yes that is right, an American football clinic! It is something they have an interest in so we're going to teach them about our football. Lynn, Pam and Jeni and the other women are pulling things together for the Back Yard Bible clubs. Our musicians, Ray, Mollie and Will are working on the music for our clubs and gatherings. And I pray the playground equipment is in the pipeline!

Sandra and I will be heading over July 4 so that we can be there for our daughter Erin's second baby...maybe. The doc is encouraging her to go ahead and have it since little Hannah is "ready"...of course I thought that they did come when they are ready!?

We still need your prayers for all the details of our mission to come together, for safe travel for all and for those passport to show up soon! I hope to post some photos real soon...if I can remember to take them!

Blake

Poland Playground Project

Last Saturday we had a team cookout and and meeting. I was supposed to have photo of the team to post but I forgot to take it!

So I decided to post a catalogue drawing of the equipment we plan to erect at a single Mom's home in Poland. The home is run by the Polish Red Cross. The director there is very excited and is calling in support for the project from Poland too!

We are making progress on our fund raising efforts. We are up to $15,000! The goal I set for the entire team is $30,000 which would pay for the whole trip and for the projects we plan to do there which are - Back Yard Bible Clubs, the playground, an American football clinic and tournament, and renovation of the King's Kid's meeting area. So we are half way there!

The main issue we face now is getting eveyone's passport! There are five of us who still do not have them yet...so you can be praying for them to come real soon! And if you'd like to make a donation to the project you can do so by mailing a check payable to CHC to:

The Church at Hampton Cove
110 Woodside Drive
Owens Cross Roads, AL 35763
(mark the check for Poland Mission 2007)

Please let us hear from you if you'd like more info on this undertaking.

Meet the Mission Team

The time is closing in for the Poland Mission Team to head to Eastern Europe to work with our Polish missionaries - Greg and Erin Skrobarczyk! The support money is beginning to come in and the plans for how to use our time there are becoming clearer. So we’d like to briefly introduce you to the team and ask you to begin praying for us all and for our travel and schedule.

Greg, Lynn and Will Abercrombie - Early members of our church; Greg is a church elder and engineer, Lynn a home economics teacher and Will a student at Auburn; have traveled to mainland China; what a great experience to have as a family!

Jeremy Bolton - With his wife Amy leads a life group and works with our Next Gen ministry; has lots of international travel experience with his job.

David Engelkemier - Our summer ministry intern and third year seminary student has been part of our church for a while; traveled with our team to Africa last year.

Mollie Garrigan - Lives in Birmingham and serves as worship leader for Shades Valley Community Church where her father is the pastor; her first short term mission experience!

Pam Graves and Lawren Ledbetter - Mother and daughter; former members of CHC now part of Life’s Journey; very involved in ministry in Mendenhall, Mississippi; have been sitting on ready for this trip for two years!

Peggy Ledbetter - Pam Graves’ aunt; member of Baker’s Chapel Baptist Church; has also been primed to make this trip for two years; loves to travel and do ministry.

Ray, Jeni, Holly and Hannah Monroe - Another family team; former attendees at CHC; Jeni is a stay at home mom; Ray, an engineer, now leads a home group that has been very involved with the Skrobarczyks ministry.

Kristin Schiavone - Our student ministry intern extraordinaire; college student; her first international missions experience.

Ed Wynn - With his wife, Catherine, are very involved in our Next Gen ministries; Ed is an engineer with civil service; has been committed to this trip for two years.

Ross Jaeger - He’s our pastor: his first time for missions in Eastern Europe.

Sandra and Blake Rymer - Greg and Erin are our kids; we’ve visited Poland and Eastern Europe many times; lived in Budapest, Hungary two years as missionaries.

Prayer needs: We need you all to be praying for these folks as Father prepares us to make this journey. Some of our passports are not in hand yet. We’re still raising support for our projects.

Thank you for your support of our mission efforts! And you and your family really must join us on one of our trips real soon! It’ll change your life forever!

MISSION FOCUS: POLAND

As you already know, our church is sending a mission team to Katowice, Poland in July. Our missionaries, Erin and Greg Skrobarczyk, will be hosting our team for one week. Here is a brief look at the intriguing country that was the birth place of Pope John Paul II.

Poland is an amazing society that was freed from Communist oppression in January 1990, and is located in Eastern Europe, and borders Germany, Ukraine, Belarus, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Poland is not a very large country and is actually slightly smaller than New Mexico with a population of about 38.5 million. The Polish people also enjoy a very modern culture and lifestyle. In fact, there are many similarities between Polish and American culture, and America and Poland enjoy a very good relationship with one another, a relationship that goes all the back to our revolutionary war and beyond.

From the 16th to the 18th Century Poland played a significant role in the prolonged struggle between Islam and Christianity. When the Turks found it impossible to conquer Poland, they turned their sights to Austria in 1683. Austria called on the Polish commander, Sobieski, who lead them to a decisive defeat of the Turks at Vienna and prevented Islam from claiming a foothold in central Europe. However, in 1795 Poland virtually disappeared as a nation and did not know independence again until the end of WW I, in 1918. Unfortunately, Nazism and Communism then befell the Poles and held sway until the last decade of the 20th Century. Since then they have joined NATO and the European Union.

Like the US, they have formed a government of legislative, executive and judicial branches with a president, a prime minister, a council of ministers, a parliament and solid court system. While the economy has made big strides since communism, unemployment (14%) and underemployment (17%) continue to plague the lives of Poles. Now the availability of cheaper labor is fueling industrial and business investments from the EU.

Polish people are highly literate (99.8%), place a big value on family life, have small but stable families, and enjoy being known for their hospitality. In today’s Poland fashion is very much Western, as is it’s music and other cultural elements. You’ll find jazz, soap operas, movies, cell phones and internet readily available. While there are protestant churches to be found in Poland, the Roman Catholic Church has been dominant since it’s founding as a nation in 966 AD.

Thanks to Kristin Schiavone for her research! And please remember to pray for the Kingdom to grow in this important Eastern European country, for our missionaries there, the Skrobarczyks, and for our team as they prepare to serve.

Blake Rymer