"My favorite country!"

Today I went to Kaiser to get medicine for my Streptococcal pharyngitis. Strep throat for the lay person! As I was checking in I told the lady that I needed to get medicine in me before I flew to Poland with a group of students from our church. The lady sat back in her chair and said, "That's my favorite country. My family is from Poland and I went there on a cruise 2 years ago. We went to a city off the Sea." She couldn't believe someone in Kaiser today was going to Poland on Monday!

It was cool to see her joy for me and our team going to a place that she loved. There was someone behind me ready to pay so I was off to see the nurse. Now I am off to take my medicine pictured above.

Underground

Our camp this year is centered around the theme "Underground." Here's the logo! It's going to be an awesome week!!

Long lines

Today United Airlines was down for two hours at DIA. I am so glad they are working out the kinks before we show up around 9:45 a.m. on Monday morning.

You should stay tuned to this blog and get ready for the potential travel hang ups!

We are off to Krakow on Monday, June 25th!

Student Thoughts: Rachel M

This will be my third time going to Poland. I am looking forward to getting to know our team better. I have learned that a special, common bond is created within the team, especially after spending two weeks together. We work together through the challenges, but also get to be outside of our normal lives.

There are many people that I am looking forward to seeing again. It brings me great joy think about the memories and picture their faces. I don’t feel very nervous about this trip, but the first year I went I was very unsure of how everything was supposed to happen and the details of the trip.

I am preparing spiritually by praying for the team. I have also been praying about my role for this year. I’ve been thinking about the previous trips and the friends I have made. I would like prayer for getting through the rest of this school year and finishing well. Already the time has gone by fast, but currently, I have a major school project that is causing stress. I also want to be mindful that the next few months are good preparation for showing God’s love to people at school.

Student Thoughts: Jen C.

As our Poland trip approaches, I am really excited for the whole experience. I cannot wait to meet and build relationships with the Polish students. I also can’t wait to see how God will use me in this trip and I hope to successfully show his glory to the Polish people we will meet. I am also looking forward to improving my own relationship with God. I’m excited to see what he will teach me while I am there and I hope to fully live my life for Him. I look forward to building stronger relationships with the students and leaders of the Poland team as well. Lastly, I am also excited to see God’s creation in another country as well!

While in Poland, I am most nervous about putting myself out there. By that, I mean that I am worried that I won’t be accepted by the Polish students because I tend to be a shy, introverted person when I meet new people. I just hope that I will be able to be open up to the Polish students I meet. I know this is really important because the friendships I build in Poland will help me spread God’s kingdom. Of the stops we are visiting in Poland, I am really scared and apprehensive to go to the concentration camp, Auschwitz. Even though I’ve learned about it in school, I know it will be so much harder to actually visit the camp. I am also a little nervous to leave my family. I am worried that I might get a little home sick but I am predicting that I will be having too much fun to miss my family!

Well, I would really appreciate it if you all would pray that during the trip I will fully rely on God and be a willing servant. I tend to like to be a leader and I am sometimes a control freak so I really hope to be able to fully commit my life to God. Once again, I just need prayer that I will be open to the Polish students I meet and not hide behind my shyness and insecurities. Also, since this will be the first time I have ever left the country (Yeah!) and my family for more than a few days, I hope that I will be comfortable during this trip and I will not become too homesick. I mainly just hope that God will help me spread his Word into the lives of the Polish students.

The President Beat Us

The Presiden of the United States of America beat us to Poland. He was there on June 8th! Check it out here!

I can't wait to get to Krakow and hear Alice say, "Welcome to Poland!"

Final Training

We had our final official meeting yesterday (05.20) for our trip to Poland this summer. We had a great time eating bread and toppings. We nailed down who's teaching English and we're getting ready for theme night already!

It was fun to sit around the table yesterday and see the anticipation in the eyes of our students. We also talked about our flight troubles from last year and we'll be leaving Denver earlier to get to Chicago earlier so we don't miss our flight to Krakow!

Are you getting excited?

Poland on the Amazing Race

Did you see it last night? The Amazing Race All Stars went to Poland! They started in Warsaw, stopped off at Auschwitz-Birkenau and then headed to Krakow where we spend three to four days!

Here is an overview of what happened on last nights episode - HERE!

Seeing them run through the square in Krakow got me excited for our trip!

Weekly Prayer

In preparation for our trip Jen is serving our team in a way no other students has.

Each week she is emailing us the names of two people on our team to be praying for! I am so excited to have this attitude of prayer present before we leave!

The importance of prayer - by Dave

Hello. Dave here. I'm one of the leaders going to Poland with Southern Gables Church's 180 high school group. This is the first of many postings by the team members going to Poland this summer. I've asked each member of the team to think through what is on their hearts and minds as they prepare for this trip. I will plan on posting their responses over the next couple of weeks. I've also asked them to list prayer requests so that if you, the readers, feel led to support us through prayer, you will have specific examples to pray for.

For myself, I've been thinking a lot about the importance of prayer. Two weeks ago, at our last Poland meeting, the subject of preparation came up. During our conversation, I began to think about how preparation for a trip like this needs to be a very intentional action. We were discussing evangelism and how letting our actions reflect the character of Jesus can lead others to question what is different about our lives. However, it is vital that each of us is prepared for those dialogues. This means that we need to be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit in everyday interactions. For me, this means spending time in prayer. Not just prayer for the rest of the team (though this is important), but prayer for myself: that I would be sensitive to the leadings of the Spirit not just in Poland, but everyday.

For my prayer requests, I would ask that as I prepare, I would continue thinking about how God has changed my life. The cliche aside, I believe it is important for me to really think through this so that I may explain it in a way that sounds genuine, and not as a sales pitch. For me, there is a bit of stigma surrounding evangelism. I often worry too much about how I say things, and forget that what I say is more important. I would also ask that as we travel, the Lord would grant me patience with the rest of the team. As I've already shared with them, I am an extreme introvert, which means there will be times that my patience with others will wear thin, especially after several long days and short nights.

Welcome back!

If you haven't visited this page in a while (and you probably haven't, given that the last posting was February 5th), welcome back! This page will follow the 180 team's trip to Poland this summer as well our process of preparing.

So stay tuned!