Our Journal of Memories

Orphanage Visit August 2010

2010-09-16T06:28:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple pictures from our visit with the lively group of young individuals at the orphange in Bielsko. Claudia is the teenager in the picture with the rabbit. She has three brothers who are in the next picture with her. When we were there she said they will be seperated because she is too old for that orphanage now. Please pray that they would know God, and for His comfort. The children there are so sweet and enjoyed helping me with my boys. They also had a great time with the team from England who did a puppet show and played with them.

Answered Prayer

2009-08-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who prayed about our living situation, and opportunity to support our family. But most of all thank God for always providing! We are currently in a busy tourist season, and we have had many people stay as guests where we live. The record was 22 tourists for one night. And Marek has had a chance to meet with the owners since they were in town from Germany. They decided that we can live in their house rent free for a period longer than one year. The agreement is that we will be fixing up their house in the meantime. We are very comfortable there, and hope that we can be financially supported through this house. If you would like to see more pictures of the place where we live you can at www.nakamiennym.blogspot.com.

2009-07-19T00:55:00.001-07:00

I walked outside of our home and saw more butterflies at once than I have before. It's wonderful how God made things work. I enjoy the details of God's creativity.

Easy to See

2009-07-15T06:06:00.000-07:00

Here in the mountains I'm constantly amazed by God. Watching the mountains stretch out across the horizon, standing in awe of the beautiful sunsets, observing how the sun shines upon and through the clouds. I also get to see how God provided for us during the creation of the earth. Now is a time when the trees are bearing fruit and blueberries are scatttered throughout the forest. When I think of how wonderfully God made this place, I always think of heaven, and how we haven't seen anything yet!

Dominik

2009-07-15T05:45:00.001-07:00

Our son is a sweet blessing. He is 15 1/2 months now. When he hears music he starts dancing, he enjoys music more than his toys. Dominik is also very loving. Always giving hugs, kisses, and rubs on the face to us, and he doesn't leave out his sibling developing inside mommy. He is very outgoing with other children, and sometimes they get scared because he wants to hug them. We took this picture while he was eating smoked sausage for the first time with excitement.

Our New Home

2009-07-10T01:33:00.000-07:00

We have been living in the mountains for two and a half weeks now. Marek and I really like it. There have been a few tourists who came since we've had the place ready. And many people have left after they saw how high we are in the mountains. It looks like there are people who really like it, and people who fear it. We just hope to get a good amount of tourists through this place so we can have our family supported. The pool didn't cost as much as we thought to fix, and we are in the process of filling it up already.
Dominik has been walking for two weeks now, and I can feel the baby inside moving around a lot.
We always need prayer and we are very thankful for all your support.

A lot of Work Ahead

2009-06-16T00:14:00.000-07:00

We met with the owner of the property on Saturday and he said he would rent out the tourist house to us, but not the small house. This means that we will be living in a place where tourists of all kinds will stay. The price of rent has not been decided by the owner, but he said that we can take out of the rent whatever we pay for fixing up the place. There is a lot of work to be done! Yesterday was our first day of work at the house and we already found a dead mouse. I guess it's about time I get over my phobia! The property is beautiful, and the view is amazing! There is a pool that will be expensive to fix, but I think we might go for the investment because it will draw more tourists to that location. We also have a big grill outside that we already took advantage of with Marek's parents. Please pray that God would work on the owners heart about pricing. Thank you! And I will update the blog soon with pictures.

A Place to Call Home

2009-06-05T04:01:00.000-07:00

Marek spoke with the owner of a property really close to where Marcin and Magda live. We should find out in a week whether or not we will be able to move there. We would live in a small wooden cabin next to a tourist house that we would take care of for our own profit. Our hope is to make enough money to support our growing family and save up to invest in a small business. We would probably cook for the tourists as well. In the photo is Marcin and Magda's barn and house on the other side. Where we would live is up the road that you see on the right. Please pray that the owners would rent us this house, and that we could make profit from it because it's really hard to find work in our little town right now. Thanks for all the support!

Diana's Personal Update

2009-05-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

Almost two years has gone by since we moved to Wisła, Poland, and during that time I have been learning their ways of living in the mountains, while slowly picking up the language. I'm finally feeling freedom being able to communicate a little...but there is still a long way to go before I have full on conversations. I enjoy hosting and being hosted. The people here are very hospitable, and I've learned a lot from them.
We have gone through many stuggles, but God always shows Himself faithful and merciful.
Marek and I are growing as parents together, and we have had fun along the way.
Our son Dominik is a huge joy for us. He doesn't fail to make us laugh and bring smiles to our faces.
He just turned 14 months a couple days ago, and we are expecting another child in November.
God has blessed us so much, and He always provides. I laugh sometimes when we realize a need and a couple days later someone gives us what we needed.
In many ways transitioning to Poland has been hard for me, and has challenged my character. But I know I'm in a position for God to mold me.
For the last five months we have lived in downtown Wisła, and now it's time to leave this house. We have to move by the end of June. Please pray for guidance about where we will live. I am excited for the next open door.
We will keep you updated.

Congregational Getaway

2008-11-13T09:12:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was four days because of a Polish holiday, so people from our congregation decided to meet in the mountains for fellowship. The drive there was an adventure to say the least! Marek and I had a meeting so we headed over to the small cottage where two other families waited for us at 10pm. The directions were only a description of the roads that were there to pull down trees with a tractor! Long story short, we got lost and ended up driving an extra hour to the top of the mountain. The view was stunning and lit up by the moon. Thank God we made it back down safely where loving brothers and sisters welcomed us. More families came the next day. We had a splendid time of worship, bible study, and a barbeque in a wooden tepee. There was a set time to talk about each persons strengths and abilities. The purpose of this was to find out who should team up to create different ministries at our church. Please pray for God's will to be done with our congregation and ministries to develop.

2008-10-17T00:26:00.000-07:00

Dominik turned six months on September 25th

2008-10-06T01:10:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken the day after his six month birthday.

Fun times with the Bujok's

2008-10-01T09:50:00.001-07:00

Marek is holding Karolina and our son Dominik. Karolina is the daughter of our friends Marcin and Magda.

Ladies Conference

2008-10-01T03:46:00.000-07:00

We noticed that the women in Wisla enjoy getting together for fellowship during conferences. So I am currently preparing to teach about receiving power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us sometime in November. Marek and I have also noticed that people seem to be asking for an experience with God...for example we heard of a meeting where the "worship leader" was asking for the joy of the Lord to fall on them, and soon after, everybody started laughing. We know that joy comes from the relationship we share with God, and He does bless us in many ways through worship, but our eyes should be on God and not ourselves. Please be praying for a hunger to know God and lives surrendered to Him. My desire is for people to have faith that God is moving without having an "experience". Thank you! Diana

Refreshing!

2008-09-17T02:11:00.000-07:00

We went to a prayer meeting last Friday with brothers and sisters who were truly worshipping and interceding for others. The leader of this prayer meeting had a prohpecy for our church which is really encouraging. The scripture that came to mind was Ezekiel 37, about God making an army from dry bones! He said that we will be used to lead. Please pray that we would be hungry and step up to the plate.

Dominik's First Solid Food

2008-09-16T04:39:00.000-07:00

On September 5th we gave Dominik mashed carrot and he was very excited about eating solid food for the first time. The memory on our camera ran out so we didn't get to record his squeals of joy that happened right after the recording stopped. Dominik also enjoys squash from the garden, and apple with a little bit of cinnamon.

Orphanage in Bielsko

2008-08-29T04:52:00.000-07:00

We had the priviledge of meeting young precious individuals with a missionary team from England. The first picture is the orphanage where about 25 children live. The next two pictures are of the puppet show the ladies from England did. The baby girl is Teresa who is about to be adopted...and the last photo is baby Kamil. We got to make baloons and body art for the children too...we had a lot of fun!

Family Photo

2008-08-29T04:41:00.000-07:00

Time has been going by fast! Dominik finished five months on August 25th. He is a very happy and strong baby...which gives us more passion for orphans. We hope to add on to our family through adoption in the future. Thank you for all your support!

Answered Prayer...

2008-08-13T04:22:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Diana got to encourage our congregation to seek discipleship relationships. We were still in need of a more experienced married couple walking with the Lord to mentor us. And on Sunday we had a wonderful time with another family of five. This couple has been married for 11 years and they want to spend time with us on a regualr basis. We are very excited! The woman also wants to start meeting with Diana twice a week to learn English.

Encouraging News

2008-08-13T01:44:00.000-07:00

As you many already know, Poland is a Catholic country. So the majority of people are not being taught about a personal relationship with God. Those who have repented of their distance from God, and have actively engaged in a personal relationship with our Creator have had the thirst of their souls quenched. Last month Diana was befriended by a woman who had been going to a Catholic church with her husband and four months earlier they both decided that they didn't like some of the things in the church. They started attending a Christian fellowship and have had their lives transformed. She considers the birth of her daughter the time of her own spiritual birth. Then, two weeks later Diana met another woman who converted from Catholicism to Christianity just four weeks before. This woman was very excited about how she felt inside, and knew that her new decision was permanent. "Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!" 1 Chronicles 16:10

Dominik finished 3 months on June 25th

2008-07-04T05:40:00.000-07:00

Thank God for a wonderful son who brings us joy! God has answered, and is continuing to answer our prayers...as always! God is faithful!

Children Love Marek!

2008-06-13T02:58:00.000-07:00

Crying to Laughter

2008-06-10T06:06:00.000-07:00

Dominik's reaction while Marek was reading Proverbs.

Helping Friends

2008-06-06T08:14:00.000-07:00

Marek has had the pleasure of helping friends and family with construction and transporting materials with our van. Thank God he has the ability to do these things. Please pray for protection and health so that he can continue to help.

Smiley Boy!

2008-06-06T01:16:00.000-07:00

Dominik is two months old!

2008-05-26T01:06:00.000-07:00

The time goes by so fast! It's wonderful how God can show us so much through having a child...for example: we have toys that I've been showing Dominik, and at first he wouldn't even look at them. It made me think about the good things God has waiting for us when we're not mature enough to notice them. I pray that as Christians, we are always hungry to grow closer to God and share His love!

Flowers for Honey!

2008-05-26T01:03:00.000-07:00

We probably picked about 4,000 flowers total to make honey; these pictures are the first batch of two. People in Wisla make good use of what is grown here.

"Tent-making" Ministry

2008-04-17T03:47:00.000-07:00

We hope this will enable us to support our ministry, knowing that ministry takes time and money. Right now Marek is working very hard to support our family, and work has been a priority because of our needs. The good news is that Marek is working mostly with two other guys who know where he stands in his faith...so we are praying and hoping that God will be glorified and known to these men. Anyway, we decided to start buying salvaged vehicles from the U.S. and selling them here in Poland. We have teamed up with our cousin who is an auto mechanic. And we already have a truck on the way. Please pray for wisdom and guidance .

Dominik was born!

2008-04-17T03:05:00.000-07:00

Dominik was born at 2:55pm Polish time on March 25th! We are so excited to have the priviledge of raising our sweet son! God has definitely blessed us and has answered our prayers! Thank you for praying about our little one. This video was taken three days after he was born.

Answered Prayer

2008-03-02T02:30:00.000-08:00

Thank you all who prayed for us to get a vehicle after our other car deteriorated and was towedaway to be recycled. We weren't without a car for long before someone from church offered us a good deal on his van with a payment plan.

More about Leading the Youth

2008-02-14T23:22:00.000-08:00

We finally had a meeting with the leaders of the Baptist Church for all of Poland last night. They have chosen five young men to lead the youth in an area of Poland which will be decided later. Marek, as we shared before is one of the five and his area will stretch out probably past Krakow. The young men will be in charge of meeting with youth leaders and establishing a more organized plan for spiritual growth and outreach. We will be going to Warsaw on March 3rd to meet with all the leaders for the first time. Please pray for wisdom and spirit lead ministry...because we know that doing things in our own strength does not have eternal benefit. Thank You!

Two more months!

2008-02-02T02:44:00.000-08:00

We are expecting Dominik Miguel Cieslar to make his first appearance to this world at the end of March! This is a picture of us in the eighth month of pregnancy.

Let's Continue in Prayer...

2008-01-03T04:18:00.000-08:00

Thank you to all who have kept us in prayer along with our prayer requests. We can definitely see the fruit of our prayers! God has been strengthening the relationships we have with certain people in Poland. And doors have been opened to share about the Gospel, mercy, and God's faithfulness. Prayer is vital in this spiritual battle. We are very thankful for the support you all have given us through prayer, encouragement, and provision. We are blessed knowing that your account will be credited. God bless you!

Leading the Youth in Poland

2007-12-04T07:18:00.000-08:00

The head of the Baptist church invited Marek to lead the youth in our region of Poland. Marek will be meeting with him this week to discuss the details, and we will update the blog when we find out. Basically Marek would be meeting with four other youth leaders in Poland to share what going on in their region. We pray that relationships would be created with other leaders in Poland, and that we would have the oportunity to promote the possibility of a school of evangelism in Wisla. We appreciate your prayers for our ministry.

Praise Report!

2007-12-04T07:11:00.000-08:00

Marek does NOT have to serve in the Polish army!!! They put him on reserve because he is serving our Lord Jesus Christ. In Poland you can have a calling to serve God, and if not God, then you have to serve in the army. Praise the Lord!

English Class

2007-11-14T07:26:00.000-08:00

We got to be a part of an english class for ten year old students. And the teacher invited us back :)

LookingforGod.com

2007-11-11T23:04:00.000-08:00

We have decided that joining this ministry would probably take time away from our main focus here in Poland. For this reason we are not going to be working with LookingforGod.com ministries. The position we were going to fill in order to get this ministry going in Poland has been hard to fill. Please pray that someone will step up and join this ministry.

Confirmation...

2007-11-11T22:35:00.000-08:00

We had mentioned in an earlier post that there wasn't much teaching about the Holy Spirit and the spiritual gifts, after much prayer we began teaching this topic at our weekly young adult fellowship. Last Saturday we did not meet at the coffee club for fellowship because there was a conference going on at our church. This conference was put on by another congregation, and they had a pastor from out of town come and teach about the Holy Spirit. For our fellowship meeting we had planned to talk about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which this pastor ending up talking about that same day! This Saturday we started talking about the spiritual gifts, and the next day at church the sermon was about spiritual gifts. It's wonderful to see God moving! Thank you for all your prayers.

We're Having a Boy!

2007-11-08T06:10:00.000-08:00

We are happy to share that Dominic is healthy and developing as he should! All of your prayers for our baby mean a lot to us :)

Marek Started Work at Church

2007-11-07T06:48:00.000-08:00

After meeting with the elders, they decided that they would pay Marek for part time maintenance work, and because of this decision we now have medical care. Through this new position Marek will improve the Oasis Conference Center at a quicker pace than before. This facility has hosted Horizon School of Evangelism students, missionaries from other parts of the world, and is a place for Christian conferences and camps.

Our First Taco Night!

2007-10-28T07:28:00.000-07:00

Last night we got to reach out to the young adults in our community by hosting a taco night. We are very pleased by the group who showed up. Please pray that they return for our weekly bible study. The food was great, and the atmosphere was fun. Diana got to share a personal testimony about the encouragement that she has received through a home fellowship, and Marek shared from the Word of God. We had prayer throughout the whole night...and also some games filled with laughter. Thank you for your prayers regarding this group.

Another Open Door for Ministry

2007-10-28T06:40:00.000-07:00

Friday morning we went over to Henryk Krol's house for breakfast and he presented a need to us regarding LookingforGod.com. The website is already translated into Polish, but there is no network of Polish speaking counselors to respond to the people who pray to receive Jesus Christ. Our role would be to promote this ministry and it's need for Polish counselors. This would require us to travel and share about the many people who are saved through this ministry and need to be discipled. Along with promoting, we would be responsible to distribute the list of people who received Jesus Christ to the counselors. We will have to create a system to be able to monitor whether or not the people are being followed up on. Please pray for us as we join this harvesting ministry.

"Festival of Life" Meeting

2007-10-28T06:15:00.001-07:00

On Thursday we attended the "Festival of Life" meeting which is held once a month here in Wisla. It is a beautiful thing to see Pastors and Priests from different churches together in one place, all with the desire to glorify God. There was a total of five Catholic Priests, one of whom had a huge crucifix with and image of Jesus on it in front of his church for all to see who drove by. And praise the Lord it was taken down! We discussed events to come, and Hope 2008 was shared there as well. Please pray that we will be diligent to do these service projects together, and that many hearts will be softened in the community as a result. And most of all that people will have a taste of God's love for them, and surrender their lives to Christ.

Encouragement from Leeds, England

2007-10-28T05:45:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday we had a meeting with a married couple from Leeds, England (Paul and Jackie) who came here to encourage those who are serving in the church. They shared with us about Hope 2008...a proposition to serve the nation of England for a whole year, and probably beyond. The focus is to share the love of Christ through service, and the serving will apply to what's going on during that time of the year. We already have the desire to do service projects with the young adult group in the future. Missionary Tom Baker and his wife Beata were there with us (we have been doing ministry with them here in Wisla) and Paul from Leeds said that he sees a lot of creativity coming from us.

1st Bible Study for Young Adults

2007-10-07T06:29:00.000-07:00

Last night we officially started meeting at the coffee club in Centrum where we enjoyed worship lead by Wera (our sister and HSE 1 & 2 alumni), prayer, tea, cookies, bible study, discussion, and more prayer . Many people who came to our first meeting where we shared our vision for the group did not come to this meeting. We plan on getting the word out better this week to our friends outside the church, and we made an announcement at church today. Please pray for the young adults who know about the fellowship, but are only attending church on Sunday. We will begin discussing how God has a purpose for everyone, and that God has given us all gifts to be used.

Baby Update!

2007-10-01T23:51:00.000-07:00

We had our doctor appointment last night. The baby is developing normally...praise the Lord! It was amazing to see God's creation...the body parts are already formed, and the baby is moving around a lot. The first picture on the left you can see the facial profile, and the one on the right is the face from the front with its little arm sticking up. These pictures were taken of the baby at fifteen weeks.

1st Young Adult Meeting

2007-10-01T23:35:00.000-07:00

We met with the "core group" of our young adult fellowship on Saturday the 29th of September. There was a fun time of worshipping, eating, praying, and playing games. It was exciting to see the beginning of what God is doing with this group! We shared with them our vision to provide accountability, a place for spiritual growth, and to increase the desire in us all to reach out to the lost. We will be meeting every Saturday at 6pm.

Update on our Prayer Request

2007-09-24T06:52:00.000-07:00

We are thankful to have a gracious God! Our pastor Andre along with some elders of the church decided that Marek can be hired as the "youth pastor" since he will be leading the young adults. Andre wrote a letter for the army stating that Marek will begin the position on October 7th, 2007. The reason why it would be for a future date is because Andre needs to meet with the church council about the details regarding Marek's position.
When we presented the letter for the army today they were hesitant because thy are not familiar with the Baptist Church since they are a Catholic country. Finally they told Marek to go back and meet with them after he has begun his position at church. Please pray that they will put Marek on reserve so we can continue ministry here in Wisla.
Thank you for your support!

Urgent Prayer Request

2007-09-17T07:53:00.000-07:00

Marek just got called to the army, which means he could be gone for nine months! The way to get out of serving in the army is to do public work for eighteen months. Please pray that God would open up the opportunity for Marek to be hired at our church.

Ladies Conference

2007-09-17T07:23:00.000-07:00

Thank you all who were praying for the women who would attend the conference! And also for Diana sharing her testimony and what prayer means in her life.
The conference went very well...glory to God, and appreciation for the women from the baptist church in Nashville, Tennessee who were well prepared for this.
The first session was about how spiritual growth happens, then there was a workshop on Christian friendships and another on life's battles, the last session was about security in our identity which is in Christ.
After Diana shared her testimony the women from Wisla were asking her questions, and we could see that it opened a door for them to get to know eachother.
The Holy Spirit was touching the hearts of the women...there were tears and laughter.
At the end there was time to socialize, hand massages, and bracelet making.
The women left with smiles on their faces and gifts given by the women from Nashville.

Settling in to Poland

2007-09-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

We arrived July 18th, and the day after we finally got to take Diana to the hospital and she was diagnosed with bronchitis, then two days later we had a beautiful wedding reception hosted by our parents. They welcomed us with love into their home and even helped us significantly when we started fixing up our apartment on the botton level of their house. It is common in Wilsa, Poland for generations to live under one roof.

There was a little break for about ten days from working on our apartment when the World Sports Network team came here from San Diego. We had the opportunity to join them in ministry while they put on a basketball camp for youth. We found the time with the youth very fruitful and fun, so we have followed up with them and will continue playing basketball twice a month. Our hope is that we can be a good witness to them as we engage in mentoring relationships, and that they would ask for forgiveness as they invite Jesus Christ into their lives.

At the beginning of next month there will be new ministry at our church, and we will be leading the new young adult fellowship. There is currently one youth group for junior high, high school, and college students. So, as you see there is a huge need to seperate these groups for fellowship and spiritual growth.

Right now we have a missionary team from Nashville, Tennessee doing construction on the Oasis Conference Center where our church is held. It is very exciting to see things come together! The area around the sanctuary has the dry wall and paint completed and there is new lighting going up. They are also working on the conference rooms on the side of the sanctuary. This is the conference center where we have been given permission to start a Horizon School of Evangelism.

We have met with the pastor and elders of the church, as well as other leaders in town about our vision to start the school. They have offered to help us in any way they can, and are happy that we would have leadership and accountability from outside the country. They have caught the vision and are pleased that this would provide the spiritual growth that people are looking for. It grieves us hearing stories of people from Wisla who are not being fed in their church, and they are seeking for more, but there is no where for them to go. And they end up going to workshops where false teachers lead them away from the truth.

Please join us in prayer for the people of this community.