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| Frozen River Warta |
I have to say it has been a very exciting weekend, what with the snow and frozen river. I had my first attempt at ice skating, on a real frozen river. I had to borrow their friend' pair because A's were too small. However, there were no dreaded cracking of the ice and someone falling under like they show in the movies, and I didn't fall in my skates like I thought I would! It was alot of fun--although my rate of acceleration was not anywhere near gliding. I took alot of pictures--we really do live in a beautiful part of Poland, especially with the snow covering everything and naked trees and rushes everywhere. We even saw signs of the beavers that live here, the gnawed on remains of a tree stump prominent on both sides of the river. There is something magical about living where it's snowy white--if you of course take out the sometimes apparent image of a runny nose, some red watery eyes, and the fact that when you are covered head to toe in a scarf, hat, mittens, and a fluffy coat you can not in any way look the least bit attractive--or can you?
The kids are more excited for the second wave of snow since they get to play in it and help shovel out the driveway. Yesterday Kasper made a family of snowmen, and Marcel was busying making snow angels and pelting me with snowballs. My aim is terrible. I need to practice more....
I had an opportunity on Tuesday to spend time with some of the members of FoF, the Bible Study affiliated with the international church. Normally something comes up where I am not able to go--being a weeknight and living out in the sticks and all--but I wanted to come this week because it was Natasha's last Bible Study she would be able to attend, and we all planned to go to Poznan Train Station to help the homeless during this cold weather snap. I had never been a part of a group set out to share the Word of God, let alone help the homeless, so this was a new experience for me and one that I was excited in taking part in. There was only four of us, and together we hadn't much--a few thermoses of tea and cocoa, some bananas, and later another member brought some juice. None of us really spoke Polish either, at least not enough to really carry on a decent conversation. Once inside we stood together and prayed. We prayed that God would use us in incredible ways, that what little we had would be something useful to those we offered it to, and we prayed that God would give us words to speak. We split up in twos and set out to find people who looked to be in need. We wandered around the whole inside, stopping occasionally to ask each other if we thought that certain disheveled man in the corner was actually homeless. Should we approach him? I don't know he could just be waiting for the train... One of our group members was right--sometimes it really is hard to know if someone is truly homeless if you are looking, or to know how to approach them in a not so condescending way. But God moves in ways and means we haven't means to do ourselves.
We approached a man leaned up against the back wall. He had an old bag with him and a cane. He looked tired, worn, and unshaven. We asked if he wanted some tea and he immediately pulled out a plastic cup from his bag. He seemed quite content with just the hot water before we even offered a tea bag. Another man approached us. At first I thought he worked there and was reprimanding us for giving a man something hot to drink, but in fact he too was homeless and was only asking for some as well. We gave him a cup of tea to which he thanked us and pointed to a few ladies standing in another corner of the train station. I came to learn that all the homeless look after each other. If you give one a bottle of juice or a sandwich they find each other and share it. We walked over and offered them some tea also. The one kept talking to us in Polish as if we understood her. At certain points she would look at us expecting us to answer and would go through the motions again thinking we would eventually understand. I think she was asking something if we came in a group, but not much else I could decipher. We offered her a banana and she thanked us said many times over in Polish. All I could utter was 'God Bless You', and the Polish word for 'You're Welcome'. It seemed we had made a mark. We asked another man close by if he wanted some tea but, again, he only spoke to us rather fast in Polish, and we asked him several times. My friend turned to me asking what he said, because he just kept talking, so I asked if he could repeat it. The man, rather agitated this time, spoke a littler louder, 'Nie Dziekuje!' I turned to my friend and smiled that I understood something. 'He says no thank you.'
After walking around some more and buying another cup of tea (we were down to nothing, except 2 bananas), we met back up with the rest of our group who had an old man following them into one of the small bakeries in the station. He saw my friends cup of tea and you could see his eyes light up as he said something in Polish and reach for the cup. We gave it to him freely--hoping it would keep him warm if not to give him some kindness. I reached into my bag and pulled out a banana and held it up in the air. He smiled and reached for it too. We gave him a bag of food we had bought at the station, as well as the rest of what was left in our bags. We gave him everything--a liter bottle of hot cocoa, the cup of tea, the bag of sandwiches and pastries, and a large container of juice. Andrew told him to go to his friends and give them some too, and that all of them should go to the barracks, a shelter for the homeless run by one of the Christian organizations affiliated with the church. He was so thankful and proceeded to chat to all of us in Polish. I can distinctly picture him coming up to me and shaking my hand and kissing it. He got right up into my face, his face dirty and a ring of brown stained around his mouth. He smelled of rotten lettuce, or perhaps it was alcohol, and was just talking away. All I could do was smile, feeling a tad uncomfortable, but I knew he was harmless and the others were standing right with me. He kept saying something with the word 'Polski' in it, and I thought maybe he was asking me if I was Polish. Without thinking too much I just said 'American' and pointed to myself. He got rather excited and started talking really fast and was smiling. 'American' he kept repeating. Our conversation after that was really a bunch of head nods from me and him continuing to talk to me in Polish. Wish I could have understood all that he said, but I knew, just knew he was very humbled by our giving. He prepared to say goodbye to us with more handshakes and kisses on the hand to Jocelyn and I.
I came to accept how much I would turn to my friend with the same blank expression on my face--we were here to do God's work, and yet we couldn't even understand them. It was hard, but it was also getting us to know that even an act of kindness can speak louder and more powerfully than any words we could utter. I found myself smiling alot. Not because I thought it would help make the situation better, but because I truly was touched by what these people were going through, and that even if we didn't speak the same language it was apparent how grateful they were at what we had to offer them.
Yesterday we had a good friend of the family stay with us (a priest, or monk). Today when he said goodbye I said a few accomodating words and phrases complete in Polish. J was impressed--'Wow, Sarah! You will be a native soon!' I thought maybe I am doing something right in the way of learning this language. Although, I don't think I am learning it very quickly. Ah, but at least I know some, right?
Today is 'Fat Thursday', (Mardi Gras, Shrove/Fat Tuesday to all of you, etc), so I have made an apple cake--that is almost finished after about 10 minutes--and will be making baked doughnuts later. Although Cecylia claims that even though they may taste good, they are not 'Polish' doughnuts... honestly I don't know what makes them Polish haha. Oh and it's snowing some more! Happy Thursday (and Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!) friends.
