January 2009: Giving Abundant Thanks
We have much to be thankful for this year, write Doug and Liz Searles, missionaries to Poland; as we walk with the church in Lodz and in ten other cities in Poland. We are giving thanks for all of you. It is you who have gifted us with work that we feel uniquely called to do.
January 2009 Bulletin Insert FormatEnero 2009 en español
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, thankful for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Philippians 1: 3-5
We have much to be thankful for this year, write Doug and Liz Searles, missionaries to Poland; as we walk with the church in Lodz and in ten other cities in Poland. We are giving thanks for all of you. It is you who have gifted us with work that we feel uniquely called to do.
We are newly arrived and it is great to be where worship matters – really matters. Attending worship in the past had been a political and sometimes very dangerous act. Even now it can be difficult. The Evangelical Reformed Church is a marginalized denomination in a country where less than 4% are Protestant. This means that those who worship other than in the Catholic Church may have their patriotism questioned. Protestant youth are treated differently in school. Therefore, church camps, youth events and music (!) are crucial to the future of the Evangelical-Reformed church in Poland.
Individual U.S. churches are beginning to gift us with bells, choir music, Sunday School materials, “karaoke” CDs of back-up for gospel and other Christian music, and more for the tiny new church starts in the Polish cities. We ask you most importantly, for your prayers. Please pray:
- for continued tenacity and energy for language study—challenging for both of us;
- for doors to open as we walk with the church, seeking to serve their desire to become a more missional and inviting denomination in a very challenging environment;
- for positive and nurturing mutual connections to develop with our partners in ministry in the U.S. in Poland, and worldwide.
- for our children in the U.S., Mackenzie (20) and McCleary (16) and for the challenges our work in Poland brings to our relations as a family.
- And may God’s Peace and Joy be yours this New Year no matter what your circumstances may be!!
Doug and Elizabeth Searles serve with the Evangelical Reformed Church in Poland as mission workers for church growth and outreach.