What could be better on a warm summer day than a picnic together with good friends - especially when 22 of them decide to get baptised and bury the old man.
Some weeks ago we had our yearly summer picnic, where both the Polish and the international church got together - and it became a real celebration! It was a day where people from many different countries and continents could gather, and where it became clear that the Kingdom of God will not be stopped - even though there is a lot of unrest around us.
The international church
The international church has grown quickly in the last year, but it’s not just about the visitors - if they do not get discipled, we work in vain. That’s why we were happy that so many of them wanted to get baptised. We have had Bible teaching every week, where we have gone through the basics of faith, and then we also spent a lot of time talking about baptism.
The fact that many new ones have come is something joyful, but also a challenge. It means extra work, with follow-up, as well as extra expenses - because most of the African students have very little money. They have used most of what they had to come here, and haven’t taken into account how difficult it is to get a job in Poland if you don’t speak Polish.
They have a lot of initiative, they want to help, and this has made the work much easier. During the years we have been here we have had different groups in the international church. However, of all the groups we have had, the Africans have been the best at inviting new people and taking responsibility in the church.
People saved among the refugees
It’s not just in the international church that God is working. A Belorussian married couple started a cell group in one of the refugee centres that we have. It was of course voluntary for people to take part in it, but many people wanted to participate. As a result, they have prayed for salvation with many of them, and now 5 of them have got baptised.
22 people got baptised when we had our yearly summer picnic some weeks ago.
The ones who got baptised were from Poland, Ukraine and Zimbabwe.
A new humanitarian aid initiative
In order to make humanitarian aid for Ukraine more effective, we have started a new project. Instead of giving sugar to one person, salt to another one and coffee to the third one, now we want to collect in a box what one family needs for about one week. When we distribute humanitarian aid, each family can get a box which contains a little bit of everything.
If you want to read more about that project, go to www.lifebox.info
We would also appreciate it very much if you could share this page on Facebook, or with other friends and acquaintances - so that we can help as many as possible.
Financial challenges
When the refugee crisis started, most of my time was spent on humanitarian work. At first I didn’t think so much about it - everything went so fast. In addition to that, a lot of good things were happening in the international church, and things happened quickly one after another. However, as months went by, we have begun to notice that the income has decreased drastically, while the expenses have increased - especially when it comes to the international church. Besides, during the last year we have lost some of our regular support.
I know that many of you who are getting our newsletter are already supporting us, and we are really grateful for that. If you, however, want to support us in prayer, so that the monthly support can increase and we get more new regular supporters - we would appreciate it very much.
“Tett på” — on Visjon Norge
The last few months I have had the privilege to participate in a programme on a Norwegian Christian TV channel, Visjon Norge - “Tett på” (Eng. trans.: "Close"). This has been completely new to me, but it’s exciting to be able to be here in Poland and be on TV in Norway.
Summer holidays
In a few days we are taking a little trip to Norway for holiday. After a long period with the COVID pandemic, it almost felt strange to be able to travel to Norway without COVID tests etc. We are looking forward to it and it’s going to be good with some holidays. The last months it has been so hectic here - so we could use some days off.
We are really grateful for all of you who are supporting us, both in prayer and financially. We hope we will be able to meet you and thank you personally, but if it’s not possible, you should know that it means a lot to us. We know that God will reward you richly!
Best regards
— Kasia & Ronald Gabrielsen
Thank you for your support!
We thank God for your generosity and pray that He will bless you richly back. Without the support of friends and partners we could not do the work we are doing.
