As someone who has enjoyed studying and coaching others to find their “passion” for serving God – it has been refreshing to be around so many people in Poland who are dedicated to sharing their passion for Christ.  Oh sure, some a passionate about their particular work, sports, etc… but many have “connected the dots” in their life to live passionately while also living intentionally for Christ.  They are using their passion (the burden that God puts on your heart – that you just can’t shake) to build the Kingdom.

The people we are working with this week in Poland are passionate people.  But, for many – their stories are not simple. Their were points in their lives where perhaps they didn’t have much passion.  They didn’t have much hope.  They didn’t have much Joy.  This is true of people everywhere… but people in Poland have been through alot.  They’ve (non-Jewish) been through WWII where millions were taken by the German Army to Labor Camps.  I even met a lady at an Orphanage who is older now – but she tells of the time when the German guards showed up at her home when she was a kid and told her and family that they had 12 minutes to pack and leave.  She was gone for 4 years – until the end of the war.  She worked mostly 14-15 hour days – 7 days a week with almost no breaks.  Maybe 1 break a day for 10 minutes – and very little to eat.  This was her existence for years with no end in site.

Today she and others who survived this slavery are passionate about telling their story to anyone who will listen.  It was amazing to have someone who experienced this actually tell you first hand about it.  It was sad – but so important to hear.  Later this week our team will be visiting Auschwitz – A German Concentration Camp were Jews were killed.  I’m sure I’ll be sharing more about that later (Link: http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/h/ or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz_concentration_camp .

For now – I’m heading back to a group of passionate people – people from Canton Ohio – joining with people from all over the Globe who have a common Passion.  A Passion to make Christ known.  A Passion to bring “a little bit of up there – down here” – a passion to share Jesus with those who haven’t met Him yet.  A Passion to make a difference – to bring hope to hurting people all over the world.  Today – in Lodz, Poland.

Living Passionately,

Joe

This entry was posted on Friday, August 6th, 2010 at 2:35 am and is filed under Cup of Joe 2.0. Tags: Mission Trip, Poland. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.