Thanksgiving in Poland

From Kimberly:
Over these last few months it has been amazing to watch as God has so clearly pointed our lives in a certain direction. As this has happened I have become increasingly aware of the fact that God is in control of my life, not me. Throughout my life I have sought to control my circumstances, thinking I knew what was best, all the while knowing that I didn’t (if that makes any sense). Well, ever since we came back from Czech, God has been opening my eyes; this has been a painful, yet exciting process. I have been realizing that my life wasn’t created to be about me, rather God created it to bring honor and glory to himself. What I mean by that is: I have been living, in many ways, as though there were nothing more to this life than my own pleasure. Through all of my selfishness, God, in HIS grace, helped me remember that this life was given to me by Him. I am but a pilgrim on this earth, therefore I cannot live as though it were my eternal home. Throughout Scripture God calls me/us to lay down all that I/we hold dear and to run after him. I just finished listening to Francis Chan’s five-part series on “The Cross” (http://www.cornerstonesimi.com/). Chan explains, much more clearly than I can, what the Lord did when he brought me out of darkness and into HIS marvelous light. I would encourage you to listen to these messages as they are an incredible reminder of the gift that God gave us in the form of his Son, Jesus Christ. The gift of salvation is the only reason that I am truly alive today. These last couple of months have been some of the most exciting in my life; I stand in awe of how Great my Lord is.

I will leave you with this passage from Acts 2:22-28.

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know - this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him,
‘I saw the Lord always before me, for his is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ ”

For both of us:
All of that being said, God has been laying a burden on both of our hearts, a burden for the people of Eastern Europe. While we were in the Czech Republic this summer we sat down with our friend Nate, a missionary in Czech, and asked him where the needs were right now for Josiah Venture (mission’s agency). He told us there was a big need for young couples in Poland. So ever since then we have been praying about whether or not the Lord would want us to consider ministry in Poland. At some point in October, Greg Carlson (he is the head missionary for JV in Poland) contacted us; Nate had told him about our conversation over the summer. Well we had the opportunity to meet with Greg and a Polish national, Michael, on November 2nd. They came to church with us, shared about Poland in our Sunday School class, went out to lunch with us and our mission’s pastor, and then hung out with us for the day. It was an awesome opportunity for both us and them to get to know one another; it helped us to gain a clearer view of what ministry in Poland is like. At one point on Sunday, Greg came up with the idea of us flying out to Poland for Thanksgiving so that we could get a much clearer picture.

Well, the idea sounded great. The problem: how were we going to afford a trip to Poland for two on such short notice? We started looking into it and asking for prayer from those around us. This seemed like an incredible opportunity; we prayed that the Lord would open the doors for us to go if it was His will. God worked in amazing ways! He clearly opened the doors for us to go to Poland...the body of Christ came behind us and is funding our trip to Poland for Thanksgiving! It has been so humbling to experience all of this because it has made both of us realize that the God whom we serve is far greater than our imagination.

The purpose for our trip (as outlined by Greg Carlson) is as follows:
“The purpose of your trip is to meet our Poland team and the larger Josiah Venture team. I think it's important for you to meet the Poland team and for the Poland team to meet you before you submit an application [to minister full time with Josiah Venture]. This way you will have total freedom to talk with team members. If you leave your time with us with a positive sense it will give you a much clearer understanding of what you are moving towards and who you will be serving with. You'll have plenty of time to ask as many questions as you want about Poland, our team, the role we are thinking for you, etc.”

We would covet your prayers as we embark on this trip (11/21 - 11/29). Please also be praying that the Lord would make it clear to us if he wants us in Poland long-term. Thank you for your prayers and support, we would not be beginning this journey if it were not for God working through our friends and family.

The Lord is good..

Justin and Kimberly Klopfenstein

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