I posted this on Facebook yesterday, but thought it fits right into our experience and heart for Poland. The community life painted in the New Testament is the most beautiful example of humanity coming together, serving one another, sharing with one another, honoring one another (though it took some time), and most of all, sharing[…]
Sometimes a simple Facebook status update, or tweet on Twitter is just not enough to express exactly what compels Alexis and I to serve in Poland. What does it mean to “serve” anyway? I’m sure many of us have read books, heard sermons, and done plenty of talking about the topic of servanthood. But what[…]
It has been a little too long since we last posted on here, so here’s what’s next for the Mielonen clan. These past few months have been extremely full, stressful, and at times we have been at the end of our rope. We’ve done some tuning to our schedule, made some lists, asked for help,[…]
So what does 10+ years in the field look like for us? I don’t know for sure but we’ve got a vision, and it looks something like this: Polish house group leaders Group leaders cultivating other group leaders Intentional living community (this is the big ticket item!) The beginning of looking at sending a team[…]
We’re not confused, we know Portland is not Poland… The road to Poland for us has been marked with false starts, heartache, and frustration. So here’s why we’re still in this, why we will make it there. God called us. Maybe he’s calling you to help us with the following: Monthly budget Living expenses: $3,455/month[…]
One of the things that we struggle with a lot is seeing people (especially our friends and other Christians) buy things which probably are not “needed” – yes that’s a judgement call, and we’re fine that people are buying un-needed things, but what bugs us is that we see this and yet no desire to[…]
Yes, there are dragons of all kinds in Poland, particularly Kraków… although I’ve only seen two, the one above which spews water… and another one near by which at one point use to breath fire if you sent him a text message! Then there is the most real dragon of all, the enemy to our[…]
In about one month we’ll have a new little daughter, Elena Sofia Mielonen is due on November 1st! We’re excited to explore a new personality to enjoy and love on. Emma is becoming more and more excited and we’re enjoying all of her thoughts on how she’ll “help” her sister. As God has worked in[…]
Dear friends in Christ, With the pending miracle of the birth of our new daughter Elena Sofia sometime around November 1st, we have been reflecting on God’s identity and the story of our lives to date. It is imparative that you and I (Travis) are aware of how God is always working to define and refine[…]
These faces and many like them are the future, in this case they are the future of Poland and beyond. These two little girls also need discipleship, and for them it will be through their parents who are challenged with raising children in a world full of confusion, distrust, and false hope. We truly believe[…]
So often when we are thinking about ministry in Poland the topic of culture comes up, this can be a delicate thing to address because it isn’t easy to be objective since we’re attempting to see Poland through our American lenses. The ultimate goal is for us to capture in our hearts what Kingdom culture[…]
We have not been very good at updating this blog, there are not really any reasons or excuses just focusing on family life! Please remember November 1st, 2012! Why? Because that is the day two things are “due” firstly and foremost our new baby daughter is due! Secondly we are believing for that to be the[…]
It’s that time of year again….preschool hunting. I know you, like us, look for the best schools for your children. Their education is very important. So as we look between different local schools we are anxiously looking at the Polish school we talked about Emma attending last year. We were not able to sign her[…]
http://life-love-laughter.tumblr.com/post/4431940058/a-great-reminder This is so encouraging to be reminded that we are all right where God wants us and just in time for everything. We’re never late…even when moving to Poland. 😉
So often I (Travis) find myself jealous of other missionaries serving in places like Africa, South East Asia, the Middle East, South America, etc… these are places I call “the sexy” mission field, there’s a certain automatic appeal about these places. Generally (and very generally) people (mostly Americans) associate this appeal with either Islam, third world, or poverty. All[…]
Looking at learning Polish as a whole, seems like a massive mountain that is impossible. It seems I will always sound silly and unable to make the ‘normal’ sounds Poles make. One example, rolling your tongue. I have no idea how I was jipped while I was being created in my mom’s womb but I[…]
Weronika and I. Weronika, I had such an amazing time getting to know you more and I SO look forward to being able to get to know you better in the near future! Love our friendship. Do you have friendship you wished were better? This is one for me. We get along great but there’s[…]
We were able to take some pictures of each other while at our last visit. I think you can totally see the friendship the two of them have with each other. It’s awesome. It helps also, that I was behind the camera saying ridiculous things to make them laugh. There is nothing more beautiful than a natural[…]
We’ve been ‘home’ for about 2 weeks and when friends have asked us how our trip was, we’re finding it hard to explain. Yes, we were able to express about our time with our friends but it seems less and less like a foreign place where we need to process what we’ve seen/experienced/done. It seems[…]