Shortly after we boarded our flight and were waiting for departure, one of the passengers came over to us and asked if we worked for Crown Financial Ministries. I was wearing a Crown shirt and he had noticed the logo. He said that he was from Birmingham, AL and listened to Crown all the time on the radio. He and his wife have been following biblical financial principles for quite a while and lately have been trying to help others in their church. He said that he just wanted to offer some validation to what Crown does and figured that we don’t often receive validation for our efforts.
As we fly over the Atlantic, happy to be heading home, I’m thinking about the many experiences we shared during this trip. The first thing that pops into my head was the total excitement, chills and goose bumps we felt when we were asked to participate. We both immediately thought of Evelyn’s dad, AJ, orchestrating the whole thing from above. That might have been the most exciting moment we’ve experienced in Crown.
The cities that we saw were similar to what we expected, but the architecture was more fabulous than we could have imagined, and the history that poured from each building was nothing that we could have anticipated. One thing that was very noticeable especially in Poland was how “Catholic” everything was. There were statues, small shrines and tiny chapels (1-4 people) almost everywhere.
We met some really great people with tremendous faith. I believe that their witness to us was more inspiring than we were to them, and something we won’t soon forget. They have changed our lives, in small ways, forever.
We had two super meals in private homes. We had a couple of long car rides. Both gave us the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the thinking and history of the people and the countries; to get a glimpse with our own eyes and not through a history book or movie, to kind of project ourselves into the lives of the wonderful people who shared with us.
The four Ignite events were what we expected, but the reaction of the attendees wasn’t. It was humbling to see how something that have probably grown to take for granted, impacted them so deeply. During the presentations to 3 different Catholic Fellowship groups in Poland, it was totally unbelievable, and humbling, that so many people would come to listen to our story. We are just ordinary people that God has blessed much more than we deserve.
One thing that surprised us was that so many people questioned us about the presidential elections. Everyone was curious about what we thought and they all had their own opinions. The Poles were disappointed that McCain didn’t win because the felt, that with their recent history with Russia, that their country would be safer with McCain in office. Others wondered about race and its effect. They are so interested and knowledgeable about our country and we Americans are so ignorant of theirs.
We also had several questions about how we as Americans, with our economy such as it is, could be talking about financial principles. When that question was first asked, it was during the Q&A session in Krakow just after I finished talking. Since the question had to be translated to me, I’m sure that I missed the sarcasm that was intended. Our Polish hosts were quite upset with the question, but God gave me the words, almost instantly, on how to respond. From then on, I started my talk with the point that, yes our economy was in shambles, but we weren’t there to talk about man’s economy, but God’s. Man suffers from greed and poor moral decisions, but God does not. It seemed to diffuse any potential for that question popping up again.
All in all, we end this trip exhausted but also excited and exhilarated about the work ahead.