Birthday Boy !!!

We just celebrated Kaleb's b-day this past weekend !! I can't believe our little boy is 6!!!! We went to the indoor waterpark as a family on Friday !!! We found a website to this place right after we found out that we were moving to Poland, so this visit to the waterpark has been much anticipated !! We ran from one end of that park to the other for 5 hours !!!!

On his actual Birthday, Saturday, we woke up to new toys, then invited our friends over for homemade chocolate chip pancakes................then cake of course !!!! Another missionary family was able to bless us with a gently used bike for Kaleb, so we were able to get him a scooter too !! We are ready to ride !!!!!

We had a great time celebrating life.................we are blessed to have had the gift of Kaleb in our lives these past 6 years! And Arin was so gracious to help us celebrate her brother..............we only have to wait 9 days to officially celebrate her on her Birthday -- JUNE 1st!!!

We hope you are celebrating life too.........each day is a gift from our Creator............make sure you give Him thanks today !!!

Celebrating Ministry !!!

We have had a great week this past week ! We got a couple more language lessons, practiced a few more Polish conversations, and apologized for limited language skills countless times !! But we are excited to be able to understand more written words out and about in the city and we can pronounce some of the words we sing in church! (It's the small victories that count !!)

Albert was able to join in on the very first FCA Bible Study..........they had 7 in attendance!!! Albert was able to share his testimony and they dug into the Word of God together! Even more exciting, some of the football players have been asking Albert when they are meeting again!!! This is WHY we are here............to bring Poles face to face with their Creator! The foundational work for setting up this FCA group and building relationships with athletes who are seeking the Lord has been in the works for over a year by 2 of our colleagues here, so it was such an exciting culmination of hard work that Albert got to be a part of and celebrate !!!

We ventured out to another great park here in Krakow this past Friday !!! And we think we've landed a great spot for a joint B-day party for Kaleb and Arin!

We have family plans to celebrate each birthday at a fun Krakow site, but will invite all our friends to join us at this Park Jordanna some day between the two birthdates as well !!! We're celebrating big!!! We'll get all the updates to you in the following blogs !!

The other highlight of our week was a package from Nana and PawPaw!!! Mommy and Daddy had to filter out the birthday gifts from the box before the family could open it.............but we had so much fun opening up all the goodies from America like RANCH DRESSING, VELVEETA, MAPLE FLAVORING, and MIRACLE WHIP!!! Oh, the simple joys of life !!! We celebrated with Mommy's first attempt at homemade pancakes and homemade syrup !!!

Answered prayers for this week include Kirstin's divine deepening of an acquaintance at Coffee House this past Friday, one accepted invitation to the Mother's Tea this past Saturday, and the continued health of all 4 members of our family!!!

Settling In !!!

We have now been here 5 weeks..........wow how time flies !!! We had a week off of language because our teacher was on vacation, so we took that extra time to continue the settling in process of our home. We finally got a dining table, some bedding and curtains for the kids' room, and a piece of carpet for our living room !!! We even bought some paint for our living room (the white walls can get a little overwhelming), but we have yet to get all the supplies to start dipping paintbrushes.

Kirstin was able to go to an ESL class with some other teammates and got to see more of the historic downtown areas. The college girls that she worked with were great to meet, and very willing to talk about spiritual topics. We also talked about Polish culture, education, child-rearing, and family. Here is a shot of some of downtown, and the yummy treat I got on our way home (the thickest hot chocolate I've ever seen!)

This weekend, we had a Compass Fellowship and cookout! Compass is the international fellowship (i.e. church) that has been in existence for about a year now. We went for a "walk" just outside the neighborhood............and found out it was more like a "HIKE"! This beautiful forest-like park sits amidst this city of 800,000 people............it was beautiful, especially the view of the city as we came back down the hills:

The best part of the cookout was that one of the newest football players on the Krakow Tigers team took Albert up on the invitation to join us, and he brought his whole family !!! He's already told Albert he is not open to "organized church" because of some bad experiences in his past, so we were very thankful he was willing to give this very unorganized group of believers a chance !!! Please pray for David and his family as we seek to minister to them!

Albert got to try out Coffee House this past week, and may have an opportunity to take our landlord's son with him this next week! This next Saturday, the Compass Fellowship is puting on a Mother's Tea. (Mother's Day in Poland is on May 26th, so Kirstin gets to be honored twice this month --- Yipee !!!) And Kirstin may get to take 2 ladies from our neighborhood to this event -- please pray for their availability this Saturday !!! We are hoping to reach out to our community and start some Bible Studies as a result of this Mother's Tea!

This past Sunday, American Mother's Day, we celebrated with lunch out after Polish Church, and Kirstin received the most beautiful home-made cards from the two best kids in the world !!! We had a few other exciting twists to the day like sprained ankles and Kaleb vomitting his lunch all over Daddy on our way home -- but all is healing and and doing better this week!!!

We've started back to language this week, and we are busy preparing to celebrate some birthdays (Kaleb and Arin) in the coming weeks!! So, the settling in continues as we strive to make this our home!

We appreciate all who are joining us on this journey so far...........we hope you are getting a glimpse of how big our God is --- He has come before us to this place, and we simply pray that our eyes are open to see where we get to join Him at work in the lives of these people He loves!

Please don't forget to take a minute and pray for those mentioned above!

Lots O Language !!!

We have now officially had 5 language lessons................and we are trying to process all the vocabulary, rules, gender changes, and official/unofficial tenses !!! It is alot ! Our teacher is Kasia, and she is now coming to our home 2-3 times weekly for 2 hours. Right now, we have managed to get our kids down for "rest time" during our language lessons...................and God has been so faithful to answer our prayers for uninterrupted learning !!! Kaleb and Arin have cooperated beautifully -- thank you again, Lord !!!

One of the ministries of our team is a weekly Coffee House. Kirstin was able to go last Friday night and meet many Poles !! Many of these new acquaintances spoke English, so it was a blessing to get to know them. The activity for the evening was BUNCO !!! So we got to teach a new game, meet some new faces, and have tons of fun in the process.

Coffee House

Here we are on the beloved public transportation !!!

Kirstin and Arin on the tram

The kids love it, which is good since it is our main mode of transport besides walking !!!! We have learned to read the tram and bus maps, and can even pronounce some of the stops !!! We are learning the cultural norms that go along with the public transportation, like don't forget to push the button that opens the doors when you want to get off, always hold on for dear life (especially during turns), always get up for the grandmas (they run the city !!!), and conversing with strangers while riding is not the norm.

Yesterday, the kids and Kirstin went to the neighborhood park and discovered a new way to meet others: BUBBLES !!!! No kids can resist them !! Then we got to meet their moms, who were very reluctant to speak English with us, but seemed very amused at Kirstin's attempt at Polish. But we were able to keep the communication open as we met up with them at all the different areas of the playgrouond. Today, Albert and the kids got to meet Ola...........a little girl who played frisbie with them !!!

Earlier this week, we were able to see some new sights of Krakow with another family here !! We went to "the mound" where we were able to see an arial view of the city --- beautiful!!! This mound was made long ago as a protection for the city. It is attached to a beautiful castle-like structure that is included in the pics below:

Overlooking Krakow

Great shot of the castle.................and the fam !!!!

Then they took us to the city zoo !!! Really very impressive...........with a petting zoo area and all !!! It was a fun day topped off with cookies and ice cream from the American Cookie shop owned by some members of our international church.

Today is a holiday in Europe, so all the stores and shops are closed. A good day to catch up on laundry, setting up our home, and reviewing our language studies. Kaleb and Arin are faithfully doing homeschool each morning with Mommy. Kaleb has taken off with reading.........and he is so proud of himself (and so are his parents !!)

Well, those are our updates from this week.............we'll try to update you more often. Please update us on you when you get a chance !!!

Arrived in POLAND !!!!

We have arrived in Poland !!!

We have been here 16 days and finally have our internet up and just got access back into our blogspot --- We are definitely living in a new land !!! I should be sleeping, but I'm so excited to have this opportunity to share with you back home.............so sleep comes later!

Our flights were smooth and fun.........very little sleep, but sleep is overrated when you are experiencing all these "firsts". We had over 15 team members meet us at the airport for the warmest welcome to Krakow !! Then they carried all our 50 pound bags up 5 flights of stairs.........they really show alot of love !!!

We have been busy setting up our home, learning our way around town by bus and tram, meeting team members and families, and fumbling our way through as much Polish as we can pronounce !!!

Life is good for us !! The European culture can be cold and unfriendly in some ways.......people keep to themselves and do not trust easily, but we pray the light of Jesus shines all the more through us as we begin by simply greeting them and serving them here in their land!!! That has confirmed for us the reason we've come to this new home. Kaleb and Arin are adjusting very well. They are trying their hand at the few Polish words we know, getting to know the playgrounds, and enjoying their first bunkbeds !!!

Here is the back of our neighborhood:

Our first Sunday here was Easter!!! After celebrating our Risen Lord, we were able to actually have an egg hunt with another family here:

The next Saturday, the Krakow Tigers played their first season game --- and won 70-0!!! Kaleb was able to get suited up with the team, ran out with them before the game, and joined the captains for the coin toss. It was a big day for everyone !!! Then we fed both teams grilled out hot dogs (Polish style, of course!)

We are enjoying all the different aspects of learning this new culture!!..........(well, except for maybe the delays with internet and such.) We look forward to learning much about this precious people and long for opportunities to interact with them on deeper spiritual levels! As we draw inevitable attention as foreigners, we hope to redirect their attention to a Savior who knows them intimately and considers them valuable enough to die for them!!!

Thanks for joining us this far on this journey !!! Please let us know how you are............at our new e-mail address: thehesskews@gmail.com !!!!!

As we head out across the sea, we want to ask our faithful prayer warriors for their continued support as we enter this new season of life. We pray that all our efforts and activities would be under the Lordship of the Father. We've ended orientation and are anxiously anticipating our arrival in Poland..... we need His guidance and grace to apply all that we have learned. This experience has already been life changing..... and we haven't even left the country yet!

We ask for you to pray that the Lord is preparing the harvest even now...... that He is moving in the lives of the Poles that we will live next door to, those who will be on our weekly route to the bread store, and the men on the Krakow Tigers football team that Al will be coaching. We want to arrive with the anticipation of joining our Lord where He is already at work! Will you pray with us?

We truly believe that we have no hope of effective ministry without the fervent prayers of those of you on your knees here in the States. We are only sent out as an extension of the body of believers -- the church! We feel incredibly privileged to be called and sent out, but we know the power behind our family's calling is only in the foundation of the prayer beneath us.

Please come back often and visit our BlogSpot. We want you to walk this adventure with us as we all take part in Kingdom work....... don't be left behind and miss out on the blessings He has in store for all of us.

Having Fun!!!

Hello from Snowy Virginia !!!!

We are all finally well, and we are so thankful for every day that passes where we all get to go to school!! Kaleb has been able to be a class reporter on the country of Poland, he's met more new animals in other classrooms, and he's had lunch picnics with his class ! Arin is going to get to "visit" all the different countries her classmates are going to this coming week in school.......... their class visit to Poland is scheduled for Thursday! Albert and Kirstin have been digging deep into the Word to try their hand at storying the Bible..........WOW, is this book deep !! Have you checked it out lately? I love how relevant the Bible is............at every new stage of life, the application just pours off the pages !! We have been entrusted with such a treasure..............don't miss the blessings He has in store for YOU there in those pages !!!

We are also tackling the security briefing seminars this week..............it has been pretty intense at times, but we are so thankful for the lengths at which we get prepared, even when it's difficult !!

On the lighter side of life, we had visitors last weekend: Uncle Chad, Aunt Michelle, and cousins Abbey and Ryan came to see us at Missionary school !!! We had so much fun with them !!!! They took us swimming in their hotel pool, and we showed them about life here in our quad (home).

They were able to drive home safely just as the winter storm moved in.....................

then we got about 8 inches of snow !!! It snowed FOREVER! Even Missionary school got cancelled for us on Monday, so we got to go SLEDDING!!!!

We have had a ton of fun amidst the loaded schedule...........we are thankful for these simple joys in life!!!