We're back. We're invigorated. We're stretched. And we're excited to debrief with you.
My hope is that you were able to follow along with us during our adventure in Poland through the team blog. If not, then click that link to check it out and at least get a snippet. We had such a fun yet draining time. In the most recent post I pointed something out.
I mentioned and admitted that while telling you all about the who, what, when, and where, we forgot to tell you WHY. It will take me a couple posts, but I'd like to take some time to do that now, over here, on this blog. You can still read about more of our experiences in Poland at polandbacc.blogspot.com and hear about polish food, communicating across a language barrier, Catholic cathedrals, and how to stay involved with the Otrembas through our future posts.
To understand WHY we did what we did, we need to first paint the landscape of where.
The country of Poland we know today was only established in 1989. Before that there was Russian communist rule and before that there was a LOT of different borders, rulers, wars, and partitions. The people of Poland (generally of Slavic decent) have a history of living there for the last 1,500 years. One thousand five hundred years! That makes us here in the U.S. look so young...
Over the course of those 1500 years, Cieszyn, the town where Tomek and Damaris Otremba reside, was established. Around 810, actually. About a hundred years after that, Catholicism found a foothold throughout Poland. And since then, the only thing that has remained constant besides the people is the Catholic Church. So as the saying goes, "to be Polish is to be Catholic."
Well I'm Dutch. Never been there, but I bleed orange, so that makes me Dutch. Of course when someone asks where I'm from, I tell them I'm from the United States. If they inquire more (like "where is Hoekzema from?!"), then I tell them about the Netherlands. To be American is to simply live here. We all have many different origins.
Here's some hypothetical (yet historical) questions:
If you're Slavic, your ancestors have been there for over a thousand years, and the Poland you live in is no longer a country, then what are you? Or if the Poland you live in is ruled by an oppressive force and you don't want to associate with them, then what are you? OR if you've been displaced from your Poland and your country no longer exists, then what are you?
You are what you've always been: Catholic (or Jewish...)
We went to Poland. A country where today 95% of the population belongs to the Roman Catholic Church. That means of the 38.5 million Pols, 36.5 million of them are Catholic. Poland used to have a large Jewish population but due to the Nazi movement, many of them were killed.
So why did we go to Poland?
Being Catholic in Poland is simply what you do. It does not necessarily mean that you believe in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. Tomek and Damaris wake up every morning hoping to have the opportunity to introduce people to Jesus as someone they can have a personal relationship with.
We prayed for those people. We invited those people to parties. We went to Poland to simply help Tomek and Damaris in their mission to share Jesus. A mission that we strive for everyday in our lives as well.
My hope is that you were able to follow along with us during our adventure in Poland through the team blog. If not, then click that link to check it out and at least get a snippet. We had such a fun yet draining time. In the most recent post I pointed something out.
I mentioned and admitted that while telling you all about the who, what, when, and where, we forgot to tell you WHY. It will take me a couple posts, but I'd like to take some time to do that now, over here, on this blog. You can still read about more of our experiences in Poland at polandbacc.blogspot.com and hear about polish food, communicating across a language barrier, Catholic cathedrals, and how to stay involved with the Otrembas through our future posts.
To understand WHY we did what we did, we need to first paint the landscape of where.
The country of Poland we know today was only established in 1989. Before that there was Russian communist rule and before that there was a LOT of different borders, rulers, wars, and partitions. The people of Poland (generally of Slavic decent) have a history of living there for the last 1,500 years. One thousand five hundred years! That makes us here in the U.S. look so young...
Over the course of those 1500 years, Cieszyn, the town where Tomek and Damaris Otremba reside, was established. Around 810, actually. About a hundred years after that, Catholicism found a foothold throughout Poland. And since then, the only thing that has remained constant besides the people is the Catholic Church. So as the saying goes, "to be Polish is to be Catholic."
Well I'm Dutch. Never been there, but I bleed orange, so that makes me Dutch. Of course when someone asks where I'm from, I tell them I'm from the United States. If they inquire more (like "where is Hoekzema from?!"), then I tell them about the Netherlands. To be American is to simply live here. We all have many different origins.
Here's some hypothetical (yet historical) questions:
If you're Slavic, your ancestors have been there for over a thousand years, and the Poland you live in is no longer a country, then what are you? Or if the Poland you live in is ruled by an oppressive force and you don't want to associate with them, then what are you? OR if you've been displaced from your Poland and your country no longer exists, then what are you?
You are what you've always been: Catholic (or Jewish...)
We went to Poland. A country where today 95% of the population belongs to the Roman Catholic Church. That means of the 38.5 million Pols, 36.5 million of them are Catholic. Poland used to have a large Jewish population but due to the Nazi movement, many of them were killed.
So why did we go to Poland?
Being Catholic in Poland is simply what you do. It does not necessarily mean that you believe in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. Tomek and Damaris wake up every morning hoping to have the opportunity to introduce people to Jesus as someone they can have a personal relationship with.
We prayed for those people. We invited those people to parties. We went to Poland to simply help Tomek and Damaris in their mission to share Jesus. A mission that we strive for everyday in our lives as well.