But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere - in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
God really put us into the right place and there is no doubt about it. Enjoy reading it!
Polish mums and toddlers group
Every Monday I help at Polish mums and toddlers group. The group meets at Gloucester Community Church. We think that this is a great way of learning language as well as meeting Polish women and getting to know them. The first day I observed women they observed me. I was a novelty! They were surprised to meet a person who is studying Polish, but not English. They welcomed me, but did not speak much or asked questions.
My second time was much easier, because women knew that I will be there and greeted me po Polsku.
Such gatherings are essential for these women. Here they share their frustrations, difficulties and joys in their native language. Ola, the leader of Polish mums and toddlers group said to me, ‘Sometimes when life gets tough I find a Polish person and just talk and talk and talk’. For this reason, I need to master this language to be able to respond and support them in any way I can, to help them overcome frustrations and share my faith and hope that I have in me.
Learning ‘Polski’
How is my Polish? Well, I am reading ‘Bajki po polsku i po angelsku’ (Fairy tales in Polish and English). I have a Polish lesson once a week. I learn rules and words, which always change their endings and sometimes words sound the same, but have a different meaning (grammar is similar to Russian, I think I will be able to learn this language!) Also, I read Bible for children and translate it into English. Learning language is fun, but tough work. I understand and read well, but can’t speak yet. Please, keep me in your prayers!
Teaching English
On Tuesday Edita came to her first English lesson. I knew her for a quite some time. Finally, the day has come when I have no essays to write and can focus on helping someone like Edita.
After explaining basic rules of English language she asked me how much would I take for a lesson. I did not really thought about it and because English lessons is a way of making friends with Polish I told her that this is a gift. This encouraged her to ask more questions. I had nothing to hide from her and told her that God has called us to work among Polish. Edita is a Catholic and I knew that religion is an important aspect in her life. She listened carefully, evaluating every word I say and asking questions like, ‘Why is this so important to you?, ‘Why us?’, ‘I go to church and religion is very important to me, but I do not understand different churches’, ‘Are you happy?. Our conversation developed into a short introduction of Church history. I was happy to answer to all ‘why’s’ and share the story of God who changed my life. We talked about Pope’s visit to England and what it meant to her. Our talk about faith and church took us back to English grammar. I told her that there is another way of learning English - reading Bible. I asked her if she would like to have an English Bible. She accepted my gift, hugged me and said, ‘Rita, I have never received such a wonderful gift in my life. This is better then flowers!’. We agreed that English lessons won’t be only about the language, but learning about God and growing in faith together, praying for each other.
We pray that this story will inspire you to give thanks to God the way He leads us into ministry among Polish migrants. Polish culture is very much about personal relationships. As Lithuanians we believe that a friendship is the best way of reaching out to Polish and others Eastern Europeans. I knew Edita for three years, but I had to wait until God moved her heart. We pray that our relationship would grow stronger and God would be glorified in Edita’s family.
Rugile
She is doing well at school. Recently, she read a book of 200 pages and could not stop talking about it. She is a bright and creative girl, loves science and art. She shares her thoughts about the Kingdom of God and concerned about injustice in this world. Please, pray for her faith. Pray, that Rugile would grow proud of what God has done in her life and would be brave to share her faith with friends.
Pray for:
Continue to pray for Edita and her willingness to learn English through Bible. I believe that this is the beginning of a great journey for both of us and hopefully her husband and children will join us in.
Pray for Polish mums and toddlers group. There are mums that struggle with loneliness, uncertainty, lack of English language makes them vulnerable. Pray for a boy Eric, who has developed a difficult character and sometimes is uncontrollable. His mum is exhausted with such a behaviour. She talked to several doctors and child development supporters, but it seems that she also needs help to learn how to deal with difficult situations and not to give up.
Our support is still a stumbling block in our ministry. Please, pray for people to be open and sense a calling to be part of it by supporting us financially.
Thank for Vidas job at Redcliffe. At the moment he is the main supporter, but we hope that he will be able to join me when we raise enough support.
NEEDS:
Vidas and I strongly believe that to be good missionaries we need to do more studies.
As you know Vidas has accepted Christ only 3 years ago. He has been discipled by a church member, but this is not enough for a cross-cultural missionary. He would like to do some serious studies at Redcliffe. Vidas would like to begin studies next year, but because of financial difficulties we cannot afford it.
One of our ministry tasks is to teach English. I hope that my grammar mistakes do not discourage you from reading our newsletters! I am not a qualified English teacher, therefore to continue English lessons I need to obtain TEFL certificate (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). This qualification will enable me to set up small groups of English classes that hopefully will include scripture studies. Please, if you think you could support us in our further training contact us or ECM Britain.
Contacts:
Rita and Vidas Rimkai, 8 Casey Close, Gloucester GL1 3QP
rita.rimkiene@ecmi.org, vidas.rimkus@ecmi.org
European Christian Mission
Freepost NH-4573
50 Billing Road
Northampton
NN1 5BR
www.ecmbritain.org
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