David...David...David...

When some people ask "what's up" they don't really care what you say, they are just asking because, that's their "civil duty" of sorts. In the past few weeks i have gained a whole new perspective on the question "what's up". Right now i'm sitting in a hotel in Krakow, Poland watching a polish soap opera, listening to rachel give me a running commentary since we can't understand it, drinking some beer (laura dared me...without even knowing it) and listening to somebody play the accordian out on the street. The last two weeks i've been in Poland. Last week i was in northern poland on the baltic sea at an English camp, teaching english. The only reason i'm in poland is because i happened to be born in America and thus, i know english well, and can use that to build a relationship with some polish youth and show them jesus' love. It's a pretty cool thought. 

so, when you talk to Polish people (sometimes called poles) they actually mean what they say, when they say thank you, they truly mean it, and thus don't say it about fifty times (to make sure you know the person is thankful) when they tell you something, they are real about it, when they talk about jesus, they are not worried about asking "silly" questions, and when they ask you "what's up" they truly want to know. What an idea. 

(a bug just fell into my beer. sad face.)

so. what's up? 

there is a burning in my heart and the more i think about it the less i can keep quite. There are so many people in the world who are looking for a place that they truly feel loved. The occurance of broken familes are getting greater and youth are getting wilder, do you think there is a correlation? The youth in Poland, just like most places, are beginning to break from the culture and traditions that their parents hold strong to. They are looking for something real, something that is not just tradition and rituals, but something real. I know what that is, and these youth need to know what it is. It's Jesus. He is real. His love penetrates hearts and makes the broken whole, the unloved are extremely loved by the perfect father, the dirty are made clean and the lost are found. It's not just some words in an old hymn, its true. Jesus saves. 

We sang a song this week a few times and i forget most of the words, but a few i remember and hold fast to as they rattle around my head. 

"my father loves me, my jesus saved me, and you and i are family"

It's true. and here is the kicker. We are all family, ALL of us. Polish, American, Canadian, German, Russian, African... ALL of us are family and we should feel the pull in our hearts that there are members of our family that are not going to go to heaven because they don't know jesus' love. He's calling out to them, saying, "I love you, Trust Me." and they are not listening because they have been wronged. It hurts to think about such truth. Can we start reaching out to them? There is a big wide world out in front of us that needs jesus and we have the ability to give it to them.  

so... What's Up?