Poznań...Our New Home.... Boones

There are some days when it still seems a bit surreal, but Poznan is becoming more comfortable for all of us. We are excited that we’ll finally be moving into a place of our own. We have been blessed these first two months to borrow a flat from another missionary as she was “home” in Canada. This was such a marvelous blessing because we had the opportunity to look for a place to live after scoping out the city and different areas. We also were so happy to have a quiet place to lay our heads those first couple of weeks as we fought jet lag and just pure exhaustion from getting here. Moving is difficult. We don’t anticipate that this next move across town will be nearly as exhausting, although we know it will bring about its own challenges. We have resolved to not accumulate stuff anymore. Whatever we have must be extremely useful or consumable. Packing up here has been relatively easy because we have so little stuff here! We learned as we packed in Gilbert how much value we placed on the trinkets of life. We are praying to continually shift that paradigm and place that value on the things that really matter. People in need...need of warmth, food and the love of Jesus Christ.

The many opportunities for ministry here are a blessing and keep us all busy. Tucker is busy working on a closet for clothing distribution to the poor and needy as well as helping out in different ways at the Friday Bread of Life Bible study and “soup kitchen.” He has been able to help prepare food, lead Bible study and try his hand at cutting hair. From reports, he did a fine job! Meredith on the other hand is finding opportunities in an International Ladies Club. The women are mostly European and speak English fairly well. Most of their husbands are businessmen and they have time on their hands here in Poland. She hopes to find some other women interested in crafting cards or scrapbooking and open our home to them in order to build relationships and share Christ’s love with them.

We have all found great friends at our new church, Poznan International Church. Tucker has been able to share his musical gifts singing with the worship team and we’ve been able to team up with the leadership and share some of the responsibilities of planning activities such as the Thanksgiving feast and a Christmas program in December called “Carols by Candlelight”. The majority of the church (a small group of 25-40) are students from places like Norway or Africa. It’s a fun group and we were able to share our harvest time tradition of homemade donuts and hot apple cider with about 20 others the end of October.

Boones’ Beauties

Our girls keep life normal for us. Never have they questioned why we are here or when we’re going “home” to Arizona. They have continued playing and arguing with their best playmate(each other) like nothing has changed. Both enjoy the public transportation and even played “Bus & Passenger” the other day. Paisley was the bus and Bethany had to chase her--trying to “catch the bus”. Paisley would often say, “Sorry, you missed the bus!” Hmmm, wonder where they’ve heard those things before....You can bet that they’ve been told, “hurry up or we’ll miss the bus (or tram)!” They’ve also adapted fast to a new lifestyle and pitched in to help with laundry every day and waiting patiently at tram and bus stops.

Both girls have made friends fast and continue to talk about their loved ones at home. One night they were going to “NanaSue’s House” and another night Bethany was “Grammy”. Some of their favorite people here are the sweet Christian men we’re around for church or Bread of Life. Praise God for all of these people who have made all of our transition so much easier! They have also enjoyed the friends they’ve made from Sunday school--mostly other MK’s (missionary kids) and some children from International church.

Prayer Points

• Praise God for His protection as we traveled here and His provision along the journey!


• Praise God for salvations of 4 “Bread of Lifers”!!!


• Praise God for His provision of housing!


• Pray for our health and strength through the holidays and all the activities we are involved in.


• Pray for our perspective on things and remembering that all we have comes from God.


• Pray for our language acquisition and cultural learning.


• Pray for patience and wisdom in finding the right property for the New Life Center.


• Pray for the homeless of Poznan as winter progresses...it is VERY cold and those who can’t find shelter may freeze

“Nie rozumium po Polsku”

It is not a lie, what you may have heard about Polish being the 7th most difficult language. We wonder what are the first 6 so that we can be sure to compare and see that they aren’t perhaps, easier in our estimation! Tucker is taking a course at a local language school. One that Meredith is not ashamed to admit, she couldn’t handle. It is fast and furious and very much into the confusing grammatical nuances of Polish. Tenses and cases and conjugating and all of those things made Meredith’s head spin having just stepped off of the roller coaster ride to Poland. So, likely after the first of the year, when Tucker is done with that course, we will find a tutor to help us all. Please pray for confidence in trying to communicate and grace to admit when we cannot understand a THING that anyone is saying. Hence, “nie rozumium po Polsku.”

Dziękuję Bardzo!

We do praise God for His provision and for people like you who take the time to pray and give. We left the states “100%” supported. Amazing. If there had any ounce of pride or confidence within us about having it “all taken care of” we were met with a challenge that we didn’t anticipate....Dropping value of the dollar and an increased cost of living. Whew. We hadn’t planned on that. What to do, we wondered. Well, we’ve prayed and were given some encouragement that we really must live by faith that God will provide each day and month for the expenses that we face. So, we continue on, trusting (and reworking the budget!!!) Thanks for praying and supporting us as God uses us to minister to so many needy people here in Poznan....Dziękuję Bardzo!--thank you very much!!

Have a blessed Christmas!

To make a tax-deductible gift, please contact ITMI@ P.O. Box 7575 Tempe, AZ 85281 480.968.4100 888.918.4100. To give online click here.
www.intouchmission.org
**please be sure to designate your gift for the Boones**

With love,
~the boones