Marie Reavey – UK

In August, my friend Jacqui and I visited Gdansk for the first time, for our summer holiday. It was so lovely to be with Kevin and Emma, discover more about what they are doing in Gdansk and hear their hearts to make disciples there. We mixed our week up hanging out with Kevin and Emma and being tourists, enjoying the sights and sounds of this beautiful place.

We both loved this city! It has so much to offer, a historic old town that surprised me by its Dutch influence (not sure what I was expecting…but not that!). It’s different to many old towns I’ve seen because it doesn’t have the market square, but instead had a wide long street called Dlugi Targ, also known as the Long Market or the Royal Way. We spent lots of time walking round the city, sampling lots of traditional foods and just absorbing the atmosphere. It felt such a safe place. One day we caught a tram and went to the beach, we strolled up to the sea edge and back down the pathway that connects this area of the coast from Gdansk to Gdynia; and as we did so, we pondered how beautiful the city is, and that it was nothing like what we were expecting.

We visited the Solidarity museum which really brought home the persecution the Polish people and what they had to live under and how recent some of their struggles have been. Another day we cycled to Westerplatte – the place where the Germans first attacked in World War II. If you like cycling, Gdansk is definitely a place to visit as there are cycle paths everywhere!

We saw Kevin and Emma’s holiday home River House, with which they run their holiday business. What a stunning house! It would be an amazing holiday destination in the lakes area of Poland, and about an hour’s drive from Gdansk. It really struck me whilst there how we can support those out in other nations financially by choosing to holiday in those nations and – if like Kevin and Emma – they have a holiday home, we could choose to invest holiday money into building and supporting Kingdom activity! Check out River House on Booking.com and consider supporting them financially by staying in their wonderful home! After seeing River House, Kevin dropped us off at a nearby canoeing place and we canoed down the river for 4hrs, again so beautiful, peaceful and good fun.

But by far my highlights were getting to hang out with Kevin and Emma, we worshiped and prayed together, ministering to each other, prayer walked their community and got to meet their local church family, Kosciol Grono, on the Sunday morning. We met in Kevin and Emma’s apartment, ate breakfast together and got to know each other a bit before we sang our praises to God beautifully led by Pawel. The Holy Spirit was so tangibly present as we sang and ministered to each other, before looking at his word together. The joy and love for Jesus within this small group of disciples was so tangible and really special. It’s fair to say Jacqui and I both loved it!

Thanks Kevin and Emma for your hospitality – I look forward to visiting again!