It's been a while since I have made a blog post this web-log. My family and I have been missionaries in Poland over the past nine months and are leaving from Poland to Mozambique in less than two weeks. Since we have been in Poland, we have continued to minister in the area of worship. I have been a part of the worship team at the evangelical church in Piotrków-Trybunalski, helping to develop the young people on the team in worship leadership. I haven't learned the Polish language fluently, but I was able to have one of my original songs, "Thanks To You" translated into Polish. I invested in Pro-Tools, a sweet recording program, for our lap-top computer before we left for Poland from the U.S. I was able to record each of the members of the worship team with their various instruments, and came up with a beautiful Polish version of "Thanks To You," which I have released as a CD single here in Poland. Please feel free to listen to and/or dowload this single in Polish and English on the sidebar to the right. I hope you enjoy it. I think the people here in Poland have enjoyed this song as well as others of my originals. They are even being played now on a Polish radio station!
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One thing I have thought about so much these past nine months is how important it is for Christ-followers of different nations to come up with their own indigeneous expression of worship. I mean, it is nice that I could have one of my songs translated into Polish, but it is still a song from an American Christ-follower's heart being sung in a different language. So many of the worship songs we sing on Sunday mornings here in Poland are familiar worship songs that have been translated from English to Polish. I mean, they sound great, and it is cool for us to be able to know the familiar tunes and learn them in Polish. But I really believe that worship flowing from the Polish heart to the throne of God is precious. I have been encouraging believing Polish musicians and song-writers to really explore the idea of coming up with a truly Polish expression of worship. On the CD single we recorded, I am excited because two of the musicians are classically trained here in Poland, so there is a little bit of that indigenous feel to it. I want to develop this thought more, and hope to write more on this in future blog posts. In Africa, our hope will be to continue to experience new, indigenous expressions of worship, and capture them by recording new albums.
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Since we have been in Poland, I have re-released my first two albums, "Make Me Clean," and "Reckless Abandon." The reason being is that I have been asked to perform these original songs at various concerts and worship events. That way they have been available for people to purchase if they liked the music. We have sold many and given many away. I was also able to sing these original songs, as well as lead worship in cities all over Poland, as well as in Germany, England and Latvia. I am including some videos below which capture glimpses of the experiences we have had worshipping our Lord cross-culturally here in Europe.
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Live Concert at the Evangelical Church in Piotrków-Trybunalski, Poland
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Live Concert at the Cultural Center in Piotrków-Trybunalski, Poland
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Playing Bass in the Worship Team in Zakosciela, Poland
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Leading Worship at a Russian Speaking Worship Event in Riga, Latvia
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Leading Worship at an All-Night Worship Event in Robezkrogs, Latvia
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Leading Worship at a Three Day Evangelical Outreach in Warsaw, Poland
