Knockin' on Heaven's Door

In the midst of our trip to Poland we had the opportunity to visit Auschwitz. In a short two hours we were overwhelmed with the history and inhumanity of this place. I don't know if we will ever fully comprehend the scope of this tragic piece of history.

The picture in this post is of the lock placed on the door to one of the gas chambers. And as part of the tour we were able to walk into this very place where countless thousands died as poisonous gas was pumped into the room. I will never forget the chill that ran up and down my spine as we crossed the threshold. The only comfort was in the knowledge we could walk out whenever we wished.

The stories of the torture, the images of families being separated into lines...one line meant hard labour and worse, the other meant almost immediate death, the artifacts on display....thousands of shoes, bales of clothing, and perhaps saddest of all....remnants of infants' outfits and toys....all speaking of ultimate sadness.

One cannot visit this place without shedding tears.

We join many other in the prayer....Never again.

Back in the USSR (somewhat)

Greetings from Krakow Poland, Mary and I have been here for the last week attending NLI's EuroSummit. This is a meeting of NLI staff, their European ministry partners, and global friends, supporters, etc. We decided to make the investment for the trip to get "the big picture" about what NLI is doing across the continent. Needless to say we are more excited about our future adventure than ever.

Over the course of the past 6 days we not only had a chance to observe the local culture, experience the cuisine, and walk down some very historic streets....we also had ample opportunity to chat with many of the other conference delegates. Each conversation exposed a new facet, opened a new door, into a fascinating world. There were delegates from Serbia, Estonia, Poland, Ukraine, Czech Republic, UK, Australia, USA, Canada, Bulgaria, Romania and a few I probably forgot. We were amazed over and over again at the great works of God in action through these wonderful people.

As the week wind downs and we head home (tomorrow) we come home with new dreams, inspired spirits, and one more affirmation we are doing the right thing.