Hope for the Helpless, Rest for the Weary, and Love for the Broken heart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOb8ihacSM4

A post about food

M and I have been trying to eat at home more this year. Since eating out is so incredibly cheap here, and usually pretty tasty, it's easy to eat out a lot. Not that healthy though. Lots of oil and salt.
I've experimented with a lot of new recipes. That has been fun. Some things M and I have both liked, and some we've disagreed on the taste quotient.

So far this year I've made all kinds of things, like Lemony Lentil Soup, Lemon Chicken soup, borsht, Homemade pizza dough (without yeast), Rice pudding, pound cake, chocolate macaroons, Cream of mushroom soup, baking soda bisquits....among some other things... (ok some of those aren't that healthy but they are all homemade...)

Many recipes I've tried, are courtesy of allrecipes.com and some are courtesy of my Mom, and some are picked from here or there...

I've learned to make an easy local cucumber dish, but I'm still perfecting it. The person that taught me didn't use a recipe and could tell me the ingredients but couldn't tell me how much of each. She just said "I think you have to make it many times before you can get it right." So, I made it and put in too much vinegar, it made M's teeth hurt. So, it's work in progess.

The baking powder bisquit recipe I have is fantastic. I say that as one who loves carbohydrates. And it just popped into my recipe book after a friend stayed in our apartment last summer. Thank you very much Terrie!

Tonight, I tried a new recipe- Cabbage Roll casserole.... I have been wanting to try my hand at making cabbage rolls for a long time, but when push came to shove, this casserole seemed easier with my time limit, and I have all the ingredients. M and I both agree- it's really good!!

I think the recipe that I've made that got the best reviews was a Jean Pare recipe that my Mom and Dad sent me for Cream of Mushroom soup.(Thanks Mom and Dad!) It was liked by local friends and Canadian friends. We even made it again tonight. It's good. And low fat if you substitute skim milk for the cream. I won't post it here as it's probably copyright or something... but oh Jean Pare, thank you for the yummy goodness. And note that you can get some free recipes on her site...

Some Christmas baking ....




The macaroons that were delicious even if they didn't set right and I had to eat most of them myself.






Wonder what recipe he's going to make with that side of pork on the back of his bike?

A Little of this, and a little of that

I find myself mentally updating my blog a lot, thinking things in point form bullets. Something like this....

- This is a very sneezy place. Lotsa sneezing, everywhere.
- Lots of spring tree blossoms out everywhere, it's just so beautiful.
- I make things with lentils now. Does that make me crunchy granola?
- I've tried making lots of new things this year:rice pudding, lemon chicken soup, borsht... and pig's in blankets.... which is little weiners wrapped in dough.... one of the dough pieces came open while cooking, we renamed it "pig on a couch." He seemed to be reclining comfortably.
- For a conversational english class that I teach, I made my students (all professionals) pick english names to use. I mostly just wanted them to pick them so that they become more familiar with the sound of english names. It's also really fun giving people names. Lotsa fun. Fun fun fun. I made up a list of appropriate names for their age and status etc.. and then let them pick.
One man came a couple days late so I made a special list just for him with names like William, Timothy, Peter, etc etc .... and at the last minute just for fun I threw in "Lanny" in reference to Lanny Mcdonald. Do you know out of all those names, which he picked? Lanny. Lanny it is. Which for some reason makes me ridiculously happy.
- The neighbour dog is cute but barky.
- Who are the neighbourhood ladies always yelling at to "come here!"?
- The dog can't compete with the neighbour ladies for volume, or ability to vocally pierce through a wall or window.
- For the most part it doesn't bother us.

Spring has sprung around here. A few days ago I saw some gigantic blossoms on some trees. I think they were magnolia trees. That was so exciting!! Since then I've seen some cherry blossoms. Ahhh spring. While it is beautiful outside, it's turned a bit chilly inside. Our heat went off a few days ago, as it usually does in mid march. All the heat turns off in the city at that time. At first it was still warm inside, but now, since it's been a bit cool outside, I've had to also don a few more layers inside.

It is a quiet day here today. Good Friday- I will post something later about that. It's a special day to remember. But I'll post about that later. It has been quiet, and it's been nice. I'm going to make some vegetable soup for supper, and relax this evening. Maybe watch a movie, or maybe an episode of "Monk." I love that show.

I was going back through some pictures from last summer earlier today. We had a good time. It was nice to look back, would you like to see some of the pictures?




We ate hot dogs at this place, and looked out at the ocean. Looking at the umbrellas you'd swear you were someplace tropical. It was very serene. And the hot dogs were good.





Lilacs, can anything beat the smell?




And wildlife, we saw some wildllife...





We did a little bit of boating with friends and family....





And the flowers....

















And there were sunsets. Beautiful sunsets. Some were in the sky and one was the kind of sunset that come at the end of a life time. M's Step-Dad Don passed away while we were home last summer. Though he was sick, it still felt sudden. It was sad, but we felt blessed that we were in the country at the time.




Last summer would also be the last time we would see this little cutie. She has since gone on to that great doggie heaven in the sky.


We also saw many people last summer, family, and friends. I don't have pictures of all of them, nor do I know how people would feel about seeing their mug on my blog....so no pics of the people...but it was definately a hilight.


Just one more flower picture.......

I have the most fun when exhaustion erodes my judgement

I think I'm a bit over baked. Tired. We stayed up to 2am working on stuff. (It wouldn't have been that late except that somewhere between 10 and 11 we started a deep discussion about life) Hence 2AM bedtime.

I think I'm a little over tired though. I'm in the process of writing a few informational emails. I keep erasing things I think are really funny as better judgement prevails. I realize the people getting the emails won't think it as funny because they may not be over tired.

well deserved

Electric bikes and the people who ride them like they have no brakes, and like there are no other people, cars, bikes or traffic rules on the road... this is for you. BOOOOOOO !!

Shepherd's pie and a crazy babboon

We had some local friends over tonight. It was a nice evening. We had supper together- I made shepherd's pie, broccoli and baking powder bisquits. The guys who came over to visit don't eat much western food so it's always fun to serve them stuff.
The shepherd's pie- I gave them forks and knives to eat it with, then noticed out of the corner of my eye that the one guy had put the fork down and was getting down and slurping it off his knife. (these guys don't use knife and fork much) It wasn't that he can't use a fork, it was that slurping it off the knife was more comfortable... so I went and got him some local utensils.

The broccoli- they found it strange that we didn't put any sauce on it, so I found them some sauce for it.

The bisquits, M and I had some butter for the bisquits, and the guys wanted to try it. So, upon eating the butter, one of them made the pronouncement: " Nothing!" he kept saying that over and over "Nothing!" He was so surprised that it didn't have much taste. Then M brought out some cheese and let them try it, and then the guy said "Something!" (Generally here, people aren't that crazy about the taste of cheese.)

He said "First I say 'Nothing!' then I say 'something!' then I say 'Never!"(meaning 'never again) He was just referring to the cheese thankfully!

That was the meal.

After the meal we played cards. The one guy was goofing around and started beating his chest when he would win a round. So I called him a babboon in the local language. He thought that was quite funny so he kept doing it. So, I called him a "crazy babboon." He gave that the thumbs up. If one of his friend's called him that he would think it a little funny, but because I'm just learning the language- it's more funny coming from me.

What I find funny is that I can not say useful stuff like "remember" and "No MSG please" and "paper towel" but I can call a guy a crazy babboon.



Note: You might think that "remember" is pretty basic, and I did look it up once, but then I promptly forgot it. ANd you'd be surprised how far you can go without having to use the word "remember" Besides, I do know how to say "Don't forget" so I make as much milage from that as I can.

2007 Special Moments and People Awards

And the award goes to:

The Who sent you? Award:
To the two minority ladies with their beautiful hair, and lovely dresses, who gave me a seat when I had none.
To the two gentlemen who popped up out of the blue to help me and Little E with our great big bags, down the stairs and up again, on the train and off the train.
To the man who went to get the store security when my locker was jammed and couldn't get it open.
To various strangers who offered language help in a moment of confusion.
To the gracious taxi drivers, store vendors, and people in general who have offered their help, pleasant curiousity, and smiles.....
This award's for you.


The Luckiest person to walk away without being punched in the nose Award:

Picture me, on a train, no seat, just standing there leaning against one of the seats, swaying with the train. A man starts up a conversation with me- it goes like this:
Initial chit chat, where are you from... etc... (in english)

Man: Foreigners are often fat and don't look beautiful.
Me: (No response)
Man: Yes Foreign women are often fat and don't look beautiful. I sell underwear that makes women look beautiful.
Me: Oh.
Man:(showing me pictures of a local lady who is not particularly fat, just normal) See? Pictures. Before, see? This lady not beautiful.
Me: Ok.
Man:(showing me a second set of pictures.) See, after...beautiful!
Man:Foreign women are often fat and not beautiful.
Man: (showing me pictures of the woman in her amazing beautifying underwear) See, after, beautiful!
Me: (Waving my hand in the air and laughing) Ok, ok ok.
Man:Ok. (and he left me alone. except to ask if I could sing, and to tell that he could sing well.)

Cutest Student Award:
This is a hard one, as I have a lot of really neat people in my classes. Really. Cool people. But in the end, the award goes to the girl who out of the blue gave me this Little Bubu stuffed bear.... because, I'm not even her teacher anymore. She was sooooo sweet about it. And she got my white elephant gift during a gift exchange- this green candle that wasn't particularly pretty, but she was absolutely thrilled and made it known that no one should try to steal it from her. I was particularly surprised because I was strict with that class. I even confiscated her ipod during one class. Go figure. She gets the cutest student award, for her sweet spirit.



Most Awkward Moment with a Stranger Award

In May, M and I went back to Canada for some rest. On the plane ride back we were really tired. Over tired I'd say. We had seats in the middle section. There were a number of empty seats throughout the plane- one of them next to us. Yahoo! This seemed like such a nice perk, because I could lie down if I wanted to... AHHHHH. We could spread out just a bit.
The couple in front of us had the same luxury. The man in front of us was watching the movie and his wife had curled up on the seats next to him.
The guy sitting to our right in the section by the window saw something askew however.
I was still sitting up, just thinking of lying down.....
Helpful man from the window section approaches us in the dim cabin...

Man:"The man in front of you is a little bit squished by the man who is in front of him who is reclining. I'd like to move him into this seat next to you."
(I surveyed the situation and didn't feel he needed to move back, all he had to do was switch seats with his wife who was lying down...and I didn't want to give up that seat!!!)
Me:"I prefer no."
Man:"Oh, do you speak english? Is this your seat? This man is looking uncomfortable, and I would like to move him back here."
Me:"Yes I speak english. He has an extra seat too, he only needs to move over.So I prefer no."
Man:" Oh, maybe you don't understand me..." and he repeats the situation and he sees it."
Me:" No I prefer no."

That was the end of discussion, this man was really sincerely trying to be helpful- he wasn't in any way rude through our conversation... but his solution wasn't necessary. After a few minutes the other man moved over on his own volition. Problem solved. But I hate confrontation, and saying no, and so I couldn't sleep for a long time after that. I was a bit disgruntled with that guy for awhile. And why did he think I don't speak english? I realize my grammar wasn't exactly correct,"I prefer not" is better than "I prefer no" but good grief. Awkward.

The Happy Back Award

For my back because for about 80% of the year it has really been pleasant to be with.

Inspiration Award
Goes to Louisa Vaughan, who though not a woman of fame, and having been dead many years, inspired me this year through her book full of stories of God's amazing answers to her prayers. Wow. Blew my socks off.

Husband of Character Award
Goes to M. You really rose to the occasion this year. What would I do without you?

People of resilience award

Over the last few years I've been hearing stories of friends, and strangers in this country who go through such heart rending stuff. It makes you wonder why people here aren't basket cases.

A few examples (which didn't all happen this year but things with this level of drama are happening here still):

One young woman we know- her mother passed away- she was washing a comforter in the river and the current took the big blanket away and the mother with it, she didn't know how to swim so she began drowning. She was pulled out, still alive. There was a doctor there, he refused to help her until someone could guarentee payment. There was no one from her family there so no one would guarentee payment. She died.

Another guy we know: He is now an adult,and should have a younger brother but his mother was forced to have an abortion in her 8th month by local officials.

Another friend of ours: his Dad spent time in jail this year...

The stories go on and on. These kinds of things happen every year. The things you hear curl your toes. Injustice, corruption, health issues, bad health system, cheating..... but through all of it, the people keep on going. Their stories seem so dramatic, and yet they keep on going. So, because of that they get the 2007 People of Resilience Award.

Had a bad day?

Every week I teach various english classes.

My favourite class to teach is the one for professionals who are going overseas. They need to work on their english so that their time overseas will be of the most benefit. Some of them have a very low level of english, but they are interesting to teach because they are highly motivated to improve. They have chosen to be in the class and see it as an opportunity.

Another class that I enjoy teaching is a class for third year university students. They are also highly motivated. Their english is already pretty good. They do pretty much whatever I ask them to do- get into groups, discuss A,B or C, make sentances using the verb "to putter." They are pretty fun. They often try to use long words, or phrases without the correct grammar- that can get a little messy.

And occasionally I get something like last week I asked them what they thought "A penny saved is a penny earned" meant. One guy stood up and said, "To earn is the best way of saving, of course we all know that the best offense is to attack, that's all." and then he sat down. He also tagged something else on the end there which I can't remember right now because it was so random, but what do you do with that? What does that mean?

Anyway, they try hard. They've worked hard to be in University, and they want to use the opportunity to actually learn. It makes them fun to teach.

My least favourite class is the one that I taught this morning. And I'm usually not a play favourites kinda person, but these guys.... not so enjoyable to teach. Why you ask? Well, because they aren't motivated in class.

They are all planning to go overseas to study, so they need to get a diploma that says that they finished this english course. You'd think going overseas to study would be a motivator to actually learn the language there, but no.

It's a conversation class, so my job is to get them talking, and as a foreign teacher to listen to their pronunication, grammar etc, and help them with all of that. But the most important thing is to get them talking.

Half the class are ok. A few of them are so- so in the motivation department, then there are a few that just don't do much of anything. I assign them something to talk about but they don't have the personal maturity to actually put much effort into it. So they do it for 30 seconds (if that) then chat with their neighbour or whatever.

I can usually enjoy going and teaching the class, as like I say, most of them are ok. But this morning, I got 3 extra hours of teaching tacked onto my schedule with them, during a time that is usually time off for me. I found it more difficult to be patient with them.

I read them the riot act when I came in at first... here are my expectations.. blah blah blah.... this is conversation class... blah blah blah... if I ask you to talk about something, I expect you to do it. If you don't like it you can leave.... etc. I said all of it very matter of fact and quite nicely.

But then later, after I was getting irritated with some of the little things done in class that short circuit the learning process (ie- people always whispering the answers to each other so there's no thinking going on ) I read the riot act #2.

Which was basically: Your english stinks. You are smart enough to do this, but you aren't working hard enough. And if you don't put more effort in this you are going to be in big trouble when you go overseas.-- I said it in a nice but matter of fact way. And then I gave them homework. I don't usually give homework. All I usually ask is that they work hard IN class. And dude I didn't give them any second break because some of them were gone so long for the first one. I wanted to introduce them to the term "Royal Butt Kicking" because I felt like they needed one, but I decided to save that for next week.

I'm am a little afraid for these guys. I mean they are going to be in regular University level classes when they go overseas. (Not learning english classes) They are going to be studying economics or business or some such thing. You'd think they'd be motivated.

You may ask why are they not more motivated? Well, I'm told that for most of them their families have money, so they think they don't have to study as mom and dad's money will get them through.

I guess in some ways, going over abroad and finding yourself in a class that's way over your head might be a good thing, especially if there's no opportunity to buy better marks or a degree. Welcome to the real world.

On tap for next class? A discussion involving the terms "taking responsibility" and "it's your own fault."

Tis the season

Christmas hasn't really been a tradition here. Not the way it's a tradition in many other parts of the world. People are aware of it, but most don't "celebrate" it. You will see businesses decorating for it. And schools. Sometimes it gets a little crazy compared to what we do in N.America. (But who ever said that our store bought decorations were the "Correct" way to decorate?)

"Christmas disco"


You will sometimes find materials encorporated into the decoration that we typically don't use - here we see some shells.....



And, decorating time frame is a bit looser here as well.




I think I caught this Santa in May or June.(notice the Snoopy in his bag- Snoop's popular here.)


Ever have a problem deciding where to put the tree?




Why not hang it upside down from the ceiling?

But really, some parts of Christmas- ie) decorating with lights and tinsel, and trees..... it's fun, but it's subjective right? It's just decorating to celebrate the core of Christmas. How you celebrate is up to you- be it hanging the tree from the ceiling, or putting it in a corner, having a two inch tree or a 10 footer... or no tree at all.... doesn't matter. What matters is the core. Are you really celebrating Christmas? Are you really celebrating the coming of Jesus? If by hanging that upside down tree you are doing so to recognize the wonderful gift of Christ, then you are properly celebrating. If you hang no decorations, sing no songs, send no cards, make no cookies, but raise a simple prayer of thanks to God in your heart for His indescibably gift - then you have just celebrated Christmas!


"Yahoo! Christmas blessings coming! Look out below!"

I'm back.

My last post was in July.
It isn't that I didn't have anything to say.
I just didn't feel like saying anything.
But now I'm back. And there's way to much water under the bridge to tell everything, so why don't we just go on from here?

I'm teaching this year. English as a second language. This is proving to be very interesting.
Today, one of my classes was a group of professionals. I asked them if they'd ever made a resolution.

Some people said that they'd made resolutions to exercise, some to learn english, and things like that.

The most interesting one was the woman who said:
"I made a resolution to make my husband give me a warm kiss everyday."
She got a round of applause from the class.
I then explained that making resolutions involves your own behavior and not someone else's - but the men in the class seemed to be the ones clapping, so I suspect her husband might not mind her making that kind of resolution.

My favourite answer was a humble gentleman in the class who stood up and said that out of concern that his young daughter is working too hard on her school work, he made a resolution to play ping pong with her everyday. I asked him if he'd been able to keep his resolution, and he said that he had.

Under the category of funny things I've seen recently...

The other day I was biking home from the school, and I came through the big main gate. (There are always guards at the gate, usually standing soberly looking on in their uniforms. )On Monday I rode my bike by just in time to see the guard at the table get up and walk over to the other guard who was standing on a little podium and give him a boot to the behind. It knocked him off his podium and caused him to break into laughter. They didn't even notice me go by. It made me laugh though. Goofballs.

Due to being without internet and with out a computer the last while, I've not been updating. We've been visiting family and friends, going here and there and spending time at the lake.

Our original plan was to be on the prairies a few more days, but sadly M's Step Dad passed away on the weekend, so we are leaving tomorrow to go back out to the coast.

Do say a prayer for the family if you have a moment.

Thanks, K.

SO, we've been busy. haven't been home much.

As I write this I am out on our friends' farm... getting ready to have a BBQ lunch. I just finished cuddling some tiny little kittens and can smell the Ribs and potatoes cooking so I better run!

Thankful for friends!

Back in Canuck land

Yes, that is right- I am back. We got back about a week and a half ago. Almost two weeks. We have been having a really nice time at M's parents house. As is usually the case though, my first week back in Canada is usually a tired one - it takes me awhile to get adjusted time wise and to recover from whatever packing frenzy we had when we left, and to recover from the long flight. I am just today starting to feel more normal.

So, sorry for the hiatus- I've been feeling dozey.

Went to church this morning, was glad I went. The pastor talked about the names of God, that was so encouraging.

Of course in scripture there are many many names used for God, so he only focused on a few of them this morning- specifically looking at some of the Jehovah ones.
Jehovah Jireh- God our provider
Jehovah Shalom- God our peace
Jehovah Rohi- The Lord is my Shepherd
Jehovah Rophi- God our healer
and the last one he talked about was not a Jehovah one but was Jesus - our Saviour.

I always enjoy looking at the names of God, because His names remind me of who He is, and it was just what I needed to hear this morning.

Did I do that?

Tonight, M and I left our apartment and rounded the corner. There was a back hoe driving down the lane. Just behind it some boys, maybe about 10 years old were quite fascinated with it. That's pretty typical no? The problem was that they were getting too close to the moving treds, putting things on the treds even as it was moving. I was afraid they were going to get pinned between it and the curb or somehow get under it. Both M and I were very nervous watching them.

The most aggressive boy started going towards the far side of the back hoe where there was about half a foot between the machine and the curb- a very dangerous place to be, especially because i don't think the driver could see them... and you know what, I just couldn't take it. I couldn't. So I took hold of the kid's arm before he could go behind the back hoe, and re directed him in the opposite direction away from it, and basically said "no" to him.

M and I started walking away, and then we looked back and saw that the back hoe had rounded the corner but the kids weren't going away, they were still trying to mess with it.... and then the cab started rotating and it looked like the one kid might get hit.... it gave my heart a start.

Without thinking I started running toward the 3 boys, and their eyes got a little saucer-like. That's right kid. Foreign woman running staight at you! You know, when your adrenalin is pumping, it's hard to speak in a language that's not your first. But I think the shaking finger at them and the back hoe and emphatically saying "It's not safe!!!" got the message across.

The moral of the story is: It's better to be frightened by a crazy foreign lady than squished by a back hoe.

The best thing I saw Yesterday...

A man driving a garbage cart- peddling it to be exactly. Dirty face, dirty clothes, a thousand watt smile....why? because of his little daughter who was riding along with him. He might not have been the richest Dad I saw yesterday but he was definately the proudest.

Easter monday here where I am.

We had a very nice Easter weekend. Since we don't have a Church in our language to go to here, we just met with some english speaking friends on Friday and had our own little worship time together. We read the story of Christ's journey to the cross and His cruxifiction. We took communion together. It was good to remember.

After our worship time together, we went for supper to a nice restaurant that advertises Starbucks... which would be the first in the city but we realized that it wasn't authentic. The signs were real but the products aren't. Either that or they have the right products but don't know how to make anything properly. (they did have some real starbucks coffee in bags but the frappuchinos that they served us were not the same as the "real" thing.) No really big disappointment. We kind of expected it when we first saw the signs anyway.

On Saturday M's school invited us for supper to a nice restaurant as well that was serving turkey alongside a big buffet of mostly seafood. It was delicious.

We met a couple of teachers who were here on exchange from Scottland. We understood most of what they said. They invited us to sit with them, so we did. It was nice to meet someone from "the old country."

The evening was rounded off by a surprise evening Easter chocolate hunt hidden and hosted by a few of our Canadian friends here. That was a surprise! Very fun.

On Sunday we had friends over for Easter brunch- I whipped up the pancake batter and cracked the eggs while M fried and flipped everything. Some friends brought over some fruit and we had a nice time of it.

We ended up biking over to the park afterwards to toss around a frisbee and play badmitton. It was a gorgeous day in the park. I didn't realize we had such a nice park so nearby. I had walked through there in winter once but it didn't seem so big or so nice.

As a note about our time in the park- people here don't play frisbee... so we drew a bit of a crowd just by throwing it around. That kind of makes me smile because to me, watching people throw a frisbee is about the equivalent of watching golf on TV. ZZZzzzzz. But I guess if you've never seen it before it's a little more thrilling.

We finished the afternoon by coming home and finishing reading the end of Matthew- the resurrection, and spending some time thinking about the wonder and power of Jesus who is Lord over everthing including death. It was a good.

He has risen.

He has risen indeed.

books books books

In a few weeks we'll be heading back to Canada for a visit. While I'm in Canada I will be looking to read some new books. I already have a few ideas in mind of what to read while I'm there.... Anybody else got any books to recommend?

C'mon, don't be shy.

Yesterday I was reading the book "Six Hours One Friday" by Max Lucado. I was thinking about today- Good Friday. I was very moved by the following story....

It’s difficult to find beauty in death. It’s even more difficult to find beauty in a death camp. Especially Auschwitz. Four million Jews died there in World War II. A half-ton of human hair is still preserved. The showers that sprayed poison gas still stand.

But for all the ugly memories of Auschwitz there is one of beauty. It’s the memory Gajowniczek has of Maximilian Kolbe.

In February, 1941, Kolbe was incarcerated at Auschwitz. He was a Franciscan priest. In the harshness of the slaughterhouse he maintained the gentleness of Christ. He shared his food. He gave up his bunk. He prayed for his captors. He was soon given the nickname “Saint of Auschwitz.”

In July of that same year there was an escape from the prison. It was the custom at Auschwitz to kill ten prisoners for every one who escaped. All the prisoners would be gathered in the courtyard and the commandant would randomly select ten names from the roll book. These victims would be immediately taken to a cell where they would receive no food or water until they died.

The commandant begins calling the names. At each selection another prisoner steps forward to fill the sinister quota. The tenth name he calls is Gajowniczek.

As the SS officers check the numbers of the condemned, one of the condemned begins to sob. “My wife, my children,” he weeps.

The officers turn as they hear movements among the prisoners. The guards raise their rifles. The dogs tense, anticipating a command to attack. A prisoner has left his row and is pushing his way to the front.

It is Kolbe. No fear on his face. No hesitancy in his step. The capo shouts at him to stop or be shot. “I want to talk to the commander,” He says calmly. For some reason the officer doesn’t club or kill him. Kolbe stops a few paces from the commandant, removes his hat and looks the German officer in the eye.

“Herr Kommandant, I wish to make a request, please.”
That no one shot him is a miracle.
“I want to die in the place of this prisoner.” He points at the sobbing Gajowniczek. The audacious request is presented without stammer.
“I have no wife and no children. Besides, I am old and not good for anything. He’s in better condition.” Kolbe knew well the Nazi mentality.
“Who are you?” the officer asks.
“A Catholic priest.”
The block is stunned. The commandant, uncharacteristically speechless. After a moment, he barks, “Request granted”

Prisoners were never allowed to speak.
Gajowniczek says,
“I could only thank him with my eyes. I was stunned and could hardly grasp what was going on. The immensity of it: I, the condemned, am to live and someone else willingly and voluntarily offers his life for me- a stranger. Is this some dream?”

The Saint of Auschwitz outlived the other nine. In fact, he didn’t die of thirst or starvation. He died only after the camp doctor injected phenol into his heart. It was August 14, 1941.

Gajowniczek survived the holocaust. He made his way back to his hometown. Every year however he goes back to Auschwitz. Every August 14 he goes back to say thank you to the man who died in his place.

In his back yard there is a plaque. A plaque he carved with his own hands. A tribute to Maximillian Kolbe- the man who died so he could live.

- Max Lucado- from Six Hours One Friday

There's something about this story that reflects the beauty and depth of character of someone who is willing to give up their life for another. It reminded me of the unselfishness of Christ in His sacrifice of His own life in place of mine.

Good Friday is a special day to think about and remember what Christ did, and although I could never repay Him for what He did for me (and He doesn't expect that anyway) I hope that my life would be one that overflows with testimony of the goodness of God, the kindness of God, and the unselfishness of God.

4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppressiond and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Is 53:4-9). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Thank You Lord Jesus, Thank You.


Note: This story was written by Max Lucado and published 1989. Franciszek Gajowniczek died in 1995 at age 95. 53 years after Maximillian Kolbe saved his life by giving his own.