ITMI's Jim La Rose has been serving in Poland for two decades.

Jim is a master teacher and has a special ability to connect with children and youth.

Jim writes,

"I believe my station in life (single, older, man) gives me the opportunity to spend time with kids who often may not have many other adults focused on them. I truly sense the Lord is directing me to do such work."

February and March of 2022 will never be forgotten by the millions of Ukrainian children who left their homes and everything that is familiar for Poland.

This will be a pivotal, formational point in these young people's lives. They will look back on these weeks and remember what happened to them their entire lives.

As the body of Christ, we have the opportunity to help them remember that Jesus loves them and His people sacrificed to care for them when they look back on this time.

As a member of that body who is right there in the city where they ended up, Jim has the opportunity to teach them ideas and principles from the Bible that they may remember all of their lives because they will never forget the day Russians invaded their country and they were forced to flee for their lives.

As someone who is practiced at connecting with children and youth, he has the opportunity to spend quiet moments with them, focusing on them as a reminder that they matter to God's people and they matter to Jesus.

As Jim's church (K5N pastored by ITMI's Piotr Zaremba) seeks to love, serve and minister to the 11 orphans who were placed with them, Jim has spent time ministering to them and other refugee children, teaching them a well-planned English lesson and just spending time with them.

"What struck me most," Jim reflected, "was the 'heaviness' in the kids' spirits...a definite sense of strain and concern over their current situation. The kids were focused and willingly participated, but at the most, there were only four or five smiles from these three kids during the whole hour-plus that I spent with them."

Using colored pencils, the kids colored the worksheet Jim prepared.

The kids focused and worked very hard during the lesson, even though they had come directly from a 2-hour Polish language lesson!

Your support has allowed Jim to minister in Poland for the long haul, loving and serving families in Jesus' name and for His glory.

Now, that ministry is being expanded to Ukrainian refugees.