As Gabi and I step towards marriage (finally have some exciting news on that below, by the way 🎉) and moving to a new city, the final phases of disciple-making have become very, very real in my life.

If you break down Jesus' example of disciple-making to the absolute basics, you can see three major themes - following, equipping, and sending. Over the past year and a half, I've walked the guys I've been working with through lots of following and equipping. Now, especially for two of them, it's time to be sent.

One, Marek, just graduated high school and will likely be moving to a new city to start university in the fall. I've had the privilege of discipling Marek one-on-one pretty much since I arrived to Bielsko-Biała two years ago. Marek is an incredible young man with a great heart for both evangelism and worship. I'm excited to see how his faith will impact others as he steps away from his family and out onto his own.

The second, Kuba, as we have been praying - has agreed to take over leadership of our guys' small group as Gabi and I move on. Kuba has incredible humility, a hunger for God's Word, and a desire to see those close to him growing deeper in their faith.

Jesus didn't wait to send His followers out at the last moment, but instead sent them on smaller trips, followed up with them, and taught them further. Even as He was among them, He readied them to take up the mantles of the ministry after His departure. I'm doing my best to walk in that example with my guys. Kuba is already taking over leadership of our group, even while I'm still here, so I can mentor him as he leads others for the first time. And I will continue to mentor him and Marek even as Gabi and I move on to the new city God is calling us to in Poland.

I am praising God for Kuba and Marek, as well as the rest of the guys from our group! It's an honor to play even the smallest part in their stories. May God continue to lead and call these young mean towards faith that changes the lives of those around them!

• "PORT LIDERA"
  • JV Poland's "Port Lidera" project has officially come to a close!...except not fully 😜 We are in the middle of a soft-launch our website, and I am finishing up the last couple videos this week. At the same time, I'm incredibly proud of all that our team has done, while also looking forward to getting this project off my plate and out in the real world!
• WE FINALLY HAVE GOOD NEWS ABOUT THE WEDDING
  • The last few weeks have been VERY eventful when it comes to Gabi and I's long-suffering marriage adventure. To keep a very long story mostly short, we finally had our court date, everything went great, but then we had problems with some papers. God worked a logistical miracle to get new papers to me from the US via family, friends, and a JV Poland teammate in less than one week. Gabi and I then (out of almost desperation) tried to file our paperwork in an office in a village neighboring Bielsko-Biała, and...it worked! There's even more info below, and more to come about details and what this means for us - just know that we're deeply celebrating how God pulled this all together ❤️🙌🏼
• WE MADE PIEROGI AND SO CAN YOU
  • Have you had a chance to check out our pierogi tutorial? We've had great feedback so far from some of you. We promise lots of laughs and good Polish food if you click/tap the image below 🇵🇱 Subscribe to our channel here 😉 

After our wedding Gabi will finally be joining the JV Poland team!

We are both so incredibly excited for that moment. After all of the up and down of our adventures with the Polish bureaucracy, we're finally starting our lives as the Phillips' on mission!

As God's call on my life becomes God's call on our life, our recurring support need increases by $2,200/month. The response so far has been an overwhelming testimony of God's faithfulness, as our need is down to only $1,700/month 🙌🏼 If God is leading you to support us financially, click/tap the button below or simply reply to this email and I'll get back to you!

What's coming around the corner:

- Our WEDDING! The moment we've all been waiting for! Everything with the court is open and shut. Our papers have all been filed, and we have everything set and taken care of to legally get married. We are incredibly excited to finally be starting our lives together on June 25th! We're still organizing details with the ceremony, but are planning to pull together a live-stream for y'all. I'll be in touch closer to the date with more information. Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers, support, and kind words over the 11 months that we've walked through this process. We are praising God for His faithfulness together with you! ❤️🙌🏼💍

- Summer camps! Technically our involvement in camps doesn't start until July, but at the start of the month we'll be on our honeymoon, and soon after we start our first camp, so I don't anticipate the July update being on time...just FYI 😉 Gabi and I are excited to have our first opportunities to serve as husband and wife at camps in the Baltic port city of Gdynia, as well as at a multi-church "Master Camp" (which our church in Bielsko-Biała is helping lead) at JV Poland headquarters in southern Poland. Please pray for many opportunities to share the Gospel with Polish teens as we serve alongside these local churches!

Thank you as always for your continued prayer and support. It's a joy to sign off my final email as just myself - I won't miss being the only name alone here ☺️

In Christ,

Elliott