Hey friends!
It is great to catch up as I relax and rest after an action packed, busy, awesome week! This last week was spent putting on my first English camp of the summer in Poland and I must say it was an unbelievable experience.
I was reunited two weeks ago with the 10 other Poland summer interns (which was wonderful in and of itself) and we got ready for the first ever summer English camp in Jastrzebie (pronounced ya-shjem-bia). After lots of prep and prayer we loaded up a trailer with supplies and squished into one van like a clown car... and we were off. We weren't really sure what to expect, this was the first camp in this town and even though we had advertised in a bunch of schools we really didn't know what would happen. So we stepped out in faith knowing that God had a plan.... and let me just tell you it was beautiful!
Things didn't go exactly as planned, we were prepared for the camp to be heavier in soccer than English but every camper pretty much signed up for English so that changed things a little bit. But we quickly adapted and just went with the flow (a skill necessary when planning English camps). So Sunday rolled around and campers began to show up and it became very real, very fast. We had approximately 25 campers come (which may not seem like a lot to you... but to me it was an answer to prayer!) and we began our week showing how there is a life Greater Than this one.
This week seems like a blur (a very hot blur I might add... fun fact there isn't really air conditioning in Poland)... it was full of English Lessons, lots of dancing, games, Hawaii night, pool day, me losing a toe nail, sweet worship and most importantly we got to talk about Christ through the story of the Prodigal Son and tying it into our summer theme Greater Than. I quickly became attached to everyone who was at camp this week and we became like a family. I have a special place in my heart for each and every one of them, and I am so thankful that God brought this camp in Jastrzebie together.
I was able to share my testimony over two of the evenings at camp and teach on the final evening. My absolute favourite part of the entire week was watching God move in the hearts of campers. It was so special for me to have been able to be a small piece in God's puzzle at camp. Most of the campers I would say have been soaked in a society of religion their whole life, but one thing that each of them said by the end of the week is that they have never experienced the idea of a relationship with Jesus and they were stunned by the passion and joy they witnessed through the interns. And what touched them the most was hearing the personal stories of lives that have been changed by Jesus.
I got the chance to meet an amazing girl who I connected with very quickly. Before long I was visiting her home and we began to build a relationship and talk about everything. She is so precious to me. To see her heart touched by Christ in a real way was the best part of my week. Getting to sit with her and share my story and talk about the hope I have in Jesus was unreal. I believe that her life will never be the same and that is all thanks to God and his love.
It is hard to sum up the week of camp but as we danced our camp dance one final time yesterday I was overwhelmed with a feeling of incredible joy. Maybe it was the realization that we had become one big family and maybe it was because I had an incredibly fun week. But I think that the main reason was because I new that God had been SO good and that this was the beginning of something amazing that God is going to do among the youth in Jastrzebie.
Thank you for all of your prayer and support, please continue to pray for all of the campers from Jastrzebie. Pray that this wouldn't be a fun memory of a good feeling they had about God but that God would transform them from the inside out and they would hunger and thirst for a deeper relationship with Him.
So, I am back in Bielsko Biala and it is bittersweet after an awesome week in Jasterzebie, but I am so excited to get closer to the youth here in the next weeks as we prepare for our camp here that begins on the 28th. It is going to be awesome!
That's all for now!
- Kat
No comments:
Post a Comment