Reflections

Reflection:

To understand this post more completely, you may first need to read my opening posts. Through serving in Poland this year, there are three things that I understand more clearly and more completely about being a faithful servant.

1)      There is peace and blessing in being obedient to God’s call.

Saying yes to God can be hard—especially when we let many perceived challenges get in the way of saying yes. MONEY-How can I afford to go on this trip? TIME-How can I go on the trip and still get all the things done I need to do? FAMILY-Can I leave my family for this amount of time?

I have been going on mission trips for many years, yet all of these things challenged me this year. God covered all of them for me. MONEY-Generous people contributed and supported Josh and I in this trip. TIME-Everything that needed to be done got done, often through accepting the help of others. FAMILY-My mom and dad both having health concerns encouraged me to go.

My son Josh and I both said yes to serving in Poland this year. Every day in Poland I woke up feeling at peace and ready to serve. Every night I went to sleep feeling blessed that I had spent the day how God intended. 

2)      God does the extraordinary through the ordinary.

Early in the trip I started to think about the little things—the simple things. Because Josh and I had so strongly felt God’s “push” to Poland, I thought that there must be something big he wanted us to do. When we got to camp and we were doing what we had always done—teaching English, leading crafts, playing games, and worshiping—I wondered why the “push” this year. And then I helped Laura fix her bracelet, and she gave me a big smile every time I saw her for the rest of camp. Even though I had little Polish and she little English, we connected through something so simple.  I shared the song “Beautiful” by Mercy Me during English class and had a chance to tell the children how beautiful I think they are and how beautiful God thinks they are. Later that day a girl came up to me and said, “Beautiful, I like this song. It helps to know I’m beautiful to God.” When Piotr gave a couple a Bible at Family Night, they later said they were interested in visiting the church in Krakow.  Josh hung out with the Polish youth, and I watched a lot of smiles and laughter. I simply stood near some girls at worship and showed them hand motions to the worship songs, and on the last day of worship they told me how much they would miss this time. These are all very simple things, and there are many more I can describe, but the important thing is that God takes care of the extraordinary through our ordinary. We don’t have to do anything other than be ourselves and show love to others, and he can do something extraordinary with all of our hearts.

3)      There is power in partnership.

Wheatland Salem Church has been partnering in Poland for about 13 years and we have helped to lead Christian English Language Camps for 12 years. There has always been an American Team that comes to work with a Polish Team to lead the camp. Every year I have felt the lines blur more and more reflecting one team—God’s Team—serving Him, serving the children together. Josh and I felt pretty small this year as a team of 2 going to Poland, but we weren’t a team of 2 when we got to Poland. We were part of a team of 10. Some of us Polish, a couple of us American, all of us working to serve the kids. Together, we showed these kids God’s love, and I pray every day that they come to know him more and more deeply. This camp would not impact the lives of these kids without a strong partnership between WSC and our friends in Poland. Incredibly, 2 of the leaders, Ola and Lukasz are former campers themselves.  They have each recorded their experience with camp and what lead them to become leaders.  I will share those with you soon.

Crafts

Crafts are a huge hit at camp. When asked what their favorite activity at camp is, many children say crafts. I love craft time, because I can sit and talk with the kids while helping them with crafts. It is one of the times of day when I connect most with the children and get to know them better!

Magnets

Hats and Visors

Cards

Jewelry

Pillows

Tie Dye T-shirts

English Lessons

English Lessons

English lessons are taught nearly everyday between 10 and 2. We always try to use many games and music to make lessons fun. This year Level 1 worked on the basics, Level 2 made a list of all they wanted to learn (we covered most topics), and Level 3 focused on making movies in English which will premier tomorrow morning. They are currently in production. The pictures here are of Level 1 playing Battleship, and Level 2 playing 2 Truths and 1 Lie.

Special Events

We have already had 3 of the special events that have become tradition at this camp: American Night, Parent Day, and the camp trip.

American Night

It has become tradition to host an American Night on July 4th each year since Independence Day always falls while we are here at camp. With Josh and I being the only Americans, we were going to skip it this year. Thanks to Lukasz's encouragement, we didn't skip it, but everyone pitched in and it was a great time. As the pictures below show, Water Bombing Lukasz was a big "hit." Josh and Daniel drew a crowd at the softball throw, talented eaters showed up for the pie eating contest, and everyone knew how to strike a pose at the photo booth!

Parent Day

Parent day was an amazing day! It is always great to meet the children's parents, and we had a lot of time to talk with the children and get to know them better! A group of girls sang an amazing song, the children all sang worship songs for their parents, the parents were good sports about competing in games, we had a delicious cookout, and wrapped everything up with s'mores which always seem to be a hit. The couple who won the dance contest were presented with a Bible by Piotr, and they plan to visit the church in Krakow.

Camp Trip to Wisla

The camp trip to Wisla was a wonderful day to spend together and connect with the kids more. We ate  shopped, and did amusement type activities. The biggest hit was simply spending time at the Wisla River-the longest river in Poland. The source of the river is near the town of Wisla.

Pictures are on my phone, so I will add later!

Evening Games

Games each evening involve a lot of fun and laughter! A great way to get to know each other and connect with each other!

Water Balloon Volleyball:

Other Games:

Worship

We end our time together each evening with an evening rally which begins with games and ends with worship. It is amazing to watch the children each evening as they experience worship more deeply. Piotr has a video that says more than words or pictures can that I will try to post here. In the meantime, here are a few pictures.

Getting to Camp

This year has been one of the most challenging years in simply getting to the Christian English Language Camp in Poland. Prior to camp, we faced difficulties in getting a team together, our team is simply Josh and I from the United States this year. We also faced many family difficulties including deaths of friends, my dad suffering a stroke, my mom being rediagnosed with cancer, and Steve's dad having a pretty extensive survey. The amazing thing this year is that in spite of everything, Josh said to me, "I've never felt God pushing us to Poland this much before." I'm not sure why He did as it doesn't seem that we are doing anything extraordinary. We are simply teaching English lessons, leading crafts, hanging out, and worshipping. These are all things we have done before. Yet I know He wants us here as every time a doubt popped in my mind about whether or not we should be going this year, a donation of craft items would arrive on my doorstop and would be exactly what we needed but didn't ask for, or a check to support us would be in the mail, or a word of encouragement would be given. My mom and Dad were two of the most encouraging about going on this trip. So each time I had a doubt, I had a reassurance. Then we were finally off to the airport and our plane was having mechanical difficulties. We were given time after time for departure, and finally called Steve to pick us up and take us home. He took us back to the airport the next day, we left 24 hours late, but we made it to Poland! In the process we met two wonderful ladies that we shared time, meals and conversation with at the airport. Both Julia and Patricia were also headed to Europe for mission trips! We were blessed by them, and we are being blessed right now as I hear the children's voices as I write this! Keep us in your prayers! Pam and Josh