Oh man. I had such a great time in Poland.
I know it shouldn't be but that was a bit of a surprise. I really had very little idea of what it would be like and how much we would really be a help so I didn't enter into it with much more expectation than 'it'll be a nice wee trip for Navs'. But He had more of an idea...
As soon as we arrived, me and Hannah were completely looked after at the other end. We never had to worry about transport/ accommodation/ food and we were taken around all the beautiful sights in the centre of Wroclaw before and after the camp. It is such a beautiful city I'd love to go back.
(Hannah in the Town Square)
During the first week, myself and Josh (an American guy on the team) were given a bunch of 7 kids (10-15yr olds) to teach English to for 2 1 hour classes a day. Their English was perfect, meaning we just got to play games. At the beginning of the week I felt quite daunted by their teenage, 'this games so un-cool' looks, but as we hung out more I started to really have so much love for them. During the last 'lesson' I had an opportunity and real urge to share my testimony with the girls. I hadn't had much opportunity to talk to them about what they thought about God etc and it's hard to guess since the camps generally marketed as a sports and English camp, so I wasn't sure what they'd think....
So for our last class, me and the girls split off so I could share my testimony with them. I explained to them all about the anxieties/ struggles I had when I was younger and how I searched for affirmation, identity and worth in everything I could but never felt satisfied...and then how Jesus changed that and the total and utter freedom I've found in Him. Though it was a big mish mash, I totally felt God's peace majorly and that He was so much more in love and concerned for these girls than I could ever be. After speaking for like 20 mins, I asked the girls, 'do you identify with any of that' and was answered with a heavy silence. After a painful minute of silence, one of the girls, Maja, answered in a shaky voice...."No ones ever told me that before". The girls genuinely seemed so bowled over by the truth of how Jesus feels about them. After that, the girls really opened up to me and also recognised my sharing as significant in their lives. It truely truely was such an honour. God leads us into such wonderful things but rarely do I really get overwhelmed with how much of an undeserved honour it is to speak in His name and see people changed by Him. It also made me realise how wonderful God's work in my life (and yours too prob) has been and how powerful it is to hear. I so easily forget as I've spouted out my testimony hundreds of times and had forgotten how impactful those truths I've learnt are, especially to those who have never had anyone tell them. Reminds me, I need to tell more people. I am so glad I 'had to' sign up for a Navs mission now, it was more than worth it to be a part of God's plan in those girls' lives.
I got to share my story again in the 2nd week to the older bunch, to the whole lot this time. But it was much harder to tell how it went down with theses guys. Week 2, I was left by myself to teach a bunch of 7 older girls English. Again, they were perfect speakers so we just played Articulate for a week of lessons. They were such lovely girls. They even drew me a Manga(?) version of myself for a thankyou gift :). It'd be wonderful if you could pray that the truth impacted these guys deeply too, and for God to continually show all the kids/ teenagers at Camp Arka how greatly He loves them.
Another total highlight of Poland was getting the time to just chill and read. Anyone who was around me, or has even seen me since I've gotten back, will be sick of me ranting about how much I LOVED reading Corrie Ten Boom's, The Hiding Place. Like my new favourite book ever!! If you haven't, absolutely read it! There are lessons in there that are so overwhelming and that stretched how big my perception of God is times 10....
The central message of the book is, there is no place too dark that God's love cannot reach. This obviously sounds absurd when applied to their context - concentration camps.
**Didn't quite finish this blog at the time - must mean you have to read Corrie TB yourself ;)
