Voice and Heart of Jim Nagy

We are on Day 6 of camp and it seems like we just started. As with other days here God did not disappoint.

Our day started as usual with leaders doing our own devotions with a cup of coffee or tea while our younger teammates sleep in. As a group we always have breakfast (all our meals I guess) together, then team devos and off to school to camp. Today started out cloudy and grey today but later this afternoon it started raining and it’s still coming down at 10:30 pm.

Like every morning we get to school we get our classrooms ready for English class. Once that’s done I got the early students into a hot game of 4-square.  Then we have a morning segment that consisted of our camp dance, a quick game and team score update (go Team Green). After that we are off to our first hour of English lessons while working God into conversations too. We all take a break for donuts and hang. Then back to the classrooms for more Advanced English. Megan and I are teaching a very sharp class who seem to already know a lot of what we are teaching. This is when it’s good to be flexible and adjust the study sheets to make things a little more interesting for our Polish students. And yeah, they have thanked us for that. Then it’s lunchtime, workshops (we had archery, football, duct tape creations and jewelry. Tomorrow, I’m teaching a beginners’ cartooning workshop, should be a blast.  

Lunch, then we played on the gym floor a card game Ligretto only the cards were 2 feet by 1 feet and we had to run them across the gym to put them in the right pile-lots of fun! Then the students and us get to enjoy some free time together. Then back to the main room for evening program. Abby spoke of the Upside down kingdom of Christ compared to the world here on earth. Very powerful stuff. The evening was filled with songs, a faith story and Abby’s talk of how Jesus is our connection back to God to bridge the gap over sin, again great stuff.  Again, a great way to set up our night where everyone would be going through a Labyrinth (a 5-station time of worship and prayer where God is working in our lives). As stated earlier, God did not disappoint, some accepted Christ into their lives some were not quite sure and needed to pray and talk about it some more. We have been reminded that we won’t always get to see the fruit from a seed that God allowed us to plant, but we got to see some tonight! He is good!

Then back to our Hotel, dinner debrief and to our room to peck this out. Please continue to pray that God guides us where he wants to go and who to talk to as we continue to do his work here.

God Bless! God First!

-Jim

From the heart and voice of Ellie Erholtz

We left the hotel this morning excited and expectant for what the “field trip” would entail. In years past, this day has been set apart for spiritual conversations between the campers and us.  With our hearts and minds set on God-centered and ordained conversations, we met the campers at the train station that was to take us to Ustron, the city where we would be hiking.

The rest of the day happened in the blink of an eye. We got to Ustrón, climbed the steepest mountain known to man me, and had some lunch. After lunch we got to partake in a high-ropes course: fun (and a little fright) was had by all. We finished out the day with a bonfire where we roasted kielbasa. We then walked back down the mountain and made it to our train, which took us back to Skoczow. Like I said before, it happened in the blink of an eye. 

Personally, I felt God’s presence all day, prompting and guiding me through conversations with many campers. I find that the best things have been happening at camp when I decide against my own will, and follow His. One conversation that left me smiling was with a girl I hadn’t had the chance to talk to at camp up to this point. I was really quite exhausted from the whole trip and we were on our way back to the train station. I knew that I needed to talk to her as we had been walking side-by-side for a while without saying much. I had many conversation starters running through my head, but I still didn’t say anything. After a few more quiet moments, she started up conversation (atypical Polish behavior, as Poles tend to be more reserved around strangers… All credit goes to God whose hand enveloped this whole conversation). We talked for the rest of the trip home covering everything in our lives. She already has entrusted Jesus with her life, so we both shared some sweet things about our lives and the journey we’ve had in becoming followers of Christ. At one point in the conversation we were comparing Poles and Americans. I opened up that although it may seem like I am pretty outgoing at camp, I am usually a very reserved person. God spoke right through her, saying it is Him who allows us, two reserved people, to connect in such a short frame of time with not much commonality. Can I get an amen? Anyway, I found the conversation very encouraging, as I hope she did too.

This trip has been especially encouraging for me. One of my favorite things is hearing about the small group discussions (the Polish youth group members lead a small group of students in discussion about a certain passage of the Bible and the main points from Abby’s message), and each night at debrief there are multiple stories of them following God’s guidance in their conversations. They are anything but coy when it comes to the Gospel and telling the truth’s of God. It is such an impactful reminder of how important (and urgent) the commandment “go and make disciples,” should/can be a part of our lives.

Thank you all for your prayers. God is moving greatly in Skoczow. Continued prayers for tomorrow as the culmination of camp, the labyrinth, will be taking place. This will be a night where the choice of living for God’s “upside down” kingdom will be rightfully painted in black and white. Please pray for the camper’s hearts to be open to saying “yes,” and all the transformation that entails. Please pray for the Polish youth group members as they will be having many spiritual conversations, pray that their word’s are straight from God, and that they wouldn’t be ashamed to share them. Pray for our hearts as we prepare to have more conversations about our faith in the Lord. Pray for Abby as she will be sharing the message that the student’s will need to respond to.

Thank you, thank you, thank you—your prayers are treasures to us.

Camp Day 4

Ephesians 3:20 has been my theme verse every year that I have gone to Poland- the fact that God wants to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask for or imagine. We talk about this verse in our first training meeting back in February- about not having any expectations for the trip but having huge expectations of what God is going to do. This year, in the first few days of the trip, I was saying the same thing that has come out of my mouth so many times. I felt at that time that God was pressing upon my heart- Abby, you say you have big expectations of me, but I want to BLOW YOUR MIND this trip. You won’t even know what hit you.

We’re half way through the camp and God has already gone above and beyond my expectations. I wish there were words to convey how incredible it has been to see the fruit of four years of camps. It brings tears to my eyes to think of how much God has been doing in this place in the years I have known that Skoczow existed. Through camps, yes, but even more so through the committed obedience of a volunteer youth leader and a group of students. Lives have been changed forever.

Today was day four of camp. There were tired eyes when we gathered this morning, but I saw them lift as our team entered the school and started to interact with the Polish half of our team and the campers. It has been a joy to see our team jump right in to whatever it is that their task is for the day. Whether it is running games, teaching English, cleaning up after lunch, running an ice breaker, being the score keeper for the week, joining the music team at the last moment, filling in for a teammate who was not feeling well, playing cards, going to get water from the local store…each of them has executed their responsibilities with a smile.

The Holy Spirit has been doing big things through the evening talks and small groups. The gospel has been evident from the stage as well as from individual conversations being had. We continue to look at the difference between the way that the world says we are to live and how things work compared to how the kingdom of God functions and what a beautiful thing it is. Forgiveness was the topic of the evening- what a humbling message even as it came out of my own mouth. Jim shared a story of a time that he forgave a friend. It was a story that many referenced in their small group time as being influential in their view of learning about this forgiveness thing. I ask that you would be praying for each of them as they continue to be faced with the question- “what kingdom are you living in?”

Tomorrow is our field trip day. A shorter hike (you can laugh if you want, but this year I think ‘short’ actually means just that!) and then we will be going on a high ropes course at the top of the mountain. The goal of the day is to be having conversations with the campers about where they are with God. Please be in prayer for these conversations!

There are a few on our team who are feeling the beginnings of having colds and dealing with allergies- prayers for that as well would be great.

I cannot wait to share with you all the stories of what God has done and will do on this trip. This blog is just a small slice of the pie.

Thank you for allowing me the privilege of going with a group of those that you love to a place and people that I love to serve the God that we love.

From the voice and heart of Alex Tangen

Hello all! So in all seriousness, this is not supposed to be my blog night, but the most amazing God moment of my life thus far just so happened to take place today! So I asked Carol if I could just take the blog tonight and switch with her for later this week and (thanks to Carol) here I am! However, before I get into this amazing God moment, I would like to first talk about the rest of our day here in Skoczów first.

The day here started off as usual, promptly 5 minutes late to breakfast at 8:20 this morning (1:20 A.M.for our friends back home), where our team enjoyed a rather traditional Polish breakfast and some very good fellowship. At around 8:40 this morning, our team met in the 1^st floor lobby of our hotel to discuss the day’s agenda and what we’d be doing, along with a morning devotional of which I got the privilege of doing. While I was nervous coming into the devo, I actually had a pretty enjoyable time doing it! And, after all of our preparations were complete, we set off for English Camp.

Upon arrival at English Camp I was met by my Polish friend, Kamil. He and I do a lot of things together here, and while there is a small language barrier between us, I am happy to call him a good friend of mine. I didn’t quite think he was a good enough friend to get me to dance with him in front of the whole camp, but what do you know, I did that today as well.. Who would’ve guessed you could have such a good time while not being in your comfort zone?! Let me tell you something I have witnessed first-hand this week, our God IS crazy.. and I absolutely  love it.

I’m kind of running short of time, so I will give a very brief outline of the middle of my day here. The middle of the day went well!  I did some English lessons, played some games, played a little soccer, taught some Polish kids how to play dodge ball with Ollie (side note RED TEAM took 1^st place in the dodge ball tourney!), and I enjoyed a nice evening program. Now on a typical day the day would be over, but tonight was a theme night.. Cowboy night! It was awesome! We played some “old west” games, and even got to do a sweet dance!

When all of that was said and done, our team got to sit down and eat dinner with our Polish team mates. Tonight was hot dogs, and I proceeded to have 2, foot long hot dogs on some of the most amazing bread I have ever tasted in my life. After dinner we debriefed for the day and came back to our hotel to finish up some last minute planning, and hopefully get some sleep. Pretty easy right? Turns out our God had a different plan..

I was walking to my room tonight when I saw Jordan standing in the hall talking to a strange man.. rather than walk away, what did I do? I joined him. Best. Decision. Ever. Upon my arrival, Jordan was struggling to understand anything this man said (he knew no English), but neither of them were walking away. So naturally I began to listen. I tried to talk to the man along with Jordan, but nothing stood out, until I heard one word from the man..  Bóg, literal translation, God.

                From that point on it was an intense session of trying to communicate with a huge language barrier, we had team members going everywhere, Kyle grabbed his iPad with google translate, Josh ran across the street to grab a Polish bible, Abby went and got a translator, and all the while Jordan, Kyle and I were attempting to communicate with this man. Well what do you know, google translate didn’t work, and we weren’t getting anywhere. A few minutes passed and then we heard steps coming up the stairs, and we knew it was Abby. With her was our Polish team mate and friend, Ala. I have a new found respect for people who can speak two languages fluently, as she translated everything between us and the man without fail. As the man told Ala what he wanted to say, we began to hear his story. Eric, as we later learned was his name, had been very sick and he saw no hope. One day he decided to try giving it to God.. He had never done it before, but he tried it none the less. He was healed! He came to God not long ago, and now he has faith! Praise be to God!

                I know not how this man knew what our group was about, and I know not why we crossed paths, but all I do know is that I have another brother in Christ. We prayed together with Iric at the end of our conversation, and gave him a Polish bible. Iric was teary eyed as we hugged and said our goodbyes tonight, and it made me realize how great, how worthy, and how big our God really is!

 I can not wait to see what God has in store for the rest of this missions trip after an experience like this one. I thank you so much for all of the support you have given us already and I ask that you would please keep us in your prayers! Goodnight from Skoczów! God bless.

Camp Day 2- Sunday

From the heart and voice of Jordan Lelwica

                Alright guys, it’s my turn to blog about Poland! So get ready!

                 Day two of camp has come to an end, and it was a great day. Wait, getting a little too far ahead… typically there is church on Sunday mornings…. Ah, that’s it.. The group and I attended a Polish church this morning, and it was something else. Never have I (or most of the team) heard another language singing the same songs that we were, during our worship time, after some Polish announcements. Anyways, the lyrics for the songs were in both English, and in Polish, hearing everyone sing different words but mean the same things, was quite the feeling. The pastor (Pastor John) Preached in English, while his Polish wife translated for the rest of the congregation. Pastor John talked about what we were doing, missions trips, and about how Paul got stoned, yet kept on going. So The church service was pretty good.

                Next was a small break to change out of our titled “casual nice” clothes (because we were kind of looking nice, yet kind of casual at the same time) into our camp clothes, which need to everyday need to be something you can sweat bullets in. After our break, came camp, some kids come early so we do as well. Camp stated with some lunch, then directly after, came the camp dance. (which I myself am getting pretty good at, not gonna lie) Next in line came the English lessons, which personally I dread the most, due to my lack of teaching, but God somehow makes up for your shortcomings when you are doing his work, thankfully. God has defiantly been watching me in my weakest points, and helping me in them, looks like your prayers are working! Keep them up! Sorry about that tangent… Anyways, after English lessons came a nice game of Capture the Flag. There were three flags on either side, two counting as one point, and one flag, further back in the field, was worth two points. All of the campers and team members loved it. OH MY GOSH!!!! Then after CTF Domi, the leader person of the Polish team, brought a mean bunch of ice cream! It was sooooo goooood!!!! Like, it was fluffy and delicious and this country has some awesome ice cream!

                After CTF came the evening program, which involves both the camp dance, singing, and Abby preaching a bit. The dance went well, as we are all learning it better and better. The singing was also nice too, it was in English though which confused me a bit, but, we will be singing more in Polish towards the end of the week, which is where I suspect God will work much more in the campers. Next came Abby’s small lesson about materialistic things, and how no matter much you strive for them, they will not bring you happiness, especially in the comparison of how much God will make you happy. After that, the campers were divided into small groups which we are not a part of, but the Polish team is, another thing to be majorly praying for. We got back to base camp, ate, debriefed a bit, (where we found out that God has already been moving in some of the campers) went to the hotel, practiced our English lessons for tomorrow, then got ready for bed, which is what I am about to do as well. Oh! And I also found out that as I am writing this, y’all are probably on the progressive dinner thing! So, yeah, just a thing to think about I guess.

                Anyways, as my blog comes to a close (finally) I do ask a couple things of you all.. firstly, keep on praying, as I said earlier, its working, 3 hours of sleep has never felt so good, and the team has made it this far without too many hiccups. Also, a couple of things to be praying for… firstly, for Abby, I know this is her fourth go around, but every leader needs that extra boost of strength. Secondly, for God to move in the campers. This is why we are here after all, to help advance God’s Kingdom in Poland. And thirdly, I ask for the strength of our team, we all need more strength and energy to keep going. So keep on praying please! And I personally, thank you all for praying for us all this time as well. Anyways, goodnight! I hope everything is going well back at the homefront

Camp Day 1

Oh my word! Can we please just talk about the FIRST DAY OF CAMP for a moment! We started the day out with breakfast and a morning devotional as a team to prepare our hearts and minds for the day. We then walked to school and started getting the space set up and put together.

The campers started arriving, registering, and jumped right into games of four square and introductory conversations. At 10:30 am Domi gathered everyone into the main room to do our first ice breaker game while the students finished getting tested to determine their English class placement. After the ice breaker game we taught them the camp dance!! The campers learned the dance quickly and fun was had by all! The student I was paired up with was just so incredibly happy about everything, and little did I know at the time what was causing such joy.....this portion is to be continued.

After learning the camp dance it was time to hold our first English class. It was a great joy to jump in and see what this was really going to be like. I was excited to meet the students, and even more excited to see the start of what wild things God has in store for our time with our students. My partners and I are teaching the beginner class and I was SO proud of all of them! After everyone introduced themselves to the class, we jumped right into the lesson activities for day one. The lesson focus for today included the concepts of time and exercise; there was a point in the class when the students were given an opportunity to develop an exercise routine for us teachers in order to practice giving directions in English.....let's just say I was most certainly thankful my Polish student I paired up with didn't pick push-ups for my routine! The students were rockstars in their participation all the way around and thoroughly enjoyed the prizes that were handed out!

Then it was lunch time! Everyone split up and sat and enjoyed a meal with fellow Polish friends, which was so great! I sat with two students from our class, along with the gal from the Polish team that is the translator in our class. God blessed our time together with an incredible conversation, many smiles, and the start of new friendships.

Remember the girl I mentioned was my camp dance partner? She was one of the girls I sat with at lunch and I came to find out the cause of her joy. This young gal is 20 years old and speaks little English, but that did not stop her from sharing her story. With the help and gifts of the translator, our table was blessed with a beautiful story of God at work.

This young gal was talking about her family and mentioned she had two siblings and just recently a father. Her mother passed away about a year ago. I was a little confused about the situation with her father. When she was only 11 months old her father left her mother and their family and she hasn't been in contact with him since then. She tried to find him and contact him a year ago, but unfortunately wasn't able to.

Just two weeks ago, she accepted Jesus and began a relationship with Him! This young gal then proceeded to tell me that it was just yesterday that she was able to locate and connect with her father for the first time in 20 years!!! God is so good.....so, so good!!! Her joy.....came from God. The entire day the joy was beaming and radiating from her and she simply could not hold in her excitement of the changes in her life.....she hasn't even been able to sleep well because of her excitement! Before lunch was over, she looked at me with a big smile on her face and said, "I now have two fathers....my dad and my Heavenly Father."

The remainder of the day was spent making color team banners, cheers, and participating in sports in our color teams. Today's game was volleyball! The green team took first, red team took second, and yellow team took third. These things combined with four square, Uno, and conversations continually blessed our afternoon with our Polish friends.

We finished our day of camp with our evening program where Abby shared a message on God's grace for us and talking about His kingdom being one that is upside down compared to the world's views and standards. She closed the message with a question for everyone.....which kingdom are you living in....the world's or God's?

After camp was over we shared a great meal with the Polish team and debriefed and prepared for tomorrow. Today was a very busy day but not one that went without God's presence fully encompassing every minute. God was so clearly intertwined in every part of today. It was a beautiful sight to see two groups of people from two different parts of the world interacting with each other, learning from each other, and praising the same God regardless of where we come from or what language we speak. It has only been one day of camp and already God is moving in mighty ways. Today was truly something special.

God's blessings to you,
Kate Rennicke

Finally in Skoczow!

Well, day two is officially over. Wait, that’s not sounding right, wasn’t it our third day? Maybe our fourth or fifth? No, it was definitely the sixth day here overseas...........Needless to say, our first couple days here have wizzed by. It seems like we just got off the plane last night, but tomorrow will already be the 26^th, crazy how that works. I guess time DOES fly when you’re hard at work (and having fun).

            Today was our first day in Skoczow. We met up with the people from the Polish youth group, and man, what a cool set of individuals they are. We spent most of the day going over things for our first day of camp tomorrow. From planning the games we’re going to play, or practicing English lessons that we’re going to give, it’s safe to say that we had a busy day. Despite all of this, we did still manage some time to get lody (Polish ice cream), and walk around Skoczow’s town square.

            We’re excitedly anticipating our first day of English camp, and can’t wait to see what amazing things God is going to do. To everyone back home, if you could pray that our first day of camp go smoothly, I think that’s currently #1 on our agenda, and it’d be much appreciated.

            That pretty much tops things off. Everyone is in one piece, and we’re pumped to see how God will work through us. Please keep praying for us, we’ll see you all in a few.

Signing off from Poland,

            Ollie Erholtz

Polish word of the day: Kotek (Koh-teck), which means kitten J

            

                             The group before our fancy welcome dinner from the polish team!!!!