Camp Day 5! from Deb Runksmeier

Greetings from Poland!  We have completed our 5^th day of camp and have so much to be thankful for as God continues to bless us with the ability to keep up with our busy schedule.

Our day started with the usual routine of breakfast and devotions follow by a short walk to the school.  It is such an incredible feeling to walk through the doors to get greeted with big hugs and smiles from both the campers and our Polish teammates.  The relationships between us keep growing as the week goes on.  I am already dreading the day we have to say good-bye.

Kon and I teach one of the Beginner English classes. It seems to be going smoother each day as we get to know the kids better. They really love being rewarded with starbursts for forming simple sentences and answering questions.  We enjoy working with the translator (one of the Polish youth group members) as they to try to think the same as us when explaining the meaning of words. We are making an effort in each English session to slow down when we talk to the kids.  There is lots of laughter too…..and that doesn’t need to be translated.

Every day we all have so much fun with the workshop activities in some kind of sport or art.  It almost seems like break times during the day are favorite part for many. The tables with cards and board games are full right away. I am trying to learn the Polish version of UNO because they have added a few extra rules and we finally got through a full game of SkipBo with the help of Carl.  One of my favorite things today was seeing Kon and Maciek tear up the floor doing a “Just Dance” routine. LOL

Each evening our day is concluded with a gathering of worship and a message from Abby about Jesus. The first day we did this evening program we were told to ask the person next to us “What do you know about Jesus?”.  The girl that I asked responded the best she could in her broken English “Jesus is good”.  That has stuck in my head as we hope to build up their knowledge of Jesus and to become closer with these kids in hopes of them starting or growing in a deeper relationship with God.

Tonight was a special theme night for the campers.  It was “Aunt Margaret’s” 80^th Birthday party. We celebrated in costumes that included canes, walkers, gray hair, and lots olds person clothing. (I tried to word that nicely).  Everyone had a great time playing BINGO and eating donuts. The pictures should be good.

Our night concluded with another wonderful meal prepared by one of the church families followed by a group discussion on how the day went. The Polish youth group and us come together as a team each night for this.  It is always so amazing to end by praying in both English and Polish to the same God that is working through us all.

Love and Prayers to our Timberwood family and to all those back home praying for us. We are over half way done with camp and can feel the prayers helping in every way.