Mac Nagy's take on Camp Day 2

            So although today was only our second day of camp, I find it very surreal that we were having our send-off a week ago! We had a decently busy day as we went from church straight to the school, but as all of these days here have, it went insanely fast. We kicked it off with a group-wide recollection of many of our rather bizarre dreams from last night followed by part of the group going for a little Sunday morning attempt at capturing some pigeons. Although no one (Hannah in particular) managed to actually catch a pigeon, we did grab a few feathers off of one and sustain a scratch from another. And yes, we do have over half an hour of video footage documenting this experience.

            We then walked to a church based in a room with a disco ball hanging from the ceiling, which I was pleasantly surprised to see. During what was an otherwise enjoyable sermon, Dennis managed to catch a little power nap, which he continues to deny. We concluded this time by drinking coffee (after the sermon) and eating pretzel sticks.

            Camp was a very enjoyable experience, from what most of us had to say. The campers seemed to ease into it very well and have been becoming more and more comfortable. That being said, many of us found class to be very easy going today. Some of us played some quality games of Would You Rather, which led to some amusing and occasionally awkward results. During one of our breaks, we managed to play four square without any destruction of clothing articles, which I consider success. Note that most of us were no match for any of the campers at four square (They are insanely coordinated!).

            Our youth group experience garnered positive results, particularly in regards to Abby giving a cut-to-the-chase kind of sermon on Paul’s turn to Christ. The campers have been opening up more and more to the idea of small groups after the sermons, which is a plus.  We continue to hope for the best in this respect.

After our day at the school, we made a little pit stop at a grocery store in which a few of a scored some legendary Kinder chocolate eggs. Tonight we successfully reconvened for a simple, yet glorious dinner and a debriefing of the day. Proceeding this meeting, a few of us listened to Tori sing us 50s songs that she sang in choir, which was rather unique.

            A few of us concluded the evening by discussing the 1970s (the theme of tomorrow) in our lesson plans, and getting to a long, satisfying talk about Chuck’s experience of going 135 MPH on a motorcycle. I consider the following sentence to be a playful nod to John’s recent sermon referencing The Eagles. I think I speak for everyone here right now when I quote Glenn Frey and the boys-“Nobody wants to go home now, there’s too much going on.”

Thank you very much and continue your prayers for our team!

Camp Day 1! From the voice of Katie Northenscold

We Are Here

First day of camp has been completed and it was the definition of fantastic. I would say perfect, but we all know that only one thing in this entire world is perfect; Jesus. The day started out like any other day in Skoczow, Poland. Breakfast at the Hotel Karet followed by squishing together on tiny couches to go over Romans and spend time with God. Today we went over Romans chapter 5. We have questions that go along with the reading to help us dig deeper into the word of God and help us have a better understanding of it. Reading over Romans 5, I couldn’t help but allow my lips to curve into the biggest smile any person has ever seen. I absolutely loved every word that came out of this chapter. I mean, I love all of Romans, but verse 8 explains Jesus’ love in its entirety so amazingly. It says, “but God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We are all sinners, “sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men because all sinned.” I’m still amazed at the fact that even though I’m a sinful creature, even though I act against God, even though I think I’m righteous and good; I’m not, God sent His son to earth to save me. He loved me so much that He wanted to see me succeed. He wants to see us all succeed. Over and over again Abby has taught us that God created for one main purpose, to have a relationship with Him and this verse proves it (Romans 5:8). If He had wanted us to perish and not be with Him, He wouldn’t have sent His one and only son to die on the cross. To go through such torture and pain for a race that only falls short every time we try to get to Him. His love is so amazing and I see it every single day. He shows it through the students at camp, and through the Polish team, and through the American team, and through every beautiful thing I have had the priveledge to encounter every day I’m in Poland.

            I’m pleased to announce that I am officially a Purple Elephant with Angela and six of the students at camp. Sonia, Kinga, Piotrek, Arek, Natalia, and Marcin. I’m so happy to be apart of this team and I can’t wait for more days to come. The day was filled with fun activities from different workshops such as, making duct tape…well anything. Playing sports in the gym, and playing various card games that I found out are quite difficult. I think we, in America, like to make things easy because we’re so incredibly lazy…not in Poland. You want to play Uno? Be ready to have a bruise on your head. Card games are serious business, it’s a do or die situation. Other activities included eating a fabulous lunch that consisted of salad and rice as well as a shishkabob. Who would of thunk it!? I got to know a wonderful girl by the name of Weronica (pronounced Veronica) and she made me realize that I need to move to Ireland. She had lived in Ireland for three years before moving back to Poland and she explained to me how much she loves red hair. I think Ireland is my home country. J Before lunch, my English partner and I taught our first hour of English together. In all honesty, I was a bit surprised at how well it went. I was nervous, a little scared and I had thoughts roaming in my head that were only placed there by the enemy. The problem was, I couldn’t get them out. I tried praying continuously throughout the day, to be in contact with God and to lean on Him when the enemy’s voice screamed in my head. Let me tell you something, God grabbed the enemy by the hair and pulled him down. He made sure that I trusted in Him instead of believing the lies. Did I say how amazing our Lord is? Because He is so amazing. God gave me the confidence that I needed and the energy to keep moving forward. To teach the students that came there to learn. Of course, because of God’s will, we had a great class. We laughed and talked and got to know each other. We played games and worked on the “th” pronunciation, which they are getting better at. I couldn’t of taught like I had without the Lord watching over me and guiding me through every inch. Thank you.

            Taking a different turn of events, Mac ripped his pants. I’m not saying like a small, little tare, I’m saying the pants are done; never to be worn again. It’s all because of four square and a bigger stride then he should have taken. He got some new pants though (taking what he would call the “ride of shame” with Domi back to the hotel), once again, God provided. J It was Kate’s birthday today. So wherever you are, stop reading this for a second and sing happy birthday to her. She is an amazing women and I’m so glad that I have had the priveledge of getting to know her. God has sculpted her into a beautiful, strong; God fearing women and I can’t wait to see the plans He has for her. I know that they will be bright.

            To summarize the day, it was a success. I pray that we will all have plenty of more great days like this, and that when we don’t, that we won’t falter, but that we will look to our Lord and Savior for help. That we will stay our happy, joyful selves and that we can give all of this to God, because this is ALL for Him. I pray that we will let His will be done, always. I pray for the Polish team, and I thank God for the Polish team because there is no way that any of this would be possible without their passion for Christ and their willingness to help, not only the campers but also all of us on the Timberwood team. I love them all dearly and I pray that they will go about every day with hearts set on Christ, that we all can. He died for us because His love is unfailing. There’s no greater thing than that.

Friday, July 10th from Chuck Anderson

Friday, July 10 2015

This morning found all of us with lifted spirits due to the late arrival of our luggage last night.  It is amazing how something as simple as clean clothes can bring joy to a group.  Even though we were quite literally stripped from our clothes, we continued to keep our focus over the last few days and put our complete trust in God that things would turn out. 

After a very powerful day yesterday at Aushwitz and Birkenau, Today was a day focused on planning, and final preparation for camp beginning tomorrow.  We worked alongside the Polish team and together we ran through and laid out the itinerary of what each day is going to look like.  Once we completed this task, we all went to the school and set up each of our 5 different classrooms and general meeting spaces for camp. 

This evening we spent some quality time around a bonfire sharing a meal and enjoying great fellowship with our fellow Team members.  The team unity is really getting stronger with each moment that we spend together.  Every member, whether they are Polish, or American all are given a specific role in camp and each member is truly appreciated and needed.  I feel truly blessed to be surrounded by so many Godly individuals and be a part of this wonderful team.

We are all very excited about what the next 8 days are going to hold for us.  Alongside the excitement is a little bit of nerves as we truly don’t know quite yet on what sort of big plans God has in store for us.  Whatever it may be, we are ready for whatever comes our way.  God is good…All the time!

Visiting the Death Camps from the voice of Kaitlyn Yutrzenka

Greetings from Skoczów!  We are at the end of our first full Polish day, and it has been busy. 

After our morning devotionals and breakfast, we got on a bus and went to Auschwitz, where we were able to tour both Auschwitz I (the mother camp) and Auschwitz II (Birkenau).  Our tour guide, Monika, was wonderful and she knew so much about the camps.  She told us that she had grown up near Auschwitz I and that her parents had also worked at Auschwitz.  Her grandfather is also an ex-prisoner of a Polish death camp, so it was evident how important the history was to her and her family.

I’m struggling to find words to describe the death camps themselves.  It was staggering to see everything that we saw and to know of the horrific things that happened there.  The camps were massive, especially Birkenau, and yet from the pictures and the stories we know that they still weren’t big enough to accommodate the number of people that were being held prisoner there. 

In the past few days, we have been studying the book of Romans, and one verse that I kept thinking about was Romans 2:14-15: “Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law.  They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times defending them.”  In a way, I tend to associate the law with morals, and somehow it seems that the people in charge of the death camps had no morals to guide them.  The Commander of Auschwitz lived right next to the gas chamber with his wife and five children – not even a quarter mile away – and his kids were right there with him seeing all of this right outside their windows.

The conditions that these people were made to live in were deplorable.  Sleeping in bunk beds stacked 2-3 high, often times with 6 or more people sleeping on each level.  One of the prison cells that we saw held 16 people.  It contained four small rooms about 3 ft by 3 ft.  Each of those rooms held 4 people, giving them only enough room to stand, sometimes for days on end, with the only access to those rooms being through a small door on the floor that they had to crawl through.  Even the train cars that were used to transport people to the camps were so small, and yet they still held about 100 people apiece, plus the luggage that people brought with them. 

I think the part of the tour that made it so real to me was all of the displays they had.  When prisoners were brought into the camps, they were shaved, and the Germans kept all of the hair.  Monika told us that about 7 tons of hair was saved, and based on the 2 tons that we were able to see, I can’t even imagine the full amount.  They also had display cases with the luggage, shoes and hairbrushes of people coming into the camps.  One case that really hit me though, was the case containing all of the dishes that people had brought to the camps.  Monika told us that it was because these people truly thought that they were coming to Auschwitz to start a new life, and found that they were greatly mistaken.

As difficult as it was to see the camps, I am also glad we were able to do it.  It gives us a better understanding of what the people in Poland feel about it, because for them, World War II wasn’t really that long ago.  And like Domi was saying when we got back, it is important to see that and truly understand the history.

Update on our luggage: it was dropped off at our hotel a little before 9 o’clock tonight, for which we were all very grateful.  Some of the girls from the Polish youth group were kind enough to let us borrow some of their clothes, which we all greatly appreciated, but it will be good to be able to wear something from home again tomorrow, especially when we are so far away.

We are all missing home, but we are also very excited to see where God and the next couple weeks bring us!  Tomorrow we will be spending the day setting up camp with the Polish team and we are all excited for that!

Signing off from Poland,

Kaitlyn

What day is it again? From the voice of Josh Gudahl

            On the first few days of trips of significant distances, I tend to wake up in a state of confusion, having no idea where I am or how I got there for the first twenty seconds of consciousness. Waking up in Chicago this morning was no exception (I think it was this morning…Time is becoming a confusing concept with all the different time zones and naps taken). We woke up promptly at 8:30 a.m., took our showers, ate our breakfast, then we were on our way to the airport by around 11-ish. We boarded our plane on time and began our trip across the pond. Some of us managed to sleep on the eight hour flight, though I was not among those fortunate enough to do so. We made it to Frankfurt, Germany with a few hours to spare before our next flight to Krakow. Our time in Germany consisted of a brief quest for free cups of coffee (which I knew not to drink nine of, having made that mistake last year) followed by a brief nap before it was boarding time. Our last flight from Germany to Poland was short and sweet and we arrived at ten a.m. Poland time.

            We got off the plane and went straight to baggage claim where we soon discovered that our luggage had decided it wasn’t ready to go to Europe. All is well, however, our three day old clothing doesn’t quite smell like roses. We have been told that our luggage will arrive fairly soon at our hotel, so until then we wait patiently. Additionally, the news of our separation from our possessions was softened by the wonderful gift of reunion/introductions, as Domi and Ania were both at the airport to greet us. From Krakow, we had an extra two hour bus ride to Skoczów, which allowed another window of sleep for some. Finally, after a fantastically bumpy ride, we arrived at good ol’ Hotel Karat, and waves of nostalgia immediately washed over me. We moved our stuff into our rooms then walked across the street to the church, where the Polish youth were ready for our second round of greetings.

            Laura Hash, a JosiahVenture missionary sponsored by Timberwood, met us at the door. We ate our first meal in Poland, during which, Laura gave a brief history of JosiahVenture. After the meal, Laura took us around Skoczow to observe the culture of the town. After all was said and done, we sat down around the table to discuss what we had noticed. By this time the entire team was beginning to feel the effects of jet lag, yet we kept pushing on in the hopes of going to bed at a late enough time that would help us adjust to the time zone. We took a short walk up the river, towards the school, introducing us to the walk that we will be taking every day of the trip. We ate dinner when we made it back to the church, and it was at that time that I decided that I should get started on this blog before my eyes refuse to stay open.

            So here I sit in the youth group room, listening to the sound of some of my teammates practicing praise and worship, in a place that I have been yearning to return to for nearly a year. As you can see above, we had a series of turbulent steps that got us to this destination that God has laid before us, and in this moment it is finally setting in that we’ve made it. We have arrived and we are ready. So with that, I leave you to go to bed, as we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, as well as with the request of your prayer. Please pray for energy and a restful nights sleep for all of us, for our luggage to get to us soon, and for our hearts to remain directed at God and his plan that he has for us.

"Is this why they call it the windy city?"

Greetings from....Chicago!

Yes, that's right, Chicago. It has been a whirlwind of our first 20 hours together. Due to weather in Chicago, we were stuck in Minneapolis much longer than planned. This delay- which included a round of starbucks, card games, and picture taking - caused us to miss our flight to Munich out of Chicago. Unfortunately, due to the time of day, we could not get a flight out last night and were handed a 14 hour layover when we got off the plane. For those of you who remember the 11 hour Munich layover of 2014, know that this seems to be par for the course. As the common denominators, we're trying to figure out if it's Josh or Kate's fault or maybe a combination of the two... ;)

At any rate, this time we had beds to sleep in for the night. No luggage, but beds! Our luggage is not lost but rather will be on the plane with us to Frankfurt (our new connecting point).

Our flight leaves Chicago at 2:15pm today, Tuesday, and we will arrive in Krakow, Poland at 10am Wednesday (Polish time).

All things considered- this team has been rockstars. Spirits are still high (I've already seen plenty of smiles this morning!) and we are looking forward to the day ahead-and more excited than ever to see our Polish friends.

Even throughout our day, God was faithful (because that's who He is!)::

- We caught the last shuttle to the airport after running through the rain. If we had our luggage, we  
would not all been able to fit.
- We are all on the same flight today. This didn't seem like it was going to be the case at first! For those of you who have tried to reroute a group of 12...you know how amazing it is for us to all be together for the duration.
- Being able to laugh and sing the entire way through (I think the people on the shuttle to the hotel at midnight may have not been our biggest fans).
- Conversations we had with people who we encountered on the plane (foreign exchange students continue to have a special place in the heart of Timberwood youth!)
- For those who were anxious about flying, to the point of being sick, had an hour on the runway to calm nerves and ended up having a great flight.

Thank you for your prayers- God is so good. Bóg jest dobry!

That's all for now....

In the words of the 5 year old at the hotel breakfast-

"Sometimes you meet a bad day- and you just gotta make it a good one."