From June 20th to July 16th, 2016, I had the opportunity to join with a team from my church to go serve as a teacher for a youth English camp in Piotrków Trybunalski, Poland. Going into it, I had no idea what I was getting myself into and just how much the experience, and especially the people, would change my life.
I'm still just starting to process everything, and I'm hoping this series of blogs will help me do that. Plus, I get to share what happened with all of my incredible support team back on the US. Without you guys, your financial, emotional, and prayer support, there's no way I would have been able to do this. So, from the depths of my heart, thank you.
Now we get to the fun part ^_^
We met at the church at 4am to ride the church van over to LAX where we would board the first of 3 planes. Several of us didn't sleep the night before in the hopes that we would be sufficiently exhausted enough to get a little sleep on the plane from Boston to Munich, and that our body clocks would then be confused enough to adjust quickly to being 9 hours ahead in Poland. It actually seemed to work pretty well!
One of the younger girls had issues with a head/toothache, but handled it like a pro and powered through. Other than that, our looooong travel day went very smooth. It was also interesting to see how quick and easy it is to get through customs in every other place but LAX...
5 hours from LA to Boston, 7 hours from Boston to Munich, and another hour from Munich to Wrocław, and we were finally in Poland!!! Aaaaaaand had another 3 hour bus ride to the h2o training facility.
After travelling for approximately 29 hours straight, we arrived bedraggled and exhausted. The Josiah Venture interns were there to enthusiastically welcome us, get us settled in for the next couple days, feed us real food, and prepare us for the week ahead.
Once we'd all eaten, we perked up and decided to explore the facility - a gorgeous fairytale forest land of magic and wonder. Plus, the sun doesn't set until around 9:30pm in the summer.
The next day was significantly less crazy than the travel days, and I actually managed to get a decent amount of sleep that first night. The day was filled with training - how to present the gospel, how to run the English camp, how to teach the English lessons, and more about Polish culture. Apparently a lot of my mannerisms are very Polish. For instance, they generally have to be asked several times to join in an activity before they'll say yes, even if they really want to. Also, if you ask them a question that requires more than a simple yes or no answer, they usually need time to process and actually figure out their thoughts. If you promise something to a Pole, they will take it very seriously and will expect you to follow through.
During the culture presentation, they showed a video about Auschwitz. It's always hard to watch anything about the holocaust, and the weight of it started to sink in in a different way than it had before now that we were actually in the country where it happened. But, this video also showed the prisoners who stubbornly clung to their humanity by creating art and showing love in spite of everything. The whole thing put everything in perspective, and reminded us that Poles are so much stronger than they often get credit for. Their joy and human spirit would go on to amaze me in the coming weeks in ways I couldn't have imagined.
There were also team-building exercises where we had to name and use each other's strengths. Our team: an older couple, a former teacher/missionary, an actress, a costumer, a computer science student, a mom and dad, a 13-going-on-30-year-old, a 10-year-old, and me - an English major working at Disneyland who has no idea what she's doing with her life. No one would have put that team together and expected it to accomplish anything worthwhile. But God did.
During free time, Alva, Sammie, and I walked along the river behind the camp, braving the hoards of bugs for the sake of the abundance of green gorgeousness. Alva and I got delicious ice creams and bonded by the lake.
Dinner was followed by a mock Evening Program like the ones we would be expected to present at the camps. I was incredibly nervous about that part, because I'd committed to giving the evening talk the second night even though public speaking is only just above sticking my head into a fire anthill on my list of things I like to do. More on how that turned out in subsequent blogs.
There was a concert of cover songs put on by the Exit team, but we were all too worn out and I had to write the correspondence letter back to the church. When I finished, I went out to find the other girls, and they were all playing basketball. I don't sports, so I awkwardly played my mandolin for background music and it was a really lovely time.
The next day there were a couple more talks and a big commissioning of all the teams who would be going out to various cities in Poland to conduct their English camps. The commissioning was really powerful to be a part of. You could really feel the passion and power in the room, and everyone was so excited to see what God was going to do through all of us. It was also very humbling to have people you barely knew lay their hands on you and pray over you.
After we packed we had some time just waiting around before our bus to Piotrkow. Alva and I found an old bicycle. It had a very tall seat, and luckily, I am very tall, so I rode around on it for a bit. We had more girl bonding time with Tracie as well, and it was just a really great time where we were all able to encourage each other, reassuring one another that though we've each been through a lot of pain and hurt, God can use those things to help us connect, love, and heal the little corners of the world we occupy.
Tired, but so excited and encouraged, we pressed onward to Piotrkow, having no idea what challenges, but also what great rewards lay ahead.
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