The Journey Back

Camp in Full Swing

Posted on June 28, 2016

The camp for Polish teens is now well underway and we are all filling different roles.

Ben is still working hard on the new camp sign because it was decided to that it would be better to make the sign two-sided and turn it 90° so that it can be clearly seen from both directions of traffic. (I joked with Ben after he made the first one that he needed to make another side, and that idea seems to have taken root and doubled his work!)  He’s drawing up a great design with a roof over the top and flower box around the bottom.  It’s going to be awesome.

I’m carrying out several tasks related to the week of camp.  Paula and I lead craft time each day and I put the amazing pictures Sasha and Tori take each day into a “Pictures of the Day” video that is shown at each evening’s session.  I taught the morning lesson yesterday – Day 3 of Creation and what we can learn from Noah’s Ark.  I had this idea to mark out the dimensions of the Ark on the field and send each group to one corner so the campers could really see the size of it.  But apparently, I was one who needed to learn more about the size, because it wouldn’t fit on the camp grounds!  I had to use a Google Earth image to show it!   So we just marked out the width, half the length and used helium balloons on a 51-foot string to help them see how tall it was too.   Anyway, the biggest point of the lesson, of course, was that God rescued Noah because he had a relationship with him in a world where everyone else had run away from God.  And he does the same for us.
I’m also playing a character – Scientist, Dr. Isabella Drake.  She appeared the first night of camp wanting to know if this was the “Kreo” camp, where they were teaching that God created the world.  She is an arrogant atheist who keeps showing up each day to show that she can create things too, and to explain the scientific explanations behind things like the formation of clouds and rainbows – trying to discredit what is being taught.  Dr. Drake is assisted by two young scientists, Flint and Spark.  They have been attending lessons and taking notes to report back to her each day.  Soon she will hear the lesson of the cross, and will start to see some things differently.  By the end of the week, she’ll realize that she isn’t creating anything new but only manipulating what already exists.  She’ll come to understand that there has to have been an original Creator, and she’ll start to feel something in her heart that she can’t explain with science.

Anna is also helping out with the “Snack Shack” and crafts.

There are many teens here who are asking great questions and opening up.   But the ways we are contributing take lots of preparations and time.  Combine this with the language barrier, and it is very hard for us to really get to know these campers. Relationships are building between them and the Polish counselors that are here, which is good.   Our work behind the scenes and teaching the lessons can provide the scaffolding.  And we can pray – for walls to come down, and for hearts to be softened, so that nothing will hinder the message God is speaking to each individual here.  Please lift these prayers with us!