CampFest & Slovakia
For country that was connected to Czechia for decades, it took me long enough to finally make it over the border into Slovakia!
History Interlude - for those wondering why it's still not Czechoslovakia: Czechia and Slovakia were a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and joined together to create Czechoslovakia after WWI in 1918. They remained together until a peaceful split in 1993 (except for a few years apart when Germany invaded Czech lands in 1938 and Slovakia joined Axis forces until finally being "officially invaded" in 1944... this is important as it comes up later in one of the stories in this post!). The two countries are "brother countries" and while are very similar, have differing languages, cultural traditions, and customs. Their connection was essentially to support each other after WWI, though because of the uprising of nazism and communism, it made it impossible for the two countries to begin their independence until 1993.
A colleague friend of mine had mentioned she was going to CampFest in Slovakia this summer. I had heard about CampFest and had always wanted to see what it was like, though never knew how to get there, who to go with, and if my language abilities would manage the Slovak well enough. This year, I felt it was the right opportunity to go! We camped out in a "village of tents" through storms and packed up in the rain, and I loved hearing the thunder roll over the valley and waking up to fog over the mountains.
I spent hours playing volleyball, making friends, and practicing new Slovak words. As the weekend continued, I was happy to see so many youth deeply affected by the messages and worship, and at the same time, I was feeling a deeper need for rich, corporate listening to God. The messages were getting louder, the lights on stage flashed wilder (and I became more and more aware that I'm no longer 16...), and I prayed that we not forget in the noise and lights who we are worshiping. Then, another huge storm rolled through, shutting down all the electricity, and while leadership frantically searched for a way to keep everything going according to schedule, I relished in the dim silence as a single guitarist strummed worship, and prayed others felt the magnificent power of God in the storm as I did that evening.
One of my greatest experiences at CampFest was listening to the amazing testimony of this woman, Deniska. (I unashamedly arrived at the seminar tent much earlier to get front row seats for this speaker.) Deniska was an 8-year-old Jewish-Slovakian girl in 1944 when she and her family went into hiding. For about the first six months of hiding, she along with her older sister and parents hid in a cabin of a priest. The priest was kind and brought them what they needed, but as patrols increased in the forest, Deniska's parents realized it wasn't safe for them to stay anymore. Her mother had heightened anxiety from fear of being caught and carried around a bottle of milk mixed with poison. Deniska's father, worried for his wife's sanity, broke the bottle and asked a former colleague, Mr. Pfeffer, to hide the little girls. Deniska and her sister went to live with the Pfeffers, hiding in the cellar many days since the neighbors were German and sympathizers of the National Socialist Party. Deniska's parents went back to work discreetly under aliases, but were later recognized and betrayed. Deniska's mother, who was Moravian by birth, was sent to prison and sentenced to death without a trail. Her father was sent to a concentration camp. As the war came to an end, the girls did not yet know the fate of their parents and were required to identify their mother's body from a mass grave as their father's whereabouts was still unknown (he later came back from the concentration camp). Deniska said in that moment, her sister (just 2 years older) told her, "From now on, I am your mother, and I will take care of you." The strength of her sister gave Deniska new strength and together they bravely moved forward. Deniska shared how her faith and trust in God never wavered after all those years, and she knows it is only by God's grace that she survived to be able to share her story with others. Upon finishing her testimony, I quickly made my way up to the stage to thank this beautiful woman for sharing her story. As we finished our brief talk, Deniska said, "I should probably get off this stage now." I replied, "Can I help you down?" "That would be much appreciated, thank you!" And I held the arm of this brave 87-year-old survivor as she descended the stairs.
For a few days before CampFest, my friends and I stayed in the Tatra Mountain Range. There was a magnetic pull the mountains seemed to have on us. We went on a five hour hike to the summit of a mountain (8,045ft above sea level), balanced on boardwalks and climbed ladders over waterfalls at a gorge in a Slovakian National Park, and hiked to a lake partway up another mountain on the final day. The beauty of this area was indescribable. As we sat eating our packed lunch at the lake, my friend said, "I could eat lunch here every day for the rest of my life and be content." Agreeably, I laid back on some driftwood soaked in the view.
Youth Hangouts
Over the summer, I have visited the ice cream shop in town an almost embarrassing amount of times as I meet with youth students, translators, and friends for treats. It's good my friends are the owners of the ice cream shop so I can tell myself they simply remember my regular order because they know me and not because of my frequent visits... please understand I talk about this hand-crafted ice cream so much that I had my parents and grandparents looking at the ice cream shop's Instagram page and discussing to come to try it too!
Adding ice cream and treats to any summer hang-out just seems right!
Amazingly, on these summer ice cream hang outs, friends and I have made some amazing discoveries - an incredibly large beetle in a secret garden, a possibly venomous water snake, and extensive discussions on if fishing can truly be considered a sport. (It should be noted that the youth girls have conclusively decided if you don't stretch before, it's just a hobby and can't be a sport; while a valid point, I remain indifferent with friends on both sides of debate - I choose to play Switzerland on this matter.)
A couple weeks ago, there was food festival at the palace, so we switched up our regular ice cream routine with some other fun foods and a bonus tour of the Letovice Monastery Old Pharmacy.
One of our youth students threw a surprise 16th birthday party for one of our friends! We all enjoyed the afternoon together celebrating and just hanging out. There is always something special about a surprise party, and this friend had absolutely no idea, even walking past the birthday decorations without really noticing until we all jumped out and said "Surprise! Happy Birthday!"
As many of the youth students are still reminiscing LetFest and in contact with all our new American friends, I am so happy to see the friendships continue and grow that started a month ago. I got pulled into a conversation one evening with my youth and the American youth as they debated who is the best in foosball. It ended with the American youth students saying they were going to begin training at foosball to beat us next year... they seem to forget that we play foosball three times a week at clubs and youth group! However, I am incredibly encouraged to hear they continue to invest in each other and a little friendly rivalry is a perfect way to shorten the gap until they will get to see each other again next summer.
Soaking in Summer
In these final weeks of summer, as I am getting ready for the new school year to start up, I am enjoying sprinkling in my favorite free-time activities - biking, reading, and laying in my hammock.
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