LetFest is our biggest event of the year. It is a multi-faceted, multi-generational summer outreach camp. During the week, we had over 70 Czech volunteers, 20 Americans, 140 registered students, hundreds of others who joined in activities during the week, and many more who surrounded the festival in prayer. While there are many months of preparation for LetFest, and during camp week, nights can average between 4-5 hours of sleep, seeing the memories these kids create makes it all worth it.
Watch this video I created for an overview of LetFest!
Preparation
On a Team Building Scavenger Hunt
We start off the week of LetFest a few days earlier as an American team from Minnesota arrives to work together with us to create this spectacular week. There are a few days at the start that we use for team building and training for both the American and Czech teams so that we can become unified as one team. Whether some of the youth volunteers are returning to continue building into friendships or new youth students joining in for the first time, we see how all their talents are used and each valued as a member of the team.
A while back, one of my youth students shared that she wanted to be baptized before LetFest! She made a commitment to God in 2019 and since then has been learning what it means to be a follower of Christ, which is not an easy feat in a very atheistic country and as the only Christian in her home. Though, she has remained strong in her faith and wanted to make this public declaration of faith in front of her family and friends. We started our Sunday early in the morning at the reservoir for the baptism before heading to church and then kicking-off LetFest in the afternoon!
One part of European summer culture is frequent ice-cream trips (it is common to grab an ice-cream while waiting for the bus or on a walk to the city as it helps to cool down in a place where there is a lack of air-conditioning). There were more ice-cream trips this year than any other that I can recall as some of the Americans learned this cultural norm and decided they needed to fulfill the European ice-cream summer equivalent in the two-week stay!
Some of my favorite little American buddies came to see us during LetFest Preparation and ice-cream was enjoyed by all!
Morning Activities
Mornings at LetFest are split into three categories: English, Sports, and Dance. I serve as the organizer for the English Classes in the mornings and can often be found running between the different classes as I deliver materials, snacks, and provide assistance when needed. Somehow, the morning goes by very quickly, and I love checking-in with all the students, teachers, and translators in the five English Classes.
During the morning, I got to spend some time with a friend of mine who was running the information desk for the week. We would chat at the information desk or meet up at our on-site cafe for a quick coffee. Somehow, throughout the week, my organization skills were tested as some of my youth students figured out that simply moving pencils to the marker box created a level of chaos in my office that I had to fix. (Note: in my office, materials are all labeled, color-coded, and one of the youth students said he would rewatch the supply videos because the level of organization was like those calming "re-stock" videos on social media!) As I had mentioned to my friend at the information desk about these youth students' ploys to create additional havoc to my week by moving random items to different containers, she smiled and said, "you should not have told me that!" We are great friends, and she also wanted to be a part of the pranks, and somehow supplied the youth with heavy duty, double-sided tape. One day upon entering the office, nearly all the boxes had been sealed to the shelves! It was quite comical, and built a camaraderie between these certain youth (Czech and American) and my dear friend at the information desk.
I know many of the kids in the different English groups as nearly all my regular English Class students were registered for LetFest, and we always have so many returners from previous years. Besides that, I love getting to know the little siblings of students I have had before. Both of these two boys are younger siblings of some of my students, and we created special bonds throughout the week. The little one with the drawing isn't old enough for classes yet, but with three older siblings in classes, he and his little sister would often hang out at the festival with their parents. One morning I found him in tears while waiting for his parents and quickly remedied the situation with a piece of paper and markers. Soon, he was smiling and telling me all about the art and happily joined his dad again a few minutes later. After that, anytime he saw me during the week, I got a big smile and wave and he even tracked me down on the last day of camp to make sure his parents could get a picture of us together! I was glad he enjoyed LetFest as much as all the other kids!
Lunch & Break
After the divided activities in the morning, we all group back together for lunch and a short break. One of the first days, I noticed the line for water was really long and jumped in to help the process go by more quickly. Each day after that, I would assume the same spot to make sure the kids were all getting water on these hot days (it also gave me a chance to remind some of the kids they "forgot" to grab vegetables to eat too). After nearly everyone had gone through the lunch line, I'd refill the water and then anchor the lunch line, and the kitchen staff was grateful for this one less thing to worry about. Throughout the week, I received a new title by the American youth students - Waterbottle Babysitter. I would find their waterbottles left abandoned on tables and in classrooms and collect them as I went around the center until I'd intersect with their owner. One American said I would somehow always show up with his waterbottle right when he realized he had left it somewhere again!
I'd have fun during the break time connecting especially with the kids who were up at sports all morning!
Program
The theme of this LetFest was "Best Friends." It was so fun to see the kids all walking around in Best Friend t-shirts matching everyone at the beginning of the week and knowing some of them will have made new best friends by the end of the week. Our program time after lunch is a time when the Family Ministry Pastor would share a story about friendships and how the kids can be good friends for each other and ultimately have a friendship with their Creator. We looked at stories from our own lives and biblical stories to give examples of friendships that were relatable for all ages. Program time is scheduled after lunch and a short break to give the kids a chance to pause and listen during the heat of the day (summer heat and no air conditioning can make for some very hot days). However, on one of the days, we realized it was too hot to remain in the building and thankfully our priest friend offered the cathedral for us to use. The naturally cool building created a great environment for the program time and was a fun, little field trip! It also showed the unity between the churches of the city of Letovice as we often connect to support each other in ministry.
Workshops
In the afternoon, we release the kids into a time of workshops. There are three categories for workshops - creative, sport, and artistic (dance/drama/videography/etc.). A good friend and I helped in organizing all the creative workshops this year to make sure there were leaders and crafting materials needed for the workshops beforehand. Our planning and preparation ending up being a real blessing as the leaders could just grab a box with all their materials and set up the workshop. It also allowed us to change things around as needed (which happened daily).
Surprisingly, even though I organized the art workshops, I was often helping in the sports workshops. I led a t-ball workshop with one other American - though, one of my Czech kids plays the sport and is a natural leader, so we were able to give him a role in helping organize and lead too! The kids had so much fun with this workshop and it is one of the highlights of every LetFest. I also spent time just helping hold up kids during the rollerblading workshops and from there would kick soccer balls back to goals, bounced four-square balls back to the four-square court, volleyed lost volleyballs back to the net, and finding a spikeball that was always winning an unspoken game of hide-and-seek!
Seminars & Evening Activities
After Workshops, the kids headed home for the evening and we began our evening activities. There was a short break for some team meetings (and more ice cream trips) and dinner before we started with an evening seminar. There were various seminars throughout the week open to the whole community as speakers came in to talk about life passions including theology, stories, and world events. One of the seminars was led by a panel of youth students as they shared their experiences about the value of friendships. When the seminars finished, we moved into our Evening Activities. There were dodgeball and rock climbing competitions, traditional Jewish dancing, and a favorite of ours - a pop quiz! For the quiz, we create different teams and pool our knowledge to try to have the most points. I really enjoyed that this year, my friends who were recently married joined us for the quiz night and we had a lot of fun together. The questions this year were diverse and creative. One question had been "what is the name of the tree that grows the tallest in the world?" I looked at my team and said, "I'm pretty sure it's sequoia." The youngest one on our team said, "I was going to say the tree that grows on Mount Everest, but I trust you!" I thought her response was very creative, and it made us all smile!
Hawaii Party
As I had mentioned earlier in the "Morning Activities" section, I made some special new little buddies this week at LetFest. One of the boys is the younger brother of one of my regular students, and it was his first year at LetFest. Monday morning, he had big tears rolling down his cheeks and was very worried about leaving mom all day. We found he has many friends at camp, and it looked like things were going to be okay. Each year at LetFest, we have a special dance the kids learn and we dance together with a partner. One of the first days, I asked this little boy if he needed a partner, and we had the best time dancing together. During the "freestyle" dance time, we looked at each other and realized instantly we have the same crazy jumping dance moves! He suddenly broke out of his shell and from that moment, anytime they announced the dance, he'd find me and cling to my hand unwilling to let another partner take that spot!
Hawaii Party is our conclusion to LetFest. We showcase all the things the students accomplished during the week, including dances, theater performances, artwork, and new sport games they learned. This year, we even included a talent show for the kids to share their talents on stage. During the theater performance, a large storm came through, and we had talked as a team before that if the winds get bad, we need multiple people to make sure our event tent didn't blow away. When we heard the wind, a group of us all ran out and, even though we were soaked, we saved the tent from blowing away! We had a spontaneous party under the tent. I enjoyed it for a little bit before needing to focus my attention elsewhere as emotions left some kids dealing with fear of storms and other anxieties. It was a crazy last day of LetFest, and thankfully God gave the strength needed for all that happened that evening.
Church
Our final official LetFest event is church on Sunday morning. It is fun to see some of the kids and families come back for one last goodbye with the Americans and leaders for the summer. A couple of new students who joined us this year came to church, and they said it was their first time at a church like ours. They had recently moved to Letovice in the last few years. Their mom mentioned how her grandmother was Catholic and out of honoring her grandmother had wanted to try church but hadn't felt the churches she had attended relatable. She said she would be interested to come to church with us, though her work schedule often has her working Sunday mornings, though she asked if the kids could come to church with me when the new school year starts! I was amazed at this mother's openness and seeing how she saw how her kids had enjoyed LetFest so much this year and wants them to continue with those friendships. Her son was incredibly shy at the start of the week and told me he knew no one outside of his sister. He was easy to connect with and I made it a point to make sure he was always feeling engaged and welcomed into activities. He made some really great new friends by the end of the week!
Prague & Debreif
After all the LetFest festivities, we went as an American team to debrief all that had happened over the week of ministry in Prague. We enjoyed the time together, often mixing into different groups as we explored this beautiful city and learned more about Czech culture. This is so important to the ministry because it gives the students an insight to a bigger worldview and helps them understand the culture of the Czechs through first-hand experiences. One of the days, we planned an outing to Terezin - a WW2 concentration camp and ghetto. I had last visited Terezin when I was 16 - the same age as some of these students, and knew it can be a very powerful experience. I feel passionate about youth learning the events of history as these stories should not be forgotten.
While we were exploring the tower lookout, we ran into another group who clearly had midwestern accents. One of the students sparked up a conversation with them and they explained they were here teaching at an English Camp on a mission trip and are from Wisconsin. I quickly jumped in asking which organization they were with and where their camp had just taken place. As they explained, I pieced it all together and asked, "Were you working with [name of missionary]?" They all looked at me wide-eyed and said, "Yes! She just dropped us off at the train station this morning!" I explained I had met the missionary at a conference a couple years back and we really connected. We snapped a picture together and I sent it off to my missionary friend so she would get to share in our random, fun connection too.
This is "my spot." It has been my spot for the past 15 years as I have traveled to Czech for LetFest, and a few years back, there was a small X that had somehow been carved into this very spot. Years ago, one of the leaders had said that someday there will be a marking on this very spot to commemorate all the years of staring up at this beautiful cathedral. I love sharing this spot with the students each year!
We had a little surprise for the youth students in Prague this year. A group of my Czech youth students traveled to Prague for the day to surprise the team and spend the day with them! I enjoyed most the reactions of students, running to see their friends who had unexpectedly arrived in Prague. We explored the city together on our last afternoon there and for the first time, Americans ran alongside the train with departing Czechs (a tradition we have leaving Letovice with the Czechs running along the platform as the train departs). There were many more great conversations and encouragement that happened between the youth!
Team Time & Stateside Rest
This summer, I decided to come back to Minnesota for a little R&R as we have August off in our ministry and wanting to spend some time with family, friends, and further invest in these youth students as they come off the mission field. (Additionally, I questioned in December why I really only come back to Minnesota when it is so cold!) It has been a blessing getting this rest time - I hadn't realized how tired my body was especially after LetFest, and also being able to further debrief with the students and leaders about LetFest as they are processing the ministry that just took place.
Right before LetFest began, I celebrated my 30th birthday (the team got me socks that say "I'm 18 with 12 years of experience, and I think any youth leader can relate to that!). To celebrate, the team and friends came together to bring me to a Twins game! It was really special, and I had the best time watching the game and with these friends. Since a couple youth students hadn't been able to join us, we decided to continue the fun the following week at the county fair. I really love watching all these students connect and invest in each other and encouraging them as they consider all that God may have planned for them in the upcoming years.
Back in 2021, I had a six month stint back in Minnesota and got connected with a couple youth groups. It was so special this LetFest to have two of "my" girls who were just little 7th graders back then join in the ministry I had been telling them about. I have remained connected with the girls and the leaders and love visiting Bible Studies and Youth Groups when I am back to encourage them, support them, and see how much they have grown in their faith!
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