Camp Picture
The youth group is through a church in the city of Svitavy (about 20 minutes from Letovice). Svitavy has an interesting history that renders atheism. The city practically started as Sudetenland - a term used to describe German-inhabited cities in the Czechoslovakian regions. Svitavy is unique in that it is located away from the German boarder and was still close to 90% German before the second world war. The German roots ran deep, and it was even the birthplace of Oskar Schindler. After WWII, there was an exodus of Germans from Czechia, and Svitavy essentially became a ghost-town. As the communist party moved into the country, they saw the vacant city as an opportunity and invited all their most loyal Czech Communist members to live in the city together. While the majority of Czech is about 75% atheistic today, in Svitavy that percentage is closer to 90% due to the influence of history on the city. With that as the backdrop, I was encouraged to be helping a youth group share the light of Christ to the people of this city!
Youth Group Friends
During the week of camp, I taught a group of 10 kids in the camp's first ever English Class Program. It was exciting getting to know the kids and their personalities as we spent over three hours together every morning. From an age range of 5years to 12years, I had originally been worried how to keep the class engaged together, but these little learners surprised even me with their talent at learning and using English! While I enjoyed English Class, I grew to look forward to our Bible Story Discussion Time. Each day, there was a short Bible Skit during the class break time. It was then encouraged to talk about the skit with the class. So, I would start of the discussion the same way each day "so, what did you think about the skit?" and this is where the discussion was led...
Day 1: Jesus Heals the Blind Man
"Teacher, I have a similar story to the blind man. My friend, she needed glasses. Maybe Jesus could use glasses to help this man too?"
Day 2: Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead
"Teacher, why do they use toilet paper to wrap the dead guy? Was he a live mummy?!"
Day 3: Jesus Feeds the 5,000
"Teacher, next time Jesus comes to feed the people, do you think he can bring ice-cream and pizza?"
Day 4: The Prodigal Son
"Teacher, it was a nice story... but I don't understand why the father missed his son so much. He was only three steps away."
(The actors modeled the story in a small space and were really only three steps away!)
Even though I am not sure how much of the skits they actually understood, I know God was planting seeds in their lives as they thought about these short stories. However, the fun didn't stop there! At the end of the week, I gave all the students mini-flashlights as a gift for completing the week of English Camp. As I sat down next to my youngest student who was playing with the flashlight, I tried to tell him that I gave them the flashlight gifts to remind them that Jesus is the Light in our lives. He then began turning the light on and off, each time the light shone, he said "Jesus!" I was happy to be able to share Jesus' love so clearly to the little five-year-old, but I soon realized that I may not have explained it as well as I thought. My translator came and sat down next to us and my little student turned to her with a wide grin saying, "I know how to say 'flashlight' in English! You say 'Jesus!'" Well, he ALMOST got it.
Kid's Class
Silly Faces
Singing Baby Shark at Talent Night
Watch a short video clip about the Kid's Class I taught here!
The theme for the week of English Camp was REVOLUTION. When looking at this word, we can find the word "love" spelt backwards in the middle - so we had a Love Revolution, as in God's revolutionary love for us! The theme carried throughout the week as many of the teen classes and seminar speakers focused on relationships with other people and also our relationship with God. After morning English Classes, I had time in the afternoon and evening to get to know many of the other teen campers. One good friend I met was a sweet 13-year-old who I connected with right away. I believe she may be my youngest translator ever; she has extraordinary English! We spent much time together throughout the week, talking, dancing the camp song together, and playing games. At the end of the week, she wrote me a beautiful note thanking me for spending the time with her as it helped at the beginning when she didn't know so many people. I know God gives us the right friends at the right time, and I was happy to be there for her.
There were so many people I meet throughout the week, each person with their own story and each on their own journey to find God. It was a blessing to be a part of the week activities and get to know and encourage so many people - and, to also be encouraged myself!
Before English Camp, immediately after LetFest, I ended up getting some sort of stomach virus and a fever that had me stuck in bed for a couple days. I was most disappointed that I missed a trip to Prague with my American friends from LetFest, but was grateful for another chance to meet Americans in Prague as another team from my home church in Minnesota were at a different English Camp last week also! I got to meet up with their team in Prague right before they flew out and showed them around to all my favorite spots in the city. It was a little gift I know that was given by God to be able to travel around Prague with some American friends (and a couple Czech friends) for the day!
Next week, we will leave for Vikings Camp! (Usually my favorite week of the year!) We will take a group of kids with us to a small village and camp in tents for a few days and get to know them more while sharing God's love with them around campfire talks. I am looking forward for this week - please pray for energy, safety, weather, and for God's love to be clearly shared with these kids!