I'm in a hotel in Orlova...with the sound of Czech techno music bumping through the walls. You think I would be down there flashing my moves down at that wedding down stairs...but actually, I'm anchored on my bed, overwhelmed with tiredness, joy, and awe.
My whole body is sore... I maybe had a chance to shower three times this week... and I have never felt more alive.
The camp started with a few bumpy roads. What am I saying, it started terribly. About 12 kids arrived on time, while the other 25 were on a train that got derailed. There was some accident, and thankfully no one was injured, but now the majority of our students were stuck in the middle of nowhere for hours. They didn't arrive at until 9:00 that evening, after being shuttled in by the three available cars. All of activities, plans were changed. The talks shifted, English classes changed, but attitudes were great. There were a lot other things going on within the church community and internal conflicts that also were a rough start for camp. Dan and Kim just had so much on their plate. I was so impressed by how Daniel just took care of things, really difficult things with students, team issues, and logistics especially when things didn't go according to plan. One of the leaders of the Czech team was dealing with some pretty intense health concerns, and we really felt the attack of the enemy that day. But it was so amazing to see the progression of each day.
We had a few troublesome students. There were these boys that made you wonder, why were they here? They broke tons of things at this camp- windows, swing sets, chairs. They would be extremely distracting during the night talks. They would not participate in the dances, and they would not talk to anyone else at the camp. But as each day went on, you saw a little progression. We saw this bond grow in all the students that made that last day of departure feel like a funeral. Love did come down that week.
So what are some of the stories? I will share about one story I had the privilege of just being a part of. His name is Tomas and I'm super jealous of his six pack. Tomas is very athletic and one of the nicest people you will ever meet. He is sincere. The guy wants to learn English so bad. He tries so hard that it actually is really funny. We met about a month before camp, and immediately I knew he had a good heart. We got roomed together, and every night we would talk about life, relationships and God. Tomas had heard about God three months ago. He had this old Bible with him, so every night, me, him, and another guy, Ondra, would read our favorite passages and share them in English and Czech. Throughout the week, our bond grew and grew. One night we stayed up until 2am just talking and eating junk food, and I was telling them about my love-horror stories. Then, the night of the Gospel was came. It was a hard night with many distractions. During the presentation of the gospel, this 13 year old boy laid back and farted so loud, that I almost bursted out laughing (I was telling myself, don't laugh, don't laugh..be an example). DURING THE GOSPEL PRESENTATION! Daniel told the story of Jesus and the woman at the well and invited the students to pray if they want to give their lives to Jesus. Then the students proceeded to go through this labyrinth. It was just a series of stations that students would go through to help them reflect on their lives and the allow them to process the gospel at their own pace. THere were stations where you wrote letters to yourself, think about those you love, a hand washing station, a place where if you want to confess your sins, you wrote it on a rock and threw it into the woods, and then a place where they read Scripture and could make a commitment. Tomas went through this, and afterwards went upstairs to where some leaders would pray or talk to anyone who needed it. I didn't see people go through the labyrinth because I was maintaining the atmosphere of the night with music. But I saw Tomas come into the room, and he was smiling this big goofy smile. I asked him that night, how his day was and he said to me, "Tonight, I feel like I was reborn." I found out that Tomas gave his life to Christ that night. It was so awesome. The guy wasn't regurgitating some Christianese or something he read. That was the only way he could describe it. He felt like he was being born again. Praise God!
There were 4 other kids who recommitted their lives that night, and more took some step towards God. These troublesome guys I mentioned encountered God as well. One of them, whom we had been praying for all week, came to Daniel and told him he wanted to change, and they prayed together. He and the other boys sat down that night and he told them how as he was reading the passages from Romans and decided that He wanted to trust God, he felt this chill and for the first time, he felt God and began to cry.
It's weird. The reality of not knowing fully what all went down this week. Maybe there were dozens more who gave their lives. Maybe some took some steps and will find Him later on in life. I just hang on to this thing we call FAITH and like now, I am left in awe.
Please pray for:
1) Round two of camp begins in a few days! Training will consist of over 230 American Teams and Czech Teams!!!!! Pray for strength, rest, the SPIRIT!
2) Students returning from camp. Followups go well and strong connections continue with the Czech believers. And those who gave their lives grow and grow.
Tomas is on the left, next to Ondra
