Update #4

I feel like I say it every week, but man, what a week! We finally had our first full Fusion camp. Our intern team was divided, half of us at a camp in Suszec, and the other half (including myself) in the gorgeous mountain town of Wisła near the Czech border.

We teamed up with a short term American team from Indiana and the leaders of a local youth group called Echo to lead our week-long English and Fusion camp. The kids had a choice whether they wanted to take English classes or be part of the Fusion choir and learn instruments during the workshop time. For meals, sports time in the afternoon, theme days (baby day and superhero day), and the evening talks and discussion groups, everyone in English and Fusion were together.

I was responsible for leading alto sectionals, leading the choir, teaching choreography, and leading a choir directing workshop. Our main goal was to prepare 5 songs with a full choir and band for a big concert at the end of the week, with only about an hour and a half of rehearsal per day. It seemed like an impossible task, but our students picked up the music quickly and worked so hard.

There were 3 girls in my directing workshop. When we started, they all seemed pretty reserved, a little unsure when I asked them to do crazy movement and acting exercises, and slightly terrified when I told them they would be in charge of choreographing one song each within the next day. But they all rose to the challenge, and I was amazed by their creativity and willingness to learn and stretch themselves. My proudest moment was watching them come alive as they led their songs in the concert, and seeing their faces beam with pride as the audience applauded.

As pleased as I was with the concert, the most amazing thing about the week was the way I saw God move in people's hearts. Every night after the talks where we presented the gospel, the campers would be dismissed into small discussion groups with Polish leaders. During this time, Sam, Szymon, and I would gather on the steps of the main building and pray over the camp. Sometimes I would pray for specific opportunities, words, and boldness, and as the days unfolded I watched God step in and answer. I am humbled by the honesty and vulnerability some of the students shared with me, and I can see God at work in their hearts and lives. I saw changes in my fellow staff members as well, and am grateful for the ways they encouraged and inspired me to lean in and trust God.

This week has taught me the importance of being present. We were only in each other's lives for a week. There was great temptation on my part to stay shallow, to just have fun, to wait for someone else to engage first, so that when we had to say goodbye it wouldn't be as hard. But that's not why I was there. I realized I was on borrowed time, time that God had set aside for a purpose. Even if I never get to see the fruit of that time, I wanted to love people. Not every conversation was amazing, no one prayed the "sinner's prayer" with me, but my hope and my prayer is that the people I had the privilege of interacting with this week felt loved, heard, and seen. Not only by me, but by a God who loves them and wants to challenge them to step into life with Him.