The summer is almost coming to an end and it’s very bitter sweet because on one side I’m excited to see my family and friends and to have some American food, but on the other hand I also don’t want to leave the amazing friends that I’ve made here in Poland. When you spend two months in the same place as people you get to really know the true person they are. God has some amazing followers here in Poland that are sacrificing their time and money to advance his kingdom. The time they put into make all the camps as fun as possible is just crazy because they are working non-stop. Kids come on Sunday stay till Saturday and then a new group comes in on Sunday.
The first week of the summer we worked in Tomaszow with the Savannah team that was with us at the time. It was really nice to have them here for that first week because it sort of gave us a cushion because we still had people we knew around us but it also still made us make connections with the little kids and also the staff and the leaders. The second week we were here was just preparation for camp and just getting accustomed to not having the Savannah team with us anymore. I personally started making connections with a lot of the staff during this week. We helped film the music videos for the Rules Video, clean up the camp, and just do whatever was asked. It was a very peaceful and chill week.
After the calm, then came the storm and the Junior 1 camp started and we had a team from Louisville come in and help us that week and they were awesome. That week we played soccer everyday and we even had a soccer tournament where my team got 2nd place. It was so cool to be able to connect with kids by being their coach and they put their trust in me not only in the game but also in the week with all that they did. They would come up to me and just want to talk in English because they thought it was fun and it also helped them learn. The Junior 2 camp was more of multi-sport and some art activities. That week we had a team of high schoolers from Indiana with us and they helped a bunch with some small responsibilities and also playing with the kids. It’s so cool seeing high schoolers such as myself coming over to a completely new environment and just wanting to dive in like the two teams from Louisville and Indiana.
Last week was my personal favorite week because it was Basketball camp and it was awesome because we had guys and girls come from Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, and America to just play basketball for a week and connect with each other and learn about God. Some of these guys play on their Country’s national teams and are very good and it was fun getting really challenged by them. Though my team didn’t win the championship I still made some awesome friendships with guys that could barely even speak the same language as me but God broke down that language barrier and created a bond between us. Also playing with us were teams from Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, and Georgia.
This week we are in Fish Art camp which is like a music and art camp which is cool because you have some amazingly gifted teens all coming together for a week and its awesome to see their talents. We have teams from Northern Ireland, Kentucky, and Georgia with us right now helping out and just being awesome.
This past weekend I got the amazing opportunity to Preach at the church in Tomaszow in front of their whole church body. I preached in English and the Pastor of the Church, Rafal, translated it into Polish. I preached on Mark 4:21-41 which are about the parables of the Lamp stand, Growing Seed, and Mustard Seed and how Jesus calmed the storm. It was an amazing experience to be able to have that opportunity and it was just so cool that we all had a bond that day through Jesus in that church no matter what language we spoke.
All of us interns have had an amazing summer and are doing good, we have one more week where we will be staying in a city called Wodz and be helping with city projects and things and then we will be headed home. This summer has been an amazing experience for me and God has given me friendships that will last a lifetime and also given me wisdom that I pray will last a lifetime. To all of you that prayed for me and the other interns we can’t say thank you enough because it truly means the world! Hope everyone had an amazing summer and God Bless!!
Kameron Kixmiller
Leave a Reply