-Colossians 3:14
God is so, so good. A couple Sundays ago I returned home from Germany after finishing my internship there, and each day I still reflect on how I was able to see the multitude of ways in which He worked. Even before I left I got to witness it here in the United States. In one of my last posts, I asked for prayer for me and the other interns with fundraising; at the time that I was writing, I was still in need of $749. That money was provided quickly thereafter, and I was able to breathe and shift my focus away from raising money to spending time with friends and with God before it was time to leave. The night that I realized I was fully funded, I looked through my spreadsheet with a list of sponsors and scrolled and scrolled down, looking at the long list of names. It was unimaginable to me that so many people would back me through money or prayer. Yet they had, and my dream of returning to Leipzig truly would become reality soon.
The day I left for the airport, several friends came to my house to say goodbye and pray over me. I sat on a chair in the middle, crying as I listened to the passionate prayers. I knew these people loved and cared for me, but to see and listen to that love pour out had a great impact on me, and it was such a wonderful note to leave on. After we all finished praying, I headed to Denver to have lunch with my family, then said goodbye to them before I finally got to head to Europe.
These people are the sweetest.
Vienna, Austria
Before returning to Leipzig, I first flew to Vienna, Austria, where I was to run the Amazing Race with the other interns I'd be working with for the summer. This race, inspired by the TV show with the same name, was designed so that each team of interns would compete against each other by solving challenges to get a clue that would bring them to a new destination. In addition, it would allow the members to see each other's strengths and weaknesses and get to know one another before the real work started. This took us through Vienna, Austria; Bratislava, Slovakia; and Ostrava and Frýdlant nad Ostravicí, Czech Republic, and ended up being the perfect start to the journey. The race was, after all, not without difficulty. There were some challenges where I did well and felt that I had made good contributions to my team, but there were others where I struggled. One of these challenges involved sewing a pocket onto a T-shirt, and sewing the letters "AR" (for "Amazing Race") onto the pocket. I had never sewn by hand before, and watching my teammates do it with relative ease was a challenge in itself. As I sat there, feeling rather silly for not being able to sew a pocket onto a shirt, I began to feel more frustrated, and in turn became increasingly negative. My team had to help me with that challenge - not only with actually sewing the pocket on, but also by telling me that I was doing fine and everything would be OK. This experience would end up serving as a perfect harbinger for the rest of the summer - that it would not be without its challenges, but would be well worth all of them.
Team Germany, wearing matching tracksuits and heading to a challenge in Vienna.
After ending the race in 8th place, we headed to Malenovice, Czech Republic, to take part in intern training. All the interns stayed at the hotel and cabins at the training center there over the course of 4 days to learn more about Josiah Venture and how to effectively serve in our respective roles. After a wonderful time full of fellowship, worship, and learning, each team was commissioned and had a time for communion together on the last night before we would each head to our countries of service.
Leipzig, Germany
Our first few days were spent settling in at our flats (one for the me and my teammates Rachel, Emily, and Noel, and one for our teammate Tim) and starting to prepare for our first English camp, which would be not in Germany, but in Poland. After a couple days, we headed to Burg, where we met a couple starting a church plant there, and helped with a barbecue they were hosting to get to know some kids who will attend a camp there in October. After spending the night there, we returned home to Leipzig, stopping at Quedlinburg to tour the town and enjoy some cheesecake.
A few days later, the Josiah Venture communications team - a team that was touring some of the JV countries to take photos and videos - came to visit and stay with us for a few days. Each of us got to be interviewed, and we and the city of Leipzig were photographed as well. It was such a joy getting to know them and interact with them, and when it was time for them to leave, it was one of the first difficult goodbyes that we would have that summer.
The C team and Germany interns. Photo: Amy Nickerson
We continued to prepare for our upcoming camp, acquainting ourselves with our English curricula and getting materials together. As we got closer to the camp in Poland approaching, I began to feel more and more insecure. I began to question whether or not I could truly adequately teach English, and the more I dwelt on this idea, the more my insecurity and anxiety began to shroud my mind.
Despite encouragement from the Rachel, Jim, and Lina, I continued to feel apprehensive. We packed up the van and headed for Poland, first making our way to the H2O conference center, where we were to undergo more training. We spent the night there, and the next morning I woke up early, did my make-up, and headed to the lake right behind the cabin where we were staying to read my Bible.
That morning, after I read passages from Deuteronomy and Acts, I felt compelled to read a couple of Psalms. I turned my Bible to a favorite of mine - Psalm 46 - and began to read. "God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble," begins this Davidic psalm. "Therefore we will not be afraid, though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with its turmoil." As I read, I could feel myself start to feel calmer. If we aren't to have any fear when the earth is giving way, I thought, clearly it is silly of me to have fear of teaching a class - of being in a position where God put me.
After that, I was ready.
Piotrków Trybunalski, Poland
That day, the team had a quiet, somber day visiting the Auschwitz concentration camp. We then finally made our way to the city where we would have our first English camp, Piotrków Trybunalski, and settled in the rooms just above the church. We spent a couple days preparing for the camp, had a church service on Sunday morning, and welcomed the campers that afternoon.
This camp was such a joy, and a great start to the camps that summer. Teaching English proved to be a challenge, and at one point I had Jim join my class to provide some assistance. Still, the challenge was well worthwhile, and I began to enjoy teaching more and more with each passing day.
One of the other challenges the week brought was sharing my testimony. My main testimony - the one where I share how I've come to Christ and made the decision to trust in Him - is one that I've told more than a few times now, and it is therefore not too difficult for me to share. However, I got the opportunity to share a different testimony on the third night of camp - a story of a time where I had hurt someone and had to live with the consequences afterwards. This was to preface our talk that evening on sin, and how David from the Bible's sin led to his own downfall.
Sharing my testimony before an evening talk on sin with my friend Sara translating in Polish. Photo: Wojciech Jastrzębski
Not only was it difficult to share this story, but it was also difficult to do so in front of around 60 people. Public speaking has never been a talent of mine. However, I'm glad to have been stretched in that area, and to hopefully have been used for God's purpose, even if it is not completely clear to me how.
The rest of the week went smoothly for the most part. One of the highlights of the week was when we all took a bus ride to a river, where we went on a kayaking trip. This came as a huge blessing - I got to have a long conversation with my kayaking partner, who had an incredible testimony about how she came to Christ a year ago and has received a lot of backlash from her family and friends for it. Listening to this story, and seeing her maturity and intelligence, was a humbling experience, and I was blown away by it. Many of us came back later that day with sunburns seared into our skin, but we still had a great day of connecting to each other and getting in a great arm workout.
Perhaps the one moment where camp went less than smoothly was the day where we found out that while we were gone, Lina, who had stayed behind in Leipzig, had been in a car accident while trying to get to a baptism. Thankfully, though, she and the other passengers in her car were fine, save for some cuts and bruises, even though the car itself had been totaled.
At the end of the week, the students bade us farewell, and we signed camp journals and did the camp dance a couple more times. My wonderful students gave me a bunch of chocolate and a lovely note, and each gave me a hug before the end of our final English class. Later that day, we had one final "hurrah" and had a follow-up, where we had a barbecue, games, and dancing, and some of the campers' parents were able to meet us and learn about all that had happened at camp.
Ending the evening with a dance. Photo: Wojciech Jastrzębski
Our time in Poland ended on the following Sunday. We attended one final service at the church, a kind churchgoer interpreting the entire sermon to English for me and a couple other teammates sitting by me. We then finished packing and headed to the home of the camp directors, Marta and Łukasz, where they and their parents hosted us for lunch. We had a lovely time eating and playing frisbee with them, then said goodbye to them before we headed back home to Germany, dropping a couple of the staff members off at their houses on our way.
Leaving Poland was difficult; I've never learned how to say goodbye with grace. I'm often emotional, especially if I don't know when I'll see the people or place again. I thought about this as we made the long drive to Leipzig, recognizing that this would not be the last time I would be saying goodbye; far from it, there would be many more to come. However, though I didn't know every single camper who would come to the next two camps where we would be working, I already knew every one of the would be well worth the goodbyes I'd have to say to them later - the messy, less than pretty ones - despite how difficult they can sometimes be.
Even when people must go away, God is so, so good.
