Poland Orphan Summer Camp, July 2010

Thank you so much for all of you who supported my recent Mission Trip to Poland to run a camp for orphans and poor children. It would not have been a success without your prayer support and financial support!

The camp was held at the Baptist Seminary near Warsaw, Poland. This year I took a team of six with me—2 adults and 4 teens. We were joined there by a team of 13 young adults from Northern Ireland. There were also about 20 Polish adults who helped with the camp and were the children’s counselors for the week. About 75 children attended the camp.

The theme for the week was “The Good Shepherd.” We studied Psalm 23. In the mornings we had Morning Assembly, where there was praise and worship time and our team taught lessons. After that the children were split into 8 groups by age and gender. These groups rotated around to 8 different workshops—crafts, Bible, games, English, music, cooking, dance and sport. (Our team members ran 5 of these workshops and the Irish team ran 3.) In the afternoons we all went in big buses to a sports complex. There was an indoor swimming pool, a gym, and outdoor sports fields. Across the street was a new playground with lots of equipment. Our team spent the afternoon with the children, either swimming, playing sports or playing on the playground with them. After dinner was the Evening Assembly. The Irish team did lessons with skits and there was more praise and worship time—the kids love to sing songs! After the Evening Assembly the smaller kids went to bed, and the Irish team led outdoor games for the older ones until it was time for bed.

The last evening of the camp I gave an invitation for any of the children who wanted to “become part of God’s flock and have Him as their shepherd.” A group of children came forward. I pray that many of them made genuine decisions to accept Christ as their savior.

We all had a great week working side by side with our Polish and Irish brothers and sisters, sharing the love of Christ with the children. It was hard to say good bye to the children, and our new Polish and Irish friends, at the end of the week – lots of tears on both sides.

I am praying about taking another team next summer, this time the 3rd week of June, 2011. If any of you would be interested in joining us in this awesome experience of sharing God’s love with forgotten children in Poland let me know. We would love to take an even bigger team next time!

Your Sister in Christ,
Laura