Poland 2007 is coming

Tonight we met with our students to talk about our trip this up and coming summer to Poland!
There will be changes this year, but we are excited for what we believe God is calling us to do with Fala!

More to come!

Dustin's Bag is HERE!

Dustin's bag never made it with us to Chicago and it still hadn't made it to his house as of this morning. He just called me and said his bag is on the way to his house tonight.

One can only imagine the stench of the clothes from the hike in the rain. OH MY!!!!!!!

Have fun washing those clothes buddy!!!!!!!!!!

Pat's Perspective on the Trip

It's been cool to start reading through a bunch of blogs now that we are home! I was reading Pat Roseman's blog and found a post she did on our trip HERE! It's a great post with a great quote from Yancey in it!

Pat's daughter Jen was on our trip as a leader.

It was very encouraging to see one of the missionaries from our church, whose out on the field, showing her concern and interest in our trip!

Thanks PAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lee's Collarbone Doc Appointment

Lee just got back from the Doc! Here's the scoop. He's going to be fine. His collarbone should be healed in six weeks. A ball of calcium should form to connect the bones that are overlapping. He doesn't have to wear the straps around his shoulders anymore. His arm is in a more comfortable sling and he's on some good medication. So the Doc in Poland, who was smoking a cigarette after he set he collarbone, actually did a good job. The most priceless part of our experience with the Doc was as he was setting the bone he heard a pop and says, "Ooops!"

Between the cigarette smoke that filled the hospital and that comment I will never forget my time in the hospital in Zakopane, Poland.

I can't imagine seeing this place in the winter! What a wonderland!

We're HOME!!!!!!!!

After both of our flights were delayed on Tuesday we are all home!!!!! Keep coming back to this site as we will posting post trip stuff and MORE PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!

The trip was great, but the hugs from my wife and kids this morning were BETTER!!!!!

New Photos

New photos from the camp.
Click on a photo for a description.

Previous Slideshows:
Camp Set 1

Denver and Chicago

Basketball & A Close Team

From Kevin Lansing

What’s up ziom? I have had a wonderful experience this second year in Poland. This year’s camp was, of course, spectacular. I was unsure of what to expect being that the camp was in a different location with some new faces but I have been pleasantly surprised by how things have turned out. I made some very strong bonds with most of the Polish leadership team last year and these bonds were strengthened this year, as I was able to spend more time behind the scenes due to my involvement in camp music.

God has blessed me richly this year with many friendships. One in particular, though, has impacted me the most. I have always wondered how God would use basketball in my life to bring glory to his name, especially in a sport where I have learned to play so aggressively and anything but Christ-like. However, its not how I play the game but rather how I carry myself that the Lord can use, it’s the relationships that can be created through common interest which are important. My Father has used both of these attributes on this trip with astounding results as I witnessed a young man, one of my best friends, come so very close to establishing a relationship with Christ.

Our team is very close this year. The Polish and American Christians are very strong this year and closely united. Love is in the house this year, and the house was packed, people heard things they’ve never heard before. They wrestled with things they’ve never thought about before. And they saw hope and love like they’ve never dreamed before. Whether it is from the wild and crazy things that took place or the deep and personal things that students heard. Maybe it was the spiritual battle lined drawn on classroom floors or evening programs, only God knows. But I do know one thing…. Love was in the house.

Our team is very close this year, close to Polish students and leaders alike, and because of this it was very hard to leave…. heartbreaking…because part of my heart will always be in Poland.

Alice, Tori & Mickey In Poland

One of the great joys of this trip is being lived out right now as we get to see Alice, Tori and Mickey from our church. It is awesome to see Alice in the midst of her ministry! She looks great and is doing great! Likewise, it’s great to see two of our former students serving as an interns over here for the whole summer.

I can’t wait to see who from our church will choose to be an intern next year!

Collarbone Man Speaketh

From Lee Mitchell via the hands of Brianne,

Hi this is the “gimp”(as he is known by the team…) jk. Needless to say I will never forget this trip. The people I met at camp were the kindest people that I have ever met. They were always willing to help me with anything I needed, especially considering my injury. Saying goodbye was really tuff and I cannot wait for next year.

We're At Dan & Laura's House

We just made it Dan and Laura's house. The students just got done swimming. We are grilling dinner, going to the pottery store and then watching the World Cup final game! We will be writing blogs while we are here so check back after church!

A Soccer Game Analysis

From Tim

Greetings!

Some of you have been waiting anxiously for the news on how the Poland vs. USA soccer game went here at camp. Wait no longer as I reveal the outcome of the match of colossal proportions.

The game took place on the hardtop court behind our camp house, which allowed for us to use a sound system for music and sports commentary. The Polish students were decked out in Polish jerseys and shirts to the point that we were drowned in a sea of red and white. After we made a dramatic entrance, both teams sang their national anthem and it began. Only six people per team were allowed on the field of play due to the court being smaller than a normal soccer field. Julie Wentworth was our all-time goal keeper while we rotated the rest of our numbers every eight minutes.

After about ten minutes of scoreless action and some amazing saves, Poland drew first blood. They followed up with three more points shortly afterwards and we began to think all of our taunting would come back to haunt us. It should be noted that their second goal came from an unfortunate deflection off of one of our own players. However…

We would not go down so easily and I had the honor of opening up the flood gates with the first American goal. (As a side note, this kept my scoring streak against Zielona Gora alive for a third year.) Dustin then followed up with a hat trick to tie the score. From there the game would remain tightly matched as the score on both sides climbed to 9-9 before regulation time ran out. The other Americans that contributed goals were Kate, Rachel, Josh and a fourth by Dustin. (I am missing one person.)

We went into a shootout of penalty kicks, with only one person from each side scoring to send us into a second shootout. Josh was the one who kept us alive. In the second shootout the Polish goal keeper shut us down while three balls managed to make it into our goal to lead the Polish team to a 13-10 victory. It was the most fun I’ve ever had in one of these matches and as an added bonus, Dan Hash was able to join us that day. We earned a lot of respect for putting up such an effort against the Polish team and had a lot of fun doing so. Even though we lost, it was a great game to play in and watch!