1.Just before camp began our team got the chance to look out at the city of Celje (the third largest city in Slovenia at 50,000) from the vantage point of the castle. While up there I realized that statistically there were probably only 100 Christians. We only knew of the church we were working with a small (40 person) body of believers. In Valeneje, the city of 30,000 that most the students came from did not have one group of believers that regularly met. In fact, quite a few believers from that town make up part of the church in Celje. One evangelical church for 80,000 people!!! My heart continued to break about half way through the week when I discovered that none of the students in my class had ever met, or even heard of someone whose life was actually affected by what they believed about God. Almost all of them had had experience in the Catholic church (going every Sunday) and each of them could, and did tell story after story of people who "prayed loudly" in church and went on to live lives of hypocrisy and sin. They even talked of immoral priests. It is so sad to see churches on almost every corner and realize how little actual life is within them, how few people who walk in an out of their doors actually know God. What a blessing to get to model what a relationship with a living God looks like! We were able to offer to these girls a different view of God than they had ever seen. We were able to show them that God is not just for the weak or the elderly (a very real belief).
2. I began camp not really knowing my role. I was working with a short term team from
Tennessee but wasn't on their team. I was working with the team of missionaries from Slovenia including Metka and Gasper, but I don't live here full time and I am not Slovene. I was first blessed by being able to serve with Gasper. I felt like we were sort of in the same boat, each having close friends at the other camp and not "knowing" anyone at our camp. My sister and Lindy and the GSCC team were in Austria at the other camp as well as Mateja, Gasper's girlfriend and pretty much the whole youth group plus some friends from school. It was a blessing to have him, a "camp veteran" and friend my age at camp with me, especially since I was out of my comfort zone. It was also very rewarding to get to spend time with several girls who are at the same place I was three years ago, 17 and on my first missions trip. Because of my experiences then and the huge amount of growth I've gone through since then I was blessed and humbled to have opportunities to share with them what I've learned along the way. I guess you don't always see or realize where you've come until you look back. I was able to step into the role of empowering them in leadership and encouraging them to step out in faith. I was deeply encouraged by their hearts to see students know God. It was so rewarding to watch the changes I saw in their lives throughout the week.
I also had the opportunity of being seen as part of the leadership team as an adult. I was very encouraged to be able to contribute to decisions and have my opinion respected and even sought out a couple times. I felt that I really was a part of the Slovenia team as a missionary (even if only full time for the summer). Lindy and I both feel privileged and blessed to have been given these positions of leadership at such young ages (19, and 20). It is also really exciting to be able to see very practically what it would look like for me to be in the role of a full time missionary a couple years down the road.
3. Lindy just reminded me of how long winded I am, and I apologize, but I promise you want to hear how God has worked and is working. As anyone who has been on a missions trip knows, it will be impossible for me to re-create or re-tell all that God did, both because it'd fill a book and because you had to have been here to fully understand. Because of this and my utter inability to put into words the greatness of our God, I look forward to the day when you can see these students faces in Heaven and ask them to tell you the whole story. That said I will try to sum up what God did to give you a picture.
I made a list of specific prayers that God answered this week. God showed us all that He was fighting with us and for us in the ways that He specifically answered prayers for open conversations, unblinded eyes, and that His word would go out unhindered. From the first night girls in our class were making connections from the message to their personal lives (an amazing first step in Slovene culture). God also helped create a safe, loving environment for sharing from that first night on. God spoke through Metka (our wonderful translator) as she shared a lot of her story and was able to relate culturally with the girls' experiences with the Catholic church. God moved through us to challenge student's views of Him, whether He existed, what His role is in our lives and how He is what we all search for. Several students came to know God. Four girls came to church with us and were able to experience life and joy (a stark contrast to their experiences at mass). For me, I think the best way to give you a glimpse of God's work is to share with you part of a letter a girl in my class wrote us. She writes:
You have no idea how thankful I am for this week and that God sent me you. You guys helped me find the missing part in my heart... God...It's still a long way to go, but I've doen the most here. There is no word powerful enough to describe my gratitude. Rada te imam (I love you).
God is working in Slovenija to bring students out of the dominion of darkness into the Kingdom of the Son he loves. I was constantly reminded of God's faithfulness to do this by working side by side with Gasper. His life was transformed three years ago through the camp I got to be a part of and now he's working with us and has such a heart to reach students and share with them how God wants to change their lives too. It gives me goosebumps to think about it and teaches me to pray with faith for the students who come closer to God this summer knowing that they could become just like Gasper. Praise the Lord for His greatness, His mercy towards sinners and His boundless love.
Mary
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