Today was a day of joyous reunions. From my perspective, the first of those was a reunion with the rest of our luggage at the Krakow airport. Airlines do a pretty good job of tracking bags and making sure that they reach the final destination – as long as there are no missed flights or re-bookings involved. From my experience though, when your flight schedule changes in the middle of travel, anything can happen. So, when we arrived in Poland today, we gave praise to God for the fact that our luggage was all located – it made it to our destination taking three different routes but was all available for us when we arrived.
The second joyous reunion was with the remaining members of the camp team. Chris, Anna, Levi, Noah, and myself were all picked up by Marcel at the airport (okay, that was a joyous reunion too) and he drove us the remaining two and a half hours to reach our camp site. When we arrived, the the Czech camp team and the remainder of the Americans greeted us with big hugs (though some of the Americans were a little groggy because they had been napping). The reunion celebration did not last long though because we all had work to do to prepare for the camp.
The next reunion for me came when I was praying with Marcel and Viet for God’s blessing on the camp. I expected three prayers, but another, deep masculine voice chimed in, in Czech after the rest of us had prayed. After him, still another prayed. Who were these people? After the prayer, i looked down the table to see Branislav, another dear brother from Český Těšín. I met him, perhaps a year and a half ago when I visited for a weekend in March. He has a heart for men’s discipleship and organizes the Men’s Breakfasts for the church. I gave him a great hug after as we discussed the possibility of me attending the next breakfast – sadly, I will miss it by a week.
Of course, the final reunions have been with the students as they arrived at camp. We have been able to continue are friendships where we left off in summer and have already enjoyed singing, playing games, reading the bible and sharing in discussion groups together.
Perhaps one of the most interesting discussions that I had with some of the young men and it centered around the question of “If God knew when he created me that I would choose to sin, why didn’t he create me so that I wouldn’t sin.” This is a deep question, and one that was genuinely important to the person who asked it. The conversation that followed was collaborative, insightful, and encouraging (I think) for everyone involved. Best yet, I saw God revealing scriptural truth as the young men in the conversation grappled with the question by applying what the Bible says. Praise God!
There is one more reunion that I have been thinking of today – one that will happen when we all meet Jesus. It may be the first time that my dear friends on each side of the globe are able to rejoice in Christ together in one place. For now we are separated. But sometime soon, that will end. Until then, we work together and apart to grow the kingdom and make disciples.
Thank you for joining along in prayer. I am thankful for your faithfulness and support.
Prayer Requests
- That the message of the Gospel be presented clearly, as it should be
- That God will continue work on the hearts of all who have come to the camp
- Safety and health for the campers, mission team, and our loved ones at home
- That Jesus will be glorified through all that is accomplished here
- That Jesus continues to sustain us through jet lag