As if you needed more proof of my insanity, a skit we filmed to promote Capture the Flag at Camp.

If ever there was a perfect event to put on in central/eastern Europe, guaranteed to coax students out of their bedrooms for a week, then it’s a summer English Camp. Camps are generally popular in this part of the world anyway, and since being able to speak English is a much wanted ability putting the two together is always a winner. Apparently, this summer in the Czech Republic around 100 such camps are being held, for campers of varying ages.

Just one of those was put on by IFES Czech Republic (UKH) last week, which I had the privilege of being a part of. I had heard great things about last year’s camp, which unfortunately I had to miss due to a wedding, so before camp started I was very interested to see what it would be like. Thankfully, it was a lot of fun. Altogether there were around 40 of us up in the mountains of the North, a mix of Czech students (with a few Slovaks for good measure), and a team consisting of Czechs, Dutch, Brits and a token Australian (who is half Slovene). The weather was glorious pretty much all week, very hot with the exception of a few showers. Needless to say, the windows in my room were constantly left wide open.

The English lessons were split into 3 groups; beginner, intermediate and advanced. I had the joy of helping to teach the Advanced group. Now, teaching isn’t exactly my forte (unlike seemingly everyone I know, I’m not going to go down the PGCE route after Prague), but I had a lot of fun anyway, thanks to the well prepared and organized Sara, who led the lessons. Our lessons consisted mostly of practising discussion, so it was great not having to go through grammar and exercise books, but instead just watch videos and listen to music, before discussing them. My kind of lesson.

There were plenty of fun activities going on at camp. On two nights, Craig and I orchestrated a game of Capture the Flag, which everyone got involved in. We also had a day where we went for walk, in 3 groups. This was another wonderful opportunity to have chats with the students and get to know them better. Often in the afternoons there were also games of volleyball, ultimate Frisbee etc. Classic camp fare.

The (extremely loose) theme of the camp was ‘High Definition’, linking to the idea of seeing life as it truly is, ie. through the lens of Jesus. The spiritual input of the week consisted mainly of an evangelistic talk each night, taking campers through the identity of Jesus, what he came to do, and what our response should be. My two evening talks were on the topic of Grace and Discipleship. I think both talks went well, particularly the first one. I had non-Christian students give positive feedback after both talks which was a huge encouragement. Craig took on the topics of ‘Who is Jesus?’ and ‘What is my response?’ which he handled very well. Tom Uher, UKH secretary, spoke on the Cross, which was very well explained and illustrated.

In addition to the evening talks, there were seminars throughout the week, on the topics of God and Suffering, Relationships, Why Trust the Bible, and Christianity and Science. It wasn’t mandatory to attend these sessions, but each one was well attended anyway. I did the God and Suffering seminar, which had a really useful question and answer section at the end. Even the guy who runs the camp facilities turned up. Rocking.

The camp experience was great overall. Many of the unbelieving students commented on the friendly and loving atmosphere throughout the week; and I was encouraged by the number of Christian students going out of their way to get to know the other campers. It was a real testimony to God’s grace. We feel we saw many of the non-Christians make a lot of progress spiritually throughout the camp too, and we’re hoping God will work in their hearts throughout the next year, and perhaps bring them back to camp next time.

Advertisement