Today we wrapped up our second day of camp in Batizvoce. We have almost 60 students in attendance along with a whole crew of Slovaks from the local church who are helping to make this camp possible.

Batizovce is a small village located in the High Tatras, and this camp draws students from many villages in the surrounding areas as well as Poprad, a larger city about 15 minutes away. The views from our lodgings are beautiful: wide open fields with the mountains popping up seemingly out of nowhere. We’ve already had some intermittent storms during our time here, which means that we got to witness Slovakia’s national anthem–“Lightning over the Tatras”–in action!

On Sunday, the team worshipped together in the Batizovce Lutheran Church, our host congregation for this week. Team leader Phil gave the sermon again, and the team was invited up for introductions and a blessing. In the afternoon, we enjoyed a leisurely lunch at a local restaurant, where we met the interpreters and helpers for the camp. The rest of Sunday was spent preparing classrooms and other school facilities for the week ahead.

On Monday, we kicked off the week by singing “Radical God” and “Jesus Loves Me” in opening at the church, then the whole camp walked to the school where they rotated through English sessions, crafts, music, and sports. The team took Monday evening to recuperate and prepare for the next day.

Some of Tuesday’s camp day highlights included a bounce house in sports rotation, pom-pom sheep in crafts, Hangman and vocabulary games in English sessions, and more lively conversation from students as they begin to open up.

The team had a unique cultural experience this afternoon at a historical house in Batizovce. We all got the opportunity to try on traditional Slovak folk clothing with a few of our interpreters from the camp and have a photo shoot!

Prayer Requests:

• Praises: For the 3rd year of English Bible Camps in Batizovce and continued good relationships with our hosts here; a reenergized team; cooler weather; former camp students who are already returning to serve in the camps as teenagers
• Petitions: For continued good health for the team; safe travels to Vienna on Friday; Pastors Miro and Janka in Batizovce and their ministries here.