Spring Term Blog

by Beth Clark, NCCS Faculty

Poland Blog: Friday–Sunday

Our group has had so many chances to bond since leaving Atlanta on Friday! Our travels got off to an unexpected start at the Atlanta airport when we found out one of our flights had been canceled, meaning we needed to fly an extra leg to Vienna, Austria. This wasn’t on our itinerary, but it turned out to be an unexpected blessing—another European country to explore!

After safely arriving in Amsterdam Saturday morning, our flight to Krakow, Poland was canceled as well. We spent the afternoon at the Vienna airport waiting for our luggage and figuring out the best travel plans. The students were amazing—they napped when they could and encouraged each other even when I wasn’t watching.

We’ve really seen God’s hand at work during our travels. It would’ve been easy to get frustrated, especially running on little to no sleep, but we remembered we were safe, warm, and had food and bathrooms! We traveled by planes, trains, and automobiles—all safely—and finished the journey to Poland by train, passing through the Austrian, Czech, and Polish countryside. The snow-covered scenery was beautiful and something we wouldn’t have seen if our flights had gone as planned. Along the way, we enjoyed Austrian food, “authentic Red Bulls,” according to Lissy, and Lee and Izzy even made new friends in their train car. By Sunday afternoon, we hadn’t reached Opole yet, but just being in Poland felt like a huge accomplishment! We are so grateful for the prayers as we continue traveling, meet our Praying Pelicans tour guides, and begin our service tomorrow.

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Poland Blog: Monday

Exciting news! We finally reached Opole Sunday night after two flights and five train rides. We met our Praying Pelican guides, Andrew and Adriana, who were relieved to see the team in such good spirits. They admitted they had been worried about how we would handle the unexpected changes in plans.

We had a devotion from Dr. Truesdale, who reminded us of Romans 8:28 and how it applied to our journey: all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and serve Him. Even though we were exhausted, we took a quick walk to the Polish 7-Eleven for snacks and enjoyed a little stretch after our travels.

Monday morning began with breakfast and orientation. We are blessed to have Andrew as a guide—he has been to Poland many times and knows our ministry partners well. He reminded us that even when things seemed off track, nothing major went wrong. Despite language challenges, we never got on the wrong train, never traveled the wrong way, and no one got left behind. These are small blessings worth thanking God for.

Our morning was full of service. We split into two groups. One group went to Dom Nadziei w Opolu, or House of Hope, a ministry run by Catholic nuns that serves the homeless and needy. They provide meals, toiletries, and shaves. We helped make sandwiches, peel potatoes for pierogies, serve drinks, and talk with the guests. Google Translate was a lifesaver, and music and sports gave us common ground. One man, Richard, shared his black-and-white photographs of his wedding and childhood friends with the girls. Harper said, “We got to meet a man who is Muslim but is open to hearing about Jesus, and we got to pray with him.” Noah Moore noted how a shared meal brings community—guests chatted peacefully, laughed, and enjoyed their food. We were even surprised by a local news crew who filmed and interviewed Andrew and Sr. Aldona for Opole television.

The second group went shopping for items the Sisters requested to restock their supply closet, then met up with the first group to deliver them.

After lunch, we took a walk through Opole and over frozen rivers to Ostoja Church. Pastor Mariusz, a longtime partner of Praying Pelicans, welcomed us as we held VBS for elementary-aged children. We shared the Genesis 1 creation story, did a snake craft, and played plenty of games. After the children left, we set up for youth night, which was full of teenagers who came to play games, hear a devotion from Ephesians 2, and engage in conversation.

Service looks different for everyone and every place. Whether we are making sandwiches, stomping on balloons with kids, or buying men’s socks, God is at work. Tonight, I looked up on the wall in Ostoja Church and saw Romans 8:28 in Polish—a perfect reminder of Dr. Truesdale’s devotion last night.

 

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Poland Blog: Tuesday

Lissy Thelen and Ashlynn Meskimen

This morning we left the hotel to do some tourism of different churches in the area. We went to the Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Holy Trinity Church, Kościół Rzymskokatolicki, and others, and they were all beautiful. The first one mentioned was built in the 15th century and was built on earlier church foundations as old as the 11th century, where they had a glass floor so you could see a very old corner stone. The second one mentioned is a Franciscan church from the 13th century with a crypt containing princes and monks from the original convent. In 1627, the remains of the Piast dynasty were laid there after a Protestant army devastated the church. The last church I mentioned we didn’t get to go in because a priest and some nuns were doing their prayers, but one nun came outside and talked to us for a long time and asked where we came from and all about us. She ended up asking if we wanted to go inside where all of the nuns lived, but she explained a lot of them were sick and resting, so we didn’t disturb them. We were the. able to go to Ostoja Church and put on a VBS for children.

We had seen a flyer for a Epiphany parade that a handful of people wanted to go to: myself, Kaitlyn, Olivia, Noah, Mama Clark, and our Praying Pelicans guide Andrew. When we first got there, there was what sounded like a children’s choir over the loudspeakers and people were passing out crowns and flags for each of the three wisemen. We got some and listened to people sing and give speeches we couldn’t understand until the courtyard filled a lot more than I expected (all taking place in front on the first church). They sang songs I’d heard the tune to, but obviously I didn’t know the words. Soon they cut a path through the crowd and marched up with flags of the three wisemen and a few minutes later Mary and Joseph, the three wisemen, and… dragon dancers?… walked past out of the church courtyard and the crowd followed. They would walk around in a big rectangle making stops at a bunch of different churches, but we only walked until just about the first one, which was at least a mile away. It was so cool to be a part of something like that. By the end of the walk we even knew the lyrics to a couple of the songs, even though we didn’t know what we were singing. 

At night we played games and ate pizza with the older kids from the church, our age, and when Dr. Truesdale gave us our warning to go home, the whole room booed. It was a really great day.

Lissy Thelen

Today we explored Opole, walking through the city and trying new food, but the most meaningful part of the day, and likely of the trip, was our time with the students at Ostoja Church. Ostoja translates to refuge, shelter, or stronghold, and it felt like all three.

In the afternoon, we met with children between ages seven and twelve. We shared a short devotional, made paper crosses, and spent time together in small groups, playing games and getting to know them. After they left, we had a short break before the older students arrived.
When the high school students came, the room immediately filled with energy. We exchanged games, teaching one another the rules and laughing through the language gaps. Later, Nick, Izzy, and Emma Sue, and some of the kids from the church, shared testimonies. Hearing stories from both sides was thoughtful, honest, and very moving.

Saying goodbye to Ostoja Church was much harder than I expected. The people we met were sincere, encouraging, and grounded in their faith in a way that left an impression on all of us. I will continue to remember them in prayer, just as Ephesians 1:16 says: “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers…”

Ashlyn Meskimen

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Poland Blog: Wednesday

Written by the Whole Team 

"After Auschwitz, the human condition is not the same; nothing will be the same." —Elie Wiesel

From our team:
Today was an eye-opening experience that the images online couldn’t show me.

When at Auschwitz, I realized just how eyewitness accounts differ from movies I’ve seen about the Holocaust, and it was really helpful to go there and see it all myself, even though it was hard.

The hardest part of Auschwitz was realizing that its victims were people just like me.

Visiting Auschwitz was a great experience to learn about history, and it really opened my eyes to the rawness of the Holocaust.

There was something so unnerving about walking the same roads years later, when everything has changed, yet still feeling the evil seep through every crevice and crack.

Viewing the shoes left behind by the victims of Auschwitz was impactful, as it provided a glimpse of the sheer number of people that were forced into the concentration camps.

Realizing the brutally cold temperatures that prisoners lived in with almost no clothes was hard, but it also was amazing to think about the fact that the human body God created could survive such horror.

Going to Auschwitz was very hard emotionally, especially seeing all of the hair and the shoes, but it really made me take time to be sympathetic to what they had to go through, especially in the freezing cold.

Auschwitz was a very eye-opening experience, especially when we saw a wall of names of the people that died, one of which even showed that an eight-month-old child was killed after being born in the camp.

This was a very saddening but important experience, which reinforced the importance of never forgetting.

The shoes were very impactful to see because they emphasized the extent of Auschwitz and the number of people that experienced it.

Visiting Auschwitz was an eye-opening experience that taught me to never take what I have for granted.

Auschwitz was so overwhelming and impactful, and seeing the shoes made me realize the true horror of everything that happened, especially the thousands of children’s shoes.

Standing on the very ground where millions of people lost their lives reminded me just how evil man can be and how desperate we are for a Savior.

While in the gas chamber, you could see the scratch marks of the people trying to escape, and it shows the true horror that went on there.

Seeing a concentration camp firsthand, after talking about it in school almost every year, really amplified the severity of what happened.

Today in Auschwitz, we got to learn more about history, see historical buildings, but also pay our respects to the fallen people.

Going to Auschwitz was a very somber experience, but my main takeaway was how blessed we are to live the lives we do.

Walking into the gas chamber at Auschwitz and seeing scratches on the walls was something I will never forget—I couldn’t look at them for more than three seconds.

Going to the camps, you just see the pure evilness of the Holocaust, but when you sit and think on it, it makes you realize the amazing God we have that can bring good from it.

Auschwitz was a real eye-opening experience to see how truly devastating the Holocaust was.

I got to see Auschwitz and somewhat understand the terror that went on there with empathy and respect, but with a sense of peace knowing the God we have.

Today was incredibly eye-opening, as we have learned about the horrors of Auschwitz for a long time, but we had the opportunity to see it firsthand today.

Seeing Auschwitz made me realize all the blessings we have.

I had never heard some of the facts the guide told us, like the fact that we had images of the camps, so in more ways than I knew, leaders overlooked these things and wrongfully viewed the reports of what was happening like it was detached from the war effort.

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Thursday, 1/09

by Ashlynn Meskimen and Olivia Rone

Thursday in Poland felt calmer after the heaviness of yesterday. Our group visited the Kraków salt mines, descending nearly 450 feet underground. Later, we split up; some went to Schindler’s Factory, while others visited a castle and cathedral. I chose the castle, which was impressive on its own, but the cathedral’s stained glass was breathtaking. That evening, we gathered again for dinner and reflected on the moments that stood out to us. The conversations were simple but meaningful. Poland will stay with me, not only for its history and beauty, but for the people who welcomed us throughout the week. —Ashlynn Meskimem

After our group split, a few of us went to Schindler’s Factory, and we had a great time. I learned a lot of the history and facts behind World War II and the Holocaust, which helped me understand Auschwitz and Birkenau more. I would definitely go back there if I had the chance! —Olivia Rone