The coach from the city of Warsaw, 3 hours away, trundled into the village with the 50 children and teenagers who were taking part in the camp. 14 of them from the orphanage in Marwica and the others being from disadvantaged homes in and around the capital Warsaw. For most of these young people this camp was the only chance they had of having any vacation. Alongside the children were Polish group leaders, to look after the kids and to keep from trouble, for some a easier job than others.  Another important part of the group were the American volunteers from Destiny who organised the various activities and events.

The theme of the camp was the “Olympic Games” , in a way the camp was like a mini Olympic Games itself, with athletes (the campers) judges and referees (the Polish carers) and trainers and coaches (the American team). The Olympic Village where we all stayed was the dormitories of a special school in the village.

There was of course an opening ceremony where everyone introduced themselves. Of course the focus of the Olympics is on super-human strength, the campers were told that the focus of this camp would be the super-human strength of our God. All sports have manuals and rule books to teach competitors how to get stronger and compete better. At our camp our training manual was the Bible, every person at the camp received a Polish copy of the New Testament published by “Athletes in Action” complete with a number of testimonies written by famous athletes and sportspeople from all over the world. All sporting occasions have a special theme song, and ours was no different. Our theme song concentrated on how we wanted our campers to become spiritually stronger. “Read your Bible and pray every day….if you want to grow” which everyone learnt at the camp in both Polish and English.   

Then it was time to let the games begin. For the next five days there was a busy schedule. In the morning there were various activities that groups got involved in. Everyone enjoyed the basketball coaching and practice that was given by the Upward Basketball Group. The older boys group enjoyed learning and performing Karate moves by  Tyra Lockey, herself a black belt. The girls groups enjoyed the craft activities and rhythmic gymnastics i.e. dancing. The youngest boys group also liked listening to Bible stories about one lion wrestler who killed a giant with a well aimed shot put…David.

After the athletes kept their strength up by eating lunch it was time in the afternoon to move to the outdoor pool (lake) for more activities. Swimming and sailing in a pedalo were popular pastimes as well as resting in the sun. Indeed if sandcastle building was an Olympic sport some of our group would have no trouble in getting gold medals.

There was also the evening meetings. This was the time that the girls groups presented the dances that they had learnt, and the older boys group showed how much karate skills they had picked up in a few days. One evening the group watched spellbound as a group “Son Bound” did some demonstration sports which included basketball and soccer tricks. Another evening there were performances to Christian music using sign language, by “Sign-Art Ministries” . Yet another time there was juggling and other street entertainments. There was also the Olympic flame, not a torch, but a fire to roast sausages over. Just as important to all these evening activities there was also the message of God’s love shared through powerful testimonies and stories given by the American team, which challenged the young people at the camp more than watching a guy balance a chair on his chin, or someone bouncing basketballs whilst doing press-ups, as mentioned before God was the focus of everything at the camp.

During a sporting occasion it is important for team-mates to regularly meet up with their trainers and coaches to discuss their progress and difficulties. It was similar in our camp where we had smaller groups, 4 or 5, who could talk freely with their Polish leaders and American friends about what they had learnt from God that day. During the times the small groups met there were powerful examples of ministry, discipleship, praying and sharing together and also personal questions answered.

Of the camp there are two particular memories that I will hold close to. Saturday morning was a mini-Olympic games with lots of daft games and activities which kept every group amused for hours. These included a water-balloon catapult,  ice cream eating competitions, basketball shooting among lots and lots of others. It all meant that at the end of the morning almost everybody was wet, tired and had ice cream smeared all over their chins.

However the second memory for me is much more powerful. Always from the beginning God was at the focus of everything we did at the camp, the young people had come to realise that this marvellous God that they had heard so much about was also relevant for them. That this loving God wanted to be part of their lives too. Towards the end of the camp the President of the Polish Baptist Union, Andrzej Seweryn, who was leading the evening meeting made a challenge to the young people. He asked all those who wanted Jesus to touch their heart to come forward, thirty teenagers and children stepped forward, and more made a decision to follow Jesus later. That evening there were many tears of joy as these young people accepted Jesus as their friend and saviour. So that was the Barycz Olympic Camp of 2004, unfortunately we didn’t have any 24 carat gold medals to hang around the young people’s necks. However many of them left the camp with something far more precious, the love of God in their hearts.