Pantomiming Across Poland: Article 4

After 10 days of preparing, we had our first performance at Camp Eden in Ocwieka on August 11^th. We arrived at the camp in time for lunch and I got to see Russ and Doris, whom I had not seen since first going to Bydgoszcz. It was interesting as the time drew nearer for our performance. While, I felt I knew all my parts well, we had only run through the whole thing three times and only once with lighting and full music which were a good portion of our cues. I also had never been in full costume or knew how to do my makeup. There were many reasons to feel anxious, but as my face began to get covered in stage makeup and I heard all the excitement resonating from the Polish voices, I too began to feel excitement.
In a little more than twenty minutes we were done with our performance of “Sen Lalkarza.” In those twenty minutes my love for acting was awakened again and was reminded that every little action can and does affect the future and the lives around. In twenty minutes you can give someone a memory, a lesson, a promise, a new perspective, a goal, and a hope. And while Camp Eden was filled with those already following Christ, I realized in twenty minutes we reminded them of the great love and sacrifice that God gave for us. It was also in these few minutes that I realized we were ready to go into Poland with this simple, but great truth.

That night we returned to Bydgoszcz and the following day, after church, we went to a local amphitheater in a nearby park. We set up for a Polish musical called “Puzzle,” and yes, it means the same as our word “puzzle.”  The musical is about a little girl who is angry with her friends for not wanting to play with her. She overhears that a toy box of new toys has just been set down next to a large puzzle and she comes up with a plan to steal some of the toys to make her friends jealous of her. When she opens up the toy box there are no ordinary toys inside it. One at a time each one comes alive and they help to solve the puzzle while slowly changing her life’s view. With each puzzle piece the toys reveal, more of the gospel is presented to the many kids who were at the amphitheater. At the end of it all, Misha, the girl, gave her life to Jesus with an opportunity for all in the crowd to join her.

“Puzzle” was one performance I was not able to be in since it involved mouthing Polish, and I am not able to do that. J There was more than just acting that we did during our ministry, though. Each place we set up we did one or both of the dramas and also had some form of music performance to go with it. The usual set list was “Puzzle,” musical interlude (either some Polish rappers or some live Christian music), a testimony or two, and every time, but once, we ended with “Sen Lalkarza.” At one city we ended the evening with a fire show that included dancing on stilts while fighting with fire. I never became that good on stilts and the idea of being on them with fire frightened me, so during this performance I was in charge of putting out the fires that were no longer in use.
When we didn’t have the Polish rappers I played the piano for the singers during the music time. A couple times I even got to sing some English songs. One such song that I am proud to say got some of the singers to translate into Polish was “Break Every Chain” by United Pursuit Band.

After singing I gave a testimony that was translated by one of my friends, Konrad. After giving a testimony, I realized why God wanted me in Poland. Because of the language barrier there were times I was confused as to what my purpose really was. As I stood on the stage in Szczecinek I realized my younger years were filled with the same struggles as many of these people. Being brought up in a pre-reformation form of Catholicism, many of the Polish people have a faith based on fear and on works and how much you can give to get out of Purgatory. Similarly, most of my teen years were filled with me trying to earn the favor of God. I was able to quote and say that Christ was my salvation and that I’m saved by grace and faith, but I didn’t believe it. As I explained how God taught me of His love and His plan of salvation and His freedom, I could see a few faces in the crowd very intrigued by my story. I don’t know how much came from it, but I know that God used that time and I was greatly honored.
So during this time of ministry there was lots learned, lots given, lots received, lots of tiredness, life of excitement and energy, lots of friend making, and lots of growing. So many stories I could tell from these times. Stories that include the fun of dressing like a clown in order to get people’s attention, the stress and growth that came of a friend being hospitalized, the few confirmed salvation stories, the many kids that loved to play tag, or barak, and many funny little happenings that came upon us every day. There are a lot more lessons I could share with you. There are a lot more friends I’d like to introduce you to. Maybe now that you know much of the basics from my time in Poland, I will be able to share all this with you.