I walked into a room in Piešt’any, Slovakia, along with Ted, a photographer. Chairs crowded around tables on the gray, slippery-when-wet floor reveal this to be a typical cafeteria. Quietly, we moved to the back of the room, near folding metal doors that would later roll up to offer hot food.

About 40 people, all but one younger than us, sit around simple tables with black and white checkered table cloths. This group staffs the Cru SpeakOut camp.

A SpeakOut camp brings together four groups of people: Slovak volunteers, Cru staff members and interns (including Slovaks and visiting Americans), American summer mission team members and high-school age campers. Typically, the campers are not yet Christ-followers; they attend the camp to learn conversational English, while the other groups teach English as a way to build relationships with the campers and share the gospel.

Each morning, campers learn English slang and vocabulary, including words that will help them understand the gospel as the week passes. Each afternoon, they meet in small groups where the gospel is explained in different ways by Slovak volunteers and visiting Americans. Evenings bring fun activities, like American culture night, featuring hamburgers cooked on a charcoal grill and a late-night talk show spoof.

Ted and I came here to tell the stories of three of the Slovak volunteers in a future issue of Cru Storylines™. Tomaš (Toe-MAHSH) came to know Christ as a camper at SpeakOut last summer after his freshman year in high school. He’s a student journalist, and was eager to work with Ted and me and to talk about journalism. Five boys from his high school came to camp together last year, and they started a Bible study at school and have grown in faith over the last year.

Matej (MAH-tee-ay), one of Tomaš’ classmates who came to Christ during camp last year and his closest friend, also returned as a volunteer. A bit more subdued and introspective as he talks, his ready grin shows joy. He stands out as the tallest boy at camp.

Miška (MEESH-kah), a university art student, returned for her fifth SpeakOut camp. She came to Christ as a camper in 2012, then served as a volunteer in 2013, 2016 and 2017. Thoughtful and quiet, she doesn’t seem outgoing, but she’s an exuberant storyteller. (In the photo above, Matej in on the far left, Miška is next to him in red and Tomaš is on the left. Their discipleship group is meeting in the corner of a storage room—note the bags of supplies on the left side.)

Thank you for praying for my trip. We gathered a plethora of information and photos. And thanks for praying for Anne Marie’s studies. She completed both classes, earning two A grades.

Over the next few weeks, please pray that God will be glorified in the story as I write about what He is doing in Slovakia. We’re grateful for your prayers and partnership with us.

– Mark –