On Sunday of July’s
Family Camp, Simi Secanska, Nawakwa’s 2018 international counselor, couldn’t
believe her ears. “I thought I was imagining it,” she said, “And then I
realized that I really WAS hearing people speaking Slovak! And there were SO
MANY of them! I haven’t heard this much Slovak in nearly two months!”
There was good reason
for that much Slovak in the middle of Adams County, PA.
It’s been 23 years since Slavka Klimszová and Lucijan Klimsza first came to Nawakwa through the ELCA’s International Camp
Counselor program. Neither was familiar with the strange American ways (made even
stranger in the summer camp setting, where everyone sings about wearing pink
pajamas, the Weiner Man, and the horrific Dunderbeck Sausage Company!) but,
open to the experience, Slavka and Lucijan had a good summer. And it’s not so
surprising that the two of them became close friends, and they eventually
married one another a few years after returning to their homeland.
Campers, peers, and host families remember both Slavka and
Lucijan fondly. In fact, Maggie Ackerman, Slavka’s host mother, refers to
Slavka as her “fourth daughter.” Maggie and her husband Daryl have made
multiple trips to Slovakia to visit, and the Klimsza family, now completed
by two daughters, has twice returned to the States.
This summer’s visit was especially exciting, as Slavka’s
father, Stano, who had heard strange and beautiful tales of the cold
swimming pool, the Upper Temple sunsets, and the pink pajamas, joined the
family at Nawakwa’s July Family Camp. And Family Camp it was! The Ackermans and
the Klimsovas lived in neighboring cabins, and more Ackerman daughters joined
in on the fun.
But wait! There’s more!
Also in camp that week was Pastor Drahus Oslik and his
family. Oslik was an international counselor from Slovakia at Nawakwa in
2000. He had such a positive experience that he returned for a second
summer, in which he began a friendship with Andrea Lindgren, another counselor
from Waynesboro, PA. They’re married now, they have three children, and Drahus
serves the congregation where Andrea grew up!
The Oslik children are frequent campers, and Drahus and
Andrea have served the LCC in multiple summer staff and volunteer capacities.
This summer, they opened their home to Simi (Remember her from the beginning of
this story?) for several weeks, sharing hosting responsibilities with Rudy and
Doris Crider (another frequent host family enlisted by the Ackermans several
years ago).
It was úźasné (that’s Slovak for “awesome”) to see all so many of
our Slovak siblings all together, comparing their Nawakwa experiences and
exploring their many and various connections at home and here in the United
States.
For us, the LCC, the greatest celebration is the many friendships
we have developed throughout the nearly 30 years we have participated in the
ELCA International Camp Counselor Program. International counselors participate
in staff training through the final week of summer camp, serving faithfully
alongside our domestic staff, building Christian community, sharing the
gospel…and singing about pink pajamas.
