Slowakwa-Navakia: An International Family Camp Celebration

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.