Hope. Poland & Auschwitz.

The best advice I've received on this whole trip perhaps was from a friend, Philipe, I made on the train to Krakow. He noticed my wounded feelings in response to the hostility of the Polish waiter and urged me to not take personally the general blunt attitude of the Poles. The Viennese are moderate, conservative and quiet. After expressing my frustration with trying to adapt to this European lifestyle vs. trying to stay true to myself in a place where my personality doesn't exactly fit in, he encouraged me to "Be yourself no matter where you are." Minus some volume control adjustments, I'm overjoyed to shamelessly be exactly who God made me to be!


This past weekend, the group traveled to Krakow, Poland and visited the largest German concentration camp during WWII. There’s a lot already that I’ve written regarding our experience at Auschwitz. For a quick summary though, it is unimaginable what happened there. Completely overwhelming emotions of guilt, sadness, conviction, heart ache, compassion, and disbelief surrounded me. The main point that has resonated within me from this experience is to learn to love others in a way that reflects God's love for us. I want to hurt when others hurt and to suffer with others when they are suffering. This semester is teaching me a lot about God’s character and creating the theme of "Humility before the Mystery." In bible class on Monday, we had a lesson on Psalm 44, also known as the "Holocaust Psalm" because it parallels the conditions of His chosen people throughout this tragic period in time. The Jewish people responded to the Holocaust by calling on God for mercy, letting go of all of the questions and struggles they were faced with and leaving them at the feet of the King - trying to hope in His promises. From a secular viewpoint, there's no hope to be seen from the Holocaust, but rather despair. Part of this psalm of disorientation, Psalm 44, is quoted in Romans 8: 36. Dr. Hicks made the point that "You are never going to figure out how much you are loved by how good life is to you. If you do try to measure it this way, you'll always be disappointed." He then directed us to the verses Romans 8:37-39, that follows the quote from Psalm 44, and it says,

 "No, in all these things we are more than conquerers through him who loved us. 

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, 

will be able to separate us from the love of God 

that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

THIS is how we see God's love for us. You can't doubt the love in Christ Jesus.

Dr. Hicks concluded our lesson with, "Don't let appearance mask reality." Our circumstances are the appearance. Jesus is the reality. There is our hope. As the saying goes, "At Auschwitz, the birds don't sing." The birds were singing at Auschwitz when we visited... I think of that as one of God's many signs of hope.

• Welcome to Krakow, Poland!!

•  Eating Georgian food!

•  Some amazingggg hot chocolate - tasted like hot brownie batter. 

•  Auschwitz II - Birkenau

•  Hitting up yet another hot chocolate hot spot!

•  We took a horse carriage ride all around the main historical marks in Krakow!

•  Beautiful architecture of Krakow

•  I found Izaak Stern's name at the Schindler's museum. Izaak Stern was Oskar Schindler's Jewish accountant who helped organize the "Schindler's List" and saved the lives of 1,200 Jewish people from the Holocaust. 

• Some of us took an adventure to the famous salt mine in Wieliczka, Krakow to see the largest underground cathedral and many more interesting things... we may have licked a salt wall or two.

Well, this week has presented lost and found keys (Thank you God!! We would have had to pay 200 euro had it been lost), sickness that gets better each day, Kimmy's yummy chicken and rice and stir fry veggies, 4 hours of laundry today, my last taste of schokolade und vanille gelato from Tichy Eis, AND a travel itinerary plan to jump on a train to Bled, Slovenia tomorrow after school and end up in Venice, Italy by Saturday!! Now, THAT is something to look forward to!! Well, that's all for now folks!

Sending my love!! 

Lacy 



Romans 15:13
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, 
so that you may overflow with hope by the power 
of the Holy Spirit!"