DAYS 9-11: PUBS, CLUBS, and...HIGHSCHOOLS

We headed back to Żary for a few days, where we visited high schools in the daytime and each group took turns playing sets in the main local venues: Pub Max, Club Havana, and Cegla Brickhouse. Many students and others came to the venues after being invited at school earlier in the day, and then they returned each night to hang out and talk with us. Overall, they were pretty surprised that a) Americans were visiting their little town, and b) that we were interested in them. They said that they've occasionally had American artists come into town for concerts, but they never stick around to talk or show interest. After 3 days of good times and hanging out, one kid who had become friends with Zae, our hip-hop artist, asked him, "So, why do you want to spend time hanging out with us?" Zae said, "Because of Jesus! He loves you, and so I want you to know him" (or something to that effect).

The younger generation in Poland is so willing to talk about faith. It's as if they've just been waiting for someone with genuine faith to come along and talk about what it means. Since nearly everyone is Poland is Catholic, religion and discussion about God is a normal part of life. But the students seem to be aware that something is missing. Several times, when talking about how our faith in Jesus was what brought us to Poland--because that's what our music is about, and we wanted to share both with them--we heard the response, "Faith can really affect my daily life??" 

On Friday, the mayor of Zary invited us to City Hall, where he first met Richard, to take photos with us and present us each with gifts. And then he carted us off to his stables--among the largest private stables in Poland--to try our hands at riding his many beautiful horses. (Inexperienced though we were.)

Here's a little video clip from one of our highschool visits: you'll hear a student band playing music in the bleachers while we mingled and/or played pickup sports in the gym.