By Teresa Lopez.
Four students travelled to Poland to help plan a soccer camp in Poland for Ukrainian refugees. The stress of getting everything in order combined with the compassion for helping people mixed well enough to help them book that flight to Poland and get to scoring a memorable experience with the refugees.
The LYNAY (Love Your Neighbor as Yourself) program at Abilene Christian University emphasizes the importance of helping others, shared co-director Jason Morris .
“With the war in Ukraine I wanted to see if there was an opportunity to serve Ukrainian children that were forced to leave because of the war, and I knew a lot of them went across the border into Poland,” Morris said. “I then made a connection with an organization named (Love Does) , an organization in Poland. They set up a school for Ukrainian refugees and asked them if they’d like a soccer camp and they loved the idea. It took about nine months to plan, work out details, rent a soccer field, and we even conducted a VBS out there for the younger kids.”
The war in Ukraine has caused an estimated 5.9 million people to be displaced by the war and caused families to be separated.
“If I could describe the experience in one word it would be life changing,” junior Keeley Aston said. “We were in Poland for a week and it changed how I look at schools and opportunities we have in America.”
The international camp came about for the good of others and LYNAY’s work helped give the kids a moment to connect with the others.
“The experience was really good,” junior Alexa Lubanga said. “Sometimes we see refugees like they just take but they are really giving. The experience was eye-opening and they were really talented.”
Heading there was a little rough according to junior Noah Morris.
“We all met at the Dallas airport and flew into Germany and it was probably the longest flight of my life,” Noah said. “The hardest part of the trip was probably the language barrier, but the affection and love I got to show them and they showed me is something that forever changed my life.”
One last thing Jason Morris wanted to emphasize after the week-long trip was how important it is to act on what you believe is important.
“Find the things you’re interested in and take action.” Morris shared. “The world is more malleable than you think. Don’t be afraid to make a difference in the world.”
Additional information about the program can be found at www.play4morrissoccer.com and to read more about the trip visit; https://acu.edu/2023/08/03/lynay-students-staff-volunteer-with-ukrainian-refugee-children-in-poland/