Library Program Update

Library Updates (Heidi Dawson)

Tuesday July 2

Tuesday, our second day with the library program, was a great success! This time we went to the library in Petrinja and Rock & Sharon presented about NASA to 19 people (4 kids and 15 adults). Rock had multiple demonstrations (including some telescopes he made) to go with the presentation, which quickly captivated the audience! After the presentation, Rock showed the kids (and big kids!) how to make straw rockets. Rock was even interviewed by the local radio station! Everyone had a great time and the librarians were so thrilled to have us back for a second year!

Wednesday July 4

Wednesday started off very rainy, but thankfully the weather cleared up for our outdoor library programs. 26 kids showed up to the first program and 2 showed up to the second program. The kids were much more eager to get started on their challenge as they created burrows to help protect displaced hedgehogs (fondly named Mike, Greg, and Tiffany). Since we only had a small group of two at the suburb library, the librarians there teamed up and participated in the challenge as well! At the end they surprised us with a tea candle and ice cream for the Fourth of July! It always amazes year after year when the people here go out of their way to make us feel at home and loved during our country’s holiday.

Thursday July 5

Thursday evening we went back to the Petrinja library, and this time Debbie gave a presentation about Washington D.C.  After "calling an audible" (we left the craft at HiS House and Heidi had to drive all the way back to Sisak to retrieve the bag!) God showed his amazing hand with the timing of Heidi's return.  Just as the presentation was ending, Heidi walked in with the missing bag and we were able to complete the presentation as intended.  The kids, librarians and parents all enjoyed creating "Spy Decoders."  The first to break the secret code won a HiS PRINT tee shirt!

 

Friday July 6

Our last day of the Sisak STEM programs was a huge success! The rain came in the morning but stayed away for the outdoor program. I have been battling a migraine the last few days, and I was struggling to find motivation for my final presentation of the week. While we were setting up for the program I saw Lili, a former Sisak librarian, coming down the road to say hi on her way to work in Zagreb. Seeing her smile and speaking broken English and Croatian back and forth brought tears to our eyes, gave me the energy to present, and reminded me why we come here year after year. The programs that we present are fun, engaging, and educational, but that’s not why we spend our summers in Croatia and its neighboring countries. We come because of people like Lili.  We come with open arms and to embrace those in our pathway. Lili has always been one of our greatest supporters in the library and at the carnival. We’ve loved on her for years and to see her go out of her way to support us at her former workplace was so encouraging. Often we lose touch with people as their jobs take them further away from Sisak, but to know our impact is still reaching Lili was beyond uplifting.

Each day the kids participate in the STEM program, they grow more and more excited about each challenge. I’ve also seen students grow in confidence. They’re so proud of their accomplishments, and they’re also less afraid to make mistakes. I worked hard to reinforce the idea that no project is ever complete and no project is ever a failure. As the kids tested each project they learned that there was always something they did that was really good and there was always something that they could improve. Seeing the kids embrace those ideas was very exciting, and I can’t wait to build upon this program next year!

God reminded me of another lesson at the library today--the power of invitation. This year’s group of library kids was young and mostly new arrivals. It’s exciting to see all the new faces, but we always miss our regulars from past years. As the week went on, I realized we hadn’t seen or heard from one of our regular attenders, Fran. I sent a quick text and immediately heard back from him saying he’d come to the library! We had a great time catching up and talking during some errands after the program ended. Throughout the trip I often refer to HiS Print funds as “HiS money”. Fran overheard me saying this and asked me what I meant by that. I explained to him how God has a purpose for money and when we seek out His plans we can use our money to bless others. Fran was very surprised that money could be used in that way and that God cares about how we spend our money. We had a great conversation and seeds were definitely planted!