An American Volunteer In Krakow: A WYD Story

Cecilia Pigg

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Single Living

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July 25th, 2016

23

Rachel Lanz is a recent graduate from Benedictine College, and calls Colorado home. She was gracious enough to share her experience volunteering in Poland for World Youth Day with me.

 

You are working for World Youth Day! That sounds awesome!  But what does that mean exactly?

Yes, I am working for the Archdiocese of Krakow’s Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for World Youth Day in the Communications Department on the International Social Media team...wow, that’s a mouth full! And I have been here since March.

Working on an international social media team has been an eye opener. When you have to share the message of WYD with the world and think about 22 languages with multiple time zones, it definitely stretches your mind to think globally every day.

 

How did you find out about this opportunity?

It honestly just fell into my lap. Before I graduated college I was thinking about all the possibilities for what I could do after college, and volunteering for WYD was one of them. I’ve never been to a WYD or met anyone who was a WYD volunteer in the past, but that didn’t stop me from looking into it.

It was a gut feeling of mine that I needed to volunteer for WYD, so I just kept sending emails and my resume to the Local Organizing Committee until one day I got a response back asking for an interview. It was all God, I didn’t plan a thing.

 

 Who do you work with? Where are they from?

A 4th of July party I threw for the volunteers

Well I work with a lot of different people and nationalities which has been an experience in and of itself. But my core team consists of four people from Brazil, one from Costa Rica and one from Poland.

However, we communicate with volunteers from all over the world to help with our international Facebook and Twitter pages.

Sometimes when I’m in the office I stop what I’m doing and realize that there are five different conversations happening around me each in a different language.

And somehow, all of us from all over the world got chosen to drop everything and move to Krakow to work on one mission, WYD. I get so excited just talking about it! It’s truly amazing to be a part of.

 

Is this your first time in Poland? Tell me a little bit about it.  

I did travel to Krakow when I studied abroad with Benedictine College, so this is my second time here.

But let me tell you, studying abroad and living abroad are completely different.

Studying abroad was just a taste of different cultures, but with living abroad, I really had to adjust my entire lifestyle to how Polish people travel, speak, eat, etc.

I have eaten a lot of meat and potatoes, and the Polish language is very challenging! But like I said with my work, I am exposed to many different languages. So after a while, Polish is a relief to try and decipher sometimes.

But what strikes me most about the people here is how much they honor their history and traditions and really carry that with them through life. It brings a certain depth to their culture and lifestyle that, in my opinion, is hard to find in the United States.

 

What is being Catholic in Poland like for you?

From Polish eyes, being Catholic in Poland is a given. But from American eyes, coming from a more Protestant country, being Catholic in Poland is very unique. I think that over the years, I’ve understood that being a Catholic, and let alone practicing it, I fit into a minority.

But here, Catholicism is in the Polish people’s blood.

A testimony I gave at a local Polish parish

Most of their public holidays are centered around the Church and they even take Catholic religion classes in their public schools.

These people grow up in a Catholic community from birth and I can see them living their faith in their day to day lives, like praying the rosary in the bus for example. Of course there is a handful of youth who reject their Catholic roots, but in general, I would definitely say that Catholicism is thriving in Poland.

I am grateful to experience living in a place where most of the people share the same mentality as I do, it makes being Catholic easy here. However, because of this reason there are not as many opportunities for me to have challenging conversations and debates about my beliefs, and for me, that is how I grow in my faith the most.

 

What other World Youth Days have you been to? 

Believe it or not this is my first World Youth Day ever! Unfortunately, my first experience of WYD will not be as a pilgrim, but I don’t mind because I have been able to experience another side of WYD that many don’t have the opportunity to.

I understand that WYD is so much more than just five days; there is a lot of preparation behind it.

And so for me, WYD started when I arrived in March and I already can see how being a part of the WYD family has changed my life.

 

Tell me one of your favorite stories from your life in Poland so far.

Oh man, there are so many stories of things I have done that I don’t even remember them sometimes! But, I will share one of the most recent.

WYD flags at a Corpus Christi procession

There are many Catholic celebrations, devotions and pilgrimages that Polish people do that are normal to them but for me are so uncommon.

In Czestochowa for example, the image of the Black Madonna is revealed three times a day for people to admire and pray in front of, and then they sing a special song when she is concealed.

So last week, I took a bus to Czestochowa after work with the LOC to have a special adoration with her.

We arrived there at 9 pm to unite in this special song and then the Black Madonna was kept revealed for us volunteers to have praise and worship on the altar right below the image. It was very intimate, just us and the Black Madonna, asking for her protection over WYD and over all of us.

We finished with mass and the formal “goodbye” of the Black Madonna at 2 am.

Yes, you read that right, 2 AM! “Who does that?!”

I kept thinking to myself, “who travels to a national shrine after a long day's work mid-week to pray for WYD and arrive back home at 4 am?”

Well, the Polish do because they are so passionate about their faith and their trust in God’s work in their life. I love my sleep very much so for me, this was a moment I probably would not have done on my own. And this is also one example of how I really threw myself into their culture.

Any closing thoughts?

Overall, I would say that the people I have met along the way has been my favorite thing about working for WYD and the relationships that I have formed that I know I will have for the rest of my life. They have truly become another family to me.

We work together, live together, travel together, cry together, laugh together and pray together.

I have learned so much from every single individual, and they have helped me grow in many ways. I got to see life and my faith through different cultures and nationalities, and it has stretched and broadened my perspectives farther than I ever thought could happen in five months' time.

It’s an amazing experience that I can carry for the rest of my life and I don’t take it for granted. Like I said, this was all God’s doing in my life, and I just followed.

And now I can say I have family all over the world.