Here We Go! Summer 2011!

I just looked at the calendar and it says that today is the 14th of July. WHAT??? Really? How'd THAT happen? I've been waiting for about nine months (the end of last year's camp season!) for THIS year's camp season and now it is almost here and I really can't believe it! I leave in TWO DAYS?? Seriously??? I am in disbelief. For whatever reason, it doesn't feel REAL yet. But, nonetheless, come Saturday at 7am, I will be on my way back to Lunca Bradului for the first couple weeks of camp!

If you get my prayer letter (and I'm assuming if you're reading this, you probably do!), you have the line up of camps for the summer, so I won't repeat it all. I just wanted to quickly write about our first couple of weeks and let you know how they are shaping up and how you can specifically pray with us and be involved in this way.

On Saturday we leave for a week of camp with two churches: Alfa Omega and Cer Deschis. We're expecting 60-65 "campers", who will mostly be young adults (some are even married) From what we can tell, only about 30% are believers, which presents us with an awesome opportunity, but also gives us GREAT motivation for prayer. We saw especially last year that Satan really attacks us when there is a battle for souls, and so we need God's protection and help as we head into this week. This is also the first time that we've worked with these churches in a camp setting, and that means the week will be a little more difficult as we learn more about them, and they learn more about us and our way of doing camp. So pleas pray that we will work well with these churches. Please pray also for our counselors especially; that they will LOVE their campers unconditionally, and that they will be pro-active in having spiritual conversations with them. Our goal for this week is to "bust" many popular myths about God, His Word, eternity and the Christian life. I'm excited about this week and what God will do, but also think it will be a difficult week in many ways.

After our campers leave on Saturday, our Core Team will get back in Hillary (our team van...she has quite the personality. She even has her own Facebook account!) and head for the border! Our next camp will be in Ukraine. There's still actually quite a bit of planning that needs to happen for this week (we seem to work better under pressure!) and even though we've gone to visit a few times, we haven't held a camp here before (although some of our teammates did last summer). We are, however, still looking for and praying about finding two more quy counselors. Please pray with us. Guys are just really hard to find this summer. Our goal for this week is to give to give the campers a better idea of who Jesus is, and how they can walk with them. Most are from very conservatives churches and know what it looks like outwardly to be a Christian, but need a better understanding how how to have a real RELATIONSHIP with Him. Please pray with us for these teenagers.

So that's what the next two weeks look like. After that, we'll come home. I'll have two weeks off before the next camp, so my roommates and I are taking a "Happy 26th Birthday to Kristie" trip to London (where I WILL eat Chipotle!) and Dublin for about a week. Then, we'll have three more weeks of camp!

Thanks so much for your prayers before camp (as we finish preparing!), during camp, and after camp. It is a blessing to know that we aren't alone, and that others are praying, even as we sleep! What a cool thing that is! :)

Super Superhero Week

And just like that, the VBS whirlwind has come and gone! It has hard to believe after all the planning, purchasing, preparing, and praying it is OVER! It was a fun week. I know WE learned a lot and I think the kids did, too.

One of the major issues going into the week was what the weather would do. Since we were holding VBS at the Botanical Gardens, rain wasn't really an option. We learned not to trust weather.com (seriously, it was exactly OPPOSITE of what they said almost every day!), but even though we had at least some rain three out of the five days, God gave us good trees, a few tents, and (for one especially rainy day), access to the church so we wouldn't all get sick and die. (That might be a slight exaggeration.)

Our group of kids wasn't huge (between 12-19 everyday), but it was great to see them learn and have fun doing it. They're such little sponges at that age! On the last day, as the Gospel was presented, it was so cool to see them listening and learning...and repeating things they learned earlier in the week. Please pray that God's Word will continue to take root in these little hearts. They're so small (4-7 years old), but I believe (WE believe!) that they really can understand and choose to follow Christ!

Other highlights:


*The totally awesome teens from the church that gave their week to help us! They were so sweet and patient with the kids, and the children loved them! Some of them are already involved in children's ministry at the church, but I'm praying that others will desire to be, too. They were great to work with and we really couldn't have done it without them.

*I was thankful again this week for the team that God has put my on and their willingness to serve...and their flexibility. With all the weather issues and constant changes, it could have been a tense situation. But it wasn't. Oh, and also...they're all super talented. I mean seriously. Some of THE most talented people I know. Love them.

*Seeing the kids run around in capes with smiles on their faces. How cute is that?!?


*The superheroes! They were HILARIOUS and totally rocked. I wrote the scripts but they made them work and were fantastic. I told them it was like seeing my imaginary friends come to life. The kids loved them, and (I think!) it helped them learn.

*Getting to speak more Romanian, having actual conversations, and not caring if every word wasn't perfect. I also had my first "I was speaking Romanian and didn't realize it!" moment! That was weird, but cool!

As much as I DO love organizing and keeping things going, I was reminded again this week how much I miss getting to actually be with the kids. I miss playing with them and talking with them and taking care of them. But that isn't my role here. There are other people who can and should do that. This is our goal: not to do it all ourselves, but to set other people up to succeed. And it is great to see that happen.

So those are some of the highlights. It was a good week. There are things I learned, things WE learned, and I know that we'll make changes in the future. But God was very gracious and faithful and answered our prayers.