Day 5:
Today the morning lesson was on having Feet fitted with the readiness of the Gospel of Peace. Jess led the lesson with the help of David and Jenya illustrating a race with the shoes vs. without the shoes. Then at the beach they had a sandcastle building contest. The two younger wards didn't get too extravagant but the older two went all out. Of course I still think the highlight was this little naked baby (maybe a little older than 1 - and here it is culturally acceptable for toddlers to be nude) came to help out ward 3. Tanya the counselor insisted that I take a picture, but I don't think it is appropriate to post it...maybe after I crop it a little. We also saw dolphins at the beach today. Jenya and Yuri swam out to meet them and got very close, but not enough to actually touch them.
In the afternoon the team went into the city on their excursion (down town and pizza for dinner). However, because I'm an intern I didn't go. Instead I help run interest groups for the kids. I did the manicure station. But they also had the choice of Soccer, Friendship Bracelets, Ping Pong, and Mega Volleyball (Same as regular volleyball with a 4 foot ball). After this the kids practiced for the talent show, which was later in the evening.
After dinner we had the talent show. The International team sang Our God is an Awesome God, we chose the song because they also know it in Russian, although we did not attempt it in Russian. The kids did many different things. We had an Eastern Dance, Hip Hop Dance, a couple skits, a poem, and a couple songs, if I remember correctly. Performances are a big part of this culture, and even though the kids we work with do not have much, often they bring costumes or outfits specifically for a performance.
After this we did a craft, that we titled "Foam Fun with Bo" but it really was with Marianna who did the directions: However After setting up this craft soon got the title "Naked Baby's" Partially with respect to the beach incident. This craft was basically like paper dolls with craft foam, and we had to make sure each of the unclothed foam people, had a shirt, pants, shoes, and hair. About half way through the set up we realized that maybe it was important that they had a right and left shoe, and that maybe the black children shouldn't have blond hair. The set up took 3 to 4 times as long as the craft, and gave us many odd conversations like Sarah saying to me, "Naomi, give me your pants." and "This table only has shirtless kids." that taken out of context, gave us hours of laughter. (I think however that things are getting much more hilarious as camp goes on and we are more and more tired.)
Day 6:
Marianna did the bible lesson on the Shield of Faith. She did a great job and often I forget that she is only 13 (younger than some of our campers.) We attempted to fly kites at the sea. But their wasn't much wind, so it really became a bunch of kids running around with the kites, and clotheslining other children. A man on the beach who had been drinking a little too much (Yes, it is still 10 am) decided to help our kids get the kites flying. He was trying to speak to me in Russian but the kids told him "She doesn't understand because she is American." At which point he said, "Oh, it is Naomi." I think maybe I have been here too much when the random people on the beach know my name. I was a little freaked out, later Jenya and Yuri told him that he needed to leave - there was almost a fight, but by God's grace the man backed down and walked away. (Life here is never boring.)
In the afternoon we did craft because it was too hot to do much else. The kids made bead lizards. This entire camp we have had two of our oldest boys not do any of the crafts, but this one they quickly sat down and started working. I was so surprised that we actually found something that they wanted to do. After craft they played 3 rounds of Sardines. And in the evening we did a movie. The special treat with the movie was that we did it inside to stay away from the misquitos, but because it gets so hot in the dinning room, they turned the airconditioning on. (This is the first time I have ever seen the airconditioning on in the dining room - I really just think they are used only for heat in the winter.)
Day 7:
This morning we were going to do the salvation message, but we were playing a short video clip to set the stage, and this is difficult to do in the bright light of the late morning. So instead we went to the sea for the entire morning. Each ward got their normal time in the sea. And then we played some relay games on the beach and later they got more time in the water. They enjoyed the games very much, but I think Tanya the lifeguard likes them even more.
In the afternoon we played Biffer again. This is the one game kids ask to repeat again and again. Then we did the salvation message after dinner. David spoke after playing a short video, followed by prayer, and then the children had some time to talk with their counselors if they had more questions. Many of the team members also followed up with the kids during bedtime stories. My girls continued to ask a number of questions. A few have given their life to Christ in the past, but most have not. In many you can see God planting seeds and watering them so they will grow, but they haven't yet made the choice to follow Christ. Please pray that God continues to work in the live of these children and that in His precious and perfect timing His kingdom will grow.
The craft this evening was Pom Pom Creatures, in which the kids had a contest to make things out of pom poms, pipe cleaners, feathers, and google eyes. The creativity of these kids amazes me time and time again!
Day 8:
I have been helping out more and more with some of the behind the scenes things to do. I have been working on the slide show for the last day, as well as helping with the Camp Store, and helping write emails (translation - sort of; more like a grammar check) and I'm working on a testimony for the Hope Center Website. All these things take me away from the things in camp. So I don't have a lot of detail on some of the following things, but this is what I know.
It has been very hot. Tanya said that at 10am it was 42 degrees Celsius. That is 107 degrees Fahrenheit. So we went to the sea directly after breakfast to come up earlier instead of in the heat of the day. We plan on doing the same thing again tomorrow. At the sea today the kids were going to make sea creatures, but because of the switch this information wasn't clearly told to them. So I don't know to what extent this happened. Then after the sea time, Tim did the Bible lesson on the Sword of the Spirit.
In the afternoon we did interest groups again, where the kids get to chose what they want to do. And the government invited our oldest kids to a festival in the city. They picked them up after an early dinner and didn't bring them back until 9:15. I'm told it was very hot, but it was very interesting. I didn't get to go with so I'll try to get more details and let you know later. The rest of the kids did a Tic Tac Toe craft and watched a movie. (Things that are easy to do in this heat, because the kids do not get any relief from the heat as they don't have air conditioning - and heat stroke is something to be cautious of.)
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