Camp 4 Day 1-2

Camp has started! We have about about 102 children. And they are so excited to be here.

My role has changed a little bit this camp. We have a very qualified team of 20 people. So less help is needed to run the programing of camp. I help out with camp whenever I'm free. However I also have been helping the staff of Hope Center in a number of administrative way.

The day before camp started I helped with all the passport documents, and practiced my Russian Numbers (they are the same, but some numbers look a little different. 1's have the top flag, and 9's look like g's).

Then on day 1 I worked on writing my testimony about Hope Center. It will be translated into Russian and then posted on the Hope Center Website for both the Russian and English version. However since the English Version isn't up and running yet. Here is what I said.

How do I even begin to tell the story of how Hope Center has impacted my Life? Do you have a few hours? No?! Well I’ll do my best to sum it up, but this can’t really do the whole story justice.

I am a teacher and have my summers free, which gives me freedom to use my summers to serve God in a unique way. In 2004, I felt God’s calling to go on a missions trip. I specifically told God that I wasn’t going to work with kids (after all, I work with them all year round), but He had another plan in mind and sent me to work at Hope Center Ukraine for one of the summer camps. I fell in love with the people and the children of Ukraine instantly, which launched me into yearly trips to Ukraine. I have now been to Hope Center, Ukraine seven times, totaling 40 weeks, and have been part of 19 camps. I have had many different roles over the years. For some camps I was simply a team member, for others I was a leader or co-leader of a team, and other times I have been an intern. God has connected me to this place. I am as much home here as where I grew up.

The more I return to Hope Center, the more I want to return. There are so many reasons, I don’t think I can write them all, but I’ll at least mention the most important. The biggest reason I return is that I’m addicted to watching God work. I know that He works all around the world, in many ways and places. But here at Hope Center, I can physically see the way He changes lives. I can see him plant seeds in peoples’ hearts and watch them grow. I have seen so many lives before they were living for God and then see the fruit grow in them, radiate from them, after giving their lives to Christ. I have seen eyes once filled with hopelessness, depression, and anger fill with hope, love, and forgiveness. I have seen people literally stunned by the love of God and how it is expressed at Hope Center in action not just words. Oh what my eyes have seen here. I have seen the most closed, cautious, angry people open, melt, and rejoice freely in their new lives. What God is doing in this place is nothing short of awe inspiring. To be able to watch God move unhindered, in amazing and miraculous ways. I have seen Him change lives in a single day or a single camp. At yet some people take longer, but because of the consistency and duration of Hope Center, I have also seen God work to change people over the course of the many years it sometimes take. However, I have not seen anyone come to Hope Center and not be changed by the love of Christ.

Who wouldn’t want to see that? Who wouldn’t want to be part of that? I can’t seem to get enough of it. And yet there is so much more that goes on at Hope Center, than just summer camps. Since 2006 it has been a dream of mine to come back during the school year and work with the other programs of Hope Center. God has not yet revealed to me His timing for this and so I wait in anticipation for the next step in my adventures with Hope Center Ukraine. Until them, I continue to support Hope Center and the people here through many prayers and praise for all God is doing!

Then in the afternoon we started working on some documents to be used for people who would like to come to Hope Center next year. To better prepare them and to give more of a job description to the different roles we have here at camp. This however is a project that I'm still working on.

Today mostly I just participated in camp. My main role is the "up front" person. The MC of camp I guess. I help get the kids attention at large group gatherings and sometimes do directions. This morning one of our signing ladies was out (because it is Sunday) so I helped with the signing the morning Bible lesson songs in Russian. And in the evening Lori and I MC'ed the Opening Ceremony: 100% in Russian and without translators! The theme was mostly make fun of Naomi for her bad Russian. At one point Lori was going to help me so she taught me to say things like, I eat toilet paper and I look like a monkey. The kids really liked it which is good. Lori and I thought it was hilarious - which usually means it will not be funny to Russian's - We dressed up in traditional Ukrainian outfits, or at least as close as we could find. I'll try to post pictures later.

Tomorrow I think I will be back to a number of administration things, pray for wisdom and guidance. And that the things with the camp run smoothly. And for God to start moving in the kids lives already.