Salute your Shorts

The camp has started and it is rockin the socks off of everyone. Literally, they take off their shoes and socks when they are at the sea... but then they put them back on... ANYWAY, it is a great time and its only gonna get better.

(Gaws+Sergey)

Friday night- Three children came from a village of extreme poverty. They came early, because they needed to be checked for all sorts of diseases. Their heads were shaved, their scalps were treated, the parasites removed from under their scalps. They were forcefully stripped and led into the first shower that they have ever taken. Clean and put in new clothes, they waited for the rest of the campers to arrive. When shown to their room, they huddled in one bed. The counselor had to tell them that it was ok for them to sleep in their own beds, that they each had one.

(Vlad)

The rest of the kids came yesterday (Saturday). They are from different parts of Ukraine.. some of them are orphans, some of them are from the streets... some of them are both. After being checked at the medical building, they were shown to their rooms and fed. The rest of the day was all sorts of good times. We had stations running for crafts, music, volleyball, soccer, frisbee, basketball, so on and so forth. After dinner, we helped them do name tags and then we had the opening ceremony. Ukrainian ceremonies are always hilarious to me... especially when you mix in Americans. The music is cross between a gospel soundtrack and the Emmies. Matt and I had to stall, so we danced like fools in front of all 90+ kids. It was a blast.



This morning I led the boys in exercises. Then we all had breakfast... :) you know me and the food.. eat it even if you don't know what it was intended to be. It isn't ever horrible, mind you. Its a challenge of mind over matter... or you just don't think about it, you eat it. Bible study was quite fun. I, along with my co-intern, opened the event (as we do with most all events) in order to inspire crowd participation. We sang, we danced, we listened to the message, we sang and danced more.. then Judith and I told the kids that we are GOING TO THE BEACH.

The sea + 90 or so orphan/underprivileged kids + Americans = Water fights... always. We dunked, we splashed, we hit beach balls around.. it was sweet. Campbell came to. I think I could have just been entertained by watching him the entire time.

(Campbell)


(Campbell)

(Judith)

(Amanda)

(Max)

We came back for lunch. Had a leader meeting while the kids napped. then we broke off into stations again. I was with soccer for the second time. The feild is pretty much a retacular area where they keep the rocks and kill the grass :) The kids are competitive. I'm not sure who one, but it was 2 hours of non-stop running. The trick is to model an alternative lifestyle that doesn't include punching kids 6 years younger than you. It is a hard trick for them to catch onto. All in all, that was a good time.


Dinner was next, followed by craft time. After craft time was the BIBLE CEREMONY!! After each of us on the international team told a verse of the Bible that we enjoyed a lot, each kid got their very own, RUSSIAN NEW TESTAMENT BIBLE! It was actually cool to see how the kids responded generously to the presentation, but more so to the gift.

I am not part of bed time stories, but they do exist. The team goes around and talks to the kids about what they learned that day. It is a chance to pray with them and answer questions. Some of the older kids have taken the time to do a bible study in the past. The team reports positively.

My duties as an intern, for all of you who have been wondering, are as follows: Moderate the meetings (aka make sure everything was covered and in the case of indecisiveness, make a decision) and be the face of the Hope Center (I'm the PR to the kids. I lead (with Judith) the times before meals where we get the kids interacting with us and ea. other. We also start off the Bible story time). I am the one that the kids get to see up on stage (so to speak). I'm also the middle man between the team and Matt and Sarah. Other than that, I am a team member, doing everything that the American team does. This includes crafts, games, sports, Bible lessons, holding kids, tickling kids, running from kids, etc. It is not a hard gig, but it is a fun one and a tiring one. I am nothing special compared to the team. I am just another person on a mission of love and their is no hierarchy of success that can be put on that.


It has been a tiring day. I have a crew of kids that seem to follow me more than other people. They are precious and I'll take more pictures later on. Tomorrow we start day three. I need to get rest for it. Pray for the kids, the team and the Hope Center.

Sweet dreams my faithful friends. I love you.
-Tommy