Our Week of Summer Camp

7/30/2019 Our Week of Summer Camp

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Dear friends,

I wanted to give you a quick update on our camp. A few weeks before leaving for camp, we learned that

some of the folks that we had hoped would support the costs of camp were unable to do so. We started

to make plans to take only 30 children out of the 50 that we were initially hoping to bring. But we also

continued to pray. Within days before departing for camp, financial support was sent from newacquaintances and anonymous donors. This was deeply encouraging and a significant reminder that this

is God’s work and it is our privilege to participate in it.

We all met at the Community Center on Sunday. The kids all took showers, got clean clothes, prepared

their bags for the week, and played games. After dinner, some of the kids went home to stay with

different staff for the night; others spent the night at the Community Center – but going to sleep is

always a challenge for kids that are excitedly anticipating camp. We all came back to the Center the

following morning – many of us already exhausted from a sleepless night.

We left for camp with 44 kids. Some were from the Valley Community Center, some from the “Hidden

Treasures” Saturday Club, and some from the “Butterfly” Day Center in Tudor Vladimirescu. It seemed

that at least ten of them suffered car sickness, but after 4 hours, we made it to camp. We were

surrounded by the beauty of a flowing stream, fields full of flowers in bloom, mountains covered in

green, the sounds of nature, and clean air. We separated the kids into their groups for the week: Joy,

Faith, Choices, Hope and Health. The team names were tied to the camp theme: a better future. Then

they took their bags and were assigned rooms. Each child had their own bed – something that they only

experience during this one week of camp.



Our days started with staff prayer. Then we woke the kids up and did calisthenics. After they brushed

their teeth, we had morning devotions. The theme for the morning devotions was “listening to God with

all of our senses.” Devotions were followed by breakfast. Then we had a time of worship together

before breaking into two groups, one older and one younger, for Bible study. We studied who God is,

God and creation, what it means to follow God, and spiritual growth. We sensed God working in the kids

and moving them to think, pray and respond.

After the Bible study, we presented various life-skills like using the toilet and showers, table manners,

proper dental hygiene, making the bed and folding clothes, and speaking respectfully. This was followed

by a time in which the leaders read stories to their group. Then there was game time, lunch, and time to

rest. After rest time, in which almost all of the kids slept, we had art activities, horseback riding, archery,

basketball and football (soccer). One day we hiked to a waterfall and swam in the river. On another day

we hiked up the mountains through fields of flowers. During all the free times, the kids took turns

jumping on the trampoline. On the final evening, we had a camp fire.

In the evenings, we ate dinner and then gathered for a time in which each group organized and

performed a song or poem, a game, a presentation of their group’s members, and a sketch. The

laughed and played hard. We concluded the time with some worship and prayer, before the kids went

to their rooms for prayer and lights out.

Our strategy to completely exhaust the kids worked. They usually fell asleep right away, which allowed

us to also recover and reset for the next day. But we were all exhausted on the last day. Some of us

came down with some bad colds, and we needed a few days to recover. But we were really pleased for

how everything was organized, how the kids interacted, and how God worked throughout the week.

We pray that God will cultivate all of the seeds that were planted during the week and bring forth fruit

in the lives of all the children.



Thank you for your prayers, faithfulness and support – especially for this full and special week of camp.

With blessings from all in the Word Made Flesh Romania community,

david

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Our Week of Summer Camp