Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Still Camping...

Camp Friendship- Camp 1, Week 2- Tuesday, June 23.

If it weren’t for my dated “Utmost for His Highest” Journal I don’t think I’d have a clue what the day and date is. In a two+ week-long camp, the days definitely run together! My original plans were to work this camp and then join some friends near Kyiv to “experience” a couple of different camps. Right now I’m leaning towards just staying here at Camp Friendship until time to go back to the States at the end of July.

I mentioned in my last blog that there’s usually some sort of “stage program” from the kids in the evenings. Yesterday marked the anniversary of the “former Soviet Union’s” entry into World War 2 so there was a very nice, patriotic program last night that included testimony from a local woman in her 80’s that served during the War. World War 2 was not a good time for Ukraine (or Russia). Hitler was every bit as prejudiced and hateful towards the Slavic People as he was Jewish People. He was out for annihilation and extermination. As hard as WW2 was for America, it was a whole different ballgame to fight a war on your own turf; it was beyond brutal for everyone involved.

Last night we watched video and slide shows depicting what it was like during those years and then ended the night with our daily Slide Show from camp- it was a stark contrast. Add to that the fact that the kids were sitting in a pavilion that was once used to indoctrinate children into Communism, and that they were looking upon a stage that now has a mural of Jesus loving on children and the contrast is even greater.

To me it seems that this country- independent for less than 20 years- is still on the brink. The newfound freedom and democracy has yet to completely take root. Maybe it will; maybe it won’t. I don’t want to take the opportunity I have to be here for granted; I see it as a window of opportunity. A window through which the Lord is pouring out his blessings. Everyday I see a constant snow-fall of fuzzy seeds from the trees on campus and I am reminded of God’s grace being poured out and of seeds being planted in the hearts of these children. Their world is being changed, even for those that don’t know it yet.

Oh, and on another note: I just learned that my middle niece just had her second child- a little girl named Hazel. I now have 2 great-nieces and 5 great-nephews. And they are all Great! Congratulations Ashley and Eric.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Camp Friendship

Camp Friendship, June 16- somewhere in the middle of nowhere near Lugansk, Ukraine.
I am having a blast. And I am sore all over. I arrived at Camp Friendship about 4 days before the 1st Camp began with the intent of serving any way I could. I spent 3days cutting grass with a push mower and it was nearly “Mississippi” hot.

On Saturday, nearly 300 children ages 6-14ish arrived for Camp 1- it is two weeks long. There are probably 80 workers at this camp, most of them Ukrainian and most of them working in the Kitchen, the grounds, keeping the furnace going for hot water in the showers and laundry room, being Dorm Parents and Interpreters. A team of about 15 young people and a handful of adults from ServantLife in Birmingham are also staffing this Camp.

My “job” now that camp has begun is 1) clean the pool in the mornings, 2) work in the Camp store just before lunch, 3) Run the Frisbee Golf Course after lunch, 4) Be a Lifeguard at the Pool from 4-6 and when I’m not Lifeguarding, then I help with an English Class for 8 or 9 year old boys. During whatever free time I have that coincides with the kids’ free time, then I just hang out with kids. I think all of us “Americans” are connecting quickly with individual kids. I have about 4 that look for me every day to throw the Frisbee or play guitar or whatever.
While the weather was steamy hot the first few days here it has cooled off considerably. It’s beautiful during the day and downright cold at night. It’s nice!

The kids are kept pretty busy. We start our day with a Flag Ceremony and the Pledge of Allegiance at 8:15 followed by breakfast. From then until lunch the kids rotate between Bible Studies, Crafts and Music. After lunch is nap time for the little kids and organized recreation for the big kids. They have “semi” free-time after 3 pm- I say “semi” because there are several organized activities happening during this time- Frisbee Golf, Ultimate Frisbee, Futbol, Ping Pong, Volleyball, English Classes and other games and activities. Dinner is at 6:30. After that is a Worship Service, followed by games and competitions and a talent showcase from the kids. It rocks.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

D-Day, My Dad's Birthday!

Today is my Dad's 77th Birthday. I don't know how that happened any more than I know how I got to be 44! The older I get the more I can see that inside all the "old folks" that I know is the same person they were when they were young. You can see it in my Dad's eyes when he's telling stories.

He's a great storyteller, My Dad. I don't know when I became aware of that- sometime in the last 15 or so years I guess. I didn't notice it or know of it when I was a kid. Honestly, I don't know where it comes from because basically my Dad is an introverted, "Silent Generation" kind of guy with definite "GI Generation" characteristics from growing up close to all of that. Of course he grew up in a great place during a great time- a time that bred heroic tales. Can you imagine being a 9 year old boy when WW2 began and watching all your brothers go off to fight? Can you imagine turning 12 on D-Day?

He's always insisted that he has no desire to leave the USA (and he's a world-class spokesman for the State of Mississippi!) But I think he'd love some of the places I've seen. So much of the world is what MS must have been like when he was a kid. In rural Ukraine people still draw water from a well, cook over coal or wood and go outside to take care of business. With my Dad's gift of gab I could see him carrying on for hours on end with these old men and women in Ukraine!

In the weeks following Kim's death, he and my stepmother lived with me for several weeks. It got to where some of my "youth group" would come over, even when I wasn't home, to ask him to tell stories.

  • Running over a mailbox while checking out girls on the lake.
  • M-80's or some such firecrackers at a high school basketball game.
  • Him playing Harmonica in a band in high school!
  • Itching Powder in the ductwork of a local (minority owned) honkey tonk.
  • Attempting to jump an Army jeep over a ditch.
  • The one about the Bobcat in a suitcase!
  • Living through a gas truck explosion.
  • Telling Charles Evers (a fairly famous Civil Rights Activist) about having met him before- in the 60's when Charles was marching with the NAACP and he was with the KKK- he was never in the KKK to my knowledge...but only my Dad could get away with making a joke like that!
  • Talking- and just blatantly lying- his way out of every speeding ticket he ever met...and probably leaving the Trooper smiling and laughing every time!
I probably never told him this, but as a kid I thought he had the biggest forearms of any man ever, a product of being a hard-working truck driver and mechanic. Like so many in his generation, his education was cut-short by the demands of life. But later in life he earned an equivalency degree so he could be a Company Manager. And here he is now, 77 years old and on Facebook!

I came along a little later (8 years later) than my next closest sibling. By the time I was around, both parents were working and my sisters and brothers were about to leave the nest. I don't remember playing ball with my Dad or too many things like that. But I do remember watching him work on things and thinking that there wasn't anything he couldn't fix or build. I get a lot of that from him. I feel like I can take anything apart and often put it back together- sometimes it works afterwards! I remember neighbors coming to him for help- pulling someone from a ditch or helping with the Cotton or Soybean harvest. I hope when I grow up I'll have as much love and concern for people as he does.

I've watched him mellow-out a lot in these last few years. Maybe he's realizing that he missed some things when we were all growing up. His Mother, whom he loved like few sons have ever loved a Mother, died right around 105 years of age, so maybe now that he thinks he only has about 30 more years left he's making up for lost time by being so attentive and present to his family.

I love my Daddy. He's at a stage in life where he's a Prayer Warrior, but also a worrier and wants to make the most of the time he has... and here I am, at a stage of life (where I didn't think I would be at 44) of trying to discern God's plan for me and believing, for now, that it includes reaching the Nations. It makes being both close, and far-away, difficult.

Happy Birthday Daddy.