This past week I worked 1/2 of a Day Camp at Nehemiah International here in Uzhgorod. I say 1/2 because it's a 2 week-long camp and I could only work the first week. Nehemiah is an international network of ministries that began in Germany I think, in the late 80's. Here in Uzhgorod they have an incredible Guest House/Hotel/Conference Center which enables them to be a hub for a lot of different ministries in the region. When the World Racers were in town we worked through them in our ministry to the Abandoned Babies and some of the Roma (Gypsy) outreach.
The Day Camp is from 9 am - 6 pm. The kids are fed breakfast, lunch and a late afternoon snack. The facility can easily accommodate about 85 kids plus workers (although we only had about 30 kids for the first camp). There are classrooms and conference rooms and auditoriums for teaching English (which is the primary "draw" for the kids who attend), Worship, and teaching "track-times" like Drama and Art. There's enough room outside for free time and organized sports and a soccer field in the woods nearby. At some point in the heat of the summer the camps will include short excursions to the river or a swimming pool.
My "job" this past week was to teach English to the highest level kids at the camp which as you might expect were also the oldest kids...mostly 11-13 year olds. I also helped lead worship in the mornings and I taught one of the Bible Stories during the week. The Rec Leader recruited me to help out on the Futbol Field when we were able to go there.
I've probably said this before but it bears repeating. English is crazy. That so many people around the world speak English is amazing because it just doesn't make sense! I'm not a terrible teacher in general...but teaching English is hard! I was reminded throughout the week that I really want and need to learn at least an intermediate level of Russian. It was hard not being able to communicate beyond the surface even with kids who spoke English equivalent to my Russian!
By the second day I feel like "my" kids had warmed up to me pretty good. By the third day most of the kids at camp were calling my name every time they saw me. But it was still a very different experience than my experience 3 years ago working in a residential camp with orphans and extremely low-income children. The kids at this camp were driven to camp by parents. They were signed-in and signed-out everyday.
You might remember this orphan at the camp in Lugansk 3 years ago...Lana.
She was holding my hand during walks the first day I met her. There might be some degree of "learned behavior" among orphan kids when they are around Americans (or anyone else that cares enough to visit them)...that they are so affectionate. But of course, a lot of it is real and felt need for love and care. In Haiti...I didn't have to woo and win-over the kids... all I had to do was look at them and stretch-out my arms.
I didn't sense that or receive that kind of affection this past week. I'm glad for that. I hope it's because these kids are loved and cared for. They are in a good place. I don't think many of them are Christians or come from Christian families. They have parents that value learning English (sometimes despite some Evangelical "indoctrination"). Again...a good place. An effective ministry. An awesome opportunity. And I'm glad to have made some new friends this week. I hope I'll see some of these kids again around town. I'm glad to have worked with the Ukrainian volunteers this week too. I knew about half of them before the week began but I got to know some of them much better. And finally, I really enjoyed helping lead worship for children! That was fun!
The Day Camp is from 9 am - 6 pm. The kids are fed breakfast, lunch and a late afternoon snack. The facility can easily accommodate about 85 kids plus workers (although we only had about 30 kids for the first camp). There are classrooms and conference rooms and auditoriums for teaching English (which is the primary "draw" for the kids who attend), Worship, and teaching "track-times" like Drama and Art. There's enough room outside for free time and organized sports and a soccer field in the woods nearby. At some point in the heat of the summer the camps will include short excursions to the river or a swimming pool.
My "job" this past week was to teach English to the highest level kids at the camp which as you might expect were also the oldest kids...mostly 11-13 year olds. I also helped lead worship in the mornings and I taught one of the Bible Stories during the week. The Rec Leader recruited me to help out on the Futbol Field when we were able to go there.
I've probably said this before but it bears repeating. English is crazy. That so many people around the world speak English is amazing because it just doesn't make sense! I'm not a terrible teacher in general...but teaching English is hard! I was reminded throughout the week that I really want and need to learn at least an intermediate level of Russian. It was hard not being able to communicate beyond the surface even with kids who spoke English equivalent to my Russian!
By the second day I feel like "my" kids had warmed up to me pretty good. By the third day most of the kids at camp were calling my name every time they saw me. But it was still a very different experience than my experience 3 years ago working in a residential camp with orphans and extremely low-income children. The kids at this camp were driven to camp by parents. They were signed-in and signed-out everyday.
You might remember this orphan at the camp in Lugansk 3 years ago...Lana.
She was holding my hand during walks the first day I met her. There might be some degree of "learned behavior" among orphan kids when they are around Americans (or anyone else that cares enough to visit them)...that they are so affectionate. But of course, a lot of it is real and felt need for love and care. In Haiti...I didn't have to woo and win-over the kids... all I had to do was look at them and stretch-out my arms.
I didn't sense that or receive that kind of affection this past week. I'm glad for that. I hope it's because these kids are loved and cared for. They are in a good place. I don't think many of them are Christians or come from Christian families. They have parents that value learning English (sometimes despite some Evangelical "indoctrination"). Again...a good place. An effective ministry. An awesome opportunity. And I'm glad to have made some new friends this week. I hope I'll see some of these kids again around town. I'm glad to have worked with the Ukrainian volunteers this week too. I knew about half of them before the week began but I got to know some of them much better. And finally, I really enjoyed helping lead worship for children! That was fun!
1 comment:
You've reminded me how much I loved working at Camp Victory every summer during the '90s... it was always the most physically demanding, but emotioanlly and spiritually rewarding, week of my year... wow... thanks for sharing about your camps... love you...
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