Well, I'm back in the city, tanned and mosquito-bitten, after living out in a tent for much of the past few months. I really enjoyed the camps, partly b/c I got to live in a tent surrounded by God's beautiful Ukrainian nature and breathe fresh country air again! There are times when I really miss living in a village in the country...and seeing God's creation instead of grey, man-made concrete buildings through my windows.
Anyway, there was so much that happened this summer, I can't take the bandwidth to share it all. So, I thought I'd just share a few thoughts from this summer's experiences. God used the camps to refine my character and build in me more patience, love, tolerance, faith, etc. It was a painful, yet rewarding time of stretching and growth.
RUGBY CAMP
By the 2nd camp, rugby camp, I was burned out from burning the candle "at both ends and in the middle" for too long. However, despite no time to rest or get adequate sleep during the camp, God continually strengthened me and gave me just enough energy to get jobs done that I needed to do. It was hard sometimes not to be irritated at non-helpful "helpers" when I had so much work to do and they were often just sitting around doing nothing. However, in this too, God helped me to let go and quietly, cheerfully be faithful to work hard no matter what other did. I also discovered a hidden talent for braiding hair and braided quite a few heads during the camp. When asked what the kids liked most of all from the camp, they said team-building games in the forest, which I lead with Veronika & Yulia (new friends who were a HUGE blessing), and Ethan. So, it was definitely worth the sacrifice of time and energy to add this activity to the camp. I came back exhausted physically, mentally, and spiritually and was very glad that we canceled our next camp so that I time to focus on planning for the remaining camps.
FRENCH YOUTH CAMP
My next camp was a youth camp with French teens, local teens, and some handicapped children from our city. For me, this was a lot easier than rugby camp even though I ended up busily working most of the time. Somehow, I just can't escape from being a work-aholic even when I try! ;-) I had more help this time setting up games and a lot less responsibility, so I was able to fellowship with the campers more than in the previous 2 camps. I also got some kind of stomach bug in the last few days of camp which was so bad on the next to last day that I had to lay on the ground by our homemade toilet until it was time to build the zip-line. My teammates discovered me lying there and prayed for me, which was really touching. God really blessed me with Anton and Alyosha who were able to help a lot with the zip-line so that I could do the less physical part of the job for once (hanging out in the tree-top attaching people to the zip-line's safety system). Usually I do harnesses and belaying people up the tree, which takes strength and energy - especially when one does it for ~4 hours non-stop. So, I was glad that Anton was willing to learn this aspect of the job and give me a break when I was extremely weak from the stomach bug.
BETWEEN CAMPS - NO REST FOR THE WEARY
Between camps, when I needed to rest and prepare for the next camp, I frequently received unexpected visitors who wanted me to burn CDs of pictures for them, help them with translation, lend them movies, or do something else for them. This got to be very difficult b/c I couldn't really get the rest I needed to recharge between camps. I started to resent the constant interruptions and demands on my time, feeling like my friends didn't invite me to their places or come over to hang out, but instead usually wanted something from me. I felt like I was being used and began to resent that. On the other hand, I felt bad about wanting to tell people to give me some time alone to rest b/c usually I enjoy receiving unexpected visitors and entertaining friends, even the ones who are takers and not givers. However, I was so exhausted, run-down, and sick that I just wanted to be left alone long enough to really feel normal again. However, in this difficulty, God worked to help me become more patient, tolerant, loving, and less irritable when it was most difficult to be Christ-like. It was a really hard time for me, but God gave me grace to get through. I also spent time braiding a friend's daughter's hair african-style (see photo). And after 12 exhausting hours and 2 days, I was glad that she liked the end result! :-) It would have been nice if I had been able to receive my frequent visitors without feeling so worn out during and afterwards, but I cannot change the consequences of poor decisions from earlier this year which led to my burn-out and exhaustion...
CESC MOLDOVA & FOOTBALL CAMP IN ODESSA
Our last camp was also difficult, but one of my favorites. A team of us had been planning this camp since April and praying together and separately for this camp. I could definitely see the results of that preparation and prayer time. It began with a 3-day training conference in Moldova, which I ended up teaching most of b/c our head trainer couldn't make it. Surprise! Nothing like scrambling at the last minute to come up with a good training, but God was faithful and gave us the ideas and information needed to do a decent job despite the unexpected setback. Afterwards, we traveled to Odessa where we had a 6-day football (soccer) day camp. It was hard work under the hot sun, but God was faithful to answer our prayers and provide the strength and energy needed to do a good job. About 20 girls learned to play football and really enjoyed what is considered here to be a "boy's game." At the end of the camp, we could see how much the kids' behavior improved, and many gave their lives to Christ. In the end, despite hard work, helpers who were sick or unable to help for some of the time, and difficulties between some team members, God worked all things out and gave us love and unity and a wonderful, fruitful camp!
AFTER SUMMER CAMPS
As for how things are going now that the summer camps are finished, I've been working the past week on catching up with all the administrative work that was left undone whilst out of the city. That includes updating web sites, writing reports about this summer's activities, meeting to plan camps for next year, meeting to plan for this fall, debriefing from camps, etc. In my free time I've been catching up on repairs and finally finished the kitchen floor (yay!) and bedroom painting projects. I also really enjoyed swimming and picnicking in the forest with friends on our Independence Day (24 August). Several of my friends were baptized on Sunday in a lake nearby and I got to enjoy time with them, swimming, picnicking, and breathing the fresh forest air. You can tell which one is me in the picture by the dark, tanned skin - I looked like an Indian after our Odessa camp!
And thanks to special vitamins my sister sent and lots of prayer from many friends, my health has drastically improved and I'm feeling a lot closer to "normal" than I've felt since February when I first got sick, despite not really resting yet. I should have holidays soon to get recharged for the work this fall. If God wills, I plan to go to the Carpathian mountains with a friend next week and hopefully to the Czech Republic (my ancestral homeland) with a friend at the end of the month if it works out. We'll see... :-)
Anyway, there was so much that happened this summer, I can't take the bandwidth to share it all. So, I thought I'd just share a few thoughts from this summer's experiences. God used the camps to refine my character and build in me more patience, love, tolerance, faith, etc. It was a painful, yet rewarding time of stretching and growth.
RUGBY CAMP
My next camp was a youth camp with French teens, local teens, and some handicapped children from our city. For me, this was a lot easier than rugby camp even though I ended up busily working most of the time. Somehow, I just can't escape from being a work-aholic even when I try! ;-) I had more help this time setting up games and a lot less responsibility, so I was able to fellowship with the campers more than in the previous 2 camps. I also got some kind of stomach bug in the last few days of camp which was so bad on the next to last day that I had to lay on the ground by our homemade toilet until it was time to build the zip-line. My teammates discovered me lying there and prayed for me, which was really touching. God really blessed me with Anton and Alyosha who were able to help a lot with the zip-line so that I could do the less physical part of the job for once (hanging out in the tree-top attaching people to the zip-line's safety system). Usually I do harnesses and belaying people up the tree, which takes strength and energy - especially when one does it for ~4 hours non-stop. So, I was glad that Anton was willing to learn this aspect of the job and give me a break when I was extremely weak from the stomach bug.
BETWEEN CAMPS - NO REST FOR THE WEARY
Between camps, when I needed to rest and prepare for the next camp, I frequently received unexpected visitors who wanted me to burn CDs of pictures for them, help them with translation, lend them movies, or do something else for them. This got to be very difficult b/c I couldn't really get the rest I needed to recharge between camps. I started to resent the constant interruptions and demands on my time, feeling like my friends didn't invite me to their places or come over to hang out, but instead usually wanted something from me. I felt like I was being used and began to resent that. On the other hand, I felt bad about wanting to tell people to give me some time alone to rest b/c usually I enjoy receiving unexpected visitors and entertaining friends, even the ones who are takers and not givers. However, I was so exhausted, run-down, and sick that I just wanted to be left alone long enough to really feel normal again. However, in this difficulty, God worked to help me become more patient, tolerant, loving, and less irritable when it was most difficult to be Christ-like. It was a really hard time for me, but God gave me grace to get through. I also spent time braiding a friend's daughter's hair african-style (see photo). And after 12 exhausting hours and 2 days, I was glad that she liked the end result! :-) It would have been nice if I had been able to receive my frequent visitors without feeling so worn out during and afterwards, but I cannot change the consequences of poor decisions from earlier this year which led to my burn-out and exhaustion...CESC MOLDOVA & FOOTBALL CAMP IN ODESSA
AFTER SUMMER CAMPS
As for how things are going now that the summer camps are finished, I've been working the past week on catching up with all the administrative work that was left undone whilst out of the city. That includes updating web sites, writing reports about this summer's activities, meeting to plan camps for next year, meeting to plan for this fall, debriefing from camps, etc. In my free time I've been catching up on repairs and finally finished the kitchen floor (yay!) and bedroom painting projects. I also really enjoyed swimming and picnicking in the forest with friends on our Independence Day (24 August). Several of my friends were baptized on Sunday in a lake nearby and I got to enjoy time with them, swimming, picnicking, and breathing the fresh forest air. You can tell which one is me in the picture by the dark, tanned skin - I looked like an Indian after our Odessa camp!
And thanks to special vitamins my sister sent and lots of prayer from many friends, my health has drastically improved and I'm feeling a lot closer to "normal" than I've felt since February when I first got sick, despite not really resting yet. I should have holidays soon to get recharged for the work this fall. If God wills, I plan to go to the Carpathian mountains with a friend next week and hopefully to the Czech Republic (my ancestral homeland) with a friend at the end of the month if it works out. We'll see... :-)
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