Summer Camp Awesomeness!!

Though camp ended awhile ago, the fun just hasn't stopped. Kids are in and out of the apartment since our team arrived and it has been a beautiful thing!

The whole gang at camp

As for camp, our amazing group filled the grounds of an old communist camp, hide and go seek filled the nights in the woods, and the goodness seemed never-ending. Camp flew by and no one seemed ready for it to end. 

The theme for camp was "transformation"; focusing on the decisions we make and how they define us. A lot of emotions came up during our meetings, but our small groups allowed a chance for the kids to really share what was weighing on their hearts. In between worship and lessons, the days were filled with games, crafts, swimming, hanging out and sharing a whole lot of lovin'.

Night Meeting

Uno Goodness!

Small Group

Highlights included a counselor hunt that became a two night event, t-shirt decorating, skits and nighttime hangouts lasting into the wee hours ;) Let us not forget: countless bags of sunflower seeds, a million (not to be exaggerated) games of UNO, morning exercises (of course), marshmallows galore and a whole lot of food!  The kids are already pumped for our weekend retreat planned for the end of October and, to be honest, so are we!

Thank you to everyone who helped make this time possible through prayer, support, encouragement, supplies, donations... you guys are phenomenal! God moved in big ways and we were blessed to play a part in it all!

Pray & Give - Day 5

Our team has made it safe and sound and the enthusiasm is contagious! We can't wait to gather the graduates and begin camp this Thursday.

PRAY: SUNSHINE!

Before all of that begins, we would love for you to join us in prayer today for the weather while we're at camp. There is rain scheduled for Thursday and Friday and we'd really prefer sunshine. One of the kids' favorite activities is swimming in the awesome river by our camp. And most of the activities we have planned are better outside in the sun. If it rains, we'll survive but it'd just be kinda great if we got sun instead. :)

GIVE: PORTABLE STOVE $100

As for giving, we absolutely love the location that camp will be held at (big praise: we have a solid location - thank you for the prayers!), the only issue is that the kitchen situation is pretty much nonexistent. We have the ability for electricity so we are hoping to buy a portable stove to help with feeding 30+ people for the duration of camp. For this, we are in need of $100. 

Thank you for all of your support and prayer! Looking forward to keeping you all updated on how things go!

Pray & Give - Day 4

We're so blessed by all of you who have been praying, giving and encouraging us as we're in the midst of our final preparations for camp! All of our giving needs have been met so far, which is awesome. Thank you Emily and Amy for covering transportation and finishing off our guitar! Today we bought a 4 liter "thermopot" water heater and will hopefully be able to make some more purchases this weekend. Thank you all!!

PRAY: AMERICAN AND UKRAINIAN TEAM

Some of our Ukrainian team

Our American team flies in on Monday and our Ukrainian team has been making phone calls and planning lessons and getting ready. We are looking forward to having them all together and seeing what God will do through our amazing team! Please be in prayer for our team, both the Ukrainian and American parts.

-Pray that our American team [Mike, Tony, Chelsea, Kiki] would have safe travels on Sunday and Monday
-Pray that as we meet and finalize plans with our Ukrainians [Gala, Vova, Natasha, Alona, Ira, Ruslana, Vova] that things would work out and that God would direct it all
-Pray that our team, despite language and cultural barriers, would gel together and be able to work as a whole
-Pray that each of our team members would have opportunities to share with these kids and that lives would be changed through them

GIVE: ICE CREAM SUNDAES! $100
One night at grad camp we'd love to be able to have a "make your own sundae" party! Our camp location [pending between a couple places... maybe tomorrow it will finally be solid] will be a bit outside the city, so making this happen will take some effort and planning. We'll need to get a taxi to take us into town and pick up ice cream, M&Ms, chocolate syrup, coconut shavings, whip cream, Oreos and whatever other goodness we can find! Like we've been saying, if you'd like to give towards helping with our sundae night use the PayPal link on the right. Thanks!!