We began and finished our summer "Olympics" before London did! It was so much fun to have this special time with our kids in a more controlled environment, at the team house. We all had a great time!!
Josh was our "Master of Ceremonies" so he lead all of the different "countries" and opened the games up to begin! It was fun to put his costume together and show the kids our enthusiasm for summer camp.
We started out with the littlest kiddos (the youngest is about 2 or 3 years) and worked our way up to age 14. In each group we had 10-12 kids from two orphanages which was awesome to have almost one adult per child each day! It was so good for the kids to have that more one on one time and attention. For the little ones we had them for one day then each of the other camps were two consistent days. The weather was almost unbearable, but the good thing was we have a pool at the team house!
Our staff totally worked as a team to fill the days with fun, good lessons and more fun! I prepared the crafts and Josh gave the salvation lesson.
Josh used an illustration in his lesson of salvation. He used gold glitter to represent heaven, black dirt to represent our sin, red candies to represent Jesus' blood that He shed for us, white flour to show how Jesus' death made our hearts clean and covered up all the dirt/sin in our lives, and green grass to represent our growth in God. The kids really got into this illustration and made it an easier way for them to remember. We even made bracelets to help them remember the colors and think about what they represent after camp ended. He did a great job of making it interesting and easy for the kids to follow!
We sang songs and listened to stories...
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| We acted out the story of the 12 spies and the giants. |
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| The people telling "Moses" what they saw in the giants' land...balloons were huge grapes! |
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| Kids listening to Kirsteen & Corny tell a story about having good attitudes. |
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| Corny & Kirsteen reading the story about Adam & Eve. |
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| George listening to the Adam & Eve story. |
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| Putting together the Bible verse they learned during Kirsteen's lesson. |
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| At the end of Steven's lesson, he read a verse with one word missing. They were to run to which word they remembered finished the verse. |
Of course, we had some games and pool time! We all had a blast!
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| Listening to the rules of the pool...safety first! |
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| Amador and the boys enjoying their boat ride. |
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| Haley & Steven trying to pull their boat in first! |
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| Me with Niko in the pool. |
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| Iulian trying to get his frisbee to land in a hula hoop for points. |
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| Josh & Iuli playing in the pool. |
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| Lucica trying to knock over all of the pins. |
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| Trying to pass the hula hoop down the line without letting go of our hands. |
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| Brothers in action to win! |
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| Tug of War!! The kids loved it with the pool in the middle. |
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| Andrei having a blast!! : ) |
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| Oh no! They're all tangled! |
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| Cosmin was wanting Josh to push him down to the bottom of the pool so he could reach all the sinking toys. |
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| Samir & I jumping in the pool! |
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| They had to jump 3 times with a cup of water then dump what was left into their team's bucket. |
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| Here Samir is trying to melt his ice block with his face to get the little toy out! |
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| Florin & Cosmin trying to melt their ice block! |
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| Josh keeping the ball from Vic. |
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| Josh, Corny & Drew were the water balloon targets! |
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| They look scared! |
During our break from the pool, I planned a craft of making boats out of materials like aluminum foil, wax paper, popsicle sticks, straws, yarn and tape. The kids worked with one partner and got really creative! We even tested the strength of the boats using marble as they floated in the water.
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| One boat held 43 marbles! |
It was such a blessing to be a part of God's work in the kids lives at summer camp! Seeds were planted and we are prayerfully excited to see God continue to work in and through them so that they might one day believe and trust in Him more!
PRAISES:
- We had a great end to summer day camps with the younger kids!
- We have had some amazing team members that came and helped! They have been a big part in our kids' lives! Thank you!
- We are healthy and feeling more a part here in Romania and within Heart2Heart.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- For our last 2 overnight camps with the older girls and boys. That God will use us as He wants and that He will soften their hearts for a life dedicated to Him.
- For the lost all over the world. Here in Romania, there in the U.S., and in every other country. It is so sad to hear the never ending stories of abuse, death, shootings, loss, sickness, etc. God has overcome the sin and darkness on this earth! May His name be forever called upon and glorified in all we do...everywhere!!
