Summer 2011 camp is done! I can’t believe it’s already over when I feel
like we were waiting so long for it to finally start. We had 2 consecutive weeks at Lunca Bradului
campground up in the mountains and it was a blast!
The 1st week we actually had 2
separate camp programs going on at the same location at the same time. Boing and Kristie ran the Preteens camp and
Anca and Jenny had the kids camp. And I
got good at being in 2 places at once! I
was the photographer which had me running around like crazy to not miss
anything, and also the nurse, set up and cleaned up the games and activities,
set up and tore down the tables and benches in the dining room/chapel twice a
day, and literally whatever else came up.
It was super busy, but I loved it that way and I’m so glad I could serve
in so many different ways.
The devil sure was trying to fight
against what we were doing last week, but the Lord proved victorious (of
course). So many big and little things
happened to distract and discourage us:
the Windham’s daughter just found out she has a large tumor and has to
have surgery asap, so Kathy unexpectedly flew to the States the day after camp
ended; the Postema family minus Andrew in the States have been having a hard
time adjusting and Andrew is trying to keep up with them while running the
whole camp; Anca had a tooth issue and had to leave to go into town to find a
dentist; people weren’t feeling well and couldn’t give 100% physically; and we
had some issues with some of the counselors not stepping up and being the
leader they should be. It was an
exhausting and trying week for all, but God gave us the exact amount of grace,
energy, strength, patience, love, and everything else we needed every day. And in the end, many kids and teens came to
know the Lord as their personal Savior, and every one of them got to know God
better than they had before camp. One of
my favorite parts was the last big campfire where a bunch of preteens shared
about how they had gotten saved or what they had learned about God. And when our littlest camper who was 7 got
saved and then called his mom telling her all about how he’d asked Jesus into
his heart!
So being the camp nurse always has its
stories. Thankfully no one got injured
more than a scrape or paintball wound the entire week, and the kids waited to
get sick until the last day. Poor little
Raul became my friend when his stomach didn’t feel well Friday and Saturday. Fortunately I had left the room when he puked
from his top bunk bed all over the room, and the next morning we had him
sitting close to the door so he got outside fast enough to spare the poor
cleaning ladies another traumatic experience.
But our new story of the summer (which may beat the kid pooping on
another kid’s pillow last year), is the story of a little boy, who will remain
unnamed, and his mother. On Friday
morning he threw up a little bit, had a minor fever, and stayed in bed. So we called his mom in Bucharest just to let
her know what was going on and that we were monitoring him. She then decided to call an ambulance to come
get her son because “he needed oxygen” and we didn’t have the special “skills”
the emergency rescue people had, even though it would take them about 2 hours
to get to camp from Targu Mures. We told
her we would drive him to the hospital in Toplita, about 45 minutes away, if
she really wanted him to go to the hospital.
So we called off the ambulance, got him in the car, and took him to the
closest hospital to check him out. The
mother then calls and asks what kind of car they’re driving so she can call the
police to tell them to pull the car over and not let them take her son to the
hospital without an ambulance. She also
says that she’s getting on a plane since we were “killing her son.” But they took the boy to the hospital and he was put in an
isolation room so the ladies that went with him couldn’t even stay with
him. The mother calls again and says
that she’s currently on a train and on her way to her son. When she got to the hospital, she saw the old
doctor and told him that she wouldn’t let him “cut up her son” and she took him
out and decided to take him to another doctor back in Bucharest. Then she called Andrew and asked if they could
stay at camp for the night and ride the bus back with the rest of the kids in
the morning, to which he promptly said “No way.” So with all the drama that poor kid had to
endure, guess what the final diagnosis was?
A mild case of indigestion. Yep,
that’s it.
The weekend at Lunca between camps was
super fun and only semi relaxing because it went by so quickly. When all the kids finally got on the train
Saturday afternoon, those of us that were left jumped in Hillary and searched
for a good place to swim in the river.
We found “The Bridge of Death” down the road and tied a rope swing to
the bottom of it. The swing was a blast
and the water was refreshing after a long week of camp. After dinner that evening, me and Jenny
started a dance/karaoke party in the dining hall. We taught everyone the cupid shuffle and we
pulled out the microphones and sang along to so many random old songs. Everyone took a Benadryl that night and
slept until the afternoon on Sunday to catch up from only getting a couple
hours of rest every night during the week.
I had my own church time on a rock in the middle of the river and it was
just what I needed to refresh for the upcoming week. Then a bunch of us went on a hike up a nearby
mountain and it was probably the steepest, most intense trail I’ve ever hiked. But of course the view was totally worth
it! The Romanian mountains are gorgeous
and I absolutely love being smack in the middle of God’s beautiful nature!
The 2nd and last week of camp
was also with Libertatii church from Targu Mures, except with the teens this
time. We had a mix of kids from the
church, guests of the church, and some from 2 different orphanage
organizations, so unity was a constant struggle. The counselors definitely had their work cut
out for them trying to keep the peace in their own teams, but I think it got
better as the kids got used to the idea that they were stuck together for the
week and they had to work together or have a miserable week. Once again the spiritual battle was heavy,
and although a lot of things “went wrong” again, I felt it more internally this
time. Ken Rudolph, the speaker, was
having a really hard time keeping the attention and connecting with the campers
during chapel, even though he is a phenomenal and hilarious teacher. The teens just seemed so hardened and our
constant prayer was that God would soften and open their hearts. And of course, He did! The counselors could see the change in the
chapels, devotionals, and conversations from the beginning to the end of the
week, and many teens accepted the Lord as their Savior! At chapel on Wednesday, all of the counselors
except like 2 were missing due to various issues, and that was the chapel where
Ken had the first invitation. Literally
almost all of the teens looked up to find their counselor when Ken told them
to, except they were nowhere to be found.
The devil was fighting as hard as he could that night, but the Lord was
victorious and after chapel we only had free time which gave the counselors the
perfect opportunity to have those conversations with their campers.
I was
once again the nurse and the crazy runner arounder, but Becky was the
photographer!! I never thought I could
get sick of taking pictures with my sweet camera, but I am! I have had that heavy thing attached to me
for the past 5 weeks and my shoulders can’t take it anymore! And it was nice actually being able to enjoy
what was going on and be a part of it, instead of the girl always seeing things
behind the camera. I was actually a
whole lot less busy this week and during the activity times (paintball, giant
ladder, archery, high ropes course, zipline, team building) I could just roam
around and help and encourage people, not rush from place to place trying to
get pictures of everything. Other times,
I could sneak away with my Bible and my smores poptarts (thanks Philip!) and
find a quiet place in the sunshine on a rock in the middle of the river to
spend time with Jesus and reenergize.
Another one of my “happiness” moments at camp was standing around the
Friday night bonfire, singing worship songs in Romanian, staring up at the
millions of bright stars, and hearing about how God had filled the emptiness
inside these kids. Just doesn’t get much better than that!
So almost
every week of camp God has laid a specific person on my heart, with whom I get
to know better than the other campers and have awesome opportunities to talk
about Himself with. This week was Kati,
a 16 year old girl from one of the orphanage homes. About an hour after they arrived on Monday,
we got to talking and she told me how much she loves to read her Bible and
listen to Christian music, but she’s afraid of the teasing of the other kids if
they found out. She knows the Gospel,
but just doesn’t fully understand it yet.
I asked her if she knew for sure she was going to heaven, and she said
she probably wasn’t because she had cussed before. I then explained how Jesus’ forgiveness works
and how she could be sure from what the Bible says, and she just went on about
how she couldn’t make that decision because then she would have to tell other
people and they would make fun of her.
We went in circles all week talking about how she shouldn’t be ashamed
to read her Bible or pray, and that her standing with God and what He thinks of
her is so much more important than what the other kids think of her. It was so hard because she’s right there, she
just doesn’t fully get it, but she’s one I for sure will keep praying for. I loved help coaching her through the high
ropes course, and helping her prove to herself that she’s stronger and braver
than she thinks, and with God’s help she can overcome her fears and
difficulties. At the end of the week, I
wrote her a letter and gave her my English Bible. I think it will help her to read it more
because she loves learning English and she wants to be an English teacher
someday. It was so precious to see her
carrying it around all day until we left, and I know she will treasure that
Bible, when I have plenty more at home. She
really is a special girl, and it’s awesome to see how although she’s got a
pretty tough past, God’s had His protective hand on her and has brought her to
a place where she’s exposed to the Gospel and Christians a lot. I am keeping in touch with her on facebook
already, and I’m so excited to see her fall in love with God more and more and
to come to the point where she puts her full trust in Him.
Now I’m home in Bucharest for the 1st
time in 3 weeks, and for the last week of my time in Romania. Whoa, I just realized it’s the last time I
can call Bucharest home…although it will always feel like another home to
me. I’ve been so busy these past 2
months I haven’t really had time to think about it. It’s a week of “lasts” and way too many
goodbyes, but God’s giving me the grace to get through it. I’m so excited to see all my friends and
family after 8 months, but it’s not going to be fun saying goodbye to all my
friends and families here either, especially not knowing when or if I can see
them again. But I know that this is His
perfect timing for me to return, and He’s been preparing me for this huge
change and transition phase in my life once again.
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