The Journey Back

Ukrainian Joy

Posted on June 18, 2014

Today was the first day of our Ukrainian Children’s Camp.  I woke up excited, but with my head swimming about how to get everything done before their expected arrival around noon.

… they arrived at 8:30 AM!

Thus began a totally crazy and busy day. Somehow God managed to get us through the insanity that ensued and  we pulled it all together.   The team is exhausted, but we are already in love with these kids. They range in age from just 7 years old to 14, so there will certainly be some challenges there, along with the language barrier.  It is also a major shift to go from hanging out with people in their 70’s to children.  Please be in prayer for the kids, their Ukrainian counselors and our team as we pour love into these kids over the next 8 days.

Ben is almost finished with the HUGE wardrobe he’s been building from scratch.  It’s going to be an awesome addition to the camp’s Narnia theme.  Please say  a prayer for him too.  He traveled to Auschwitz on Monday (4 hours in a van, 3 hour tour, 4 hours back to Warsaw) followed by a day of hard work on the construction.  Please pray for the pain in his joints and back, and for the frustration having physical limitations brings.

Today was also Ethan’s birthday.  We celebrated with cake yesterday, knowing that today would be crazy.  I think we had a nice balance of him getting spoiled a bit and not having too much attention drawn to him.  Thank you to all here who helped make that happen with your little gifts!

Here are a few pictures from today.  How can you not pray for these sweet faces?