Camp Week 4

Week 4 of camp is now completed. It was a lot different than the other weeks because more than half of the team was gone, and we had a whole different cirriculum. We had about 40 kids which was a little less than we expected but that made it easier to handle for us. The kids were mostly aged 17-18 but there were some outliers. We gained some more translators and some high schoolers that go to the youth church that Heart 2 Heart is a big part of. Rebecca continued to run the crafts and this week Mark was in charge of games. Both had help of course and it was pretty fun.

The week was very rainy and after the first day we were able to move into a vacant cabin because our tent was leaking. We started off camp with a hike up the mountain and ended up on the football field to play some soccer and frisbee. We played ultimate frisbee later and had campfire. Tuesday it rained almost all day so we had to do indoor activities. Wednesday we played the spider web game where the team has to get from one side of the web to the other without touching the web. It was a really fun team building game and the kids really enjoyed it. It rained later so we had a dance party before having the campfire program in the dining pavilion. Some of the kids were pretty awesome at breakdancing and they all had a blast. We went on a road trip to where the river connects to another river up the mountain. It was very beautiful. Rebecca and I walked down the road and it started to rain so we got drenched, but it was worth it. On Friday we took a long walk to the oldest monestary in Romania, it is built inside a rock face in a mountain, and was used by persecuted Christians many centuries ago.

We had a very challenging team with some kids that liked to make fun of everyone. We had some special needs kids too that the other kids made fun of which made us very upset. Our team was always scattered and they didn't work together during the games. At the end some of them got a stern talking to and it seemed to get better after that.

We made some great relationships too and that's what this trip has been all about for us. Rebecca really bonded with Gina who loved to ask us questions like how we met, do we ever fight, what did I like about Rebecca when I met her, and so on. It was fun talking to her. On the hike to the monestary Mark really bonded with Elena who he had played frisbee with earlier in the week. We talked about various things and then she said that she would love to have me as her father, and my heart melted! Rebecca and I talked to her later that night and we shared about our lives and she told us about hers. She was very quiet throughout the week but she really opened up to us and kept saying that she would like us as her parents. Wow. It's amazing how close you can get so someone in such a short time.

So now that camp is done we are back in Bucharest. We don't really know the schedule for the next few days until we leave on Wednesday. We are hoping to go to the baby hospital and one of the orphanages if it can be worked out in the schedule. We are sad that camp is done already but it will be great to be home again and to see all of our family and friends. We hope you're all doing well and again we thank you for the encouragement and prayers. We'll see you soon!