Monday, July 14, 2008

Worth every minute...

Can we say, "just a wee bit tight?" Even though the seating arrangements weren't ideal, it was worth sitting next to these guys, two of the cutest kids known to man. This past weekend, I was invited up to middle Finland to help run a children's camp, so I squeezed myself in the leader's car and away we went. This pic was taken about 5 minutes into our trip....

and 5 min. later....



















2 hours of saliva rolling down my arm was only delayed by a quick bite and a much needed jump on the tramp. Where in America would you ever find a trampoline (free of charge) outside a gas station? Only in Finland. Are pregnant women suppose to jump like this? Who knows...


After listening to "Books of the Bible on CD" and Shane and Shane's bluegrass album, we arrived at the camp around diner time. Kids here in Finland normally start to learn English around 10. These kids ranged from three to 12 years old, so of course there were communication barriers. I felt these kids, even though we couldn't understand each other, sensed that I cared and that was enough. There was one troubled boy, were is mother was a believer but his father wanted nothing to do with Christianity or his family for that matter. He had such a sweet heart, but was marred by his father's abuse. Anyways, during free time, I realized that he(Sami) loved to draw and so I grabbed a pad of paper and drew some mountains saying, "sun vuoro" (your turn). Handing him the pencil, he drew a sun, and we exhanged turns drawing whatever came to mind. After about the third or fourth exchange, Sami drew a cross on top of the mountain with a big smile handing me the pencil. Cool, huh? Even though our time that day was incredible, I found out later that he tried to replicate our masterpiece from the day before. Kids, people for that matter, can sense love, and even though I could barely speak a word or two in Finnish, I felt that I was making a difference because I just showed up.

I came to this camp to run recreation, and normally with recreation comes equipment, but we didn't have a lot of money so we improvised. I wanted to make them all bandanas, but they were around 7 dollars a piece (4.50€). So I thought like a mom and went to a fabric shop, making them for around 1€ a piece. Other jobs included leading devotion, sharing my testimony (interpreter included), and running a session on OIA (Observation, Interpretation, and Application). We took a passage in Mark and asked, "what do you see, what does it mean, and what does it mean to you" (Shout out to DTS)? (Note: If you don't use this method when reading the Word of God you should.)

So this is what I woke up to every morning, truly an act of God. Doesn't He reveal himself beautifully in nature? I would wake up early before the others rose, and row out to have my time with the Lord...






Every night we had a campfire chat. It consisted of a songs coupled with a devotion, and who could forget the mosquitos. You think mosquitos in Texas are bad? Just come to Finland. I think they smelled fresh blood when I arrived and went to town!



I had to include this photo in my blog because this picture speaks nothing of the three women featured. It looks as if these women are reserved, quiet, content, but pictures can be deceiving:) They were crazy! The two on the right were the cooks (they prepared 5 meals a day!) of the camp, and were nothing like the reserved Finnish nature. The last one in vihreƤ was such a joy as well, and when you put these three together it spells trouble.

This game was unique to this camp. It was called kattopallo (roof ball). Everytime you looked out the window, they were playing it: morning, afternoon, and night. No joke. It consisted of one ball and however many players you desire. The one with the ball calls out a person's name while throwing the ball on the roof. It is then the job of the person called to catch the ball before it rolls off and hits the ground. If you don't catch it, that's a strike, and three strikes equals elimination. It is fast-paced and addictive, so I look forward to implementing this when I get home.






This photo was taken minutes before I left on Sunday morning. I am the one on the right in a white polo and khakis, completely out of place (I had to lead a church service in a few hours alright!?). They are all waiving goodbye to me, but hope it's shortlived.


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