April 18th Meeting
We had our real first mission meeting this past Saturday. It went very well. There are officially 12 American’s going on the trip, (around 15 when you add in the Hungarians who will be working with us.) and we will need every last one of them because we have been informed that there are already 40 children signed up for the camp this year! (As opposed to maybe 20 last year.) We are praying hard for these children and we hope that every child who wants to be a part of camp can, and will be.
In the meeting we were able to discuss what our trip is going to look like. It will be very similar to last years trip, with only a few minor adjustments. Last year we were fortunate enough to stay at the local university dorms, it was a great place to stay and as a bonus, the Children’s Home was a 5-10 minute walk from where we were staying. This year, however, we will be staying more towards the center of town, this is a blessing because it is only a 10 minute trip from the gym where we will be hosting the camp; much closer than last years 30 minute trip. The only down side to this change is the fact that we will be further away from the kids. However, the Children’s Home has a new director, who is a Christian and is excited about the camps, and what we will be doing this summer! He has arranged for the Children’s Home Counselors to not only drop off the children to the gym in the morning, but pick them up from the gym in the afternoon. This change will allow us to rent the gym for a few more hours than last year, and instead of traveling for 30 minutes after camp to get the kid’s back home, we can spend that time playing with them. So, all in all I think the move into town will be much more benificial for the success of the camp.
The big thing that is staying the same from last year is the location of the camp. We were very blessed last year to be able to host the camp at a high school gym. The gym was perfect for our needs. There was a divider which allowed the boys and girls to experience private camps. There were volleyball nets and plenty of basketball goals for the kids to play on. And maybe the coolest thing about the gym, it came equipped with two soccer goals and gave the children (and counselors) a unique experience of playing indoor soccer on an even playing surface. The most convenient part of hosting camp at that facility was the cafeteria just across the street. We were able to work it out where we could take the children over to the cafeteria and the food would be ready for us. It made it an easy transition from activity to down time and gave us a chance to really interact with the kids. It was during this time that they liked to tach us words of what we were eating, and we could attmept to tell each other about ourselves. (The kids love to laugh at us when we butcher their language.) Fortunatley, we are blessed with being abletting to use the same facility and lunch program as we did last year.
The following is a basic daily camp schedule:ou
8:00 AM - Arrive and set up camp before children arrive
8:30-11:30 AM - Camp (Volleyball/Basketball) - Morning Sessions
11:30-12:30 PM - Lunch
12:30-2:30 PM - Camp (Volleyball/Basketball) - Afternoon Sessions
2:30-4:00 PM - Soccer/Crafts
4:00-4:30 PM - Group Devo
4:30 PM - Release Kids to Home Counselors
We also took the time to delegate some jobs around thre group that are required for success in the camp. We have a great team, who are all willing and eager to serve the children during this trip.
Last year, we had two devotionals a day. This time was used to teach the kids about Christian values. Last year Wendy Chandler and Heather Sanderson did a great job in leading these devos with the girls, and Paul Wood and Jeremy Harrison did great with the boys. I am excited to say Wendy and Paul will both be returning to those roles this year, and Brian Conway will be teaming with Paul to bring the devotionals to the guys camp. Their tallents in this area will definitley be a blessing for the children again this year.
We will have new people taking charge of the physical activity of the camps this year. I know that they have big shoes to fill because Ben Sanderson and Brian Conway did a great job at teaching the children basketball and volleyball last year. This year, Kyna Killion will be leading the volleyball camp for the girls and Caleb Sanderson will be leading the basketball camp for the boys.
As for the most gruesome and time consuming job, Paul Wood and Margaret Chandler will be in charge of first aid and water. The facilities where we are hosting the camp do not have water fountains, and when you get a bunch of kids in a hot gym being active, you need lots and lots of water. It doesn’t sound like a hard job, but to keep up with 40 bottles of water, keep them filled constantly, all while taking part in the camp activities, it takes special people to complete this task.
These are only some of the jobs that make up the operations of the camp, everyone will be involved in one way or another, but most importantly we will all be there spending time with kids and showing them Christ.
The meeting was a great stepping stone in getting everyone prepared for this trip. We still have a long ways to go and I believe James said we have raised about 75% of the funds. We still have many things to plan and prepare for. We still have a few more fund raisers including the Wednesday Night Meal at Heritage church of Christ on 4/22/09 and the Annual Heritage Golf Tournament, this year advertising for, and benifiting the Hungary Missions Fund. (I believe that is 5/16/09 and you can sign up to play for $50 by May 6th.
This meeting has been a unique meeting the past two year because we have been fortunate to be in the presence of Hungarians. Last year Stevo was living in Ft. Worth at the time. This year, Sylvia, was able to join our meeting while she is touring the States. Sylvia, Wendy and Margaret did a wonderful job in preparing us a delicious authentic Hungarian meal. We had goulash, a traditional Hungarian dish, similar too, but far greater, than beef stew. And Sylvia made some biscuits, but I can’t remember the Hungarian word for them; but they were delicious. Whatever the word it is in Hungarian, that’s the word you would use in English to describe how good they were.
We are all very excited and anxious as the time to leave draws nearer. Please continue to pray for the team, the trip, and most of all, the children.
Caleb