Today started off with a fun note as it is Artyom's 8th birthday!! We sang him the birthday song and he received many gifts!!
The day started with some worries as we found out Ernest had probably suffered a heat stroke from yesterday and he is also leading the bible lesson for today too! He rested any time he could during breaks and free time. By the end of the day he was feeling much better, but it definitely gave us a scare!
Flash made an exceptional performance today!!
Today's story is Jesus and Lazarus!! Our helpers acted out today's story!
Tuck Yuen lead the kids in games together! A version of "What time is it Mr.Wolf?" But before we played he had created this epic background story for the game!!
This year I also brought along a tiny video camera to capture as many moments as I can. Hopefully I will have something to share after the trip.
In the craft station they made an amazing prayer journals! After the day ended many kids came up to me proudly pointing to their journal!!
In the science station they made.... ROCKETS!!!!!! This was a HUGE hit with everyone including adults!!!
Lunch was super tasty today!!
It turns out today is Vasya's younger brother's Wedding!!! They came by the centre to take some pictures with Vasya and his mother as they couldn't make it to the event because of our camp! I gladly play wedding photog for them :)
Flowers from the bride!!
The afternoon program started with some singing and Ernest finished the day's bible lesson in style! We were all surprised by the energy and enthusiasm he had!! God had sustain his health throughout the day and we are all super thankful!!
In the afternoon we also played some big group games!!
...Run Eric Run!!!
Everyone had a great time under the sun! ...35c I am guessing?
Everyone was looking for snack time!!
At the end of the day the we passed out their prayer journals and their rocket materials!!!
During the late afternoon, Eric, Daniel, and Courtney left with a few older boys to the stream where they gather drinking water!! They treasure the time they spend with the boys as they learned much about them and their characters.
After they returned a few of us left for a swim in a quarry that was flooded ~20 yrs ago, this 20-40m deep man-made "lake" was exactly what we needed in the scorching heat. There was also a 12m cliff jump at one side of the lake!! We compared the lake to Lake Louise!!
Later in the evening we all got a chance to visit the HOM kids in their rooms!
Birthday boy with his new toys!
... along with the chocolate our team gave him!
We are already planning when we can come back and hang out with them longer! (we were a bit early and they were in the mist of getting ready for shower)
Overall its been an eventful day! We learned we needed to manage our energy throughout this week and watch out for the varying weather. Tomorrow is supposedly just as hot but also with rain!
- Please pray that God will give us relive with the weather and sustain our bodies. It's 2Am right now and rain had started to sprinkle down.
- Pray for continue recovery for Ernest as well as Daniel as he may have a slight skin reaction to something. And also for Crystal as her skin is taking a toll in this temperature.
- Pray for wisdom to adjust to any changes due to weather!
- Pray for the kids here, as we get to know them more, our hearts goes out to them. Their hardship and challenges are beyond what most of us will ever experience. We pray the Good News will give them hope in something far greater and stronger than anything this world has thrown at them.