Day 9.5 - Saturday, Aug. 1st

Going to skip the morning(for now) and go right into the most challenging experience of my life.Yesterday we left for the Romani settlements to assess the location of the 2 outreach events. I wasn't sure what to expect and in my mind this next week should be easier than the first...

As we left the city and into a smaller town we learned that Romani settlements usually plant itself just on the outskirt of a town/city.

As we entered into the settlement I knew right away this is going to be the toughest challenge I have ever face. Physically, mentally, spiritually.

We got off infront of a building under construction. The local pastor told us they are building a bigger place of worship, because...

Their current church (in a shack) was too small... understatement of the year. I was standing in the back of this small room with a wide angle lense. This place sits 50 people. Its probably one of the nicest place in the whole settlement. I was in shock by then and I completely blanked out to the hundreds of flies around me... I only knew because some of my team members were slapping my back to get rid of them... If you look closely the roof is at my height.

The local pastor took us around and show us a well/hole where they get the clay/mud to make the bricks for the new church.

As we walk our way around the area a few children followed us around. One of the boy waved around a broken toy cellphone. And as he walk infront of this house he pretend to take a picture with his phone. I turned around and saw what he was "taking" a picture of...

This picture haunts me...

I have seen news, I have seen pictures and heard story... but nothing compared to being put into this place which forces me to confront my comfort level with this reality around me. At that moment I can't reconcile what I was seeing... I was traumatized and in shock...

We left this settlement and headed to another where the outreach event will take place. They had a small field and a church.

Inside the small church there were many pictures on the wall... of previous camps hosted by other european countries... There was also a picture with a S.Korean pastor. It seem he has been here for many years. I can not imagine the love he has for these people...

... Finalizing plans for the 2 days...

The picture below summed up my experience that day. Everything was blurry and distanced. Not that the camera can't focus... but I can't focus. . In my mind I was asking... how can I serve 250 of these children when I can't even hold 1 child's hand. I was very disappointed at myself. And throughout that night my mind wrestle to reconcile why I am here. They are the same as us in the eyes of God. We are all just as dirty. We are all just as loved. If Jesus can eat with sinners and touch the sick, why can't I?  I knew I have 2 days to make it up. And I pray that God will help me move pass my weaknesses and do the work of Him who sent me.

Day 8 - Friday, July 31st

Final day of Camp!Early morning Vasya's mom (Nadia) preparing lunch for the camp.

Today's bible story was act out by the HOM kids instead of us! It's the story of Jesus's birth and how God is Unforgettable. The kids did an awesome job (they were very diligent in memorizing their lines the night before!)

Singing time! Each day there were new kids, today was no exception!

In today's memory verse station, they had to cross the river by stepping on the right sequence of word!

In the Craft station, they decorated a new hat!

Alot of the kids ask us to sign their hats.

Sometimes these 3 words is all you need to know...

Tomson serving lunch! If you notice, Tomson is really really tanned these days!

After lunch we travelled to the Prayer House (Church) to practice and get ready for the Parent's Presentation!

As the kids arrived we found out there was a wedding next day (some decorations started already) so we quickly made some adjustments as the kids waited on the side.

... But first we wanted to thank our volunteers/translators/helpers!!

... And then Practice began!!!

... We wear the hat for the "Jesus in the Boat" song...

More song practices... "Deep, Deep"

... Ivan watching the practice.

Part of the team preparing the refreshments in the lower floor...

... the bakery here are extremely good. We had 4 different kinds of cakes...

The children watched through the window (into the kitchen) with anticipation...

A bit of free time before the event starts.

Some of the family started to arrive.

"Our God is So Big"....

"Jesus in the Boat"...

Then we had drama by the kids (all in Ukrainian), the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Roslan is the King... Roslan is one of the older kids in the camp... Full of potentials!

One of our helper was "Old Story"...

... The story unfolds...

... "WE WILL NOT BOW!!!!!"....

After the message, they sang an Ukrainian kids song...

... And then it was refreshment time!!!

Saving some for home...

Then it was time to say Good Bye...

... With that we conclude our 1st week of Camp. We will surely miss this kids as they have so much potential and are invaluable to God's kingdom.

We got a moment of break last night and today God have put us in another challenge! One that personally has put me in a state of shock. Something to write about in another post.

Day 7 - Thursday, July 30th

This is the 2nd last day of the camp, it is also the day we made an altar call after the gospel message! God is truly unpredictable!When you ask for volunteers, you'll get a sea of hands, don't matter how old they are...

In the story today we talked about Elijah and how God spoke to him in a whisper. Some were the FIRE: which was led by Andrea:

... here she is showing them how to do an explosion of fire... The kids kept doing her sequence throughout the day.

Tomson was Elijah:

... Lisa led the Wind group...

Then they played the Telephone game...

The boys couldn't get it even after they "by pass" a few steps...

At the bible memory verse station the kids have to find the correct sequence of balloons...

"READY, SET, GO!!!!"

In the afternoon everyone practiced(Songs) for Friday's parent's presentation:

We had Canadian snacks day with Fruit by the foot.

This is Tanya, she is like the big sister in HOM. She helps out in alot of places and she also understand a little bit of english.

This is Sasha as he's waiting on the minibus. He also had his hands up during the altar call. We can all pray for him. Very good kid.

Here are some of the kids waiting on the minibus. David (right) have a shirt fully loaded with snacks.

During the night, we heard fireworks... and surly enough it was a few doors down. From what we know, it's probably a birthday party or wedding. Woo.

That's it for yesterday's event. As we post this, we have officially ended our week 1 camp! Please continue to pray for the weather as it is quite hot, and we were told it usually gets HOTTER!!!

Day 6 - Wednesday, July 29th

Day 3 of the Camp was a special one as its also our big Olympic Game day!Morning gathering.

Memory verse activity with the younger group.

Blind folded and assigned part of the bible verse they must find their other team mates! (Color coded and in Ukrainian).

During the FREE TIME they were given a choice to go out and play or decorate their journals. There was a LOT of kids (Young and Old) that stuck around to decorate! And if you look closely there's hundreds of little pieces and stickers everywhere.... but AFTER they finished, they completely cleaned it up.... I was extremely impressed (I did the "Home Alone" facial expression when I came back and saw how clean it was!)... even for adults it would be have been a huge clean up job!

This is Sasha. If you look at his cover, it actually have all our names on it! Great kid!

In the afternoon they played a few rounds of Telephone Charade! It was a huge hit!!

Eric passing the action down... completely different than what it originally was!!

Its a Great day for an Olympic Game! God provided passing clouds when it was needed!

First the 3 legged race!

Then the balloon distance toss:

(She's not crying, she's running away from an imminent balloon explosion!

Last we had a water transfer relay!

Announcing the winner!

And what better way to end it then with a water balloon fight! Here in the center is Nils, he actually came to the Center the same day as us. He is a Norwegian who had previous came as a team to help built and repair various part of the center. He decided to come and be with the kids for a week by himself as his vacation. He really do care for these children and he just left tonight a few hrs ago.

Someone finally figure out a bucket of water is more lethal than a water balloon.

Watermelon is the snack of the day.

Andrea was the only one who got wet from our team.

Home time:

... And finally my post ends with a photo of Vasya's new favorite toy!

Day 5 - Tuesday, July 28th

As day 2 of the camp rolled around kids are starting to get used to the schedule and sequence of events. Here are some highlights from the camp:On Day 2 we started journaling with the kids. The younger ones draws, while the older ones write out their thoughts.

The bible story of the day was Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego... Here they are being thrown into the fiery furnace!

Here is the memory verse station with the 9-11 kids:

The younger children loved the bible game of the day!

At the end of the day there was a birthday celebration/surprise for one of the HOM teacher!

And that wraps up some of tuesday's event!

Please continue to pray for the weather as it is getting pretty hot outside (and at night). We have seen God move in clouds and breeze today also which was great! Also tomorrow (Day 4 camp) we will have an altar call and we are praying that God will work in these children's heart!

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Day 4 - Monday, July 27th

Camp day 1As we ate breakfast at the dining hall the kids at HOM were already curious and excited about the program ahead of them. They were checking our week long schedules taped on various doors throughout the facility.

Registration was split into 3 age groups, kids from surrounding villages came by 3 minibuses (HOM). There are approx. 68 kids from 6 to 15.

Registration tent:

Kids lining up outside the main hall before they enter.

First day, first impression for everyone.

Crystal explaining some rules (drawn by Andrea)

Before the first bible story begins, the kids were ask to help "clean up" the stage before them. It was instantaneous to say the least.

During the day we split into 3 groups and rotate through 3 stations: Memory verse, Games, and Craft. We will have pictures of those later from the leaders of each stations.

Before free time we presented them some game equipments we brought over. Badminton rackets, ropes, etc. All of them watched with anticipation.

Soccer however was the most passionate sport. I can surly say they love it more than N.American kids love hockey hands down.

(note: most played bare foot)

Free time:

Lunch time; Some of the children would put extreme amount of food in their mouth all at once... Food is extremely valuable to them.

Afternoon, back to the hall for some singing and recap.

Questions, they love to answer.

Singing "Our God is So Big":

Going through the Gospel flip book. Crystal introduced one of the color/meaning today (Yellow).

After wrap up session, everyone had snacks outside. Here are 3 of the digestive problem team members:

... and here is the eye allergy problem team member:

I decided to try playing "football", Tiffany was better...

Time to head home. As the kids loaded the 3 minibuses, they waved good bye. Some packaged their snacks as they don't want to eat it all at once. Like I say before, food is very valuable to these children.

That wraps up Day 1.

As we wrap up Day 2 as of this blog post, please continue to pray for good weather here, it is starting to get extremely hot! yikes!

Day 2.5 - Saturday, July 25th

I've come to a conclusion that I won't be able to write and post all the interesting things happening each day but I will give you a few highlight moments. Hopefully this will force you to invite us to come and talk with each of you personally about our experience after we are back.Anyway here is Saturday for us:

We found out a chinese restaurant/take out spot just opened in town last month. We were keen to try out!  The restaurant was a chain store from Hungary. The cooks were a Chinese couple from Beijing. Yes, they are the only Chinese living in the city.

After we picked up some supplies from a "super store" we went back to HOM for a birthday celebration for 2 of the kids:

After dinner Vasya took us to a new house being built. Half of the house will be a transition home for 5 older youth, the other part will be his family's new home and a guest room/area. The front door you see below is actually to the guest room. (so the house is split into 3, majority is for the young adults).

Since the house was still under construction there were lots of unfinished areas. The stairs to the 2nd floor was very sketchy. Here is Tomson helping Lisa down:

This kinda sum up Sat. as we prepare for the week ahead...

Day 3 - Sunday, July 26th

Sunday we attended service at the Prayer house. The 2 hr service may seem long but it's quite amazing as we worship God in another language and culture. The 16 people choir (adults to seniors) sounds like something I would hear at a concert... it is truly amazing.

Tomson also share God's word with the congregation there. He was 1 of 3 speaker that day. (sorry caught you when your eyes was closed....)

In the evening we went to a house in the country side to celebrate Vasya's dad, Ivan's birthday with their family:

The view is truly amazing... I have no words, not even pictures can describe how awesome the view is. Ivan and Tomson also had a discussion about how no one can deny the existence and beauty of God through His creations.

We had an authentic Ukrainian BBQ and there was a competition between their marinated meat vs Tomson's Canadian smoke spice meat.

They BBQ differently than us; where we make more fire to "burn" the food, they use the charcoal and heated wood to slowly smoke/cook the meat... everytime they see fire, they pour water over it ... They treat the food with more care and respect... For the record, the photo above of Tomson and the fire is not him BBQing the meat. He is burning the wood to get them hot enough for the Ukrainian style BBQ!

And this is Yana, one of Tiffany's new best friend :)

... And what would a trip to the country side be without a stampede... I mean cows passing by...

This finished our Sunday up as we head back and did final preparation of the week. As I write this we had just finish Day 1 of the VBS. What an awesome experience... More to tell in another post.

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Arriva

As per the last post we arrived at HOM with no lost luggage or any hicups! Even in such hot weather (40c) Crystal didn't have any allergic reaction while we took the long 4 hrs(shorter than previous STM they say) van ride (Natural Air-Conditioned :). Thanks be to God!It will definitely take a long while before I can fully process all the photos but here are a few memorable (and light hearted) moments from our travel:

Thanks for the awesome send-off!

Getting ready to board from Calgary to Frankfurt:

Interesting story here with my air stewards. As he was passing out our meals he asked "Pasta or Chicken?" We were curious what is the pasta and what's in it and so we asked. He promptly replied "I don't know what it is. They don't tell us these things anymore." I couldn't stop smiling afterward...

Arriving in Frankfurt airport we got off the plane and into the bus. We waited a while and surely enough Mr.Calgary has arrived in Germany.

We took this picture of Andrea getting searched at Frankfurt because for some reason she was also picked to be searched in Calgary.

Arrived at Budapest!

We were greeted by Vasya, Vlery and his wife. Vasya drove the whole way back.

F1 was also happening in Budapest this weekend:

We stopped at a Shell station for some water as it was extremely hot! Everyone got a 1.5 L bottle except for Tomson who got a Fanta. Good choice!

Everyone was sleepy, tired, and hot...

After passing the Hungary border we waited at the bridge (there's a red line that divide the bridge between Hungary and Ukraine.

Arrived at House Of Mercy!

There are a few more photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/superesc/sets/72157621811608798/

Today we got to meet the kids and get setup, so photos of the kids and a Birthday party to come! Keep us in your prayers!

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Packing Party!

We had a team packing party (supplies and gifts excluding all our personal stuff) last night and ended up with only 2x 70lb suitcases and and the rest bearly under the 50lb mark.

Songs!!

We are bringing some exciting songs to the camp from the Crazy Praize Vol.1 CDs. Looking forward to sharing them with the kids!Songs:Someone Around YouMy God Is So BigJesus in the BoatWalking in the Light of GodAwesome GodDeep, Deep

What are we doing on the 2nd week?

We haven't posted much details on the 2nd week so far, but here's a summary of the plans / schedule:

• 2 day outreach event at the Romani settlement, we are expecting to see 250 kids!
• Lessons/workshops throughout the day/night for HOM kids which includes: English, Devotion (Jonah), Chinese Painting, Photography for Kids, Playdoh modelling, Juggling, and Piano! We hope this will be useful and fun for the kids and also a break for the HOM staff.
• HOM staff retreat which includes topics on First Aid, Play Therapy, Discipline, and various planning.
• Bedside Fellowship with the HOM kids
• Talent night to end the week off!

Please continue to keep us in your prayers and also for all the translators that will be helping us!

Gifts and Supplies Deadlines

It's awesome to see all the children and staff of HOM have been "sponsored" as well as the many supplies that we've been receiving throughout the past month. One thing we forgot to announce is the deadlines for submitting the gifts and supplies:Gifts: May 31st (Sunday)

Supplies: June 28th (Sunday)

They are on different dates as we need time to pack and fill in any missing items. Thanks again for all your generosity and support!

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