Last week we were privileged to share in a unique experience. We served as counselors at an Orphan Camp with 5 other Bulgarian Christians and Christina, an American on our SEND team who served as the camp director. The camp brought two different orphanages together with a goal of providing a carefree and enjoyable environment where God'’s love could be witnessed and experienced.
Overall I was impressed by the group of kids. Given they do not have parents I expected there to be more behavior problems. Granted, we had a buffered view as we couldn't understand what they said most the time and were not around late in the evening due to Drew'’s bed time. However many of the kids, even the older teenage boys, were playing with and lovingly interacting with Drew. We were also impressed by the Bulgarian counselors. This team is not only committed to a week at camp, this summer will be the third camp they have facilitated for orphans. They also visit to the orphanages at least once a month to interact with the kids and build relationships.
I first noticed that the kids were in need of love and understandably so. Almost immediately, even though we could barely communicate, we had kids hugging on us. The highlight of my time at camp was meeting and playing with two of the youngest kids at the camp (maybe 7 or 8) Annie and Emil. Both were vibrant kids full of energy and always wanting to play with Drew. Another highlight was watching Marc befriend and care for the youth. Marc willingly went, but I know that this type of thing is a bit out of his element. I knew that he was making an impact on the kids when a group of older boys asked him to pull up a chair to sit down with them as they smoked. (Anti-smoking campaigns have not yet made it to
The English lessons, while very basic, were rewarding for me. It was exciting to see how excited a few of the kids were to learn. We didn't get through much, but hopefully it will spark a desire for the youth to learn more. One of the boys in my class goes to our church, so it will be good to continue to see him on a regular basis.
Because of the orphanage is a state run institution, the camp could not be a "“Christian Camp." However the youth attended "small groups" everyday where they read the Max Lucado book, You are Special, which teaches life principles and morals. There was an open forum session the youth could voluntarily attend where they could ask faith based questions. 14 of about 36 youth attended and the Bulgarian counselors fielded the questions. The counselors felt it was a very encouraging session.
We don'’t know how effective we were - however our hope is that the kids were able to witness what a loving family unit looked like. We also hope that they felt loved and that they know there is a committed group of Christians who care for them. Please continue to pray for this group of youth who have so many large obstacles to overcome!
-Lisa for the 3 of us
To view more pictures of camp, click on the the title "A Week at Orphan Camp" above or click the following link: http://sheppardbulgaria.shutterfly.com/action/
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