Camp Day 6 - Wednesday

- This morning I had a new kind of kasha (kasha is basically like oatmeal, but there are lots of kinds made of different grains). It was quite a novelty that I had never had it before, children and adults were fascinated – I felt a little like a freak. It really tasted a lot like cream of wheat, but really sweet – of course it was prepared by Ukrainians so it probably had lots of sugar.

- Today I am tired. There is no craft because the weather is really warm so we are allowing extra swimming time. I could be swimming, but instead I am sitting and journaling. I can hear the younger boys practicing their song for service tonight. Such beautifully sweet voices, they are singing “I’m in the Lord’s Army”. It is a little different in Russian. We sing “I’m in the Lord’s army, Yes Sir!” they sing, “I am Jesus’ servant, I serve!”

- This afternoon my friend and Russian tutor, Marina, is graduating from university and I was invited to the ceremony. So, I went to Berdyansk. It was really nice to take a shower. It was also really wonderful to share this special time with Marina and her family. As I was preparing to return to camp, the van made a funny little sigh. Praise the Lord I was only about two blocks from the Home of Hope. When I arrived, I discovered the oil leak that was recently repaired had re-broken in a big way and oil was all over the engine. So, I am stuck at home until it is repaired. I really wanted to go back to camp, but it is not a hardship to sleep in my own bed tonight. I am very hopeful the van will be fixed in the morning so I can lead crafts tomorrow at 10am. Praise God I was not out in the middle of nowhere on my way back to camp when the van broke!

- Since I had planned to be at camp, I ended up with a free evening. It turned out to be a lot of fun. I spent some time with two of the other American volunteers here, Mark and David. It was wonderful to have a conversation in English. And it was hilarious as our topics ranged from: do you believe in a literal seven day creation (I do) to if the Hulk and Superman fought who would win (Superman, of course) to if you could change the meaning of any word in the dictionary what would you change (I would change a “bad” word to meaning something happy and nice). What a blessing this evening turned out to be.