Welcome to Month 1 in Kiev, Ukraine! This is a picture of the camp that we stayed at. The building you see is the main lodge where we would meet every day and where our VBS lessons were taught by various volunteers.
Below, is a picture of the craft area. The kids and counselors would make various things from tote bags, journals, hand puppets, etc. It was a lot of fun for me to participate because I love craft time 😀
This was our first round of kids and other ministry partners. These were missionary kids from Kiev, Ukraine. Their parents are missionaries in the area and have come from all around the world. I have never been around such polite children before! It was mind boggling the things that they would say. I felt like I was speaking to an adult that happened to be 7 years old! haha. The other missionary team that worked with us was an EEM team from Texas. They were awesome!
During our second and last round of kids, we were camp counselors for the Ukrainian village kids. Our month in Ukraine was spent serving at a camp that is in a small town of 200 people. Out of those 200 people were about 40 children that spoke nothing but Ukrainian. Below is a young girl named Lina. She and I had a really good connection. When I joined in on group activities I noticed that she would always run off and hide and refused to participate. I could tell she was just needed some loving so I went up to her and picked her up. She immediately grew fond of me. After that moment, I decided that I would spend as much time as I could loving on her. Most of the time that meant having her sit on my lap, holding her in my arms as we stood around, playing with her, and holding her in my arms while we played games rather than having her do it by herself. After the first game we played together, I found that by simply holding her while I played the game, she began having the confidence to play by herself. It was neat to see that by the end of the trip this little girl was in my arms crying because she didn’t want me to go. To be honest, I needed to hold her as much as she needed to hold me. It was a beautiful love love relationship and I can say that I will remember her always. I wish I could say this will be the first and last time I have a hard time saying goodbye and wishing I didn’t have to leave this adorable child. But, it won’t be. All I can hope and pray is that the Lord touched her in a way that keep her eyes focused on him through the small amount of time I had with her.
Here is another kido who captured my heart. His name is Vova. At the beginning of camp, he was the one that I found to be very disobedient and often causing trouble in the group. Most of my interaction was spent separating him from hitting other kids. But toward the end, after I found him crying at a point, so I sat down and rubbed his back as he cried. I learned that all he needed was some attention and love. He is a great kid, so dang adorable and truly caring. Once I realized this, I spent my time trying to give him attention too so that he knew he was loved no matter what.
These are the intern we worked with the majority of camp. They were truly phenomenal and I admired their stamina and passion a lot. Most of them are from Texas!
Well, as mont 1 in Ukraine has come to a close, I can definitely say it was amazing. I felt like I learned a lot and am excited for month 2 to begin in Romania!
Love you all! I hope you enjoy the pictures!
