The area around camp is beautiful. We went yesterday to a small pond where the cows drink and the kids swam. Its very peaceful out here. Poverty is high but nobody seems to know the difference. A lady next door who we give our leftovers for her pig uses an ordinary bucket well by her home. There’s a small store down the sand road we can walk to that sells soda and ice cream. The townspeople seem to be used to having foreigners around. I’m learning Russian language slowly, I have “yes, no, sleep and shower” down. I guess those are all I need around kids. The days are long and work can be tedious. Our team has quickly realized there are several things we cannot live without. Without grace our team and camp staff would always reap conflict living so closely together. Without love it would be easy to forget the purpose of our mission (its hard to clean toilets in a heartfelt way). Without laughter the stress and frustrations of the day would keep building. Without prayer our hearts wouldn’t find peace. Without Jesus we’d have no reason to keep working. None of these are physical essentials. We believe God will provide those. We know there is a darkness that wants to rip our team apart. Therefore, we pray, reconcile, vent, laugh and live in grace. 
