This month in Albania, we are working with a summer camp associated with World Vision. The camp is beautiful! All the buildings are very Mediterranean looking, with yellow walls, terracotta shingles and white railings. Among all the things for children to do, there are also sheep, pigs, and chickens that help sustain the camp from September to April.
Although it seems like every day holds something new, here is a schedule of our typical day.
6:30a: Workout and devotion time
7:15a- Breakfast (which includes bread, goat cheese, goat butter, prune jam, and a hard-boiled egg)
8:00a- Proverbs with George (our ministry contact)
8:30a- Ministry Time (This looks a little bit different every day. In general, we are playing with our group of children for the week. Activities include lessons about God, swimming, archery, tennis, playground time, arts and crafts and game time.)
10:30a- Banana Snack Time!!
10:45a- Ministry Time (a new rotation of activities)
1:00p- Lunch Time (After lunch, the children take a siesta. During the siesta, we eat our lunch, meet in our groups for feedback, and meet as a whole group. We usually have a little time to relax.)
3:30p- Ministry Time (more activities)
4:30p- Croissant with Chocolate Snack Time!
7:00p: Dinner Time
8:00p: Ministry Time (Monday, Wednesday or Friday) or Squad Worship (Tuesdays and Thursdays)
10:00p: Children go to bed and we can spend the evening getting prepared for tomorrow
Let me tell you—it is exhausting! The children have so much energy!! The best part of this ministry is that we don’t speak the same language as the children. Instead, we communicate via gestures and small phrases they know of English and we know of Albanian. The kids have the most patience I have ever seen and love to just be around us.
I will have plenty more stories coming about the children, but until then please just keep praying for our squad and that we have new energy every single day and an abundance of love in our heart to give these children!
