I have to apologize for the lack of communication lately, but we were without internet the last 2 weeks. I’ll give you a brief recap of our amazing time at camp on a Croatian island, but I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking.
A little over 2 weeks ago we arrived at Young Island in Croatia. This island is so small that it is easy to walk all the way around in about 20-30 minutes. There were 2 other camps on the island (one of which consisted of over 700 Germans) with which we shared facilities like the dining room, sports courts, a salt water pool, and beautiful beach area. Every day we spent time in the morning either at the beach or pool and again more time in the afternoon. Between these times we had a program consisting of worship and preaching (usually done by Gary). The preaching began with creation and the problem with sin and went all the way through the Bible to God’s salvation through Jesus. The last day culminated in a gospel day and opportunity for the kids to accept Christ. Between the 2 weeks we probably saw around 20 kids come to accept Jesus as their personal Savior! Incredible!!!
Right before swimming in the afternoon the kids were part of different workshops. They could choose between drama, art, dance, music, ecology, and journalism. Then in the evenings after swimming most of the day away, we would eat dinner and then watch the guys play some soccer. The second week some of the girls wanted to play so we put together a leaders v. camper game. Then when it was too dark to see the ball anymore, we all went back to camp for the evening program. This was usually karaoke for the kids or sometimes a ‘disco’ or movie. Then it was off to bed pretty late to be ready the next morning early to get up for morning aerobics.
My main responsibility for camp was to take pictures everyday with the camp camera of everything that went on. Kim and I also had the minor job of checking the cabins and tents and keeping a running score to see who had the cleanest at the end of the week. We had some fun with this picking out a leader’s tent that was the dirtiest everyday and making them dance in front of the kids. It was all fun and games until one day they made Kim and me break it down!
My favorite part of camp was definitely loving on the kids. We heard stories (through some of the leaders that could translate for us) of their home lives. Many live under abuse or neglect. It was evident that many probably don’t even get fed much by the way they would hoard food from the cafeteria. The first week I had a girl that wouldn’t leave my side and even though she knew I spoke no croatian would talk my ear off in her language. Some of the kids spoke rather good English so it was fun talking and joking with them. It was so hard sending the kids home each week knowing what some of them were going back to, but I trust they are in God’s hands and He will provide for all their needs.
I already miss the kids and the leaders we worked with! We will spend the next 10 days back in Mostar at the Bible college working with the church we had contact with before. Many of the kids and leaders live here so we are hoping to get to see some of them again before we leave Bosnia for good. Ok and now for the good part…the pictures:
