We have just finished a full summer of camps for 140 children from 5 different orphanages. Each camp was specifically designed for a particular age group and had a theme, “Under the Sea”, “The Circus”, “Animals” and “International”. The kids had so much fun playing water games, doing crafts, playing on the zipline, watching skits, making “smores” at the camp fires, sleeping in tents and swimming at the pool party and barbeque on the last day. I loved seeing the change in the kids, from when they first arrived and were a bit shy of the kids they didn’t know from other orphanages to when they left having made new friends.

For the past three weeks we have started visiting a new Orphanage, which has young children from about 3-10 years of age. It has been great fun getting to know these children and playing with them. We have taken many fun things to play with including balls, balloons, bubbles and a parachute and each time have started our time there with a craft. The kids have loved this and each time I have been reminded of just how much we have and how little they have. When giving out foam shapes or pipe cleaners etc. for the crafts they all crowd round to the extent that you cannot move and stick their hand out at you shouting “I want one” or “give me one” over and over, often pretending they didn’t get anything so that they can get more. It is definitely survival of the fittest and truly makes me grateful for everything I have.

Over the past 2 weeks, we have held two girl camps at our Girls Transition House. At each camp, the 12 older orphanage girls were divided into small groups of three and together with some of our staff and summer team volunteers were involved in deep discussions about some really important topics. The theme of the camps was the lies that women believe about themselves and how believing in the Truth can set you free. Several of the volunteers and staff shared their testimonies and some of the girls even shared some of their very difficult stories. In between these difficult discussions, many fun activities were planned such as a pool party and barbeque, a scavenger hunt and a day trip to Sinaia in the mountains to visit Peles Castle, the home of King Carol. On the last day of each camp, to make the girls feel special, we had a spa day at which each girl was given make-over, manicure, pedicure, and had their hair styled. They also had a “tea party” with special food and were encouraged to wear the new outfits they had chosen the day before and at the end we had a fashion show, where each girl in turn walked down the catwalk.

This week 11 boys from 3 orphanages met the challenge of hiking in the Carpathian Mountains. There was great excitement as I picked up the boys from Rosiori de Vede and Alexandria at the metro station. They soon had everything packed and were on the way to Snagov to practice putting up tents and getting all the information they needed for their trip. The trip itself was a great success, the weather was a little chilly but it only rained once and the boys got to experience the beautiful scenery of Romania and God’s creation. Like the girls camp, they had a scavenger hunt and other fun activities in between many meaningful conversations and one boy (that we know of) made a commitment to the Lord. On Saturday Jen and I drove to Sinaia to collect them. I was expecting them to be tired and quiet – Oh No!!! They were so excited and desperate to tell of their adventures. The only complaint was that there was not enough Romanian bread!!! – not an easy find up a mountain!