Memories of camp
Dear friends,
I am sitting in the middle of the charity’s campsite on the outskirts of the village of Garpi, Armenia. It is 7.30pm and the intense heat of the day has passed. There are about 35 children running all round me. I can hear boys at football and girls singing as they swing in the play area. The camp cleaner has thrown buckets of water all over the floor to settle the dust and is now sweeping the whole area. As I write a little village boy, dusty from his day’s football, is peering over my shoulder! There is nothing the children love more than adult attention and to know that they are loved and cared for. As I look up I can see Ruth with three of the children doing a “Winnie the Pooh “ jigsaw. The colourful jigsaws afford hours of amusement for the kiddies. The colours, the challenge, the unknown toys and more than anything else, the attention of Ruth makes their faces beam with joy!!
The day started with the children, divided into four groups, for morning devotions. Every child has the opportunity to ask questions and pray. The early afternoon devotions all week have focussed on the miracles performed by our Lord Jesus. Today, Michael, taught the children the feeding of the five thousand. It was an object lesson and to help them understand, he performed a trick with some coins!! The children were fascinated and crowded round him afterwards to see a repeat performance. In the evening devotion Ruth is telling the story of Joni Eareckson Tada.
The children arrived in two of the charity’s minibuses. The children tumbled out of the buses and rushed up to Ruth who was standing by our large inflatable Tigger – the welcome committee. Every one of the children wants a loving hug and a few of them handed us flowers that they had picked in the village before they left.
A large van has just driven up the driveway of the campsite – its tonight’s yogurt! Every night the children are served a cup of fresh yogurt straight from the dairy and a biscuit or piece of cake. This evening the children will also be attending the camp shop. During the day, they earn “gold coins” for tidying their rooms, good behaviour and learning their memory verses; then they get to spend their gold in the shop. Those of you who help us in any way with the container ministry – I wish you could come and see the children spending their gold in the shop. Young teens will often save all week and then go home with a cuddly toy donated from a MacDonalds happy meal. New pencil cases, dolls, knitted toys and colouring pencils are all very popular.
I must stop writing my report now and go and prepare for craft. The children will be making a rabbit mask. The mask shape, eyes and long ears are cut out of card for them and they will be sticking the components, pom-pom nose, and teeth. Then they colour their masks in and glitter the ears. They love doing crafts so much and in the past we have often visited a home to find the finished products proudly displayed on the shelf of their home!
Yours by Grace alone,
Perouz