peachy perspective

(One of my favorite pics from camp. This is one of the campers playing in the water in a huge field surrounded by the mountains.)

Well, I thought that after being back home for a week, I should finally update about my 2-week adventure that I had been looking forward to for months. I have a ton of stories that can become their own blog posts, so I should have no lack of topics for a while!

It all started off traveling with a group of 5 other cool kids from my church to Moscow and beyond. Actually it started with “the huge lost passport and visa ordeal a week before we left” chaos, but that is something we’d all like to forget. We spent a lot of long, tiring hours in airports (including one that’s rated one of the worst in the world. Glad I heard about this AFTER the fact) and on buses traveling down not-perfectly paved roads along the journey. Oh, can’t forget the many horses and cows that we had to yield to while driving down the road.

We camped in the middle of nowhere … for real. Forget the RV campers. We pulled out the “special Army tents” as we were informed they were (though regular tents with camo on them does NOT make them special and keep out the rain) and made them our homes for 7 full days. And when I say “nowhere,” I mean nowhere. We had to off-road in little hatchback cars and a supply van through a massive public-property field to get to and from the spot where we came together for a super-fun camp. But it was breath-takingly beautiful. Here is a view of our camp from a short distance.

The rolling stream was right behind our tents and ran right through the middle of our campsite. This source for teeth brushing, clothes washing, food cooling, and who knows what else. I think this would also be a great time to tell you about the outhouse that was built for 70+ people as was completely gross by the second day. Thankfully the outhouse and the stream were nowhere close to each other!

So the camp went really well. By Tuesday, it started to feel like a real camp to me because everything was set up, we were getting to really know the kids at the camp, and the schedule was in full swing. Honestly, the first two days were not the best. It was so difficult with the language barrier and the rain that unexpectedly came on the second night. That was completely miserable for a short time that night until everything was worked out. So the fabulous weather after that made camping a more enjoyable and productive experience the rest of the week.

We coordinated activities that would be a part of most American Christian camps – teaching/worship time, small group discussions, team building activities, sports games (teaching energetic Russian kids how to play baseball and Ultimate Frisbee are quite memorable), and campfire sharing time. We were blessed with fun and eager teen and adult volunteers who really stepped up to help lead the camp. Over 10 kids expressed their decisions to give their lives to Christ. Here’s a pic of one of our group times.

I have a ton of pictures and stories, which made it difficult to decide which ones to highlight first here. However, if you’re interested in seeing the rest online, go to the album here. If you’d like to hear more about the trip, feel free to ask!