Now This Is Camp!

Well we have another (4th in 6 years) camp site for our WWYC outreach this summer. Someday we will finally find a place to call home. Till then we do our Israel imitation as we wander through the Siberian countryside looking and waiting for home. Here are some pictures to enjoy. By the way I am very, very excited about this location. It's a real children's pioneer camp instead of an adult vacation facility we try to convert into a children's camp. Here we go...





















This is me above welcoming you into the safe and cozy confines of our dear camp ground.


Just outside the front entrance to the camp is a soccer field that is ours to use as we wish. I anticipate some races, competition, walking and talking, and maybe a surprise or two taking place here. Some of our past futbol fields have looked more like an unkept meadow than a real sports field. This one is I like...for many reasons.




















This is something I have always wanted at our campgrounds but have never had. It is a fire pit. We know both from scripture and from our own experiences that some very meaningful conversations have taken place around fires. Think about the chats you have had with your dad, friends, or maybe even a child around a fire. We have one of these in our back yard here in Monroe and it has already become a favorite place for me and my boys to chat about anything on our hearts. Think also about some of things that Jesus shared with his followers around fires in the New Testament. It was kinda the coffee house of his day.


Just to the right you'll see the living quarters for some of our team members and kids this year. There are 3 of these little houses on the camp territory. Each has 24 beds, two toilets, 3 showers, and a common area. Very cozy. Some of our teachers will live in these houses with the kids and some teachers will live in a separate facility. As said earlier, this is a real children's camp with things like swing sets and slides. This will make a big difference in our program this year I think. Free time will be useful time and not just lost time.

Do you know what this is? It's snow! In shady areas around Novosibirsk (and the camp is obviously a shady place) you can sometimes find snow well into May. This glob of stuff under the pine straw is snow. Jim and I thought it was worthy of a picture. I promise though that it will be gone by July 1 when we move out to the camp ground to get set up before the kids come on July 4.

To the left is a room that some of our team members will stay in this year. There are 4 beds to a room, two night tables, 2 chairs, and a built in cabinet to hang stuff up in. It's very comfortable. The far wall will be repainted or wallpapered by the time we get there. The walls were recently painted in this room and there is a big window just behind me as I took this picture. Just a beautiful view. I really like our location this year.

This is probably one of my favorite things (other than the fire pit) about the facility this year. This is a building with 3 of 4 walls made out of glass. Lisa Hennessey, our Creation Station Curator, will have a great location to plan creative projects that children will work on as part of our teaching program. This building (and the whole camp ground) are exclusively ours during the camp which means no other kids or groups will be there. That means Lisa can unpack and let her creative talents flow for the whole time the camp is going on. This really, really, really is an important part of our program and I'm so happy to have a building that will support this aspect of our outreach.

The point of this picture is that the place is working hard to brighten up itself. An artist was working in this room while I was there painting all the walls in this common area a bright, green and yellow color. This camp ground sat closed for 12 years due to finding shortages after the fall. It's only in its 4th year of operation after such a long down time. I like to think we're ultimately bringing revival to a nation but it is also encouraging to know that this place will be revived as a result of the Lord's presence there through us and the kids this summer.

So that is a sneak peak at where we'll be this year. For those of you going, look forward to it. For those of you just checking in to see what's up, this is what's up.