Thursday, August 4, 2011

Bible camp

One of my greatest joys here in Belgium is getting to work with the kids, and in the summer, that means spending some time at our Bible camp. Our camp is located in Wallonia, the southern (French-speaking) part of Belgium, in the Belgian Ardennes. It is absolutely beautiful there with lots of hills and trees! There's a hill we love climbing to a tree called the "Love Tree". Many initials of dating couples have been carved in that tree over the years, but what also draws us back to that spot is the beautiful view you get from there. Here is a picture of the view from the Love Tree. Just gorgeous!


Last summer I had the privilege of helping at our Teen Camp (12 - 14 years olds). It was a really special week in that almost all of the staff came from our church here in Ghent. We also had a great group of kids! We all agreed that the week couldn't have been better! I was the girls' counselor for the week as well as the babysitter for my teammates' kids, Gideon and Isaak (Luk and Holly's boys). I would take care of the boys whenever Luk and Holly's respective tasks had them both busy at the same time. My only bit of feedback at the end of the week was that it was difficult trying to keep up with both jobs - being there for the girls and taking care of the little boys. That's why this year when Luk asked if I would again come and be camp babysitter, I said, sure - as long as I only have that one job! :-)





So, this year I helped at our week of camp for the older teens (15+). I had a few more little ones to take care of, off and on, than last year. Eva came and helped later in the week and brought her daughter, Jana along. Also, our friend, Anneleen, came a couple of days to help in the kitchen, and she brought her two sons with her. I did have some extra special help later in the week, though, as Gideon and Isaak's Opa (grandpa) came for the last few days! The picture to the left is me, Gideon, Isaak, Eva, Jana and Opa (Luk's dad, Mark). We had just finished our climbing adventure and stopped to take a picture by this well.

To the right is a picture of Gideon and I performing for the Talent Show. We sang the song, "Read Your Bible", in three languages - English, Dutch and French! How many of you were singing in three languages when you were five years old?? (Not me, but Gideon can!)






All in all, it was a fun week! It was great to be able to take care of the little ones again, so their parents were free for their own tasks. Plus, it was good to have some time to spend with the teens. I managed to play several card games and had some good discussions.

I want to ask all of you to pray for our teens here. We all know that the teen years can be challenging, but this is especially true if you are the only teen at your school who attends church or believes in God. We have a good group of kids here, but some of them are struggling to make good choices. Please pray for them, for their parents and for those of us who have opportunities to touch their lives from time to time.



Next week I will be out at camp again for Family Camp. This is always a very enjoyable week - and a bit more relaxing than the youth camps! Please pray that the week will go well, that good Bible lessons will be brought and that we will have good fellowship with our Christian brothers and sisters!