Hiking Trip

     What fun it was to be a part of a hiking trip for teenage boys and preteen/teenage girls last week!  We started a little ways out of a village called Shabur and ended up in a village called Stari Bryn.  The hikers(with a lot of gear) crammed into the back of this flatbed truck to ride to the start of the hike.  Leif was in charge of three teenage boys.

     The director of the camp was also the dad of the youngest girls (who went were 9 and 11).  He saw how well Anneka had played with his daughters the day before and her brave and adventurous spirit, and he invited her along on the hike, too.  At first we weren't sure, but we decided to let her try it out for the first day.  And she did great!  She was tired,  of course, but didn't complain and really enjoyed the trip.  She continued to want to hike each day and the whole trip totaled about 10 miles.  There were two teenage girls in the group, too.  There were three groups total (two guys' group, one girls' group) Anneka's favorite part was when they'd find clues tied with ribbons along the way that told them where to go next.  Each day a different group took turns leading and finding the next campsite based on the clues and markers.

     I drove the van full of tents and food and was available if any of the hiking groups needed me.  Ike slept during this time, and Ella and I loved having this special time together!  We played little games on a pretend phone, chewed gum, took pictures, and talked.  She was so so happy.

As soon as we got to the first campsite, the groups set up the tents.     

     I got to work right away on lunch, peeling a bunch of potatoes.  I came into the trip thinking that I might be solely in charge of the food.  I knew this could be kind of crazy with three little ones, cooking over a fire, and preparing Russian food that I'm not accustomed to.  Thankfully Oleg, the camp director, also directed the food.  While I still did a lot, I was SO happy to just follow instructions instead of having to figure it all out!  Ella was helpful and brought me clean potatoes and then put the peeled ones in a pot of water.  Ike was not so helpful.  He pulled the clean potatoes out of the pot and threw them in the dirt.  Or ran away laughing. Or went and played in cow poop.  But all things considered, it went well.  The kids pitched in to help, too.  I was SO thankful that Inka had given me a cutting board at the last minute, that Leif brought a pocket knife, and that I had thrown in a peeler and can opener "just in case".  Without any one of these items, it would have taken me SO much longer to do any one task.  I can't tell you how thankful I was to have these things!

     Not long after the tents were up, the rain came down.  It rained hard for about an hour.  While the soup cooked, I drove into town to get some more sleeping bags, a ladle, and some goat's milk.

   
      After the rain and lunch, we all came outside again.  Ike crawled around in the grass, which I imagined was a tick haven.  But he was happy, and I sprayed him down with repellent (and prayed!), so we didn't worry about it.  Several people at the camp were bitten by ticks.  We've heard that as many as 25% of the ticks here carry encephalitis, and often the symptoms don't show up until several months later.  We pray that no one bit will be infected!

     We played fun games each day.  In this game, one team was blindfolded and couldn't move their feet, but they tried to tag the other team before they made it through.  When it was Leif's turn, he jumped over Tamara's head.  I thought this was a little crazy, as she could've at any moment lifted up her arm.  Thankfully they both came through unscathed!
   

     Here is Leif with his guys.  They had good conversations as they hiked, and they stayed up late into the night (until three in the morning!) talking in their tent.  One guy in particular was really interested in spiritual things and asked questions about God how a person can know that he's real.  Pray that the seeds planted during this camp will grow!

.Here were the girls, heading into camp on the second day.  It was really beautiful at each campsite, and there was no garbage!!  This was huge for me, as most places we've been have been cluttered with trash.

Dasha loved our girls.  She played so nicely with them.

     The second evening, Ella and I guarded the camp while everyone else went up a hill to explore a cave.  The Cossacks dug it  a few hundred years ago for storing supplies and hiding from Mongols.  

Each morning, Leif led the group in morning exercises.

     One day Ella, Ike and I waited for a group that got lost (they missed finding one of the markers).  It was fun with my little buddy.  And on the last day, we set out early with Sasha to put up the markers/clues to the final destination.

     And this was where we ended up on the last day of the hike!  A beautiful view of the village below.

 A lady, Nina, from the village came up the hill to see what we were all doing.  She stayed for several hours, and Tamara shared with her about God and His love.  She brought her little dog with her, and Ella fell in love.

     Most of the crew were high up on the hill, hiking around.  (Ike was sleeping in the backpack on Leif's back).  Nina warned us that there are a lot of snakes up there.  Tamara and I made lunch and then Ella helped me pump up a bunch of balls to give to the kids as gifts.  Tamara sat and played her guitar and sang praise songs and talked with Nina and one of the boys.  And I talked with Nina and Ella.  Ella petted her new friend.  A nice relaxed ending to a great trip!

   

Leif and his guys

     And at the very end, when we were cleaning up, Ike was finally allowed to play in the food pot.  He repeatedly scooped his little cup in there all weekend.  But this time we didn't stop him.  He was in heaven, and we were happy to have him in one place.  We were thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this trip and are trusting God for lasting fruit as a result!