Shabur Hike (Part 1)

     We had the privilege of going on a hiking trip for the second year in a row.  Leif led a group of teenage guys... they walked together, did activities together in the day, and slept in the same tent.  Most of the teens on this trip aren't Christians, but there were lots of opportunities for them to hear about Jesus and have conversations throughout the four days.  Here, Leif was gathering his group at the little church in Shabur and getting ready to start off on the adventure.

     I had a very fun job.  I got to be a cook with Adriana, my Romanian friend.  She took the lead with everything, so I just had to follow her orders.  And I drove us (and the little ones) along the route of the hike.  Here, you can see our van was very, very full (of food, firewood, archery equipment, tents, sports equipment, and musical instruments).  Thankfully, we drove very slowly and off of the main road.  We didn't run across any other cars. 

     The first day they walked to the site of an old concentration camp from WWII for Japanese and Lithuanian prisoners (more on this in the next post).

It's really fun to see our kids interacting with other kids.  Ella just loved Dasha!

   

     Our boys loved playing together.  They "helped" in the kitchen.  Here, Ike was trying out a potato (uncooked).  He soon discovered that raw potatoes aren't the best.  We got such a late start on the hike, and then the teenage boys had go get water from the river and build a fire.  So we probably didn't have dinner until about 9:00.  I would have totally been stressed about this, even a year ago.  But this year, it didn't I was able to take it in stride.  =)

     In the mornings and evenings, we had a time of singing praise songs to God and a devotional time.  Everyone seemed to really enjoy this time.

     Ella usually doesn't take naps anymore, but since we were going to bed at midnight each night, I made her take a nap each afternoon.  She would fight me on it, but then within 5 minutes she'd be asleep.  This day was really hot, and she slept in the cool of the shade of the kitchen screened tent.  She was so sweet curled up there.  

     

     Leif let different times of sports- soccer, frisbee, American football.  They had a lot of fun!

     One day the campers all had a secret friend.  Anneka's friend gave her these pretty flowers (it was a sweet teenage boy that drew her name).  Ella liked the flowers so much that she wanted her picture with them..  A group of boys picked some beautiful orange flowers for me and Adriana, and then someone said that they shouldn't be picked because they're an endangered species.  After that, I felt sad every time I looked at them.  We even brought them all the way home after the hike to enjoy every last moment with the rare flowers.

     Anneka got to be in her own group with her own camp counselor!  She loved being one of the big girls and sleeping in a different tent from Mama.  It was fun to see her interacting with her group and enjoying the week!

     There were so many dishes to clean!  Even though each person washed their own cup, bowl, and spoon, there were still a lot of  pots and pans and cutting boards to clean.  Ike really liked helping me with this job!

     The little ones and I shared a tent with Adriana and her littlest guy.  It got really COLD in the night.  A couple of nights, I shared a sleeping bag with Ella and Ike so that we could warm up.

Each morning Leif led the group in exercises before breakfast.

Singing praise songs to God!

     The kids also got to experience archery and learning how to shoot with a bow and arrow.  Anneka said it was hard work and took a lot of strength to hold the bow.

     Before lunch one day while the older kids were helping to build a fence around the cemetary of the concentration camp, the girls helped peel carrots for lunch.  They liked to be in their group, but they also liked to know that their moms were nearby! =)

Here's our group!