We had a wonderful time at camp this past week! We were a part of a camp for young teenage girls and were the base camp for a group of teenage boys who went on a hiking trip up a mountain called "Holy Nose". The trip there took over ten hours, and Anneka was SUCH a good little girl. In this picture, we're stopped on the road because the hitch for the trailer (carrying camping supplies) broke and the guys had to go to the next village to find a welder. Thankfully it didn't take that long!
Once we got to a town called Usbarguzeen (who knows how it's really translated into Latin letters!) we waited for a ferry to take us across the river to get to the National Forest along Lake Baikal. Leif bought some fish from a little stand and the three of us ate some. Thankfully we didn't get sick!
Anneka was very interested in the set-up part of camp and the tents. She watched intently and was so happy to be out of the car and outside!!
This is what our campsite looked like. It was right on the beach, which was really nice. The weather was sunny the whole time! We were SO thankful, as our only shelter was our tents. It never really got "hot", but it's kind of nice to not get sweaty when you don't have showers anyways. In the mornings and evenings, I would wear a short sleeved shirt, long sleeved shirt, fleece vest, fleece jacket, and regular jacket, and I was just right. And in the days when the sun was out we could sometimes wear a t-shirt.
These are the girls that we worked with all week. It was a great group of girls and they all really wanted to grow. We weren't sure where most of them were spiritually before the camp, but with so many workers and only 9 girls, many of us got quality time with them and found the answers to these questions. One morning when the workers were praying, the word "deep" came to my mind and I believe that God put it there. Many of our camps in the past have been great for sowing seed widely and sharing the gospel with a lot of people, but this camp was one where deep roots were planted. It makes me excited for these girls and their futures!
Every morning Inka led the girls in exercised before breakfast. It was so cute (and surprising) how much they loved this! Anneka liked it, too.
Our little family.
Leif was SUCH a valuable part of the camp. He hauled water from the lake for us to cook with and drink. He cut firewood. He helped make benches for us to sit on. He stayed up in the wee hours of the night to make sure the camp was safe. He dug a hole for the "bathroom". He watched Anneka while I worked preparing food. And a bunch of other things. A few days in, Dennis came to help, too, which was nice... especially when rolling this big barrel of water up to the campsite!
Anneka was a good little helper, too. She liked to follow her mama and papa around and to be of assistance.
Here we are picking rocks out of the millet. (we did this for rice and other grains, too).
This was my least favorite kitchen job- scraping scales off of fish. I'm in the middle of doing laundry now, and our apartment will smell like fish until I'm completely done!! But I was brave. =)
This was our main stove. We hung water pots on this stick to boil and fried things like onions and cabbage on the fire. Lena was the main cook, and I was SO thankful to just be a helper! Confidence with food preparation (especially with a Russian menu, over a fire, and for a lot of people) is not my specialty!
Here we are, eating a meal of soup at a little table made out of boards set over a tire.
The girls had a "school of beauty" every afternoon to go along with Bible lessons about how God has created them beautifully, uniquely, with much value, etc. This day they did pedicures. Anneka hopped right in on the fun! Elisabeth put a little polish on her toes and she was so proud... and didn't even touch it or anything! It's so funny because she is girly in so many ways and yet she LOVES to get dirty and climb and run around. A great combo, I think. We got her a baseball cap before camp and she loved wearing it. I had a hard time putting her in a bandana on another day because she really liked her cap.
There were two other kids there. Vica (pictured above) is six and Anneka really liked playing with her. The other girl, Alina, is a month younger than Anneka and liked to push Anneka down and grab her face. I don't have too many pictures of her because I was always trying to protect Anneka from her. She's a cute girl, though.
We brought a little pool so that the water could be a little warmer for Anneka than the lake. She played in and around it for HOURS each day. She was SO happy on the beach.
And here she is in all her style. The camp girls liked playing with Anneka's duck in the water.
Lena made pizzas for us one night for a late-night snack. She fried the dough in a plan and flipped it over. Then she fried all of the toppings, put them on top, and then let the cheese melt over the hot vegetables. It was really good!
In the mornings the girls had Bible lessons and in the evening we had a group gatering with skits, games, songs, and testimonies. I shared my testimony in Russian. It was neat to hear peoples' stories. One girl shared her story. We first met her through a day camp that our church put on last summer. We were never sure where she was at spiritually, but after she shared her story, it is evident that she has put her faith in Jesus. It's so exciting! And most of the girls we see frequently, so they'll have followup.
One of the girls who came is from a village where she and her mom are the only believers. Sometimes they have people come into their home and they share with them about Jesus. But, as for now, church consists of her and her mom... as there is no place for them to go. I am both sobered and excited thinking about this. God is at work and His light shines in the darkness. But there are still so many who have not heard. I pray that His fire will consume this land as people come to know His great love.
