....The first day of camp we were definitely thrown into the deep end of the pool. After witnessing the game upon arrival it was like hey let’s go in and have music!! What?! We were nowhere near prepared for that! But, God gave us the tools we needed even before we knew we needed them. Thank goodness for Jungle Safari English camp in Hurbanovo with the team there!  Thank you God for Andrea and Monica who led music for that camp three times a day and with whom we were allowed to work alongside. Thank you God for the songs we learned there which we were blessed to share with the children here. I honestly don’t know what we would have done without them! It has been a long time (or maybe never in my case) since church camp or even bible school and while I know a couple of songs the lyrics are faint and the gestures even fainter. But we were reminded of these and more at the English camp and we were able to limp along and teach them to the kids here.  They loved the Papaya song, the jungle song, Praise Ye the Lord, In right Out right Up right Down right Happy All the Time and a few others. The first day was tough we mostly sang for them and began teaching some of the motions. But even by the end of that 1st day they were trying to sing and gesture along. That night I came home and wrote some of the lyrics on big pieces of paper and we held those up the next two days and that was a huge help. By day three they were singing and dancing with the best of them and when we opened up the last session to favorite requests they had some!! Of course the Papaya and Jungle songs and Praise Ye the Lord made the cut. I cannot explain the joy that filled me up looking out at those faces who were really having fun singing along in English with us – it was an incredible moment. Thank you God for the gift of music and that we are allowed to share it with others!

 

One other story I wanted to share about camp was just a little interaction I had with one of the kids there. I had noticed him standing off to the side, not really participating in the games or the free play. While I watched him for a while, he noticed and began looking back at me. This kid had the face of an angel, blonde hair, blue eyes and chubby cheeks, finally, I could not resist. So I ambled on over to see if there was a chance he spoke any English. When I asked he said he spoke a little bit so we started with the basics, our names, how old are you, where do you go to school? Pretty soon, this kid was talking a blue streak! A little English?! He told me all about his family and himself, he is headed into 6th grade and his sister is 19 and he wasn’t eating at school because she would be making Spaghetti for dinner – his favorite. He told me all about their animals, dogs, pigs, cats, etc. Apparently they used to have 5 pigs but they needed some meat, enough said. Somehow we got on to games he likes to play, which of course came around to video games. When I mentioned my son likes to stream (basically play games on line while people watch and sometimes participate for you novices out there) he took off telling me about all kinds of games he loves to play. He especially loves dragons and mystical games. Of course I was quickly lost, but fortunately one of his favorite games is Minecraft one I have watched Preston play for years so I could at least manage some level of respectability in our conversation. I mention all of this because while I had noticed him hanging by himself much earlier, it took me a long time to gather up the courage and go over to talk to him. My innately introverted nature takes over at times like this. If I had not made an effort to speak with him, a true gem in the heart of my day would never have happened.....

If you would like read the rest of this story, and follow Michelle and Randy Orr as they continue to volunteer in Serbia and Slovakia, please go to their blog   

More volunteers are needed in Serbia, especially in construction for the new conference center.  If you are interested in assisting in the growth of this ministry in Serbia, please email us or call 1-800-222-3872 ext 2366.

International Ministries encourages volunteers to express things that they are experiencing, learning and thinking in mission. The reflections in volunteer blogs are shared with permission of the volunteer.  The views and opinions presented throughout the blogs are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of International Ministries staff, Board of Directors or supporters.