Monday started early with a Clear Lake team meeting at 7:15. We met each morning in order to talk over prayer requests and to see how we were each doing. At 7:45 we had our camp staff meeting. We started with the Odessa staff, the translators, and the Americans and Canadians to sing, have a short devotional and discuss the day. The translators would then leave to have their meeting while we discussed any prayer concerns that each of us had. We then split into smaller groups for a time of prayer. Our team was very unified the whole week, and I am sure that this time had a lot to do with it. It was hard getting up early each morning, but we really bathed that camp in prayer.
After breakfast we met in the large
meeting room for announcements, a silly English song like Wadaleacha, head and shoulders...etc, and our trivia of the day. Our trivia of the day was designed to get the kids to speak to the Americans/Canadians. We would have two questions each day that they needed to find out who the answer was. Even some of the kids who spoke very little English would walk around with their paper. They had to ask the question in English. We would then break for Bible reading time. Our group for Bible Reading was a mix of English reading levels. We had a translator to help us. The students were given a Russian New Testament and an English New Testament. We would read the passage in English and then have them read it in English, read it in Russian, or translate it from Russian into English. They can read English fairly well, but they don't always know what it means. We then had questions that we would ask them. The Bible is viewed as a good piece of literature in Ukraine. The kids knew that they would be hearing about God at camp, so this was not a surprise. We were still trying to help them with their English while learning about God's word. Monday's theme was who is Jesus. We studied Jn 1. Each day built on the day before.
After Bible reading, the groups changed for English Class. For these, the kids are divided into classes by level of conversational English. Dan and I had the Advanced, Advanced speakers. There were six in our class, three of which were actually translating that week. Grammar is something that they know well, so the focus of the week was to teach them conversational English, not grammar. Our English class would spend 45 minutes going over vocabulary words, two word verbs, and idioms that fit our theme for the day. Since we had the advanced group, we let them choose the themes that they wanted to discuss. The next half of class was spent playing games. Monday, we played Boggle. I was very amazed at how well they did finding words. We ended class with an homework assignment that would help them speak English. For our class it was usually a question that required an answer and an explanation. We also sent articles for them to read and report on the next day.
Lunch was next with a few hours to rest, plan for the next day, and spend time with the kids. 3:00 was an optional craft time. 4:00 was an optional discussion. They varied each day. One day was Creationism, another day, Dan and I discussed dating. Before dinner, we had our Conversation group which was the same people that we had Bible reading with that morning. Conversation time was just that--conversation. We had topics or questions that we could use. After dinner, we had an activity that was meant to help us get to know our group better. Monday we played carnival games. We had a short service in the evening. We would sing worship songs in both English and Russian and then listen to a short challenge. Monday started the theme of "What brings happiness?" It was a great start to an incredible week.
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