Dirt, Camp, Fruit, Bag-Toss, & Tomatoes

This week was one of the toughest weeks of my summer so far because of a lot of stress on many levels.  We had one of our toughest group of young people from a village where many fathers had been killed in the war.  We shared about Gd's view of our value and uniqueness as men and women and then shared the greatest story every told.  We didn't see a lot of "visible" response but we were grateful for the opportunity to keep investing in their lives.  This village is regularly visited by the long-term workers here.  I had a tough time this week because of stress in other areas but Gd's grace was evident in spite of my weaknesses.  He uses us even in the midst of our stubborn refusal to trust.  We are the ones who miss out when we decide to hold back from investing.  I pray that Gd will continue to change my heart even through the difficult struggles of learning to trust.  He is a patient Father, even when we makes mistakes.  I'm thankful for His grace in spite of who I am and what I've been.  Because it was a tough week, I've made this post a bit more light-hearted.  Hope you enjoy the "snapshots" of this week.

Dirt, Camp, Fruit, Bag-Toss, and Tomatoes. . .So what do all those things have in common? You just never know what you'll be doing when you serve up at camp.

This week started out with moving a lot of dirt to fill in an area for future septic tank lines.

We welcomed our group of campers here on Tuesday and worked hard all week leading and helping with activities.
Above: View of our soccer field, volleyball, and Frizbee field(s).

I got to build a"Bean Bag Toss" game for the children. They enjoyed playing during the "in-between" times.

Dish crew had many smiles

Hiking with the girls was fun! The girls got a bit tired and complained but it was a good hike in spite of it.

We found some ripe fruit along the way -- a cherry/plum tasting fruit -- a sweet treat :o)

The week ended as I stayed up at camp for a few more hours to learn how to can tomatoes. It was fun! By the end I was exhausted from a long week. Let me tell you, this sojourner is very grateful for weekend rest.


 The following photos are from a photo scavenger hunt that we did with our girl's group today.  We went to our teammate's house and went around their small village to do our scavenger hunt.  It was a blast!

A picture of at least two people eating an apple.

In front of a mosque with your whole team!

My personal favorite:  Your entire group skipping down the street, holding hands :o)

Picture of people's shoes out on the porch, outside their door.  (Wasn't too hard because everyone takes off their shoes when you go to someone's house here).

A cow or Albanian: "lope."

A person working (although this one was a bit "staged," the lady was very gracious).

We celebrated afterward with ice cream sundays!