¡Field Day!

Every Friday at Camp Hope we have "Friday Fun Day". This week, it was my turn to plan the fun festivities. As I thought about what we could do, I remembered how much fun it was to have Field Day at Baker School as a kid. There was nothing better than running around, racing, doing silly tasks, and getting to act like a wild kid in the middle of a field. I still would venture to say that very little can rival the joy that comes from a day like this, and last Friday is proof of that theory.

After snack, we took the kids out to the soccer field in the community, broke them into teams, and let the games begin! We did all sorts of classic relays, from the balloon hitting race to passing an orange down the line with your neck. One of the most unexpected highlights was having half the community come out and watch as we whooped and hollered and carried on like Maurice Sendak's "Wild Things". And, as the leader of the pack, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the teams calmed down when it was time to move onto the next relay.

Camp isn't just about fun and games, but let's be honest: Field Day definitely was.

Tenemos GOZO

A few weeks ago, in Bible class, Matt taught a lesson on gozo (joy). In the lesson, the kids played a game emphasizing that greater joy comes from sharing what you have than selfishly keeping everything for yourself. In the game, they were encouraged to share with one another and each time they shared, they declared, "¡Tengo gozo!" (I have joy!)

Apparently the game was a huge success, because ever since then, each

day during snack, instead of all grabbing the food as it is placed in the middle of the table, and quickly taking as much as they can, the kids calmly take one piece at a time and share the food well, all the while, telling us, "¡Tenemos gozo!" It has become a daily thing, and now the kids even offer to share their snacks with all of us, the leaders.

It brings a smile to my face each time a little hand reaches up offering to share their snack with me, to see how eager they are to share, and to know the strong connection that's been made between sharing and joy. Plainly, me da gozo. ;)

Meeting Dani

I want to introduce all of you to Dani. He is one of the youngest students in Camp Hope (our after school program). He comes every day in his white collared shirt and blue pants, the official school uniform here in town.

Everyday at Camp Hope, during homework time, we help the kids who have homework and assign homework to those who do not. I had asked Dani what year he was in school, he told me, "First," but the other kids were sure to inform me that he had dropped out of school. I assured him that he's still allowed to be part of the program, even though he's not in school. In my heart, I felt I wanted him to still be a part of the program ESPECIALLY because he's not in school.

For the past two weeks, Dani has been approaching me after Camp, handing me his notebook, and asking for homework, "Pongame tarea en ingles." The following day, he comes in and shows me his homework, asking me to check it, "Reviseme las tareas." He always has them done, although not always properly, but we can go over them in Homework time.

Eventually, I decided to ask Dani why he had dropped out of school. He told me, "La profesora me regañaba mucho." (The teacher scolded me a lot) To me it seemed like a strange reason to drop out of school, but it also became increasingly evident that he needed to be loved and guided.

So everyday we continue to give Dani homework, and try to teach him basic concepts during Homework time and after Camp before he heads home. He's a good kid and wants to learn, he just lacks the basic knowledge and some good encouragement. I really hope he goes back to school in the next term, and I hope he's not deterred by his teasing peers.

Please be praying for Dani and the other students in the program. We want to see them thrive as children and develop to the potential we all know they have--that's the point of the program! I know God can work this situation out and I put my hope in Him for Dani.

Little Milton that COULD!

Once a week at Camp Hope, we have Discovery class. Discovery can encompass a wide variety of activities, but the main goal is to get the students thinking outside the box. This week was the students' first experience with Discovery and we did the "Tallest Tower" challenge. The students broke into groups of 2 or 3, were given simple supplies, and were told to build a the tallest tower they possibly could that stood on it's own only using the supplies given to them.

At first, the students looked at the paper, tape, popsicle sticks, and straw, and then looked at me with completely blank faces. "Build a tower? But we don't know how!" I told them to just start experimenting and doing whatever they could to turn those things into a tower. Pretty quickly, the class of older students got to work tearing and rolling up the paper, taping things together, and hiding their designs from the competition. When it came time to measure, each group in the older class had a free-standing tower.

For the younger class, this task was a little more daunting. The blank faces didn't change as quickly, and one young boy, Milton, looked up at me and said, "I can't build a tower," in tone that suggested the task was ridiculous. I knelt down next to him and assured him that he could, be he continued to insist that it was impossible. He and his partner, Alduvin started to fold the paper with doubtful looks on their faces, and each time I passed by them, Milton looked up at me and reminded me, "I can't build a tower!". Each time, I affirmed that he could. Eventually, Milton and Alduvin had a design in progress that was standing on its own and climbing at the same steady rate as Milton's confidence. By the end, Milton was beaming as he looked around the room, noting that his tower was significantly taller than the others.

When it came time to measure all the towers, Milton and Alduvin's tower was the tallest in the younger class, and even taller than the tallest from the older class. As I announced this, Milton's eyes widened and his grin broadened. At closing, he made sure everyone knew that his tower had been the tallest of them all, very proud of his great accomplishment.

As he walked out the door at the end of the day, I looked down and said, "See, Milton, you can build a tower." He smiled back and me and said, "The tallest one!"

Camp Hope: It’s only the Beginning!

Last Wednesday we started the After School Program in Nueva Esperanza. We had a showing of 27 kids on the very first day! It was a blast, the kids are so excited for every activity we throw their way. God’s faithfulness and grace are evident in every aspect of the After School Program.

Here are a few highlights from all that God did in the first week:

· The weekend before camp started, we visited houses to register children from the community in the program. In each house, the kids were eager to be a part of Camp Hope. Going to into almost each and every home in the community was a blessing for our team because we were able to build trust and relationships with the families, and meet some of the kids before the first day of camp. We’re excited to see how relationships develop as we continue to work in this community.

· It is completely evident that God speaks Spanish. The kids in Nueva Esperanza don’t speak English at all, so the official language of Camp Hope has to be Spanish. For all of us English-speakers, this was a little daunting, but God equipped us with the language skills we need and communication to the kids was clear!

· Probably the most exciting blessing of all is that from day one, we had a youth interested in volunteering with the program. Saraí came the first day and jumped right in. Just having a youth volunteer from the beginning was major, but she was extremely helpful and worked well with the kids, which is even better! By the second day, it was evident that she is an indispensable helper, and has great potential. We are all extremely excited for her to keep coming and to see God grow her in this position of leadership.

All in all, the first week was a success! It is clear that the community wants and needs a program like this and we’re excited to see how God continues to show His power and love as Camp Hope goes on.