Arrival at Camp - Mon, July 21

Our team departed Dallas on Friday afternoon with no problems other than Jenya having a little problem with liquids and makeup in her carry-on luggage! She thought she was allowed a gallon bag, not the quart size bag that the TSA actually allows! She had to make some “adjustments”! It was a good flight and all the bags arrived with no problems. The “Agora Hotel” we were taken to was a small hotel near the center of town. It’s run by a Christian Ministry and they converted an attic into a five room hotel that includes breakfast. However, it was a work-out to get all the luggage to the fourth floor and navigate all the stairs, but well worth the stay once we were there.

On Sunday we attended the church services of the Logos Baptist Church that were being held at St. Petersburg Christian University in the south part of town. The team member got to ride the metro system for the first time which is always an experience! After the two hour service we did some touring on Neveski Prospect before having dinner at Carl’s Junior. We thought it might be our last hamburger for a while!

While everyone was asleep, on Monday morning I travelled across town to retrieve a bag of mine at our partner organization and to borrow a guitar. I arrived back at 8:30am tired and ready for breakfast. After our meal we packed our gear and headed for camp. It was about a two hour drive to the camp located north of St. Petersburg among the trees and lakes. The temperature was in the low 70’s and very comfortable!

We immediately noticed when we arrived that several of the kids were wearing Gospel Bead bracelets. It seems that a team from Australia had been there the previous session witnessing to the kids. So, the kids were prepared for our visit!

There are 430 kids at this camp and placed into 17 different groups. Some are placed by ages while others are placed by a certain specialty like a dance group, or a group from another country like France. I was asked to attend a counselors meeting at 8:45 each morning to find out the plans for the day. About every day the camp had a theme day that included days like Carnival, Olympics, Angel Day, Parents Day, Family Day, and Military Day to mention a few.

Our group was quickly assimilated into the camp life. Our first request from the camp was for us to perform a skit during the counselor’s performance night. We did a skit that needed no translation called “The Mosquito”. It was enjoyed and the kids were now introduced to us!

We all ready to teach ESL, do crafts, or sports with the kids. I saw that the counselors had various schedules that I could never learn so we could insert our team. So I started passing around a sign-up spreadsheet at the counselors meeting and they began to sign up for our team to come and meet with their group. This started our real engagement with the kids and staff on a daily basis.