Getting to Know Them, Tue, July 22

Within the hour our team arrived, I met with the General Director of the camp. Tamara, is a pleasant woman who has a great deal of experience and is well known in international camping circles. She told us that Parent’s Day would be held on Sunday and asked us to hold off sharing the gospel until after Parent’s Day. I understood her position and we agreed that we would use this first week to build relationships with the kids through our activities.

Our primary reason that brought us to this camp was to teach English. This was a good publicity for this international camp to be able to say they have native English speakers teaching English. Probably they were not prepared for the first word we taught them. The kids were always ready to great us and repeat the lessons they learned in their school on how to greet someone in English. “Hello! How are you? I am fine, thanks! How are you? I am good! See you later!” We began teaching the way to greet a person from Texas is to say “Howdy!” Well, we began teaching that and soon the whole camp was saying “Howdy” to us every time we passed their group! It was a great way to connect with the kids! They would see us walking together as a group and they would go out of their way to say “Howdy” in unison and give us a big wave! We would respond with a Howdy back. I’m sure there will be some confused English teachers in St. Petersburg this fall!

During our first ESL classes, each of us had prepared a small display board of pictures about our lives and families. All kids in Russia seem very interested in what life is like in America and pictures are a great tool for sharing stories, culture, and life in America. It generates questions and the kids begin to know us. As we began to know the kids, we were surprised at how much English many of them knew.

We would offer hour time slots to teach English, do crafts, and play sports and games. For English and Crafts, we would start off our time with a song. Natasha, one of our translators that have worked with SAC many times before is a talented musician. She would play Christian children’s songs in Russian for the group. The kids would recognize the songs and loved to sing along and do the motions. Most of us Americans would do the motions and smile like we understood the words!

Then at some point I would do a crazy game with them. I would get them all hold hands in a circle and have them take one shoe off and toss it in the center of the circle. Then I would mix up the shoes, have them walk, and then tell them at the count of three to find and put on their shoes… without letting go of their hands! They all laughed and it’s a great ice-breaker!

Playing new “American” games with the kids was also a great way to build relationships. We brought Frisbees and plastic balls and bats to play baseball. The kids really enjoyed the Frisbees and Glenn Estes came up with some great ideas for games that the kids really enjoyed. We set up a Frisbee Golf Course among the trees during the first week. We taught the kids American baseball, however most kids just wanted to bat while the rest of us American played the outfield and chased balls all over the field! Glenn also introduced them to Frisbee Football which was a big hit with the kids, especially the older kids.

The camp also had lots of “shows” where different groups would put on a performance. The kids here are very talented, specially the two Dance groups that had come to camp. I think the kids practiced their dance routines several times a day. We enjoyed watching them and praising them each time they performed. It was another way to connect with the kids and build relationships.