Camp Season, Part 2: Frydlant

So camp was over, and follow-up begins. As I mentioned before, one thing that I love about this camp is the emphasis placed on loving and ministering to the children from the children's home. Let me emphasize: The children's home in Frydlant serves these children to the best of their ability. The children live in "family" units with tetas--"aunts," or what we might call a dorm mom. The children in each family are of a mix of ages. They eat several meals each week together as a family rather than in the home's dining hall. The older kids help look after the younger ones. They share chores, much as they would at home. The kids physical needs are provided for, which is better than what might have happened in the homes of their natural families. However, this is an institution, and these children are desperate for love and attention that their tetas simply don't have the time or resources to give.

Camp helped us develop relationships with these children that I would so love to preserve. So when Ben and Helena Middleton, who organize the American team, asked me to join them for follow-up at the children's home during the week following camp, I was so excited to be able to join them. The first day, Friday, we went to the home and picked up our students. We then proceeded first to an ice cream shop, then to the only really decent restaurant in this tiny town, where the kids got another round of ice cream. It wasn't the most nutritionally sound ministry opportunity, but those kids felt so special sitting in a grown-up restaurant with grown-ups (well, sort of) who had eyes and ears only for them. It was so fun to spend that special time with them.

The Monday following that, we brought board games and card games to the home and played games with not just our students but with about a dozen other kids in the home. There was more energy and enthusiasm and liveliness in that room than I ever get to see in my sedate little suburban home here in Ricany!

So the challenge begins now. Frydlant is 2-1/2 hours away from Prague, but I want to continue these relationships. Would you join me in praying for wisdom about shaping this relationship? How often do I go? When? What do I do with the kids when I'm there? How do I form a good relationship with the staff there? And--very importantly--how do I draw some Czechs into this scheme of mine? Pray for the churches in Liberec (20 minutes away) and Jablonec (30-35 minutes away) to become more involved in reaching out to these children and this community.

Up next..."Ain't no mountain high enough...."