Hey guys, it's actually already been a while since I last updated. It's crazy to think that this camp definitely just flew by when the first camp felt like it lasted for AGES. Honestly, I think that it's probably because there were a lot of internal struggles with this camp, especially considering how this second camp was located at the same school as the last camp. To start things off, we were all extremely discouraged after the first day of teaching. I mean, it was difficult, because the kids were just SO different. If you remember in my last update, I said that my kids in the last camp were like perfect - they were really emotionally mature, understanding, selfless, and loving. During the afternoon activities when we talked about characteristics that come with following Dad (activities that relay the importance of love, joy, forgiveness, hope, etc.), the kids already knew it all, and they had the life experiences to prove it, so there was a lot of direct sharing of the lepsog, because that's kinda where my kids were at. But this camp has been so different. The kids are just not as understanding of these concepts, and kids are all crying everywhere - whether it's because they're homesick (probably because they're used to a certain amount of attention) or because they're recently "heartbroken" or other attention seeking tactics. And something that's kinda small, but still has made a pretty big difference, is that during free time, these new kids really don't play outside much whereas the first set played outside whenever they had the chance. Basically, after the first day, it was really easy for us to compare the two camps. With only a day in between the two camps to recover, I don't think we were really emotionally ready to love a new set of kids, especially a set of new kids that were so different from the first set of kids. But we had a really good time of chatting that night, and we talked about the sp-r-tual warfare that people have felt in the air, and things only went up from there. Praise Dad for always providing us with the strength and love that we need.
Really, Dad has really been good, and there have been so many testimonies of the ways he's still been moving here despite the stark difference in personalities and despite the increased security measures. Especially over the past couple of days, Dad has really blessed me with a heart to love these kids as I've loved the first set, especially in the face of their flaws (whether that's love of money or selfishness), and I've seen in the ways that the kids tell me little things about their day or ask me to play games with them that they really are receiving the love that I have been trying to show them, which has been really exciting to see! :)
I'm sure I'll be able to fully collect my thoughts once the camp ends, but that's kind of it for now. Dad has been super faithful in increasing our ability to love these kids, so please continue to chat for:
1) strength - especially for myself, I think that I'm starting to burn out. After SO many days just being stuck here with only one day where we really got to leave the schoolgrounds, I can feel myself just starting to get super antsy and wanting to leave. Strength to love these kids even in the face of exhaustion.
2) unity - there are still some issues concerning unity within our team. Please chat for wisdom in handling the situation.
3) boldness - our director briefed us before this camp started saying that security is much higher at this camp, because a lot of kids come from the city (unlike the children of migrant workers from the last camp), and so many of their parents are in important government positions and things of the such, meaning that we have to be a lot more careful of what we say to whom. However, please chat that the HS will continue to fill us with boldness and wisdom to share what is appropriate and pleasing to Dad.
Thanks so much for your chats. I know that Dad hears them, and I am glad to say that he is definitely answering them. Hope all is well with you. Love and miss you all!
P.S. Also, my toe has been getting a lot better PTL! I'll be honest with y'all, because of it, I have been kind of scared to shower, so I uh... definitely went a full week without showering eeeee. No worries, as usual, I didn't actually smell, but people definitely gave me a lot of crap for not showering for a full week mip mipppps. :3 #nojudgmentpls
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