With a Little Help From My Friends

     Before we get things rolling, I wanted to answer a question that came up twice in the comments on yesterday's blog post. It basically asked how the rest of the American team is doing. Save for one exception, I'd say the common word is rough. Whether mentally, physically, or emotionally, it's been a long rough week. Some of us, too, aren't completely sure about how the transition back to American life will go. I dealt with this back in 2014 after my first English camp. Basically, the word rough will apply to the next while or so for all of us.
     I've said multiple times in the past and I'll say it again. This isn't a vacation. We may have taken vacation time from work to be here but this isn't a vacation in any sense of the word. It's much closer to a temporary relocation for work. There is teaching, talking, walking, praying, singing, thinking, praying, fretting, planning, playing, and even more praying. And if we relied on our own strength, we'd burn out before the end of the first two days. This camp is a crash course in destruction of self-reliance with heavy emphasis on the destruction and crashing. If we did this for our own health, they'd be sending us home in a flag-draped box. We are all here for a purpose far greater than ourselves. Through it all, we need to rely on the One who gives strength for His purposes. We also need to rely on each other for strength, encouragement, support and even just a kind word.

     What I didn't realize back in 2014, and what I'm sure the other Americans are learning, is that there is a lot of stress involved in cross-cultural ministry. You don't know the language. You don't know the food. You don't know the people. You don't know the surroundings. Then on top of that, you're expected to be teachers and leaders, celebrities and celebrators, foils and friends. How can all that even begin to fall under the heading of "vacation?" It can't. It forces you to rely on God as well as others for strength to even finish the day.
     I'm not sure why, but this year seems to be a lot more difficult than years past. Not only for me but for the other team members as well. Some people I guess are built for this kind of thing. Some have to be stretched and molded into people who thrive in these situations. I certainly am not there yet. Perhaps in time.
     One last thing before diving into the report for Friday. I didn't get to attend the talent show due to being laid out with a bad headache Thursday night. So when one of the other team members writes about it, I'll link to it here.
     The morning of Friday, I found myself awake and without a headache. Surprisingly, things went a lot better for me today than yesterday. I still had the sore throat for most of the day. I suspect it was the AC in my room that did it to me or exacerbated the situation with extra dry air. But other than the sore muscles, I felt a lot more human today.

     This morning, we had a worship service. With as much push-back against Max's talks as we've had this week, I'm surprised that there were so many students there. I think part of it had to do with David leading the service. Most of them, several in my English class included, weren't happy about how Max presented his lectures this week. The idea of the service was to show those students who had not been in a Protestant church before what it was like. If they didn't all have preconceptions of what church is like, I'd be surprised. I talked with my English group right after the service and a few of them said they don't have the same opinion now of the Orthodox church as they do of Big City Church. I consider that a goal achieved.
     Speaking of English, it was my last lesson. I had a lesson prepared which I did pass out but we didn't actually go over it. One of the students suggested that we just talk and I thought it was a great idea. So we did. I asked them about their opinions on the camp, if they would recommend it to their friends (all said yes) and a few other things. It was a really good time of honesty from the students. It's things like this that make me wish the camp was longer. Then class time ends and I feel all the aches and weariness and am reminded why it must end.
     So end it did. I ate a small lunch of soup that tasted and looked like a cross between chicken noodle and pea soup. Then it was time for the video quest. This was the chance for us to really let the imaginations of the students run free. We were given a minute-long section of a song to choreograph a scene to. It turned out to be a party/concert scene.
     From there the camp moved on to the final Way Home lecture. The lecture, every day, included a team time to discuss prepared questions related to Max's talk for that day. The talk today covered the basic overview of history, from Adam to Eternity along with an explanation of the need to cover sin.
     Since this was Friday, it was also the day for closing ceremonies. We won't have time on Saturday with the photos, goodbyes, and packing. We got to see a video presentation of the activities from this week as well as our video quest video. That was really interesting to see because of all the creativity. This was the time that the students received their diplomas and the gifts that the American team had brought. It was a big shoulder bag with and American flag along with a had, some candy and a few other things. Among all the thankyous and goodbyes, we got to see that despite the issues, all the students truly enjoyed the week.

Blue team

My green team

Red team

     The closing ceremony also included a cookout with sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumbers and marshmallows. Gretchen remarked that the marshmallows here taste like Circus Peanuts, the American candy. Austin enjoyed his sausage but observed that "some kind of devilry" still encased his sausage. That was a throw-back to his first camp here on the Black Sea.

Dasha (far right) playing with three others.

     During the fire, and actually slightly before, I realized that part of me didn't want the camp to end. I was finally feeling better and things were easy now. But I guess I can't have both at the same time. Camp isn't going to be easy with this level of involvement.
     From the fire, we all went back to the main building for the discotech. Before it started, we had a good game of ping-pong. I won four games. One of the staff had some DJ equipment and put on an exciting (if a little disturbing) dance party. I didn't partake and thus had the horror privilege of witnessing the fluidity of Bryson's hip movements and Brandon's hopping around the dance floor. Once the discotech finally ended, I ended up staying up really late. Well, late according to my normal schedule. Austin, Bryson and I talked with Dasha (a Ukrainian staff member) for over an hour until about 2:10AM. We got to teach Austin some new Russian words and she learned the meaning of "ish" and "tenacious." Countless laughs were shared, particularly about how and when she would get our kidneys.
     Since I'm actually finishing this on Saturday morning after breakfast, I'm running short on time so I'll close with this. If you want to see more photos from the week, especially the ones that didn't go into any of these posts, you can look here. They'll be all the one's I took. I'll add more in Saturday's post.