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The Shelter of Care Summer Camp Program provides girls from orphanages in Iaşi with a unique opportunity to attend an annual Christian Camp during the summer holidays. Each year, Shelter of Care camps bring together Romanian, American and British volunteers, and around 20 girls and young women at a peaceful countryside camp, to enjoy sports, crafts, teaching and worship.
Summer camp is also a valuable opportunity for relationships to be developed and consolidated. In a peaceful atmosphere, away from the distractions of daily life, the girls gradually allow themselves to open up, to talk about their experiences and to allow the Holy Spirit to begin a work of healing.
The testimonies of the girls who have been on the camps show how important this aspect of Shelter of Care's work is:
"I like the program. I liked that each of us felt really special. I found answers to many questions and I got to know God in a way I never have before. The only thing I don't like is that we have to leave now. I really hope to be part of camp next year."
"Before I came, I wanted to quit school and didn't have any perspective. Now I want to continue and do something really valuable with my life."
"Thank you for teaching me about friendship, value and for treating me as your equal. I've learned how unique I am and how special I am in God's eyes." |
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I was very nervous at the beginning of our summer program this year.
First of all we were doing things differently—we were not taking the girls away to camp but doing the program in the Amos Center instead. The Amos Center is a big facility but on a hot summer day the place can become very small!
Secondly, for the first time this year we had boys as well as girls. It also was the first time we have cooked the lunch for the kids which I saw as an extra challenge. In fact I think I saw the whole thing as a challenge, but I decided to take it one day at a time.
The help came from the most unexpected place—the children themselves. They enjoyed themselves so much and they were so glad to be there with us, that they made the days pass by very quickly.
This year the teaching was about the gospel. We spoke about sin, separation from God and what we have to do in order to go back to him. We spoke about the narrow road and the broad road, and we asked the kids if they wanted a personal relationship with Jesus. Nine of them raised their hands, and we prayed with them. We told them to consider it very seriously and they did.
They worshiped every morning and they prayed to God. They read from the Bible and they told the stories they remembered. I think the teaching time never passed so quickly; they really enjoyed it and looked forward to it.
We had four volunteers from the UK working with us this year: Linda, Sue, Derek and Godfrey.
One of the best projects was sewing, another thing that I was nervous about, but it turned out to be one of the most popular activities, even among the boys. In fact one of the boys, Ionuţ, was a natural tailor in our opinion! We also did beads, cards, stuffed toys, and other crafts.
We spent two afternoons in the park with our children and I was amazed again at their generosity. They were sharing their toys, playing with smaller kids, and giving away the crafts they had made.
Time flew by very quickly and too soon we had to say goodbye again.
Thank you so much Linda, Sue, Derek, Godfrey, Marinela and Elena, for all your work, your dedication and your heart for our children. We at Shelter of Care thank you for all you’ve done.
Thank you so much Romania Task Force, University Presbyterian Church, Seattle, WA for all your financial support for this project that you have faithfully sponsored for years!
Thank you Newbold Baptist Church, First Christian Church The Dalles OR, and Second Presbyterian Church Louisville, KY, for all your help and support in prayers and financially!
And most of all thank God for helping me to see what I thought was a challenge as a blessing—it was a blessing to spend two weeks with these wonderful children, a blessing to be able to serve with such wonderful people, and most of all a privilege to serve Him in these children’s lives!
To Him be the glory!
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We came home from a long trip to England only three weeks before the camp started and it was hard to believe in the first place that we would have to pack and go so soon after we unpacked our stuff.
This was only the beginning of it. Then we were told by Tatarasi and Bucium orphanages that we could only take four of the girls that were with us on the previous camps and the rest of the girls (16) were new to us. We were very open and really felt blessed to be able to share God’s love with 16 new girls who we had never reached with the gospel before.
We went back to the same camp site that we have used for the past four years, and stuck to our familiar schedule: teaching in the morning, small groups, arts, crafts and sports in the afternoon, movies in the evening (and disco on two nights!).
The subject of the teaching for this year was about choices and consequences and it was very interesting to see how the girls openly admitted that for the choices that they made without God there were bad consequences. Derek, Becky, Emma and Sorin, our teachers, used the stories of Bible characters like Daniel, Jonah, Joshua and Caleb, Noah, Peter, Adam and Eve to present the principles that they were teaching the girls and at the end we had a quiz to see if they were paying attention - they did very well!
The worship was beautiful and the girls joined in, singing and worshipping God. They wrote all the songs down and they sang some of them in the bus in the way home from camp.
Each afternoon, we followed a program of crafts and sports. We introduced a few new crafts this year: we decorated cushion covers, we did decoupage and made cards and paper flowers. Of course we also did lots of beads and bracelets! Some of our new girls were a little nervous about signing up for the sports program, but they soon relaxed and several of them surprised themselves at how good they were at sports they had never tried before.
I’ve just described the activities at the camp and you might think that this was just another camp, but it was a very different camp in many ways. First of all it was a new love that God put in our hearts for these girls - a love that was new every morning. Although we did not know most of the girls at all at the beginning of the week, by the time we had to come home, we had formed special and lasting relationships with them. Secondly, at the end of the camp, many girls spontaneously stood up and shared with everybody else what the camp meant to them without us asking them to do that! Of course they said nice things about the volunteers, and we appreciated that - it is good to be appreciated after you dedicate a week to someone - but most of all they said that they got to know God in a way that they never did before! This was our real reward for all the hard work!
We already started a follow up program, meeting regularly with some of girls and continuing to show God’s love them. We praise God for opening up these opportunities to work with a whole new group of girls. He is good!
Our thanks go to Second Presbyterian Church Louisville KY, New Life Ministries, University Presbyterian Church Seattle WA, Pat and Denis Fecich, and Frank and Janet Relihan for your generosity. Without you, the camp will not have been possible.
Thank you Newbold Baptist Church, and Derek, Linda, Doreen, Godfrey, Emma, Pinka, Hayley, Becky, Marcia, Marinela, and Chris Finn for all your work at the camp and in preparation for it. All your hard work was well worth it!
Thanks to all that prayed for our camp and please continue to pray for the follow up as we continue to minister to the girls.
Was the camp different? Maybe not the camp, but we were different: changed and renewed by God to be able to do His work. What a mighty God we serve!! |
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I am looking at the girls, playing, laughing, reading, and I stand amazed at their trust. Why do they trust us and come with us to camp every summer? It takes a lot of trust to just go with someone that you don't even know in some cases. I am saying that because this summer we have had ten new girls with us. Not only new to the camp program, but very "new" to us all, since it was first time we have invited girls from Tatarasi orphanage to come with us. We had a total of 22 girls.
Many girls from Bucium orphanage graduated and moved on, so we have had to look into other orphanages for girls that want to participate in camp. And I am so glad we did that. They were amazing girls, willing to learn, willing to listen, and willing to share!
The worship time was beautiful as always. The girls have beautiful voices and they love singing! Becky and Amanda learned a new song in Romanian and it was the "hit" of the camp.
The teaching was different from previous years, more dynamic and very interactive. The girls joined in a lot, and they liked it. We presented women from the Bible – women with different emotions – and we tried to teach the girls how to respond to different emotions and how to handle certain feelings, especially the negative ones. I was amazed how open the girls are about what they feel once they see you are really interested in what is going on in their lives.
One word that came to me a lot before camp and during the camp was "encouragement". I felt called to encourage in the girls the good things that I see, and try to help them realize that once we grow on the good things we don't need to rely on the 'bad" way of handling emotions: violence, bad language, grudges, isolation.
The teaching was outstanding. God gave a special anointing to Derek, Andy, Amanda and Becky. They created a very special atmosphere for the teaching by bringing to life characters from the Bible.
Many girls came to me after each session of teaching and asked me where in the Bible is the story they just heard so they can read it again!! Alleluia!!
We did miss some people this summer; volunteers that for different reasons couldn't come to camp. So, we were a much smaller team than usual. I was a little nervous about the craft time. I learned in the very first day that I shouldn't be worried about it. The crafts that the volunteers brought were very good, appropriate and easy for everybody to make. It also challenged the girls to creativity and I think this is a very good thing. At first, it was hard for the girls from Tatarasi to understand that they could keep whatever they made, so they kept asking what they do with the things. When they realized it was for them to keep, they put even more effort into it.
The weather was great; we were really blessed with nice weather. The food was very good, in fact at the end when each of the girls did her own evaluation without hesitation most of them placed the food very high on their list of "liked".
I don't want to paint a perfect canvas here. I am not saying that it was all good.
We are looking at a whole new generation of girls. They don't like sports anymore, they love make-up. They prefer to play with their cell phones instead of spending time with you sometimes. The way they dress is very different from what we are used to.
But once you give them a chance and accept them the way they are, you soon discover that they are not different from any other girls: still hurt, still abandoned, still worried about the future, still in a desperate need of Salvation. So it is a relief to know that no matter who you address your message to, it should be the same: we all need Jesus in our lives – He is the only hope we have got. And all the girls without exception thanked us at the end of the camp for teaching them things about God that maybe nobody told them before, especially when they heard that you can have a personal relationship with Him.
If I had to say what the highlight of this camp was, I would say without hesitation: relationships. We built some very deep relationships with the girls, maybe more than ever before.
One of the volunteers at camp said to me one day: they might not remember what the teaching was about, maybe not even the great crafts we provided, but they will definitely remember us. She was right. They will remember if we loved them, if we encouraged them, if we served them.
My challenge for you all today is to live your life so that someone will remember you. These girls will always remember the volunteers that came to camp. They ask me every summer about each one of them.
It is a great investment for your summers. And I really believe that it will make the world better. Why? Because you invested in a child's life.
Our deepest thanks goes to:
our American, British and Romanian volunteers: Marinela, Marcia Semple, Derek McCulloch, Godfrey Cook, Andy and Amanda McCulloch, and Becky White;
Romania Task Force UPC Seattle, Project Agape and New Life Ministries;
and finally to everybody who took the time to pray for us and for the girls - you made this camp possible. Thank you. |
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We had a wonderful time at camp. The location was great, the weather was nice and we all worked wonderfully together as a team.
Sadly, many of our regular girls could not come to camp this year as they had work commitments - they are growing up! But this meant that we had the opportunity to invite several girls that had never been on camp before. It was amazing how fast everybody settled in, and how quickly new relationships were formed.
Worshipping with the girls was a beautiful experience. It was so good to see them singing to God, and especially to see that many of them had kept all their music sheets from previous years.
Through all of this year's teaching, we tried to explain to the girls that there is someone that has the greatest love of all towards them and is seeking a personal relationship with them. This girls learned about the characteristics of God, and what it means to be 'born again'.
One of the teachings was on 'Freedom from Fear'. In small groups, we discussed with the girls what brings fear into their lives and they all told us the same thing: that their greatest fear was of not being loved and accepted. It reminded all of us why we keep coming on camp year after year and how important it is to build and sustain safe and caring relationships with these girls.
The teaching ended with the story of Esther - an orphan girl who became Queen and saved her people. The conclusion was that you never know how God is going to use you and your life in His mighty plans; you just need this personal relationship with Him.
Thank you everybody for the love that you share in such practical ways. Let's keep sharing that love! Who knows how many Esthers God will want to raise up from these girls? It's all in His mighty plans! To Him is the glory! |
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The morning we all left for camp, it was pouring down with rain, and the rain did not stop for three days! But despite this, the camp site was very beautiful and we settled in quickly.
This year we took 13 new girls with us, so we worked hard in the first few days to encourage relationships to form and develop between the girls, and the volunteers. It was wonderful to see how quickly we all bonded together into one family.
As usual, we had worship and teaching each morning, followed by discussions in our small groups. This year, Beni taught the girls about what God's Kingdom means and what we have to do in order to enter God's Kingdom. In our small groups, the girls had so many questions that we always ran out of time!
Later in the week, our English teaching team, Derek, Linda, Jeff and Pat, continued the teaching they started last year about the Father heart of God and emotional healing.
Again this year, some of the girls were asking what you have to do to become a Christian. We explained it and prayed with them - they invited Jesus into their lives. We took a special time on the last morning to pray with all the girls as they returned to their usual lives, and to ask God to help them to remember and apply the things they had learned at camp.
This was a very 'wet' camp, not only because of the rain, but because there were many emotional moments. Many girls were touched by the teaching and the testimonies of the volunteers. We all cried for each other and shared the girls' burdens when they needed someone to talk with.
Thank you, wonderful volunteers, for all the love and care you've shown to the girls at camp. Thank you Second Presbyterian Church for all your financial support and for your prayers for our ministry, and thank you Romania Task Force for once again partnering with us!
The last words are from the girls:
"After this camp, I don't want my life to be the same. I know I have to change. Thank you for showing me how to change and for showing me what God did for me." |
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One thing we all noticed as we started our fourth camp this summer was how much the girls are growing - many of them are young ladies now. The camp site was three hours away from Iasi, in a beautiful area, very close to the mountains. There were very nice sunrises each morning - for those who got up that early!
Sorin and Beni taught the girls about the main principles of Christianity: repentance, salvation, baptism and judgment, and we continued these studies in the small groups every day as we studied some parables from the Bible.
Of course, in the afternoon, we enjoyed sports and crafts as always. We had enough beautiful beads to make a long line from the camp to Iasi!
In small group discussions, we discovered that many of the girls were confused about what they believed about such subjects as heaven and hell, and what it means to be a Christian. We were able to talk openly about these things and help the girls to a greater understanding about God's call on their lives. Many of them were ready to accept that call.
The last night of the camp was dedicated to drama. Each of the four groups had to create a skit and perform it to the entire group. All the skits had to do with the Bible teaching the girls had learned during the week. The creativity of the girls was amazing!
This year we were blessed with a worship team from England. It was a privilege to worship together with the girls. The team learned a few Romanian songs and the girls learned a few English ones. It was very special! Other members of the English team came with some teaching on emotional healing. We pray that seeds that were planted will grow and help the girls in their healing process.
We are grateful for the help and support of all those who have given their time, money and prayers to help make this camp a success. Thank you to our Romanian, American and British volunteers. You have been a blessing to the girls. |
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This August, we held our third Christian camp. We had 24 girls from Bucium and Primaverii orphanages. For 15 of these girls, this was their third camp. At first, we were concerned about how the girls from the two different orphanages would get along, but they learned very quickly how to love and respect each other.
We could see the impact of the two previous camps on the girls' lives straight away. They were on time for the morning lessons and the small groups, and were very respectful towards the teachers, showing a real willingness to participate and learn. This year, for the first time, we learned some worship songs with the girls and sang them together. It was wonderful to see them singing and worshipping God.
This year, as always, some of the girls shared very personal stories, and talked about the difficulties they experienced in their lives. It was wonderful to see the more timid girls become braver as the camp went on, and to see those with the most difficult questions find an answer in the love and acceptance they were shown. The hard work we put into organizing the camp is more than rewarded by seeing how much the girls have grown in their respect, honesty and openness towards one another.
This year, God gave us two scriptures:
"I will strengthen them in the Lord, and they shall walk up and down in His name," says the Lord. (Zechariah 10:12)
'The Lord your God is with you and He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing.' (Zephaniah 3:17)
We thank God for His encouragement towards us, and we thank our many supporters for making the camp possible at all. |
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This year, we took 20 girls from Bucium orphanage, aged 14-22, together with 13 wonderful American and Romanian volunteers, to a camp located in a beautiful area, surrounded by trees and hills. It was a very peaceful place, and wonderful to be able to leave all our normal surroundings.
Most of the girls who came this year were also on camp with us last year. We were encouraged by their enthusiasm and their desire to be a part of our camp again, and it was easier for the teachers because the girls were used to the routine.
This year, one goal of our teaching was to share the gospel with the girls, and continue to encourage them to find their identity in Christ. The girls learned from Genesis how man was created in God's image before sin took man away from God's presence, and how Jesus Christ came to make peace between God and man. They heard about characters from the Bible like Abraham, David, Joseph and Solomon, and how they placed their trust in God.
Many of the girls said that they had enjoyed the Bible teaching and wished that they could have someone explain things from the Bible to them on a regular basis.
This year, we were joined by Marcia, a wonderful lady from Valencia, Pennsylvania, who was a sports teacher for 30 years. She helped us to make the most of our afternoon sports, and Julie did a wonderful job organizing all the craft activities - we had a great time. Our American ladies also impressed the girls by sharing their testimonies and showing the girls that everybody has difficulties, wherever they live, but that God is the same everywhere.
As always, we want to thank all those of you who gave your prayers, time, money, gifts and talents to help make this year's camp a success. These words from the girls will show you how much your support means:
"I now know that someone loves me with an everlasting love and that means everything to me."
"Thank you for helping me to understand that I have a Father who loves me. Thank you for showing me the promises He has for us in the Bible. Now I know that he cares and He has a plan for my life." |
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For this camp, the aim was to create a place where we could build one-on-one relationships, and speak about topics that are really important for the girls at this age.
We chose a group of 20 girls, aged 15 to 21, and the camp was a total of nine days. For many of the girls, it was the first camp they had been to in their lives! We thought as leaders that we would be teaching many things to the girls, but we quickly realized that we had a lot to learn from them!
We divided the girls into five small groups, with two adult leaders for each group. Each morning, we all had a lesson together and then met in our small groups to discuss what we had heard. The lessons covered topics like 'Value and Significance', 'Inner Beauty', 'Friendship', 'Relationships', 'Discipline' and 'Work'. One really pleasing thing was how willing the girls were to participate in the lessons and small groups. They had lots of comments - positive and negative! - but really this camp was the first time they were able to express themselves like this!
But camp was not all about lessons. We did sports every afternoon, and every evening we had a video or a short Bible study. We even did a country dance in the dance contest and won the competition!
We are very thankful to everyone for all your support. Please pray for the seeds that were planted and pray that they will grow in the right soil, with the right purpose. This camp was the first camp with a clear evangelistic message. We give thanks to God for opening the doors for us to do that. |
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