Week 2 at Tabara Vetca: Zau Orphanage and Group Homes

Week 2 of camp was really great. The kids were quite different as most of the campers were girls and not as many were special needs as last week. I led team SUA this week (that’s USA, for you Americans ☺) and we actually won the silver medals for the week! I couldn’t believe it.
The Lord has really been teaching me about my leadership style through all of this. I’m not a wild and crazy person. I get excited about things and can have lots of energy at points, but I am usually not the kind of person that will start the high energy. I am learning to lead by serving and relationships. One girl on my team was such a leader and so it was great to sit back and allow her to lead on her peers. We had to step in at times, but I focused on the ones left out, which seems to be where I am attracted.
Some of us were talking last night at dinner and seemed to all agree that the kids give us energy. They enjoy being at camp so much and look forward to it all year. So all of that excitement helps us to keep going. There are 5 more weeks of camp left and I know the Lord will give me strength and energy through the kids.
Last night and this morning I was thinking about the week and thinking about how to minister effectively to orphans. This week I realized that so many of these kids do not understand the concept of rules and boundaries. They’ve rarely had healthy and loving discipline in their lives and it shows by how they play games or listen to directions. I think that many people think that the best thing to do with orphans is to give them whatever they want. I know that orphans do not have the opportunity to get so many things like we do in America, but there is also the need for them to learn how to earn something in their lives. The same is true for American kids that are handed everything in their lives, they don’t understand limits. This is so sad to me as I have been realizing this, because it makes ministry harder. Love has no limits, but there is discipline in love also and that is something that I need to grasp. The cool part about learning all of this is that these are great lessons for ministry and for parenthood. The Lord is teaching me so much about life here, more than just loving on orphans.
Thanks for reading my sermon-like post. This week at camp looked very similar activity-wise as last week, so I don’t feel the need to tell you all of that again. Please continue to pray for physical and emotional strength for myself, for the volunteers and team members that help us each week, and most importantly, that the Lord show his unending love to the kids that we are with at camp.
I love all of you and hope you had a great 4th of July!
(ps. several of us sang the national anthem in honor of our homeland’s birthday, haha. It’s weird to not see fireworks!)