God Is So Faithful:

These past two weeks at Camp Gorney have been the most life changing two weeks that I have ever experienced.  I knew months previous to the trip that we would be teaching the kids about faith, and as I prepared for this trip I was scared until my faithful God showed up when I needed him the most.

            I can remember thinking about this trip the day before I left, and pondering to myself, “What in the world am I doing?”  I was going to a strange country where I did not know the language and I did not know anyone going!  To say the least I was terrified, and totally enthralled to see what God was going to do with my life all at the same time!  I was on my own; however, I knew that there was a reason God had me going by myself, and being the good God that He is, He started showing up the moment I stepped on the plane from Phoenix to Chicago.  He gave me a friend named Michelle.  This young woman was a strong Christian on her way to Egypt.  She sat next to me on the flight from Phoenix to Chicago, and from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany.  How good is our God?  He knew how frightened I was, so He gave me a Christian friend to relate to and calm my nerves.  However, this was not the end of my travels.  When I arrived in Chicago God once again gave me another new friend, Sara Kirkpatrick.  Sara was one of the three Americans who was on the Camp Gorney team.  Praise the Lord, Sara and I became friends fast and were able to lean on each other as we crossed into a strange world and depended on the Lord for strength.  If this was not enough God was good again when I sat next to another Christian young man named Gus who was on his way to the Ukraine from South Carolina to work with children doing a Vacation Bible School.  I was overwhelmed with the goodness and faithfulness of my Lord as I trusted Him; He took care of me through every step!  It is amazing to me that when we step out of our comfort zones and into uncomfortable situations that God will totally and completely change your view and work in your life.  God taught me how to step out, and as I said above He showed me that He is in control and He is protecting me in all of my situations!

The Dimensions of Love:

            As I look back upon my experiences these past two weeks and I ponder what I have experienced I can not help but smile and say “THANK YOU GOD!”  He has taught me so many things; however, I feel one of the most important was how to love no matter the situation!  These small children run to you with arms open, smiles on their faces, screaming your name, yearning to be swallowed up in a warm embrace, and be told that they are special and loved.  These children are so sweet and so special that it was one of the most amazing feelings to be able to be an extension of our God’s love.  I would pray throughout the week that God would help me to love as He loves me, and every time as I prayed I would see a sweet face smiling and I could not help but hug them as my heart cried to my God to have compassion on them.  I know that God has given me a love for children, but it is very difficult for me to put into words how much deeper my desire to serve children for the work of the Lord has become throughout this trip.  To see these children dancing on stage, singing into the microphone, standing at your door waiting for you to come play, and sitting on your lap while watching a movie are some of the most touching experiences.  They love you and you love them just because of the fellowship you can share in the Lord together.  I think that one of the greatest gifts a man or woman can give is the gift of love and these children have overwhelmed me with love these past weeks that no matter how exhausted I was from hiking, swimming, lack of sleep, I knew that staying up late working on crafts would bring joy to these children, which brought joy and happiness to me.

            We are all children of the Lord.  As a parent you can look to your children in love, as a child I can look to my parents in love, and on this trip I could look to these children with a heart overwhelmed with love, and it is amazing to me that, the love we feel is only a tip of the ice berg for the love that God feels toward us.  This thought was one of my inspirations throughout the week.  Spending time with people like Ira or Roma was amazing because I was able to see the way that God changed their lives and the light of His spirit shine through them.  I was able to fellowship with the children in separate languages and our team was able to worship together in different languages, but because we love the same God, He made the dimension of love go so much deeper as we learned how to love for who a person was and for their spirit without having other things to distract us.

            Overall, this trip has been one of the best things I have ever done in my life.  It is so hard to describe in words all of the programs, the time with children, the incredible unity of our team, but know that God is at work over here in the Ukraine in the hearts of hundreds of men and women and I feel so blessed that God has given me the opportunity to be apart of this ministry!