July 6 - Day 2 of Camp Yurga!

We started off with a devotional at 8:00am . It was on Luke 5:17-32 and the purpose was to gain a fresh look at Jesus that may be different than we expect.

Then we headed over to the orphanage for our second day with the kids. It started off with them showing us their homework, which was to show what they learned yesterday. The kids drew really cute pictures of the nativity, and someone did a giant poster board picture of God and people below. Some make little 3D angels out of paper.

Then we started with the rest of our drama. The Bostsman thinks she will be a better captain than Jack (Andrey), so she breaks the steering wheel so that everyone with think Jack broke it and that he is a bad captain. The captain started driving the boat and then we crashed. Everyone wondered who broke the wheel and the Boatsman said it was the captain and that we should tie him up and not let him be the captain anymore.
Then the Mermaid decided to tell a story while we were drifting around int he ocean. She started with dart board and had some of the kids try to throw the darts (magnetic). Of course not all of the kids could get it right on, so she explained that we all have things we can't do - or that we don't always get it right - and there is an empty place in our hearts. We try to fill it with different things like money, alcohol, etc., but we just feel empty again. Then she tells how God gave his only son and how he died for us and our sins and he's the only one that can fill that emptiness, so we can ask him to come into our lives and we won't feel emptiness when we fail because he will fill it.
Then we did crafts based on Africa. One was a bracelet made from ribbons and one was a grass skirt made from bags. The third craft I thought was quite hilarious! It was the face of an African boy made from chocolate-covered marshmallow, red lip candy and other candy for the eyes, nose and ears.

Next I presented a PowerPoint presentation on Africa, and we did a song called Jambo. After that we painted our faces to look like people at an African wedding (one of the pictures we had seen in the PowerPoint).

After that we went outside in our teams, and had to go to different stations to earn clues. The clues were a piece of the Bible memory verse for that day (John 3:16). At one station they had to guess how much money was in a jar, at another they did a potsto sack race in a garbage bag, another was trying to throw a ball through the captains arms (he held then out like a basketball hoop), another was a race where Olesya was rolling a hula hoop and we had to get all of our team to run through it before she got to the end of the sidewalk, and another was where they had to say a Russian tongue twister. Once we got all of the clues we assembled the Bible verse and learned it. Then we had a competition between the kids and the pirates to see who could say it better.
Then we started with the drama again, and the Boatsman was feeling guilty for lying about the steering wheel and about having us tie the captain up. She started crying and the mermaid comes along and asked her what is wrong. She tells her and the mermaid tells her she should ask the captain for forgiveness and asked the kids what they thought. They said yes, because he's kind. The Boatsman apologized to the captain and he forgave her. Then the Boatsman said, "I don't even want to be a Pirate anymore - we steal and have weapons, and are not good people." We decide we want to be Christians and tell people about God, so we throw away our weapons and bandanas, and the Boatsman finds a treasure, which is backpacks with a Bible in it for each of the kids. The school-age kids got a manga Bible (like a comic book with Japanese illustrations), and the younger kids got a book of Bible stories and pictures.
After lunch we went back to the orphanage again to finish painting the playground. Some of the older kids came out to help while the younger ones were napping. Then the younger kids came out and we played on the trampoline and just played around the playground.

When it was time to leave we took a big group photo.

It's funny - I know quite a few Russian words right now, and I feel kind of like a dog...I don't understand the sentences, but every once in awhile I hear a word I know and my ears perk up! Especially when that word is "marojenah" (ice cream)...haha :)
For dinner we had rice and salad (and chicken), and debriefed about the day.

After that Olga, Kristina, Dimona and I went to the new flat we would be staying in. It's a tiny little place attached to the dorm we had previously stayed in.

We stayed up talking and laughing for quite awhile, and then went to bed. Kristina is sleeping in the living room, and in the bedroom Dimona is sleeping on the top bunk, Olga is sleeping on the bottom bunk, and I am sleeping on the floor beside Olga.