Trip Recap

This trip was heartbreaking, full of love, and making connections. For this being my first mission trip I had no idea what to expect. I definitely did not expect the amount of joy passing a soccer ball would be to these kids, the smiles on their faces when we mentioned they would be having shwarma for lunch, but also the amount of pain and trauma these kids have had to go through. I made quick connections with some of the kids from the first week of camp and hearing their stories absolutely broke me. These kids have suffered so much and being able to give them at least a couple moments of joy through playing soccer, jumping on the trampoline with them, and even slapping chase and ethan in the face during the skit to give them a good laugh. You don’t know how much God has truly blessed us with until the kids come to camp with scars on their wrists, being able to see their ribs from not getting enough food, or witnessing kids flinch when someone raises their hand. I was also given another opportunity to serve at a different camp later in the night at the gypsy village. The second I walked in I locked eyes with this little blonde girl. And it could have been the fact that we were the only blondes in the camp but her eyes lit up when she saw me and ran to give me a hug. Just by being there God was able to use my presence to make this little girl smile. At the second week of camp a boy named Alex walked in with crutches. His leg was all wrapped from his thigh to his ankle and it looked like it was something he would have to deal with for the rest of his life. He wasn’t able to play in any of the games and mostly sat at the crafts table. I was playing football with a couple other people when I noticed Alex slowly starting to hobble over. I asked him if he wanted to play and he pointed at his leg. I basically stole his crutches and laid them on the floor while I held him up. A couple seconds later there was a football in his hands and Alex was catching and throwing the football. The smile on his face and the joy he had was priceless and I will never forget it. God can work through any obstacle, even the language barrier, which I know a few of us were a little nervous for. But God helped us overcome that and there were definitely some tears at the end of camp. I am blessed to have been given the opportunity to be able to come on this trip and meet some amazing new people along the way. I can only pray and hope that the kids saw Jesus through me and this team.