Forli

My next long journey was to help at a kids summer camp put on by TEAM missionaries in Forli. I was so excited to finally do some kind of ministry. I have been told and do believe that language and culture learning is my ministry right now, but I so wanted to be able to be apart of some activity that reminded me why I am here. And that is exactly what being in Forli did for me! It was great to spend time with Italian children and meet their parents on the last night. The ministry that the Goertzen Family has by loving the children of these families is amazing. In five years this camp has grown from 9 kids to over 50 kids each of the five weeks.

One of my favorite days was going to the beach. The main reason was because I love the sand, sea and sun, but also because this kind of "unstructured" with the kids made it easier to get to know them. We got to make kites, and it was amazing...they all flew. These older men have the materials and teach the kids how to make them and fly them. We divided into two groups, so that half were in the water at one time. Also at this beach there is a wooded area behind the sandy area so that during the hottest part of the day we got to be in the shade. After lunch I think I spent over an hour in the water with kids hanging all over me, it was great. It was also nice the next day to have worn out the kids so much at the beach. It was a much more calm day. Of course, we were all worn out too.