English Camp

The last part of June took me to Siberia to help with an English Camp.  Earlier in the year Layna, Janet and I had been asked to go to a city in Siberia to help with an English Camp.  A group of Americans were coming to teach English and help the local church hold an English school and asked if we would like to join them.  Now up until the time I left I always knew that Russia was a massive country, but I soon understood just how large.  We traveled 28 hours by train to Novosibirsk (the third largest city in Russia) and then four hours by car/bus to the city where we would be having camp.  28 hours by train and we had only covered a small portion of land.  The landscape of Russia is gorgeous and while the part that I saw was mainly flat land and rolling hills, birch trees made up the majority of the trees and endless fields with wild yellow and purple flowers scattered the horizon.  As the train made its way through different stations we passed through small villages.

We arrived in the city and met up with the Americans we would be working with and we were able to attend the Sunday service at the local church.  Unlike the English camp I was a part of last year, this camp was planned and handled by the members of the local church. All we had to do was show up and teach English, which made for a really relaxing and more enjoyable time to just sit and get to know the people there instead of having to worrying about having to lead and plan the camp.

The main building we met in for large group

Learning about different Worldviews

Janet and I co-taught the beginners English class and we were very fortunate to have Olga translate for us.  It was a lot of fun and we had some really sweet people in our class and it was an enjoyable and growing time.  Our days were spent teaching English, talking with people, playing games, listening to Ray teach about worldviews and using every opportunity to share the gospel.  We also spent almost every minute swatting away mosquitoes, but even they didn't put a damper on our fun.  Also in the stereotype of Siberia, it was cold/cool most of the camp.

Some of the girls from my English Class

Olga, she translated for us during class

I was reminded once again of God's glorious creation while there.  The camp which was situated on a river made for some of the most wonderful evening/night sunsets that I have seen.  I am continuously being shown the beauty of Russia, whether through the people, a song, or a beautiful sunset there is much beauty here.

One of the many colorful evening/night skies

My cabin for the week