blog we've had 2 weeks of camp for children, one for the kids from Bastion, then a week off, and last week was for the children who live in the little community of Arenal, right around our camp. This was a first for us, but it was felt that we've been a presence ( a very noisy presence too!) for 3 or 4 years now, and it was time for some outreach to the community that we're a part of. At Christmas there was a program one Saturday for the kids and parents, and that was a huge success, but how would a week of camp be? It was a bit of a challenge to get registrations at first, up until 2 weeks ago there were still only 20. It was understandable, the parents don't know who we are, it's a very Catholic community, what would they be letting their kids in for?? And to have them stay overnight too?? So here we are, with 20 kids signed up for a camp that holds 150 kids, plus staff. And a team coming from New Jersey, all ready to help out at this camp in Ecuador. It was looking like there would be 2 or 3 staff to each kid! But by the time Saturday rolled around, God had been working and 90 kids in all were welcomed at the gate by drums and Barney and a couple of other characters all dressed up in very warm suits (poor guys inside nearly died of the heat!). There was a group of 26 kids from Arenal, a group from the town of Playas, some boys from Burke Horst's 
soccer team, and a handful from another community outside of Playas. And a group of kids from another church in Bastion. So with leaders and directors and cooks and a nurse, we had a full camp for the New Jersey group to be part of. And it was a great week! All these kids from an assortment of backgrounds all got on fine, and had a wonderful time, singing, playing, hearing stories from the Bible, learning memory verses with actions! And playing on the beach and eating lots too. There were only a few sick ones, compared to the week for the Bastion kids where we had a virus go through, producing high fevers and very miserable little kids.I had a delayed start to the week, I was to have left on Sunday morning with the group, but had a message saying that one of the ladies (a school mum who goes to church in block 6) was "mal" and asking for prayer. Turns out she had severe abdominal pain, so I went to see her on my way to church, and then never got to church, or camp either. Her pain was so bad that I felt she should go to hospital, and not wait until Monday to see the doctor. So we rounded up a taxi to come and get her, and took her to emergency, my first experience with emerg here. And really it wasn't a bad experience, other than it taking awhile to get on with it. I had to remind them that she needed an ultrasound, but once it was done, things began to move! She had 2 enormous ovarian cysts, one of which was twisted, and had to come out. So before I knew it, I was signing papers authorizing them to do surgery, and she was up the elevator and into the OR before we had time to get used to the idea. And half an hour later the surgeons called me to the window of the OR suite, and there in a basin were the culprits - one grapefuit sized cyst and the other one even bigger! You've never seen anything like it - poor lady, no wonder she hurt.
So she's much better now, went home after 3 days, and is doing well. And I went to camp the next day, where it was much less exciting, but more fun!
Now this week is off and then we're back to camp next week, with the older youth from Bastion. This is the week that my home church ForestView is sponsoring, I know many will be praying. I'm looking forward to seeing what God will do with this group.
