Thursday, July 21, 2011

Preparing for a Week at a Gypsy Village

Hey everyone,

I want to ask for your prayers for this next week. I will be participating in a camp from New Life Church which will take place in a gypsy village. These are people truly without nationality, most of whom cannot work legally in the country and who have generally received no formal schooling. They speak their own mix of about four different languages combined with their own words, making communication very difficult even for native Ukrainian and Russian speakers.

Basically, I have no idea what to expect. I know that I will be leaving early tomorrow morning to help someone drive their car full of supplies on the 12-14 hour trip. This will be a cool chance to see more of the country. Beyond this, I know I will be helping lead worship for kids and I know I have been asked to work specifically with a young age group for other aspects of the camp. Other than that, details are pretty foggy. There are some plans but a lot remains to be decided once we see what things look like when we arrive. We may be doing a small construction project as well. Originally the church hoped to dig a well and build a shower facility and source of clean water, but we do not have the funding for that at this time.

Maybe the fact that I do not know details, and hence have not formed specific expectations, will be helpful in emotionally enduring the camp. Still, I have been told this particular experience can be very challenging due to the conditions the gypsies live in and the process of becoming aware of their way of life. Thanks again for your prayers.

Josh

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