One more day at the Ark!

It's fun to read the Bible!

Ready to get in the boat!

Go, go, go!!! Nice weather for games!

Boats are fun!

We have great helpers!

We like to play and draw!

Girls' group is showing a skit about the rich man and Lasarus.

Time for games. This is the best art work of the night!

Sing with us!

Greetings!

Lauren, our journalist, returned back to California but we will continue to give you the updates on the Ark 2008-2!

Please, meet some of us who are here at the Ark during the second term!

Presentation of the youngest boy's group at the first evening meeting of the second term!

Dima is a group leader from Saint Petersburg. Boys are from Karelia and St. Petersburg region.

Lena, our chef in the kitchen

Our boys' group leaders Vladimir and Konstantin

Off to a New Start

Hello Readers!
Last night our second camp started with a different group of kids arriving along with many more helpers and leaders. The buses arrived just in time for dinner. We welcomed them, put the children in their groups and rooms and headed off to our evening devotion! There we learned that our new theme for the camp will be the Lord's Prayer. We will take this prayer apart and learn what each statement means and how to apply this to our own lives. We want the kids to realize that God is a loving Father who wishes to give us every good and perfect gift. The only requirement is our repentance and submission. It was a blessing to see how the groups of kids are getting along and working together. The staff here would just like to ask all of you for your prayers. We need wisdom to know the way in which we should walk. We want to be examples of the God whose love never ends! Please pray for the lives of these children, that there would be a change and that they would receive eternal life. Please pray for provisions for this camp. We know that God owns everything and will supply all our needs. Thank you so much for your prayers!

Here are some pictures from our new camp!!!

Here we are welcoming our new campers!!!

...luckily he didn't scare the new kids away!

Our little boy's group with their wonderful helper!
(just so you know, he is yawning, not yelling)

Awaiting the new arrivals!

Our first staff meeting for the second camp!

Some of our new leaders and helpers.

We are thankful for our new worship team!

Playing the name game

Girl's Group #2 getting to know one another

Rufina and Katja, still sleepy

The girls getting to read their new Bibles

Boy's Group #1

Our First Camp Has Ended!

Hello Everyone!
With some of our kids packing up and going back home, today was the official last day of our first camp. It was a sad morning as about 15 of our children and some leaders left today, but since most of the children are staying for the second camp also, we did not have very much time to mourn. Right away the leaders started getting together and making plans as to how to keep these children busy during the down time. It was so amazing to see the Lord work in the lives of these kids. Some of the changes were visible, but some were not, yet we know that God is going to continue working. Please continue to pray for the children and also for us as leaders. So, we are up and running again but did take out some time to fill you in on what events took place the last couple days of our camp!


...Jumped in the lake!

Viewed some artists at work!

At any sporting event we cheered for our teams!!!

We played volleyball in a very unique way!

We enjoyed some great dramas from different teams.

We were able to play football in the rain and wearing funny clothes!

One of our group leaders, showing the rest how it's done!

He had much fun playing in a skirt!

This was an exhibit that some of the kids were able to place their artwork in.

The boys had no problem eating all their cake!!!

Our last tea together!

Our day!

It's 6:30 in the morning, and I hear the ringing of my alarm clock getting louder and louder as I lay in bed wishing it wasn't so. What wasn't so?....the early start of my day. I roll out of bed slowly, pretty much like a bear just waking up from hibernation and start getting ready for my day. I wash my face, brush my teeth, put some fresh clothes on and run to the dining room so I am not late for a staff meeting at 7:00. There we discuss the different events of the day. We will be offering a craft workshop, a style workshop and a painting workshop, these will all be after lunch. Our topic of the day is Sin in our lives and how we can get rid of sin. After a few other details being taken care of I sit down to eat breakfast as the kids come racing in. It's 8 o'clock and everyone is hungry. After the meal I go to the dish room to get started, it's nice today because we have four new helpers, this means we will get done in an hour or so. The first session starts at 9:00, so from the dish room I run to the session. We discuss the main topic with the kids, do a quick teaching and send them to their group leaders for devotion time. The group leaders are great about explaining the Bible to their kids. After this is free time, kids are playing Foosball, ping pong, going on the trampoline and other activities. We meet at noon for lunch, and again, after the meal I am at the dish room. All the kids go to their workshops and then have more free time. It's about 3 o'clock and suddenly, I hear a voice from a megaphone. Of course I do not know what it is saying but I run to where all the other kids are running. We are playing Capture the Flag! It was an exciting game, with intense moments, but the blue team managed to prevail. Next is dinner at 5:00, and again to the dish room. Our last session of the day is at 6:00 o'clock, which is always a good one because that is where the groups do their presentations. I see skits, dramas, hear songs and hear what the Lord is doing in their lives. Next is sauna and swimming time, it is a nice way to relax and heal up the injuries that were acquired during Capture the Flag. After sauna is tea time, where we drink amazing tea and always have some delicious cookies and cakes, our kitchen staff is great. After a long day, the leaders are tired...so tired...but the kids are still awake! Well, too bad but it is lights out and it is my time to sleep...until another early start!

Our exciting game of Capture the Flag!

He may be a huge Russian man, but he has a tender heart!

The Foosball tournament!

The little boys group...Army of Christ

The little girls' group....The Livelies!

...the big girls group named The Owls...and Dima

Kirsi, Tanya, Charlotta and Sasha

Christina and Keirrio, a handful, but so cute!!!

We like to play games here

Some of the girls after picking out new outfits.

A rainy day, but a great day!

Today I woke up to the sound of rain pattering on the rooftop of my little cabin. My first thought was, "What happened to the sunshine we had yesterday?" Then went back to sleep a bit disappointed. Yet, today turned out to be a fun day nonetheless! After breakfast we had our first general session of the day, and learned how our topic of the day was Creation. We learned how when God created everything, He said that it was good. This means even watery, rainy days are good! After this most of the girls went to workshops, the girls could pick from a singing workshop, a drama workshop and a craft workshop. They seem to be enjoying the different options available to them. And of course, the only thing on the boys' mind was football. At first some of the leaders didn't know if this would be a good idea, but I just had to put in the input that one of the best games to play in the rain was football, so, it happened and it was a great game! Once everyone was cleaned up, we played a game that I had never seen in my life. It was called chicken football. Each player must place to cups with the bottoms cut out over his eyes and tie them around his head, then he must take off his shoes and put gloves on his feet! It was a very funny and exciting game, but not without a few injuries. In our evening session we reviewed what we had learned about Creation during the day, sang songs and prayed. Some teams even presented skits and dramas for the whole group! Next was sauna and swimming time! Even though it was pouring rain we still had to go in sauna. Sauna to heat up, lake and rain to cool down again! It's been a blessing to see the kids opening up, even if it is little by little, I definitely see God's hand in their lives. Please continue to pray for them, their salvation and rest for their souls. Thanks everyone!


Chicken Football!

The players looked so funny with their chicken eyes and feet!

Beautiful cards, drawings, and painted bottles made by the children!

...too shy to show his cute face!

....beautiful crafts!!!

Camp Starts Today!!!

the morning workout

standing at attention

julia and nadia singing in worship

so cute

Oksana transforming the camp!!!

the team...well, part of the team

Welcome all children and volunteers! With the children arriving later on today our camp has officially started! Thankfully many of our volunteers have arrived over the past couple days and have been preparing for the part they will have in this camp. We are so thankful for God's provisions for our camps in sending us, finances, food and also special volunteers to minister to the children. Tapio, Matti, Tuulia, Dima and Oksana have all been very busy in getting rooms ready for the children, assigning the children to rooms and also letting the group leaders know who will be in their group. Different leaders and volunteers have been assigned different tasks and areas they will serve in. I realize now how thankful I am that God has made each of us with different personalities and gifts, Lord knows I could not lead in crafts even if I wanted to. But He has sent each one of us with a specific purpose in mind. Yesterday the whole camp was transformed from a Finnish camp to a Russian camp! Our wonderful friends from Estonia worked very hard in helping us translate every single sign into a language the children could read and understand. We were busy all day in making preparations....even preparing the sauna! We had to make sure it worked right? Last night we had more families and volunteers join our team and start helping. We had two very special families come to help. They are foster families, both from Russia, who have come to be group leaders and helpers in the camp. I believe this is a blessing from the Lord, He has sent people who are very close to the situation of the children that will be coming, someone who has seen their side of the world and understands their situation. They have been an example to me of what the Lord's heart is. Please continue to pray for our health and that we would have strength from the Lord. But most of all, for the hearts of the children, the whole reason we do this camp is so they may see how much God loves them and wants to be a part of their lives! Pictures should be up soon, but please be patient, our internet system is under a bit of work! Blessings to you all!

Almost Time!

Well,
Starting today different leaders will be heading to the camp to start getting it ready! Dima, Oksana, Tapio, Tuulia, and Matti are going to the camp today to start preparing for when the counselors and volunteers arrive. We are so excited to receive these volunteers and have them start serving right away. Yesterday we got together to make last minute preparations and to also head off to a place we may take some of the children. There is a ravine and little creek in the forest close to the camp that we may take some of the children to so they can hike and explore. For us it was quite an experience that I will talk about later, but we definately had a team building experience and got to talk about a lot of things that needed to be taken care of! Again, we just ask for wisdom and guidance and of course strength from the Lord as we start these camps. We desire them to be led by God and Spirit filled! Well, of to the camp I go! Can't wait to see you there! Pictures will be posted about our little adventure probably tonight

Countdown

Readers and Campers:
As you know we have only a few more days until camp starts, this is very exciting. Today, one of our leaders, Tapio picked up food for the camp at three food banks. These food banks from Helsinki, Vantaa, and also Espoo donated food to our camp, it is now being stored at Arkki-leiri in freezers. God has blessed us so much with this food, He takes care of His children! And thank you to Tapio for working so hard in picking up this food, what a blessing!

Читатели и участники лагеря:
Как вы уже знаете, осталось всего несколько дней до начала лагеря, и мы этому очень рады. Сегодня один из наших лидеров, Тапио, забрал в трех пищевых банках продукты для лагеря. Эти продукты нам пожертвовали пищевые банки из Хельсинки, Ванты и Еспо, на данный момент все продукты уже в морозильных камерах Ковчега. Бог так благословил нас этой едой, Он действительно заботится о своих детях! Спасибо огромное тебе, Тапио, что ты так потрудился собрать продукты, это благословение!

These next couple days will be very busy as Tapio, Tuuli, Matti, Dima, Oksana, and I will be getting done last preparations, so we ask for your prayers. We need the wisdom of the Lord in making decisions and we also need strength from the Lord, we cannot do it on our own. Tuulia, Oksana and I have all been sick, we ask for your prayers. Please pray that God would heal us before the camps start so we can serve without the hindrance of sickness. Lately, through my devotional readings I have been learning how the promises of God are unchanging because God is unchanging. If we would grab a hold of this idea and apply it to our lives it would invoke such faith. To face trials, or even the daily tasks of life we must have faith and hope in God's promises. What are we living for and what are we looking to? We must hold fast the confession that we have been saved by the blood of Jesus, now He is our High Priest and we can come to Him freely with any of our needs. We must also remember to share this with other believers. It is God's call upon the life of every believer to put on love each day that we may encourage, challenge and lift up each other. I know I have a long way to go but I think the writer of Hebrews encourages us in the best way. Hebrews 10: 23-25 says, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."
Here are a few things you can involve yourself in by praying:

- for Tapio and Matti - strength and wisdom as they handle a lot of information these days and make many decisions concerning the camp

– good health for all team members

- for traveling mercies and protection over all volunteers as some of them start traveling to the camp or get ready to travel from different countries
- for the children as they are getting ready to come from Russia, that their hearts will be ready to receive God's love
- for the orphanage workers who are planning to come with children, that God's plan for their lives would be revealed
- financial provision for all of the needs of the camp
- and good weather during the camp...
Thanks for reading and we are excited to see you soon!!!