August 1st & 2nd cookout

We thank GABC so much for the wonderful cookout. Despite the rain, you can see that the children had a great time!

July 27-28th

I cannot believe this week is already half over! I am behind on the blogging but I wanted to post a few pictures from the first few days. If you have any pictures you would like to share of your time at home, please email them to me and I will post them.

Upcoming events: August 1st- Family Cookout hosted by Green Acres Baptist Church
August 2nd- 9:45 church service at GABC.

August 4th- return to the campground between 5-6. We'll have
dinner and share about the week. See Heather's email she sent today
for more information.
August 5th- children will leave at 9:00 for their trip back to
Russia

AMAZING!

I don't know another word that describes this week more than the word amazing. I have been amazed by how the host families are preparing for the arrival of the child or children they will host. I have been amazed at the enthusiasm, support, and sense of humor that those from the Green Acres Baptist Church have shown through out this process. I have been amazed at the number of Gladney folks who have jumped in and helped in so many ways. I am so grateful to everyone who has been a part of this process.

We will hold a conference call in the morning at 10:00 to discuss last minute details, answer questions, and talk about a few of the ways we can support each other through this process and make this a week filled with happy memories for these 13 children. If you do not have directions on how to log onto the conference call, email me at amy.curtis@gladney.org and I will send them to you.

Camp Schedule

I will be posting a schedule in Russian as well so you can have that for the child or children you are hosting.

BRIGHT FUTURES CAMP SCHEDULE

July 27th-5:00 p.m. Families arrive at the campground to check into their hotel
rooms. Dinner will be casual and served around
6:00 p.m. After dinner, we will have introductions. We know you want to know the
Gladney staff who will be helping you doing the week, as well as
the Green Acres Baptist Church staff who have been so helpful.
We will have time to meet, and talk about any concerns you might
have about the week. We will also have free time to explore the
retreat center.

July 28th- The children will have arrived the night before. However, we want them to
get a good night sleep and rest so we will not meet them until the the
morning.
9:00 a.m. Breakfast will be served in the lodge
We have games and activities to help you learn alittle about the child
you will be hosting, as well as for them to get to know you a little
better too.
Free time for you to explore with the children and give the a chance to
burn off some energy before traveling home with you!
12:00 Lunch will be served.
After lunch, we will have a time between translators, Russia staff,
Gladney staff, you and your child to ask questions about the week,
share any thoughts you might have with you child about the week and
to give your child the opportunity to ask questions. Most
importantly, we want to let them know what will be happening!
July 30th- We will have a day time activity to be announced.

August 1st- Families will return to the retreat center for an afternoon and evening
of fun.
3:00- families arrive and check into their hotel rooms.
4:00- Church wide family day at the campground. There are lots of fun
activities planned for this day including swimming, boat rides and a
cookout.
7:00- cookout comes to an end. Hopefully, this will give you and your
family some quiet time to rest and relax.
9:00 Camp fire gathering with a hayride and smores
August 2nd- Between 8:00-9:00 a.m. A quick breakfast in the conference room.
9:30 a.m.- worship service at Green Acres Baptist Church. We hope to all
sit together. Families may return home after the service.
August 4th- families will return to the campground late afternoon or evening.
We will share dinner,have free time and provide a chance for you to meet
with staff.
August 5th- 9:00 a.m. the children will need to leave for the airport.
Families are welcome to stay after and share their thoughts with staff
about their week.

Keith and Erin are home from Russia!

My name is Erin Thompson and my husband and I just spent the last week with the children in the Solotcha Orphanage. We spent time with most of the children that are coming with the Bright Futures Camp and let me just tell you they are VERY excited about coming! They talked about it often and can’t wait to get here. Because we lived in their orphanage for a week, we saw some things that we thought would be beneficial for us who are hosting to know. First, the children are on a schedule. They know what time they are to eat and sleep, which is really good for them.

The little ones (7 yrs and younger) stick to a very tight schedule. The caretaker wrote it down for me:

7:00 Wake Up
8:00 Breakfast
8:30 Games
10:00 Second Breakfast (fruit and cheese, milk or juice)
12p.m. Lunch
12:30-3:30 Nap
4:00 Snack
4:30 go for a walk
6:00 dinner
6:30 go for a walk
7:30 Snack/ Second dinner (fruit and cheese, milk or juice)
8:00 Bath time
9:00 Bedtime

The older children (8yrs and up) are on a schedule but not quite as strict.
8:00 Breakfast
10:30 Snack (fruit, cheese, milk or juice)
1:00 Lunch
4:00 Snack
6:30 Dinner
8:30 Snack
9:30-10 Bedtime

Some of the foods we ate while we were in the orphanage:

Breakfast:
Something similar to cream of wheat or malt-o-meal
Bread (wheat and white)
Milk yogurt or cheese or fruit
Milk
Hot tea with sugar

Snack:
Cheese and fruit or yogurt
Milk or juice


Lunch/Dinner:
Chicken
Hard boiled eggs
Bread
Potatoes or rice
Cheese
Noodles
Sausage/hot dog
Fish
Lots of soups: vegetable soup, soup with chicken
*Salad with cucumbers and tomatoes (they love this!)
Not a lot of junk food. Sometimes they had cookies.

Their foods in the orphanage are very bland. Very little salt or seasoning. Nothing was spicy.

I know that we will not be able to completely stick to their schedule or fix all of their foods but I do think familiarity will be good. I know that when our son gets off his schedule he is a little cranky. I also think it is good for the children to try new foods if they want to, but for us not to be surprised if they want the same things that they are used to in the orphanage.

Time Difference and Sleep: The time where they are is 9 hours ahead of us so when it is 3p.m. for us it is midnight for them. We were walking zombies for a couple of days because our time was so off and I think we can expect the same for the children until they get used to it here.

Some of the activities that we did with the children were:
Art activities – older and younger kids loved doing this
Face painting
Hair
Jewelry making
Sidewalk chalk
Playing games
Bedtime stories
Volleyball, soccer, basketball
Throwing the frisby or football
Just spending time with them. These children get very little one on one attention. Every chance we got we would hug them or hold their hand.
Going on walks




Like I said before the children are very excited about coming and I’m sure like the rest of you, we can’t wait for them to get here! The kids that are coming are so sweet and full of energy and love.

I've been everywhere.....

Do you know that country song? I thought I had been all over Texas or, at least recognized the name of every city in the state. I was wrong. I have seen new cities and even learned about a few more that I had never heard of!

Every family associated with this camp has been such a joy to meet! I have been so impressed with everyone's commitment to the children who will be attending this summer's camp.

I am meeting with Green Acres Baptist to visit the retreat center on Wednesday. After that, I will post the schedule of events, in English and in Russian, so you can print it and save it.

Sharon, you and your family will continue to be in our prayers. Erin and Keith, I am so glad you made it home safely. I have no doubt there is one little boy that is so happy to have you both home!

Words of encouragement to the hosting families

If you would like to add words of encouragement to the families who have agreed to host a child this summer, please do so!