Week 2 of Bring Me Hope Summer Camps in China has passed and this week we are focusing on camp in Kunming!  The stories coming out of camp at Kunming are nothing short of incredible.  We are so thankful for the dedicated staff and the great volunteers and translators at this location!

 

Check out the Bring Me Hope YouTube channel for Kunming’s weekly videos by clicking HERE!

To find more photos from camp in Kunming, click HERE!

 

Here are some stories from this year’s camp at Kunming!

 

Leah came to Kunming camp and was with her foreign volunteer and translator at a park participating in a photo scavenger hunt.  Her volunteer noticed a man in the park who was begging so she ran back to give him a water bottle.  Leah was carrying noodles that her volunteer had bought for her that she hadn’t finished eating and after seeing her volunteer give her water bottle to the man, she ran back as well and started talking to him and gave him the rest of her noodles to eat.  What a precious act of “love like an ocean” from a little girl, named Leah.

 

Joshua is a boy with a smile that lights up the whole room.  While playing a game of musical chairs, Joshua gave up his chair for another little girl so she could keep playing the game.  Smiling the entire time.

 

Each week we will be featuring a post about each camp location, giving you all an insight into the beautiful world of camp.  We are honored to be able to work in China, to be with these kids and to experience such a wonderful place!

 

This week the focus will be on Bring Me Hope camp at SIAS International University in Xinzheng.  This is BMH’s fourth year at SIAS!  The University is the perfect place to hold camp, with it’s large, beautiful campus and great accommodations.  Each year the kids enjoy being able to explore the waterfalls and fountains, as well as playing basketball on one of the many courts at SIAS and swimming in the pool!

 

The first week at the 2012 camp was incredible!  One of our volunteers for the week was wowed when her 16-year-old orphan buddy read her goodbye letter to her in front of the group.

 

“I don’t often tell people my dreams because I think they are far away,” the letter read, “But I want to tell you that my dreams seem closer now.  I want to learn English and become a translator.”

 

 

Here’s a story about camp from Rach, a volunteer for week 1 at camp in Xinzheng:

“Its hard to come to a summer camp for orphans without any pre-conceived ideas about what it will be like…about what the kids will look like, how they’ll act, what they’ll talk about. For me, this week completely smashed every expectation I had.

 

I thought that coz these kids were orphans, they would have a massive chip on their shoulder and be super angry at the world. But actually the girls in my group were just the opposite. They were considerate to each other and full of joy. There was an attitude of thankfulness that defined everything they said and did.

 

When we took them to buy a snack before the movies or shopping for new clothes they were reluctant to let us, and when we insisted, their genuine joy and thankfulness just blew me away! They didn’t ask for more or take advantage of their ‘rich foreign friends’, they just took time to enjoy what they had been given, and be thankful.

 

The other major thing that impacted me was hearing the kids talk to Dad. Nearly every single sentence started off with “thankyou so much for…”. No wonder they have so much joy – they’ve chosen to focus on the good gifts from Dad and not their own self pity. You’d hardly even know that they were orphans. Also, they’re currently looking for a new building for their orphanage and the size of their trust in Him as they asked Dad to provide was a huge example to me!

It was such a privilege to learn from these beautiful kids these week!”

Be sure to check out the Bring Me Hope Flickr account for more photos from the Xinzheng camp as well as the other BMH camps!  Also, you can find the Xinzheng Week 1 video HERE!

The first of the Bring Me Hope summer camps kicked off in Nanchang on Saturday!  After months of planning and preparation, the kids finally arrived and another summer of swimming, singing, face painting, hugs and love began!  In Nanchang, we have the added benefit of being near the headquarters of one of our biggest sponsors, JMC, so several JMC employees were able to join in the fun!  We are so thankful for all the support JMC has given us over the last seven years.  Not only have they been involved with the Nanchang camps, they have covered the entire Bring Me Hope transportation budget!  Wow, we appreciate their heart to help orphans so much!