This week I was contacted by a young woman interested in volunteering for Bring Me Hope 2014. As we continued to talk, I squealed with joy when I found out this girl, Anna, was one of our past campers! There is something about reconnecting down the road with a kid that came to camp that makes life so real!
“My name is Anna Coiner. I attended Camp Bring Me Hope when I was in the orphanage in Jiangxi Fu Zhou . When we heard that we were going to Camp Bring Me Hope, we were all very excited. When we got to Camp Bring Me Hope, we did lots of fun activities. We went to the bowling place and played games, that was our first time went bowling. We colored our shirts and made key chains. It was so much fun. When we finished designing our shirts we all put the shirts on and take picture of us all together. We also went to the river to swim. I also remember that David Bolt jumped to the water because he saw snake but when he jumped in it was not snake it was just stick we all laughed. I really loved the volunteers. They were so kind to us. I felt loved by them. We all really liked when the volunteers said “Good Night” to us in English. We also played musical chairs, it was an awesome game. When Camp Bring Me Hope was almost over, we were all very sad. We all were crying because we didn’t want to leave Bring Me Hope. 
The next year, a couple kids that attended Bring Me Hope at they got adopted by an American family. I was the last one to get adopted by an American family. My family loves me and is taking care of me now. I have been America for 6 years. Now I want to volunteer for Camp Bring Me Hope. I want to help the orphans just like when I was an orphan at Camp Bring Me Hope. I want to tell them about my story when I was in the orphanage and then I got adopted by an American family. I want to tell them all the fun things we did.” Anna Coiner
And here is Anna today…I already love this girl!
Thank you Anna for contacting me and sharing your story! We hope to see you next summer as a volunteer at Bring Me Hope Camp 2014 (woot woot, which will also be our 10 year aniversary)!
Hey Everyone! I visited this orphanage in 2006 with a group of Students that traveled with the non-profit, Visiting Orphans. We were at this same spot and I remember Anna, as well as several of the other children in your photos!! I shared this with our trip leader via Facebook and it is just amazing to see what has happened for Anna! What a blessing!!! Blessings to you as you do what is good and right in the world. Not many ppl can stand up and do that, but you are!! Prayers and happy thoughts as you continue to serve and love on these kids!!!!