I left my heart in...

Kohila.

Well, I have officially finished my second camp.  It was challenging, hot, mosquito-infested, interesting, fun, and probably the most wonderful weeks of my life.  Our Kohila English camp was completely different than the first ones in Pala and Sihva; A) we were at a location that was brand new to us, B) the location was mostly outdoors, so the bugs were AWFUL, C) it was the first EC ever done with the youth from Kohila, D) it was the only camp where all the interns could be together, and E) I was leading a small group.  There were plenty of other differences, too, but I think it's just best to say that I can't really compare my two camp experiences because they've been so different.  

However, I can say that I have never connected with a group of students the way I did with the ones this week.  Almost all were non-believers, so it was very challenging to present the story of God in a way that would be appealing to them; also, some of the kids' English wasn't very strong, so the communication barrier was a bit more challenging than at the first camp.  That didn't stop God from moving in the kids' hearts (of course), but it did force us to get creative with our small group times.  

Here is a picture of my small group; from left to right it's Grete (my Estonian co-leader), Mari-liis, Mall, Abigail (our speaker's 9-year-old daughter), Kristel, Martha, and me.

  

I loved getting to know these girls; they are so sweet, and it was so cool to see them open up throughout the week.  It was so great to be able to talk with them about God, and at the end of the week Mari-liis and Mall accepted Christ (I'm getting chills just writing about it).  My heart was bursting with love for them when we left Kohila yesterday.

I absolutely loved the goofy boys here; their average age was 15, and they were over-the-top ridiculous.  I think they enjoyed having a girl around that was willing to do, well, pretty much anything they challenged me to do.  On our last night at camp when they all went to sauna, I was talking to my mom on Skype when a bunch of boys ran into our meeting room, covered in mud.  They had jumped into the lake and rubbed mud all over their bodies after sauna, and they wanted to come scare off the girls in the meeting room.  As I talked with Mumsy, they came over and started to wipe mud on my face (and to introduce themselves to my mom, of course), hoping that I would want to retaliate.  I didn't, so they ran back outside.  A few minutes later, once I was done Skyping, they ran back in with a few new recruits.  All the girls in the room were screaming, and I was just laughing; as they started to run out, I made the mistake of saying, "But I wanted a hug!"  One of the leaders (who I had also worked with in Pala), Kuldar, ran back and gave me a huge hug.  All the other boys saw him, and the following picture is a glimpse of the chaos that ensued. 

It was crazy, disgusting fun, and that's why I love these boys.  They keep me young at my ripe old age of 20 (in three days).

Finally, I have to introduce my new buddies, Risto and Robert.  They are like my brothers from other mothers.  I met these two our first night when I sat down at a table and started talking to Robert.  Honestly, I thought I wasn't going to like the kid (I told him that afterwards) because he seemed like the type that thought he was too cool for school.  As soon as we started talking he changed my mind; he is crazy, and I love it.  Risto came over to talk with us a few minutes after I met Robert, and I quickly decided that I loved him because he's really reserved (and I love nothing more than forcing people to come out of their shells).  The two of them are on an extreme sports team in Kohila, and they're so good at what they do--Robert is a BMXer and Risto is a rollerblader--that they have sponsors and all that jazz.  Words can't describe how much I love these guys.  They're fantastic.

I think the real way for you to understand what I mean when I say that I left my heart in Kohila would be for me to tell you what happened yesterday at our after-party.  We spent the afternoon back at a park in Kohila, chilling and grilling with the students.  When the time rolled around for us to head back to Tartu, the goodbyes began.  It was so hard to say goodbye to everyone (one boy that loved me a little too much hugged me at least 8 times), and it was almost surreal to think that I wasn't going to be seeing these kids every day anymore.  We hugged, laughed, talked about being facebook friends, and climbed into our cars.  Brett, Kati, Evelin, Maggie Younker (a friend from Atlanta that is taking a weekend off from studying abroad in Oxford to visit us), another teammate, Daniel, and I were all riding back to the church to pick up our stuff and go home.  As we headed toward the park's exit, a line of students stepped in front of the cars to block our path.  

Evelin and I looked at each other and we both started crying.  

I don't cry very often.  I cried multiple times yesterday.  These kids are incredible, and they've touched me in a way that I can't yet grasp.  

Thank you for your prayers this week...please continue to pray that God's love will be evident to the youth of Kohila, and pray for Joel and Veronika, the Kohila youth leaders.  

I'm now going to hang out with friends before we have a big birthday shindig for Kati (hers was the 16th) and me.  Woohoo!

Peace and Love,

Lo B.