Monday

Monday was our first day of the Mikapercs English camp. We met in the village square and started playing games to get kids to join us. We played hook ‘em up tag and some other games and then went to the church. We all stayed together for the first part—we played games, taught the kids a song (One Way, Jesus) and then broke up into age groups for English lessons. The group I was in knew very little English so we started with a name game, added hobbies and went into numbers. After class we met back up in the big room with everyone, sang some more songs and broke for lunch.

After lunch we met the kids on the sports field to play games, eat watermelon and have one of our team members share a story about their lives and God. It was a successful day and I think it really set a precedent for the week ahead of us. After a few hours on the sports field we went back to the Ovoda (kindergarten where we are staying), washed up, rested and headed to dinner. Then it was off to the Debrecen refugee camp.

Our purpose for going to the refugee camp was to assess the needs there and see what we could do in the immediate future (this week) for these people and what could be done long term. We were told about the camp, what to do and what not to do and tried to be prepared for it. Basically, refugees from all over (Kosovo, Iran, Afghanistan, Congo, Albania) who were fleeing political, religious and economic persecution were waiting at this camp trying to get papers. When we showed up we immediately got a following from the kids who were just running around on their own. We went inside a building about a hundred feet long and forty feet wide and set up a movie for the kids (Chronicles of Narnia). Tons of kids came and sat down for the film as well as some older people. I started talking to the kids, trying to find out where they were from and what languages they spoke. A lot of them spoke German as a second or third language (these kids were under ten years old) and I was able to find out were they were from and how old they were. It seemed pretty controlled until we brought out a box of popcorn. We tried to get the kids lined up but they charged me who was holding the box and Russ who was passing the bags out. Kids were pushing each other, ripping the box, stealing popcorn from each other and fighting over it. It got kind of scary even though these were little kids, there were a lot of them. The chaos didn’t stop until the popcorn ran out. We learned a hard lesson. These people had nothing and when they saw something, they did everything they could to get it for themselves.

Throughout the movie I talked to several kids and older people. Some had been there for months, others over a year. They were fed two meals a day and thought the food was terrible. The living conditions were filthy with no cleaning supplies and many slept five to a room no bigger than a small bathroom. I met a lot guys from Afghanistan were fleeing the violence there. I met a family from the Congo who had been there for six months, a mother, her two daughters, 13 and 6, and her 4 yr. old son. Everyone wanted their picture taken, from the little kids to the older guys. They just wanted the attention I think. Also, the older people (19-23) wanted to know why we were there and really wanted to talk about the problems with the camp.

The refugee camp was a crazy place—kids running around hitting and kicking each other with no supervision, no discipline, every man for himself mentality in kids less than 8. There is nothing for these kids to do; only a handful of them are let into school, the rest have nothing. There is no language training, no job training, only waiting in uncertainty. It was also a place of great need for God. These people have nothing: no money, no jobs, no privacy, no hygiene, no way to leave to a better place. And it’s a scary place too. There is a police station in the camp but there are over 900 refugees, some good people, some bad people. We are planning on going back to the camp this week before we head off to the English camp at Dorcas. Please pray that we would be impactful and safe. There is a need for constant visits to the refugee camp to build relationships and show these people the love of Christ. Please pray for that as well.