Catching up from May...SOCC/CSF trip

Greetings all from a rather unseasonably cool Indiana.  I am taking advantage of a lull in this first week of camp here (Camp Allendale, near Trafalgar, IN) in which there are only high school students as many of the central Indiana schools are still in session otherwise to write some blog posts to catch us all up.  Where are Cecilia and Soren?  They are being supervised by Valerie, enjoying the pool right now (yes...it is cold water for those wondering) so I have some time to enjoy the view while typing at the same time, and then find a Wi-Fi signal to upload this later. 

 

I was sick quite a bit of May, and on again/off again bug that was at its worst while Sherwood Oaks Christian Church in conjunction with IU Christian Student Fellowship was with us, and missed out on many of the activities unfortunately.  It was a unique group, in more ways than one. 

 

One of the more unique and impressive things this group did was take a real interest in someone visited with a food distribution.  As it would happen, this is a friend of both Valerie and Jana, and upon seeing Sonia’s living conditions for her and her children, were moved to take action.  In particular they were moved with their current bedding situation for quite a few folks to use at a time.  The “beds” they were using were....less than ideal.  One was not even a bed but more of just covered plywood.

 

 
 





Before they left they provided them with two new mattresses and box springs, all on legs as well to keep away from the floor when it rains, and give them a good place to get good rest. 







 

 

Mother’s day also fell during this group, the first group ever to give Dora a cake for Mother’s Day...she was quite surprised!  Selfless as most mothers are...she planned on not getting a piece sharing with her entire family....so Valerie gave her some of her own Mother’s Day cake.  When was the last time Dora had a cake especially for her I wonder?

 

And among the other normal group fare...we did something else rare for groups, we took a trip to encourage and interact with the students of Elliott Dover Christian School.  It is a bilingual school, so the group needed no translators (at least for the older kids whose English was better) and that made for some great one-on-one time they could have with the kids to interact and learn from each other. 






At the same time Valerie and I did a school screening for the entire school (not that tough with something like 130 students total)   We found quite a few kids that needed to get a full eye exam and glasses!