Carol and I decided to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary by doing something different. So we went with Teams4u to Romania to help on 2 children’s camps.

Monday morning 21st July, we boarded the shuttle bus to Heathrow to meet with the rest of the group before flying to Budapest in Hungary. From there we were transported by road to the first camp in the Romanian mountains between Oradea and Cluj.

The sun was shining and we looked forward to a good week. The coach carrying 40 children from Moldova, who had been travelling for 14 hours, arrived shortly after us and so we sorted them to their various tents, (we were sleeping in a house).

The meetings were to take place in a large marquee next to the children’s tents so we gathered there to worship and to allocate the children to groups. Well that was a good start. The following morning, as we gathered together, it began to rain and rain, and the power suddenly went off. What do you do with 40 kids in a marquee in the pouring rain and not able show the presentations on the laptop? Panic!!

Quick team meeting - revert to plan B (not that there was one) Bring out the crafts planned for later - friendship bracelets. This was where the arty people amongst us showed their skills. Others seemed to take an eternity, but I got there in the end (playing with figures is easier).

The afternoon, weather-wise, got no better and by now streams were running through the marquee but the children were kept busy with face painting, games and more friendship bracelets, a real hit!!

Spontaneous singing broke out by the children and was beautiful. In the evening the rain had stopped but it was not fit to meet in the marquee so we used the dining room to play games, share the Bible stories and have a good time.

They tell me it rained heavy for most of the night and, at the team prayer meeting in the morning, it was decided we needed to find somewhere else as it would be impossible to use the marquee and the children also needed to be moved out of the tents and indoors.

Meanwhile it started to rain again. Our leaders went to speak to the site manager to try and sort what could be done. As well as the house where the team were sleeping, there was another block on the site. It was occupied by Americans teaching Romanians English using the Bible and, at their Morning Prayer meeting, they had felt they should do something to help the children.

They offered the hall in their block, which was ideal for us to meet in, and, with a bit of shuffling about, all the children were transferred from tents to indoor rooms, a tight squeeze but God provided.

The children worked in teams, which gave a bit of competition, so they worked very hard all week. The team had all come prepared with their crafts so we made glove puppets, spiders, did cross stitch and weaving.

The stories of Jesus were shared via speaking and power point. We taught them new songs in English and they taught us theirs in Moldovan. The rain continued - so were still unable to go outdoors. Then on Thursday morning the sun came out – beautiful.

In the late morning, some suggested we go and play games outside. It was warm playing rounders, football, skipping and just playing in the sunshine.

There was a problem as the Moldovans did not know how to play rounders and trying to explain to folk who only had a few words of English was an experience. It must have been the way I explained but my group never understood, but we still had a good time.

After lunch the sun was still shining, so we went for a walk up the mountain path but, yes, after about half an hour it began to rain. Sheltering under the trees, we began to sing in both languages but the rain continued and we saw lightning and heard the thunder so decided to return back to the camp.

After drying off, we gave out England football shirts for them to decorate as in the evening we would have a fashion show for the children to show off the shirts. The show was a tremendous success with so many differently decorated shirts with children thoroughly enjoying strolling down the catwalk showing off their handy work.

Friday was the last full day. The children wrote thank you letters and made cards for us to give to the people back home who had contributed to enable them to attend the camp. We were entertained by children with their beautiful singing, dancing, mime and sketches as well as testimonies of their journeys to know Jesus as their Saviour.

This was a real experience for Carol and me. We are both glad we went, and continue to pray for those children we came into contact with and thank those who were praying for us.

Yet this was only the first – there was another camp in another place - hopefully drier and sunnier.

As we left the mountains out came the sun, thank you God. We moved to Oradea for a night in a hotel. Comfort!

On the Sunday, with the sun streaming down and the temperature up to 30º, we went to visit a Street shelter where, on a daily basis, street children and those from an orphanage came to eat, use computers (those we have thrown away) and to be helped by the workers.

There were children everywhere so we tried to do some of the things we had done with the Moldovan children. Sing songs, story telling, colouring and, yes, Friendship bracelets.

A slight hiccup, no screen for the data projector! We had a white sheet but no nails or pins to stick into the wall, but do not worry - Carol’s here as she took off her shoes which had drawing pins in the soles from school. Day saved again.

After about 10 minutes, the older children got up and went out. Quickly following, I discovered it was breakfast time. Chips, meat and pop. It was not possible to do games, as the site was very compact. We left for Sunday lunch to enable the staff to do what they did at lunchtime with the children.

After our MacDonald’s and chips (sorry fries) we returned. In the afternoon, most of the children had their faces painted and received a gift of a football shirt.

From here we moved on to Tinca, a small village south of Oradea. We were living in an old Romanian ‘holiday’ camp where the communists came to recuperate and take the water (very salty). The idea was to help at the school with a holiday club. We passed through the Roma village - one room houses, no sanitation, no running water - to get to the school which had been built by Christians over the last few years. It was surrounded by a wall and a large gate. 

On our arrival, the children came running to see these strangers and to find out why we were there. They came in families of 6, 7, 8 children with the eldest one being in charge. They were different to the Moldovans, only having the clothes that they stood up in. They had no sense of sharing. When they got a ball or something similar, they kept it for themselves as they had nothing, so this was a bonus?

The school had 3 classrooms holding about 20 children and at present is outside the state system as they have not had enough children pass a ‘state exam’ to qualify for aid. They were awaiting the latest results which may enable them to receive funding. To try to know who they were, each one made a name badge, which we laminated but, with so many, the laminator finally burnt out.

As a present we could leave behind, we got them all to draw round their hand on a felt sheet, cut it out and stick onto a sheet. The weather was now the other extreme - red hot - so outside we played football, other ball games and skipping but had to rest in the shade whilst drinking plenty of bottled water.

Friendship bracelets came to the fore once again. By now I become an expert but still not as quick as some of the children. Attached to the school was a small church, well, a room used as a church where, in groups according to age, we sang and listened to Christian stories. In the evening, we returned to our hotel where we had our evening meal in the ‘canteen’, on numbered tables.

There was no choice. We had the same as the Romanians who were there holidaying, mainly old people. Everything was provided for their needs but you had to have a ticket and sit at your place. Very interesting!

After evening meals we gathered together to share our experiences of the day and share fellowship. The following day, many children turned up but not necessarily the same as the day before - different brothers and sisters but with the same nametags, as if this was an entry ticket.

The school provided food for the pupils who had attended regularly. We played games, made items and generally enjoyed being with the children. It was still hot and sunny; the smell at times was not very pleasant.

On our final day it was decided to have a bus trip out as a reward for the school children. But that’s another story...

Patrick Henderson