July 30, 2012
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Soccer Camp Pictures! (Part 1)
Our fifth annual soccer camp was, once again, the best soccer camp yet! This year we managed to hold the camp on the US army base in Seoul, so we were able to play on beautiful turf fields. The kids loved it! We had 47 boys attend from 6 different children homes and we had about 42 volunteers serve all three days (Monday – Wednesday).
What I love about the soccer camp is that although it costs a fair amount of money to run, pretty much all the money spent is for the kids… to not only provide their needs (clothes, shoes, swimsuits, transportation, food) but to also make them feel special (they feel like real soccer players in the uniforms and they love the food we serve them and are always excited and thankful for it). But more than meeting material needs and providing them with a fun soccer camp, the kids are most blessed by our amazing volunteers. All the volunteers are prepped by our ministry and all of them make a commitment before the camp to love and serve the kids no matter what, even if the kids are rebellious or difficult at times. And because of that unconditional love, even our most difficult boys change so much over just three days. Whereas they wouldn’t listen or give high fives or show thanks the first day, by the last day the teams are like families, the high fives and hugs are nonstop, and the kids are expressing their gratefulness. They no longer feel like orphans: insecure, angry, or alone… but rather they feel like brothers to each other and relatives to all the loving volunteers. The soccer camp is a glimpse of the long term vision we have for the orphanage ministry… to see all the children transformed into strong, secure kids who know they are special and who know they are safe in loving family.Enjoy the pictures! I plan to post more in a few days. You can find almost all the pictures at our Jerusalem Ministry page on Facebook. Please check out the page and like it for us. Thanks! =)Five boys from my children’s home were able to attend. Let me introduce them to you…Do Kyoon, our only 6th grader and our star soccer player
. Won Bin, now in 5th grade and growing more confident with each camp
Han Bin, our other 5th grader… he scored THREE goals during the camp!!! I was really proud of him, he happened to be at the right place at the right time for each goal and he finished well. He was overwhelmed by his success. =)
Ji Won, our 4th grader whose team won the championship
Sun Jae, our other 4th grader oozing with confidence and energy… I was really proud of his attitude during the camp, despite his competitiveness he kept positive even in defeat
That’s me, preparing to referee a match while sporting our volunteer t-shirt that my wife Sky designed for us
Team Brazil… Sky is to the far left =)
Team Netherlands… our most positive last place team of any soccer camp, the kids attitudes have gotten better and better with each year!
Team Germany goofing around
Team Argentina looking good… each team had 7 – 9 volunteers and we had more volunteers on the side taking care of administrative stuff (nurses, refs, organizers, etc). God is so good!
Every day we would start with prayer…
Netherland team doing “trust fall” as a bonding activity at the beginning of the camp
And here they go!
More bonding activities, filled with smiles and laughter
Team Germany with their pregame huddle routine that the kids all loved (swaying back and forth and then chanting out Germany)
My boys Han Bin and Do Kyoon enjoying popsicles during a break
Volunteer Na Rai walking with one of her boys to our other field
One of my favorite pics from the camp… volunteer John with one of the boys he helped coached last year
More pictures are to come! Check out our page on Facebook (“Jerusalem Ministry”) and like it for us. God bless! =)
