Training Camp is over and the FYM's are now out on the field.  What a great two weeks God gave to us.  The days were long and the nights were short.  I worked so hard that right now I am at home sick, running a fever.  But God is on the throne and that is all that matters.

On the first day of camp, we had the kids go through a refugee camp experience.  I want to share you with the journal entry of one of the girls, Connie Donlon, in Kenya.  She tells it better then I could.

September 08

refugee camp

let's just say my first day of training was...intense! 

a real camping experience... except for our first day......

6:30am

raided

awaked by horns and yelling

"YOU HAVE 45 SECONDS TO GET ON THE BUS OR YOU WILL BE SHOT"

7:00am

still on the bus (in my pajamas).. all our heads down, eyes closed

7:30am

lined up and interrogated (we had been given families the night before, I had a husband, 3 kids (other FYM) and a baby (doll)

my family was placed in a separate line because we are christians

8:00am

forced to walk through the forest to our final destination

my family not given any money, food or a tarp for shelter because we are christians

8:30am

everyone had arrived to this marked off area

we were told that we were now in a refugee camp safe from the raiders in our home country

10:00am

food and washroom stations opened

washroom station is the forest floor behind a tarp

no money for food, water, toiletpaper or a bottle for the baby

12:00pm

was given a tarp by a nice family with two

set up camp in the safe zone and recieved our lunch (one cup of water for 5 of us and a piece of bread each)

it's hot and we are sweaty

1:30pm

red cross parenting seminar..

without food for the baby, breastfeeding can transmit HIV

our baby is now infected

3:00pm

still really hot.. nothing to do but sit around..

some people tried making fires, others played baseball with a branch and a crushed can

stations opened again

found someone to buy us a bottle for our baby

3:30pm

someone got a fire going....smuggled in a lighter

4:00pm

starts to rain

all of us try to stay under the one sheltered tarp tent

5:00pm

still raining.. our tarp and belongings are soaked and covered in mud

5:30pm

rain lets up and spits for about 30 more minutes

our camp is raided... the men have paintball guns and shoot some refugees

they kill a baby and take everything they can

6:00pm

dinner... a rice cake OR a spponfull of bland porridge (no plates or bowls provided)

8:00pm

still there.. still wet... very dirty and everyone is smelling pretty badly, not to mention hungry

given up hope of going back to camp that night

settled on the idea of sleeping on the wet ground under the stars

another baby is dead

9:00pm

fire is still going

we start a prayer service

not for us

but for people all over the world who are expreiencing life like this without the hope of going back home any time soon

it's really impactful... prayers are lifted, in turn our spirits are too

10:00pm

people had been singing worship songs for aout two hours

all 200 of us gathered around the fire

10:30

the guy in charge comes out and takes us on a prayer walk

in the dark through the fields and mud and hills

it's dark and we are very tired and hungry but no one made a sound

just prayers for the refugees

some of whom we may be ministering to in the near future

11:30pm

we arrive back at camp for one more piece of bread and cup of water

we have fasted

fasted for those who have no choice

fasted to get our hearts right with God

the mock refugee camp was a total violation of human rights

it was disgusting, filthy, frustrating but incredible

we grew as a team and as families

but the purpose of the camp was not to frustrate but to get us in the frame of mind

frame of heart

the purpose was to come to a point to ask God to make our hearts break for what His heart breaks for

break our hearts for his hurting people.

it did that... and more