It was a rainy Monday in Mongolia. That has been the trend this summer; lots of
rain and cool weather. But this day was
different, as it was the beginning of a powerful and life changing week of camp
for children who have had open heart surgery or interventional catheterization
through Children’s Heart Project. In
August, we held our third heart camp this summer. Heart Camps in Mongolia began in 2011 and
this year CHP Uganda started heart camps.
Our theme this year was Small Soldiers with each day focusing on a
different Bible story and theme. The
five stories they went through were Joseph, David Anointed King, the Prodigal
Son, Naaman, and Peter. Through these
stories, the children would get the picture painted of God’s love for them
through the life of Jesus Christ.
Camp is
fun! It was packed full of activities
that had purpose and meaning. The
morning began with exercises then breakfast.
The daily theme was presented by acting out the Bible story in the
morning large group. Children enjoyed
showing off how they could memorize their verses for the day. Camp crafts allow children to use their
creativity with fun supplies. Afternoon
group game time taught teamwork and valuing each person’s strengths. Small groups were an opportunity to dive
deeper into the Word at each age level and for the campers to open up to each
other to share what is going on in their heart.
The evening session, through a modern skit, emphasized the
teaching. And the night ended with
hilarious games and competitions. It was
a great joy to watch the children laugh and often times, that deep belly laugh
at some of the silly games. This is not
something you see often as Mongolians do not show much emotion. And of course, camp would not be complete
without lots of camp songs, which taught more about Jesus.
I had
the privilege of sitting down with several teenage CHP kids. They shared their story with me. They shared similar stories of how all they
knew growing up was being sick. Their
life seemed hopeless with no option for surgery in Mongolia. Then the Lord opened the door for them to
have surgery in North America. And their
experience abroad was life changing as they were given an opportunity to live a
normal life after life-saving heart surgery.
But more importantly, they were given hope in Jesus Christ and His death
and resurrection.
Nasa
was one of these children. She had
surgery in 2009 when she was 11 years old at the Mayo Clinic. She spent
time with two host families who she really enjoyed. At first, she was
very shy and hesitant to share, but slowly she opened up to us. She
had fond memories of her time in the US. She said she was not scared or
worried before surgery; seemed like a very brave young lady. Memories of
Jeff, her American cardiologist’s husband, making her laugh right before
surgery comforted her and she did not remember having any pain. A couple
of things she enjoyed about her host families home was playing with Barbie’s
and how much room she had to just run around in. She said she would just go from room to room
as she was not used to having so much space.
It was quite different from her round ger that she lived in. Now her favorite subjects in school are math
and Mongolian language. She is in the 7th grade, but her age is
that of a 9th grader. The
freedom to run and do activities she once was not able to do brings a smile to
her face. I told her we should run
around the camp just because we can.
One thing about camp Nasa enjoys is
the time away from work. As a 14 year old, her responsibilities are great
which include watching younger relatives, doing laundry, and cooking. So she is enjoying the break from all the
work. This almost brought me to tears as these kids often have to work so
hard with so little time off all summer.
Overall she is a very thankful teenager. She remembers meeting
Cindy Bonsall, the director of Children’s Heart Project, so she was thankful to
hear about Cindy now. From her
experiences in the United States, Nasa dreams of becoming an interpreter. Once her dream was to become a doctor, but since
her experience in the US with CHP, she wants to be an interpreter and go back
to the US to help others. I know the Lord is going to use her story and
experiences for His glory.
We talked to her about her
faith. She said she and her mother came to know the Lord, but have not
been able to attend a church since they live so remotely in eastern Mongolia.
Her grandparents and father are shamanist. She tried to share about Jesus
to her grandparents, but they were not interested. She left her
children’s Bible once at her grandparent’s house and cannot find it since
then. So when we told her we would give her a new children’s Bible, she
got so excited and even clapped her hands. This was the most emotion I
saw her show. We gave her the name and number of a church leader in her
province center so when she is there, she can connect with this church.
After meeting with her, later in
the day, she took me by hand and showed me a few things around camp. She
has such a sweet, tender personality. Already she is looking forward to
camp next year.
The
Lord showered us with blessings throughout camp. The weather went from rainy and cool, to
sunny throughout the week. 90 CHP
children, 22 siblings, and 2 parents attended the three camps. A highlight through the summer was seeing
seven CHP young adults lead as counselors or counselors in training. They led powerfully as they could relate to
what the children have gone through and how God has guided them through. One of our older teenage campers had a heart
defect where he was blue and was just repaired in February. Every time I saw how pink he was, I praised
God for how He worked in this young man’s life to get him lifesaving surgery. Many of the children remembered English words
they learned while in America and used them with me. It was an older group of campers, so the
teachers were able to dive deeper into the Word.
Children’s
Heart Project Mongolia is so thankful for the prayers and support of this
ministry and especially this camp. God
is doing mighty thing through CHP and giving hope to families who desperately
need it with a sick child.
