In the Joy of Christmas

Once again, like every year, we took advantage of the children's Chanukah holiday to hold a camp. This year the camp was held immediately after Christmas, on 26.12, for three days, and therefore the theme was Christmas. This camp was attended by the older children, those aged 11+. Indeed, since last year, we decided to organize our camps by age groups, in order to offer the children activities that are more suitable to their age.

The camp took place at Beit Jamal. We arrived at noon and, after entering the place, sharing the rooms and organizing ourselves, we started the first activity: preparing gifts for one another for the holiday party scheduled on the next day. Each child picked the name of another child and had to prepare for him a creative greeting card, using the rich and varied material available on the table. The children worked wonderfully and invested a lot in the gifts. Afterwards, still in the Christmas atmosphere, the children had to prepare Christmas cookies.

The evening ended with showers, dinner and a Christmas-related movie. It was a short but most enjoyable day!

The next day, we started with a morning prayer followed by breakfast, then an extraordinary and thrilling witness by Brother Steve – a Salesian, who told his own story while delivering a very meaningful message to the children. They listened amazingly (probably because of the surprising rap he sang!), and then we divided them into discussion groups, where we discussed the questions received from Brother Steve. At the end, each group presented a short theatrical piece according to the mission we received from him.

The day continued as usual with Mass, games (held inside, due to the heavy rain ...), activities, art workshop, etc.

In the evening we had a Christmas party, with songs, dances and gifts - the children gave each other the greeting cards they prepared the day before, and at the end of the party they received a little surprise from us - headphones for everyone. The children were very excited and thanked for the gift.

We ended the day with an impressing Taizé prayer conducted by Father Benny and Brother Tiago (who came specially for it). The children took part in it and the evening ended quietly and calmly, in a peaceful and wonderful atmosphere.

The next day we had to cut short due to technical constraints in the accommodation place. So the summer camp ended in the morning - after Mass.

Despite the short time of the camp, the uncomfortable and rainy weather, the kids enjoyed it very much and it was successful for them. The holiday atmosphere probably has something to do with it. Despite the obstacles, we had fun and amazing activities for the kids!

Thanks so much everyone!