Christmas Plays and Shoebox distribution

This year, after a two year break, we were able once again to have our Christmas plays. In June already, I was thinking about what play we should do. In a conversation with one of our longstanding church members I complained that I had to not only figure what to do for the play this year but I also had to figure out which kids to use as all of our kids that usually took part are now all grown up.

She replied, "Why don't you just use one of the first plays you used back in the day - the kids that watched that are all grown up and you can kind of start again with a new set of kids and go through the plays in order". GENIUS!!! So a plan was formed: We started back with the first one I did which was You are Special in 2014. It is based on Max Lucado's book "You are Special" about the Wemmicks who give each other stars and dots. If you don't know that story - you can watch it here.

Two of the kids from the original group of actors, Bojan and Snjeza, took the previous "adult" parts and we found some wonderful kid actors from amongst our sponsorship children. We formed a little drama club with them, meeting each week. Haley my teammate, and also Bojan and Snjeza helped a lot! We played drama games and taught them all some acting skills while we were practicing for the play. It was so fun! 

Here are the "Wemmicks" wandering around their village putting on stars or dots on each other, with Snjeza narrating: 

Brother and sister, Lazar and Marina, playing Punchinello and Lucia: 

Bojan playing the part of Eli - with Punchinello: 

And then, finally the day came when it was time to put on the shows... It worked out that the only time we could do them was on my Christmas Eve and Christmas (as I work in a part of the world where they celebrate Christmas in January!). It was a fun way to spend Christmas! 

Our first couple of performances were in Celinac - a town about 20 minutes drive from Banja Luka. I think the kids did a phenomenal job!! Especially in front of such huge crowds! Below you can see that sang some songs afterwards as well... (My brother's comment on this photo is the best: "Belinda the rock star! ⭐ Playing to sold out theaters across Europe!" )😁

So, after that experience with so many people - our performances back in Banja Luka the next day were super easy! And we were back on familiar ground - where we had been practicing for months! Here we are with the kids and their packages after one of the performances: 

Besides Christmassy songs, we also sang our Camp Theme song from Camp 2013 - which was written by our Finnish colleague, Rami. It is called "Very Precious". You can watch us singing it here. It talks about how we need to treat everyone with respect as we are all different, but precious in our own way. And it fit in so well with the theme of the play, that we had to sing it as well! 

Now we just have one more performance to go - at the Children's Home in January - and then we will be done with the play and packages for this year. We now have a great group of actors, and next year I may have inspiration and write a new play or I can just recycle one from before! 

Volunteer party

We have some wonderful volunteers that work with us - those that work at the Children's Home and others who work with our sponsorship children, and some do both! We wanted to celebrate them and thank them for all their hard work and what better way than having a fun Christmas party: 

We had lots of good food, learnt a bit more about Christmas, and even did a bit of a Secret Santa gift exchange. It was a lot of fun. 

We gave prizes to the 3 volunteers who came to all of the workshops at the Children's Home: Jovana, Masha and Jelena: All 3 of them are wonderful with the kids and we so enjoy having them be a part of our team! 

We also decided that it was time to recognise two of our longest serving volunteers, Nina and Nada: they have been with us since 2014 and 2015 respectfully. Here they are with their awards for their voluntary contribution: We all may have cried a little bit... I love these guys!  

One of the ways that we can contribute to change in society is by giving those with a heart for it a place to volunteer, and that is what we try to provide! In this way we can make a small difference, not just in the lives of the children we are working with, but also helping these volunteers to grow in their knowledge and skills as well! 

Last night at the Children's Home

We have been going in faithfully each week since October, but for our last time, we had a bit of a different "Book Club". My friend, Aleksandra works at the Children's Library and she has a drama club. They were putting together a performance of "Cinderella" and so I asked her if they wanted to do a performance at the Children's Home and they were excited to be given the chance to perform. (They usually just perform for their moms and dads and grandparents.) 

It was a great performance and the kids loved every bit of it! Some of the girls may have fallen in love with the Prince... 

After the performance, we made glass slippers or masks for the ball: 

As you can see, everyone had a great time - including the kids in the play! It was a great way to finish off our Book Club for 2022! 

The Revenkos

In December we were blessed by the arrival of Sergej and Ira Revenko from the Ukraine. They had been part of our team back in 2004-2009, and then returned to the Ukraine, to Kherson where they were from. Their daughter, Anja, had returned to Bosnia and got married to her high school sweetheart here. They had a son in 2019. Even before the war started we were trying to figure out a way to get Sergej and Ira to BiH, but when the war started they immediately forbid males over 18 and under 60 from leaving the country. This meant Sergej, who was 59, couldn't leave until he turned 60 in November. 

They were lucky enough to escape Kherson in April, because they were promised an apartment and a place to stay by a church on the Western border of Ukraine. Unfortunately, when they got there, the only place available to them was in the church sanctuary with 40 other people. It wasn't bad they say, but no place to remain long term. So we were determined to get them to Banja Luka as soon as Sergej turned 60! In the meantime, their younger daughter, Vera, came and joined Anja as there was no restrictions on females leaving. Ira, of course, stayed with Sergej. Their son, Sasha, moved to stay with friends in Kyiv. 

And then God orchestrated that another of our former colleagues, David, would be near the Ukrainian border in Slovakia in early December, and he had the bright idea to offer to pick them up at the border and bring them to Banja Luka, so they didn't have to travel by public transport! And so it was arranged - David collected them and they all came to Banja Luka (and we got to see David as well!) 

To say it was a joyful reunion is an understatement!! They are now staying in the church apartment until April when we will start having teams again, and we will figure out then what they will do. But for now, they are warm and safe and able to hang out with their grandson who they just met when they arrived!! 

EUS meetings

 At the beginning of December, I was in Mostar again for meetings with the EUS (Evangelical Union of Students, which is part of the IFES - International Fellowship of Evangelical Students - movement) staff and board. It was so fun to hang out with these wonderful people and catch up on the work that is going on in Sarajevo and Banja Luka. Here we all are - staff, board and families: 

And here is just us: 5 Staff, 1 intern, 4 board members: we are just missing one board member! 

I love that I get to be a part of this fun group of people, and be supporting the work of this organisation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and beyond!