This summer PC3 families participated in hosting a total of 17 children and a translator from Belarus. They provided loving homes to kids whose bodies need respite from the harmful effects of the radiation left in their country from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Not only did the children receive physical care, they were shown God’s love through the kindness and compassion of these families. Others – thought not directly hosting the children – organized and activities such as ‘art day’ and a deep sea fishing excursion for the kids. These were enjoyed by all. One of our host families shared from their experience:
From Holly -
We really enjoyed our experience this summer with Venya! We were definitely stretched through this experience. I remember the first night Venya arrived and how strange I felt when I crawled into bed. We had just picked him up, so it was sort of like having a total stranger in the house. How do you rest? I feel like I slept the first few nights with one eye open. I was just nervous about him wandering through the house, or needing something and not being able to communicate that to us. He actually did just fine and we settled in pretty quickly.
Having a new child in the house took some getting used to…while he was easy to love, I just worried about him. Is he homesick? Does he feel okay? Does he need anything? How is he going to get along with our daughter, Sydney? Is he bored? I tend to over think things sometimes, so again, I was just constantly stressed at first. During those times I was especially thankful for Don and Yasmin and the group. Just being with other host families and getting the support of just being in their company helped us a great deal. We also were fortunate in that our entire neighborhood wanted to meet him, help with him, try to communicate with him. We saw such a sweet side to many of our neighbors who gave us clothes…toys…play date invitations, etc. I’d say after the first week, we were much more comfortable.
We were surprised at how little he seemed to have and yet how content he seemed to be. He arrived with one small backpack and one set of clothes…the ones that were on his back. The first morning we sat down for breakfast, we were surprised to learn that the only things in his backpack were gifts for us and one small photo album of his family. It was pretty touching…he brought Bobby some chocolates and he wanted him to have one that morning with his breakfast…so we did. J While he didn’t have much, he seemed quite generous throughout the stay which really was a lesson to us. He smiled A LOT and was really thoughtful. When I would play a game with him, he would always insist that I go first. He often looked out for Sydney and he was quick to say the words, “thank you.” For having so little, he seemed so content…again, a big lesson for us.
We also had the treat of having Ira (the translator) spend the day with us during their visit. She too seemed to have very little. She kept saying she wanted to go shopping. I asked her what she wanted to go shopping for and that’s when she let us know that she really would love to have a pair of blue jeans. I told her that Bobby and I would treat her to a pair, so she and I jumped in the car and went to purchase her some jeans. She was extremely grateful and again, I learned a little something about myself and the things I take for granted. At one point in the day, I told her I could probably pull some clothes out of my closet that she could have because, “I didn’t wear them.” She said, “Why do you have clothes in your closet that you don’t wear?” I learned that I have SO much to be thankful for. I definitely have all I need and really need to be more grateful for the all of the comforts I have…blue jeans and all. J
I think God showed me that if I lean on him, he can give me peace and that if I lean on him, he can do more than I can even imagine. Who would think that it could actually be possible to love a total stranger for 6 weeks and then send him home and actually feel really good about it? I mean, both aspects of the visit are hard…the “hello” when you know nothing about the child and the “goodbye” when you realize your time with them is through and they must return to their home which is halfway around the world. I’ve learned that God can really stretch your heart and when that happens it really is a pretty remarkable experience. You feel love that you never knew you could feel and I know that’s God revealing himself.
I’ll never forget the last day. We had Venya all packed up and ready to go the night before. We found him in his room that morning with the light on…he must have woken up sometime in the night, but he was back to sleep in the morning. We took him to meet the bus and that was such a bittersweet experience. We loaded his suitcase onto the bus and gave him some BIG hugs before watching him climb the steps and take a seat. I’ll never forget the scene. We went around the bus to his window and held up our hands to the glass…our hands on one side…his hand on the other. Before long the bus started up and began to move. We continued to wave (and cry) until the bus was out of sight. It was like a scene from a movie as many of the host families continued to stand there in the heavy silence. We were grateful for our experience with Venya and hope that we made a difference in his life…he made one in ours.
From Bobby -
For me, I learned that it is not as hard as I thought it would be to love a total stranger. At first, it was difficult for me to hug him or really feel love for him…I kind of felt like a chaperone on a school trip for about two weeks or so. I also felt that we needed to be responsible for his entertainment. I wanted to make sure that he wasn’t bored, which did “stress” us a little bit. But I feel like this experience showed me that I shouldn’t be fearful or hesitant to extend myself to a stranger.
Two things happened early on, that as I reflect on the experience, had an impact on our relationship. The first day Venya was here, I had to jump into our pool, clothes on and all, and essentially save him from the depths of the deep end. The second thing that happened occurred on about the third night he was here. At about 1:00 am, I awoke to find Venya standing in the doorway of our bedroom. I figured out that he must have had a nightmare and was too scared to go back to sleep by himself in his bedroom. I ended up lying in bed with him and both of us fell back to sleep. Again, at this point, he was still a “stranger” to me. I feel like these two events helped us to “bond” and I wonder if that was GOD working on me. GOD knew I needed a little help with the concept of having a stranger “interrupt” our summer fun, and these two events helped me to see the bigger picture of this mission. I learned that there was something inside me, on a basic instinct level, that overrode the feelings of being “inconvenienced” with ruining a pair of shoes in the pool or sacrificing a good night’s sleep in my own bed. I feel that all humans possess this instinct to care for others, but unfortunately our own comforts and conveniences and sense of materialism get in the way of helping others and expressing GOD’s love to the world. It’s still hard for me to put my comforts and conveniences aside for the sake of GOD’s kingdom, but this experience helped me to realize the importance of doing just that and the sense of fulfillment that comes along with it.
— Submitted by Bobby and Holly Campbell
