Man these Kids can EAT!

After day 2 of the sports came, 2 trips to the grocery store and preparing for the cookout tomorrow night. Betsy and I will be back in the grocery store as soon as they open tomorrow morning. Thank God for all of the generous help we have had from so many wonderful ladies who have either been in the matthew house or who are currently staying in the matthew house. We could not have prepared lunch and served all the children and cleaned up as fast and effectively as we have the last 2 days without their help. Today's menu consisted of Egg salad sandwiches, turkey, roast beef sandwiches, pasta salad, and fruit. Boy do those kids love fruit! of course we have chips and some sort of cookie. This year we are having to be very careful what we prepare and check every label; one of the campers has a severe peanut allergy and is not supposed to be around anything that has been prepared with peanut oil or contains peanuts. Our youth were very disappointed we could not have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Today we went through almost 6 loaves of bread, 5 lbs of deli meat, 4 bags of chips, all the waffer cookies we had and all the grapes, apples and strawberries we had were gone! I believe we all the extra we estimated 55 people were fed today for lunch! wow, God is Good!

Tomorrow is the big cookout. We are not sure how many people to expect. Not all of the kids have parents here, but they have many siblings and not everyone RSVP's to the flyer. We had more kids at camp today than yesterday and are estimating for 3 people per camper. All in all we are estimating for about 140 people. The menu consists of burgers, hot dogs, rice and beans (made by our new friend Dominique), pasta salad, baked beans, a veggie tray and some sort of baked goods or a cake. We will be very busy tomorrow but we have recruited lots of helpful hands in the kitchen!

Today Joe sliced his finger as the men were working on the counter top in the kitchen, he went to a clinic here in canada and ended up getting 3 stitches for $75 dollars!

When we woke up today it was very gloomy and over cast, we were afraid it was going to rain but it did as they called for and everything burned off and moved on. The sun came out and it was a hot one! The kids said camp was a little more of a challenge today than yesterday because american football is not something all the kids are familiar with. It is very technical and harder to teach. But i think all in all they had a lot of fun!

Betsy and I spent a lot of time in the kitchen today with a woman named Dominique who is from Haiti. She has been in Canada for almost 2 years and has 2 teenage boys who are still in Haiti. She is such an incredible lady and so friendly. (as is everyone here) We learned so much from her. We asked lots of questions about their food, culture, her experience in haiti, etc.

This woman seems to have been very successful in haiti. Working as a teacher and starting a school a year or so before she left. Dominique still has family in haiti her mother and several siblings along with her children. It is so sad, I can not imagine having to leave, not knowing when you will see your kids or family again.

Ruth another lady who is always so eager to help in the kitchen is always so bubbily and excited to see us! She is part of the Columbian family who is currently living in the matthew house... but only for another week! As of yesterday, Ruth and her family signed for an apartment in Niagara Falls and will be moving in next week! What a happy and exciting time for them. The 4 of them have been living in one bedroom and will not be moving into a 3 bedroom one and a half bath apartment. Ruth has a daughter who is excited to start art school soon. She has been helping with the VBS sets the church is working on for next week. Their son is going to help us bake tomorrow; he wants to be a chef of some kind!

Last night we went to dinner with Jim Shirley and Rosemary at Rina's, Very good italian food!

We then went to walmart and back to the hotel, everyone was exhausted! Before we left camp yesterday Shirley informed us that they had received a call they would be picking up 4 Haitian children who had just arrived. These children ranged in age from 11 to 20. They lost their mom a few years ago and the 20 year old has been taking care of them since. I can't begin to imagine how they felt today, as they came into eat lunch; must have been a little overwhelming, but I was glad to see the 11 year old boy joined in the sports camp and should becoming back tomorrow. Because their is no room in the matthew house right now, they will be staying in the Howard Johnson where we are staying!

The youth have been given the afternoon off. Betsy and I are taken them to the beach after we get ice cream and then getting mcd's and off to see fireworks to at the falls tonight!

Stay tuned for an updated from a youth's point of view on the sports camp!