Summer camp for kehillot children – summer 2013

This year, instead of one summer camp at Deir Rafat, two are being held, one for the children of the Hebrew speaking Catholic communities and one for all Hebrew speaking Catholic children in Israel. The first, for the children of the our kehillot, ended on Sunday, July 21, 2013, with a festive mass and dinner. Father David in the homily of the mass explained to all those children remaining for the second summer camp, most of those who participated in the first camp, that they are now responsible for receiving the Hebrew speaking Catholic children who will arrive for the second camp (from the Filipino, Lebanese and African communities) with joy and warmth. This was directly connected to the readings of the Sunday mass on hospitality (with the examples of Abraham in the Old Testament and Mary and Martha in the New Testament).

The first camp brought together 45 children and adults from the various communities who came together on Wednesday morning at Deir Rafat. The joy and enthusiasm of the children were palpable as children met up who do not see each other regularly during the course of the school year. The children divided up into groups according to ages and found their places in the rooms where they would sleep. The adventure began…

The theme of the kaytana was “The Holy Spirit” and every day there was a lesson about the Holy Spirit given by Father David. The texts that were studied were the same that were used as readings at the daily mass. Father Piotr explained to the children that the mass was the summit of each day’s activities and the children participated with devotion. Before each mass, each group took time to prepare a part of the mass (confession, readings, preparing the altar, the Our Father).

The other activities also focused on the theme of the camp – the Holy Spirit. In the morning, after the lesson, there were activities that focused on theater, art and music under the direction of Claudia, Kirill and Sinead (theater), Benny (music) and art (Alberto). In the afternoon, after a time of rest, there was fun time in the pools (under the watchful eye of Father Piotr) and thereafter activities – sport (with Claudia and Kirill), dancing (with Sinead) and games (with Kirill).

Towards evening, after the showers, the groups convened in order to evaluate the day – what had been good and what had been more trying? What were the expectations for the following day?

In the evening, after dinner, there was time to speak to parents and then a relaxing movie.

On the last day, the activity was a little different. Everyone set off in the morning for a trip to the Safari in Ramat Gan. After a fascinating visit, observing the animals, the group gathered in a park for a picnic lunch.

Once again, this year, the role of the young counselors from the Desert Flower group was essential. Thanks to Salma, Habib, Jenny and Elena as well as Miguel. In addition, some of the older children, waiting to join the Desert Flower youth group, also helped. We thank very much all the other volunteers who consecrated their time and energy: Benny’s mother and sister (who came all the way from Italy especially to help), Sister Marianna, Daniel, Barbara and Shahaf. Thank you, Father Apolinary for all the help in organizing everything and his constant presence. Thanks to a new friend, Jean-Francois, who is a volunteer in Bir Zeit in Palestine who volunteered to photograph for us.

A special word of thanks to the sisters of the Deir Rafat monastery and their volunteers who received us so graciously as always, handing over their home to us. Thank you to the German organization, Kirche in Not, without whose financial help the Vicariate could not have succeeded in undertaking the camp.

Thank you, Lord, you who watched over us and gave us so many gifts in these days.