July 2012
ENGLISH CAMP REPORT
July 30, 2012
Above: Camp volunteers and campers at this year’s 2012 English Camp in Lakitelek Hungary.
Above: Dani, a camper who had attended four camps in the past always seemed to be uninterested in Jesus. When others would direct conversation to God, Dani would talk about worldly things and even dabbled in demonic literature. Dani has since made a decision to believe Jesus and was baptized at camp giving testimony as to how he couldn’t resist God any longer. It became clear to Dani that God was chasing him and had surrounded him with many who shared the truth in his life. In his testimony, he shared how previous testimonies on our Gospel Night had an impact on him. Dani doesn’t live close to any of our church plants, but we have contacted a pastor in his hometown and Roger will be joining Dani the first time he attends. Praise God for changing Dani’s heart, giving him understanding and restoring him in Jesus Christ.
Above: The Orange Team that I lead throughout the week included 5 kids who were first time campers. Krisztof in the back row far right was thankful for conversations with his roommate and camp worker Attila who explained the different between Protestantism and Catholicism. In the end Attila shared that what was most important to us is not any denomination, but a belief in Jesus Christ’s Gospel and a life lived out in a personal relationship with Him.
Just below Krisztof to the right is a young man Laci that I roomed with last year. At the end of last year’s camp Laci shared with me that he was now open to spiritual things but had started camp completely closed minded about them. Laci stayed after on the night of our Gospel presentation and he was in tears. He said it was becoming more clear to him that he needs to make a decision but there are still barriers to him believing in his life. We talked through many of these barriers and I believe many more seeds have been planted in Laci’s life. Please pray that God would take hold of his heart and make Laci to know that God’s word is trustworthy and true.
Above: Yet another Laci talking with one of our Hungarian partners in ministry, Erika. After last year’s camp, Laci began attending youth group at the Vecsési church plant. Laci was also in tears after our Gospel Night this year and wanted to talk to me about it the next day. Laci told me that he was so stricken that night emotionally that he had to leave the building because he didn’t just want to make a decision based on emotion. He said that he now wants to read the Bible from beginning to end and examine it for himself. Laci and the other Laci are friends and I believe that through this camp they have been moved even closer to repenting and putting their trust in Jesus.
Above: The youth group from Petofibanya practicing their skit that they would perform on Gospel night. I’m so proud of these young men and women and how much time and effort they put into this drama with a heart to see campers saved. Many campers commented on how powerful the drama was. One female camper stayed after on Gospel Night and shared her story about trying to commit suicide twice. In the drama, a young girl is about to commit suicide but turns away as Christ draws her to Himself.
Above: Edit from Kecskemény and Fanni from Petofibánya. One of our problems from year’s past was effectively following up on kids from a close vicinity that attended camp since we had no church plants in their area. God led us to Edit who serves at a local church in Kecskemény and developed good relationships with campers. One of her roommates Anna prayed with Edit to trust in Jesus. Another camper Kitti made a decision to believe and said she would like to attend the church in Kecskemény. And also a young girl named Zsoka who made a decision last year but drifted afterwards is now connected with Edit and we hope will be discipled in Kecskemény. We praise God for Edit joining our volunteer staff this year!
Above: Eszti, the first camper to have to leave with a serious injury! You couldn’t tell from this picture, but just days before it was taken, she was rushed to the hospital with a broken nose! By God’s grace the doctors were able to set it and she was back at camp the same night. Unfortunately, this was not the only injury at camp. On Thursday, otherwise known as “Gospel Night”, first time camper Bence from Petofibanya had a pretty bad accident on a bike. I happened to be filming the whole ordeal and it looked pretty bad.
Above: Bence bandaged up! Bence was also taken to the hospital with a pretty deep gash above his right eye. Thankfully, he was also able to return to camp the same night as cheerful as ever. On Thursday afternoon, I also dislocated my shoulder in a pool competition. Thankfully it popped back and after seeing the doctor today and having x-rays, it looks like it’s back in place. I’ll need to do physical therapy to fully recover. Please pray.
There were so many stories of deep conversations with camp leaders in rooms each night. And as with Dani who finally saw that God was pursuing Him in His grace, it is our hope that the seeds planted in this year’s camp will grow the fruit of repentance leading to them trusting in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Thank you for your prayers for this ministry. Rejoice with us in the amazing work in these campers’ lives!
Here’s a short overview film of the camp:
Comments
ENGLISH CAMP!
July 19, 2012
Yes, hot off the heals of our VBS, tomorrow we travel to the town of Lakitelek where we will be having our English Camp. We're thankful for a record 62 Teens who will be attending this year. God’s word says: “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.” (Rom 9:26) God in His grace can give them a new heart and can give those who were not His people the gift of becoming His children through faith in Jesus Christ.
Above: I’m especially encouraged to see many from our church who are attending decide on their own to prepare an evangelistic drama for our Gospel Night. Included on the drama team are Zsofi and Eszter who just last year re-committed their lives to Christ at camp. Gyozo, who was saved a few years ago at camp is also participating on the team. What a difference Christ has made in their lives in just one year to have them serving in their giftings and joining us in reaching out to the next generation of Hungarians.
Please pray specifically for these young believers, that God would protect them at camp and use them to powerfully give testimony to His grace and salvation in Jesus His Son.
Of course, we would appreciate prayer for others from Petofibanya as well. Fanni (not the one pictured above) and Bence will be attending camp for the first time this year and we pray that God would capture their hearts with His truth and His Son. Bence is our mail lady’s son, and Fanni is the daughter of Timi who was saved this year and is growing in her faith. Pray that God may draw both Bence and Fanni to Himself at this camp.
Pray also for our entire team including Miki and Erika, Roger (leading camp) and Heidi, Brenda and of course my family. I (Allen) will be responsible for teaching the top level Egnlish calss (spelled that wrong just to see if you were paying attention). I would appreciate your prayers for good connections with students and open doors to share the Gospel throughout the course of camp.
After VBS
Above: The boy center with yellow shirt came to church with his two brothers and mother on Sunday for the first time.
God has already shown us fruit from our recent VBS. Discussing it in a team meeting, we recognized how God used the VBS to draw together members from both our church plants in Rozsaszentmarton and Petofibanya to bring blessing to the community. Working together a whole week gave us opportunity to be bound together even more in unity in Christ. Two new families began to attend our worship service after VBS, Zsuzsa mother of 5 and another Zsuzsa who is a single grandmother raising two of her grand kids on her own.
Kati, who years ago attended our English Club told me how amazed she was at what we were doing in the community for kids. She said no one else is doing anything or even cares, but it is clear that our fellowship does care. Put this into the context of a Hungarian culture that does not often offer any encouragement and speaks primarily about the negatives and you can see how God is bringing glory to His name and helping our church with a good reputation in the community.
Random stuff
Above: Kids swinging at a recent trip to the park after a doctors visit.
Above: Hard to believe Ziva’s already 8 months old!
Above: Elianna, Ben and Kira in the town of Eger. We praise God that we were able to successfully turn new paperwork in Eger to extend our residency permit.
Above: Ben and Ellie shooting our bow and arrow in the back yard.
For those of you who would like to join our prayer team for English Camp, please contact me! Thanks for your prayer support!
VBS Day Six
July 09, 2012
Above: The VBS team and their children losing their mind on the last day. We praise God for His work in us that we would be unified throughout the camp, each person doing their part to bless over 90 kids who attended throughout the week.
Above: We invited parents to attend the last day of camp and they had their own small group led by Dezso. It was a great opportunity to share testimony of God’s work in his own life and present the Gospel. Some of these parents have attended in the past and most likely only hear the message of salvation in Christ once a year at our VBS. We were thankful for others who were here for the first time. And we were thankful still for others who had attended in the past and have since been saved.
Above: Eszti, Fanni, Miki and Eniko
Above: A film which gives an overview of some of the activities at VBS.
Thank you all for your prayers for this year’s VBS. We trust that God will cause the seeds that were planted to grow. Some of those serving in VBS this year were once campers and are now growing in their faith in Christ and serving in their gifitngs. Pray that we will see a new generation turn to Jesus and find life in Him alone.
VBS Day Five
July 06, 2012
Above: Justin who wanted to leave camp a few days ago huddled in with some friends from his small group. Today in his preschool group, Val reported that all the kids, including Justin (who is just 3) were able to say the memory verse: I am lthe way, and mthe truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
Above: Miki starting the day off with songs that take some serious coordination to follow the motions.
Above: Thankful for a great group of kids this year and so many volunteers from church serving with joy.
Above: Attila (church member Gabi’s brother) helping with set up every day. Apparently, last night Attila was in a spiritual battle and it was questionable whether he would return to camp to serve. The team prayed for him and he was the first person I saw this morning walking to the camp grounds. Praise God for ministering to Attila and bringing him back with a right spirit. We have seen in past camps where young believers were attacked spiritually while serving and seen them drift away soon after. We’re thankful that this didn’t happen to Attila, but by God’s grace he was quickly restored. He has been such a hard worker and a great help this year!
Above: Emily fearlessly playing with a bug that was found on the camp grounds. She asked her dad (Roger), “Can I tell a story about it.” Creativity already at work in her little mind.
Above: More face paint craziness. Where else could you get away with painting your face like this and no one thinking you were crazy?
Above: Ziva and Sharon visiting VBS today.
Above: Kids preparing their mini teepees for today’s craft.
Above: Zsofia has done a great job playing the main role of the indian Aski in our drama throughout the week. Check out that necklace!
Above: Kids waiting in suspense as we present the conclusion to our drama we’ve been holding throughout the week. In the morning, the indian responded to the missionary’s invitation to put her trust in Jesus Christ as Pastor of her life. We also shared with the kids that today was the day to talk to a teacher if they also wanted to put their faith in Jesus as well. Many seeds of God’s truth have been planted throughout the week and we trust that by God’s grace they will take root and grow by His grace.
Thank you all for your prayers throughout the week. Thunderstorms had been forecast for the past two days and last night there was a brief hail storm. But today was sunny and we were once again able to be outside all day by God’s provision.
Tomorrow is our last day of camp where parents have been invited to come. Please pray for opportunities to clearly present the Gospel. The Parents will have their own small group with either Miki or Dezso teaching.
Pray also for kids and parents to respond to the invitation to come to our worship service this Sunday and for relationships to be built with parents in the community.
VBS Day Four
July 05, 2012
Above: Face paint in full effect for this year’s Indian themed VBS. Tina (center) with Elianna and Kira. Tina has been gracious to offer her help with the preschoolers commuting in with teammate Val from Budapest each day.
Above: Fanni, (left) who was saved just recently is serving as a VBS junior helper. She has truly been a blessing and has talked to me how she’s been talking to her friend about faith in Jesus Christ after she goes home each night after VBS. It is great to see God doing His transforming work in her and to have her serve with joy with us.
Above: One of the kids that I had to firmly discipline yesterday fully engaged in singing in the morning main meeting. Praise God for the change we saw in those who were causing trouble yesterday to being more active and able to pay attention today.
Above: Singing one of the hit songs three years running “It’s No Question That He Loves Us” has lyrics that highlight Christ’s selfless sacrifice for us.
Above: Eszti (center) teaching with her younger daughter Eliana in her lap. Eliana was having a tough time being one of the youngest kids in the preschool class. She seemed to do much better keeping mom company today in her class.
Above: Some of the older kids in Roger’s small group.
Above: Réka showing off today’s picture frame craft with 1 John 4:9: “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.”
Above: Bálint who had problems behaving yesterday missed his friend Bence who felt sick and had to sit out of small group meeting time. Bálint came up the idea on his own to pray for Bence’s healing and the group prayed together. Later, Bálint saw that God had answered his prayer and Bence was doing much better. He said, “God really does exist, He answered my prayer!”
Above: Roger cooling off in the kiddie pool.
One of the camp leaders, Dezso got into a conversation with a worker at the market as they were buying fruit for camp. It turns out that the woman also lives in Dezso’s hometown of Rozsaszentmarton and asked if she could send her 11 year old daughter to camp today. This showed the woman’s trust in us and her daughter Betti attended today. Unfortunately, Betti was agitated that we were holding a ‘religious’ camp where we talked about God and belief in Jesus. She said, “I can’t believe my mom would send me to something like this.” Dezso convinced her to allow him to take her back by car instead of walking home alone. Dezso shared that he slowed way down to allow for some conversation and he was able to ask some pointed questions that might cause Betti to think more about her worldview that denies God. Ironically, her parents are not opposed to God at all (obviously sending her to our camp today). Please pray for Betti and for the seeds Dezso was able to plant to yield fruit in her life.
Answers to Prayer
God kept the thunderstorms away today and we had another day full of sun to be outside.
God helped the smallest of the kids in our camp in a unique way that verifies answer to prayer. Two of them had an opportunity to go home early today, yet responded (quiet strongly), “I want to stay.” Both stayed the entire day and had a good time.
God helped the troublemakers from yesterday have a better day today and as I mentioned, Bálint even took the initiative to pray for another camper who was sick.
God has blessed our entire team with strength and protected us all from sickness throughout this camp. I was telling the team how great it was to see them serving with joyful hearts and with eagerness at each opportunity.
Prayer Requests
Tomorrow, we give a clear presentation of the Gospel and we invite the kids to make a decision. I can’t stress how important it is to pray for this day as the enemy does everything he can to distract and kill such efforts to bring freedom to others through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Please pray for Val teaching tomorrow and for the drama team in their presentation. Pray also for God’s Spirit to move upon the children’s hearts and to call them to make a decision (as I’m sure many of you reading also did at similar camps).
Please continue to pray for our team to be well rested and strengthened in Christ for the remaining two days of camp.
Pray for protection for all of the kids that there would be no distractions from this special day of sharing the Gospel.
VBS Day Three
July 04, 2012
Above: Everyday at “free time” the kids can go to a craft table to prepare letters to be delivered to friends at camp or teachers. One of the cute letters that one of the teachers received included the words of encouragement: “You really aren’t dumb.”
Lidi (pictured above) is having a rough time at camp and experiencing home sickness. Lidi is not from our area, and knew about camp through a relative. Please pray for her to experience joy and feel at home at camp tomorrow. In stark contrast, there were a group of kids that commented on the walk home that they didn’t want to go home and enjoyed being with us more than being at home. Two of the campers who had to leave because of a family vacation to Lake Balaton were almost in tears that they ‘had’ to leave. They told their teacher, “Next year we’ll be here and stay the whole time no matter what vacation is planned.” We’re thankful to God for giving these kids a secure and positive place to be at camp through this week, and even more thankful that they are hearing the truth about God’s message of salvation in Jesus Christ.
As we have reached the midpoint of VBS, kids and teachers are experiencing a bit of fatigue. Please pray for God to sustain us in His strength and to give us the rest we need tonight. Pray especially for the younger kids 3-5 who are the most tired after three days.
There were a number of disciplinary issues today, but nothing too serious. Please pray for the “trouble makers” to be drawn into the teaching and discussions tomorrow so that they would be blessed and would not become a distraction to the others in their small group. The good news is that the majority of the kids in the groups are doing great! One small group teacher shared how amazed she was at how concise her kids were answering the questions about the main teaching.
Above: One of the ice-breaker games in the small group involved shaving a balloon covered with shaving cream. The kids couldn’t resist putting the cream all over their faces.
Above: With the amount of kids we have squeezed into our meeting place, we were conceded about how well they would participate in singing this year. We praise God that the returning campers as well as new campers are fully participating. These songs contain great words about Jesus and we could hear the kids singing the songs on their own at different times in the day.
Above: A grandmother who has been attending with her grandkids couldn’t resist trying out our ropes activity.
Above: Jennifer being dragged into the stream of water by Eszti and Eniko.
Above: Dezso playing the role of a missionary helping Zsofia (indian) come to know the one true God. The drama is designed to leave the kids in a bit of suspense at the end of each day. One part of the drama involves the indian being falsely accused of stealing a belt from a local store and the owner is threatening to take all her family’s belongings if she doesn’t return the belt (by the end of our camp). Who done it?
Other prayer requests
One of the younger preschool kids had a terrible reaction to flea bites today at camp. The bites were from his home, but the brutal looking red spots popped up as he was with us this afternoon. Please pray that these bites wouldn’t get infected and that God would heal him so that He can return.
As I look at the forecast, the remaining three days of camp show thunderstorms! With our limited space in our indoor facility and much of our camp happening spread out on the grounds, we would appreciate your prayer for weather that allows us to be outside.
Please continue to pray for the evening drama to clearly present the Gospel. As we approach the last few days of camp, it is critical that these kids truly understand God’s offer of restoration and a personal relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. Pray that nothing would distract from His good news being proclaimed. Thank you all for your support!
VBS Day One and Two
July 03, 2012
Above: You can see from the pictures above that we have an Indian theme at this year’s VBS. Late in the afternoon we have a drama that extends through the whole week telling the story of an indian girl who comes to understand the message of Christ through a missionary.
A grandmother who listened to the morning teaching approached teammate Miki later in the day saying, “Wasn’t it too strong to say that God hates sin?” This opened up an opportunity for Miki to share the Gospel with her, including the weight of sin and the gift of God’s grace through Jesus Christ.
Day one is always one of the most difficult with 87 kids registering. There ware also a number of new kids that attended who we hoped would experience peace and not fear in these new surroundings. God was gracious and kids that were in tears when they arrived in the morning walked back saying to their parents, “I don’t need you to walk with me tomorrow.” Praise God giving them an enjoyable two days and sharing His love with them through His word and this camp.
Above: We have kids ranging from 3 to 14 and after being together in the morning for singing and the main teaching they split into small groups. This allows the kids to review and learn the day’s applicable memory verse. In year’s past we’ve had 6-10 kids per small group, but this year most groups have 15 kids. Teachers were very concerned that this would cause problems, but the majority of groups on the first day reported that kids were attentive and there were no serious disciplinary issues (an answer to prayer). By the second day, all groups reported that things were going well.
Above: We cleaned out an abandoned pool behind our camp site and used it for teaching the kids to shoot bows and arrows.
Above: Since we don’t have air conditioning here, we settle for more traditional means of cooling off. The temperatures continue to sore here in the upper 90s. God has been gracious to protect all the kids from heat exhaustion over the past two days and also from injury through various free time and game time activities.
Thank you for your prayer support in this important time of children’s ministry.
Please pray as our drama begins to go deeper in explaininng the Gospel that God would protect the team and the children so that they could clearly hear and understand the His message.
Pray also for protection from heat exhaustion and injury as we continue to expect temperatures close to 100 degrees.
We praise God for these first two days and clearly see His hand at work!