To finish off our summer, we spend three days together with the youth in a camp designed for older teens. We had a record number of teens attend, most of whom had already served in children’s camps with us throughout the summer. Our theme for this camp was humility.





Each night we had a speaker share lessons from the Bible about the importance of humility and the practical outworking of it in our lives.







We also had small group sessions in the afternoon that allowed us to go deeper with the teens exploring our topic. This allowed for more interaction and getting the teens to personalize what we were teaching.







Of course, we also had lots of fun together with organized game times throughout the day. Kira (above) was able to attend the first few days of camp before she returned to Germany for a retreat with her school's worship team. She arrived safely and is getting ready to help with orientation for new students in the next few days. Kira will be in her senior year. Please pray for her as she also considers next steps in relation to college.







Above: Erno and his wife Sandi have been with our church since fleeing Ukraine when the war started. They have been a blessing to our church community and have also shared how they feel loved and accepted by us. It is not common for Romani and Hungarians to be together (even in churches in Hungary), but God has raised our church community to be mixed with Romani and Hungarians that tangibly express our unity in Christ.











God provided a loving family atmosphere for the teens and also the handful of young children that attended with their parents who were helping to organize the camp.





Above: Teammate Heidi brought lots of materials for arts and crafts.













On the last night together, there was opportunity to share any ways that God had personally spoken to them in a time that was allotted earlier in the day for them to find a place of solitude and seek to hear God.



Zsombi pictured above shared the following about the time of solitude with God: "I’ve been disturbed in my spirit over the past two years because of not being in right relationship with God. I went into the forrest and many thoughts just flooded my mind and I couldn’t focus on listening to God. To help me focus, I opened the Bible and God led me to Luke chapter 17. I received answers to questions I had been thinking about like:
What does it mean to be a humble person? How do I forgive others? And as I received answers, I was given peace because the tension in my spirit was now removed in my relationship with God. And God comforted me."





Above: LIlliom also shared what she experienced on the last night. Above you can see a series of white rocks that were given to the kids to write down as a memorial what they heard from God. The middle rock says "Jesus is your role model."

Here is what Lilliom shared: "I was very convicted when I entered this time of solitude. I was bothered by how far I had drifted in my relationship with God and I didn’t want to keep living like this. As I sat with God and throught about these things, I asked God, “Lord, give me a person who can be a role model in my life. Someone with godly character I can learn from. I continued to wait for an answer and time went by and I didn’t seem to get an answer. The time was just running out when God told me, “Why don’t you study the life of Jesus?” He gave me the perfect example of the one who in every sphere of life could give me answers. I was thankful for his answer and began writing down a list of questions that I want to find the answers to as I follow through to study the life of Jesus. I felt as if the hour and half flew by and I was very happy that I received an answer that would help me rekindle my relationship with God."



Above: Jászmin had this to share about her time with God: "I’m the type of person that has trouble sticking with one thought in my head. I have millions all at once. I went walking and simply prayed that I would be able to be still and be able to hear God. In that time, thankfully, I was able to still my soul and be able to listen to God. I had many questions and I heard one important answer, “I love you.” And that was all I needed to hear. That answered all my other questions."



Above: Áron shared the following with the group: "I was led to a verse in Proverbs 3:5-6. 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.' This really hit my heart because I began to realize how much I rely on my own strength and try to solve everything with my own understanding instead of trusting in Him. So I was encouraged to keep my trust in him when experiencing problems so that He can be my help.



Above: The writing on this memorial rock says: Depend on God.



Eli, pictured above, has had a tough year. Her father recently abruptly left their family for a relationship with another woman. What is more shocking is that he is a long time church member and last summer his faith seemed to be stabilizing and he seemed to be growing in the Lord. You can imagine the way the enemy can twist Eli's dad's irresponsible actions and sinful decisions to cause turmoil in her soul. Thankfully, Eli has been with us most of the summer serving at both our children's camps which brought her support and encouragement. On the last night, Eli shared what had happened in her time of solitude at camp:

"I was in my tent by myself and ended up writing a poem. In this time in my life I have many questions flooding my mind. One question is about my life. Is it really valuable? Is life worth living? After I wrote the poem, I closed my eyes and received these simple words from God: “I love you.” My eyes were still closed and God began to give me images of why my life was worth living. It was an amazing encouragement."

Here is the poem that Ellie wrote with the English translation in bold under each Hungarian line:

"Uram kérlek válaszolj, hogy miért is élek.

"Lord, please answer me, why am I even alive?

Mond meg nekem mi értelme van szánalmas életemnek?

Tell me, what is the purpose of my miserable life?

Miért van, hogy mindig csak elhagynák?

Why is it that I am always abandoned?

Miért engeded, hogy egyedül maradjak?

Why have you allowed me to be left alone?

Kérlek segíts, hogy megbékéljek.

Please help me to find peace.

Segíts nekem, hogy én te benned életét leljek.

Help me to find life in you.

Töltsd be azt az űrt amit bennem hagytak.

Fill the void that was left inside me.

Kösd be azt a sebet amit nekem adtak.

Bind the wound that was given to me.

Segíts, hogy megtudjak mindenkinek bocsátani és, hogy véletlenül se tudják nekik ártani.

Help me to forgive everyone, that I may not cause any harm to them unintentionally.

Hogy tudjak a csendben többet rád figyelni.

Help me to pay more attention to you in the silence.

Hogy ne érezzem többé azt a sebet fájni.

So that I no longer feel my wounds hurting.

Bűnösök vagyunk, de te alázatos isten vagy.

We are sinners, but you are a humble God.

Csak benned lelhetünk békességet magunknak."

Only in you can we find peace for ourselves."





Above: Teammate Roger offering closing thoughts about our weekend together and how to apply what we have learned in the everyday interactions of life.



Praise God for this special time together to wrap up the summer with these teens. It was very encouraging to hear how God continues to minister to this young generation who will be future leaders, husbands and wives for the glory of Christ in Hungary. As each of them prepare to go into the school year, please pray for them to remain in fellowship with believers, to be mentored and experience a deepening relationship with Jesus Christ. Thank all of you that continue to support us through prayer and financial gifts that have allowed us to serve in Hungary for over 23 years! We are so grateful for your kindness and faithfulness toward our family and the ministry here.