Thank you Brandon George for the photo!
During the week of August 3rd, I spent 24/7 with these wonderful youth and youth leaders. Every day, we studied a passage out of Genesis about Joseph. The whole theme was about living our lives with the example of Joseph as a Godly example. We also had time to discuss the passage and what the application of the passage was for our lives. The first day was about dreams and how God has given each one of us a dream for the future. We either have the choice to follow His dream for our lives or to follow our own dreams, but it won’t bring as much fruit, since we are not pursuing God through those. The second day, the theme was about temptation. I mean we all know that teens go through crazy hormones…I mean this is the truth. We have all been there, or at least are going through it. It was a fun day, as I had the opportunity to do a “scavanger hunt.” All groups needed to find the words for the memory verse of the day. Each day had its own theme and its own verse. To say the least, it was a good week.
As well as the study and application, we also did running and physical activities. As a general statement, it felt nice to be at camp. As you can imagine (since I’m in Romania), the whole camp was in Romanian. By the end of the week, I thought that I didn’t understand any Romanian, however the following weeks, I felt like an expert. Making yourself dive into the language and surrounding yourself with people who only speaks that language, really does force you to learn the language. As well, here’s a story I would love to share!
Since October, I’ve been praying for a certain teenage girl. In the middle of October, Ionela got baptized and I immediately felt a connection to her to push her and encourage her the words of the Lord through the Bible. My only dilemna to doing this was that I didn’t have a car. So, since I knew that the Lord had put Ionela on my heart, I kind of challenged the Lord saying “God, if Ionela is on my team during camp and if I can really spend a lot of time with her, then I’ll take this as a sign that I was called to disciple her.” Well, Ionela (plus another youth from her village) were in my group. Everyday you find us together either laughing with each other or praying over one another. I am blessed to work with this 14 year-old. The fact that she has already been baptized and has a desire to follow God in whatever she wants to do, encourages me. This girl has such a bright future and I know that in the coming months/years, as she starts to know her identity, she will become a more confident, bold, passionate woman of God. I’m so encouraged for her life and the impact she will have in Coteana and Romania!
Friends, I ask you to please pray for these youth. From this week at camp, it has really convicted some of these youth about the need of Jesus. Just this past week, one youth: Cosmin, received Christ. God’s really doing something here with the youth. Whether you believe me or not, whether you need to see it before you believe it or not, God is about to do something here with the youth. Within the last 6 months, 10 or so have come to Christ. I know that number may not seem large to you, but in a community where only .02% are believers, that’s pretty huge. Please rally your troops to pray for these youth. As hard as times can be, I know I’m here for a reason knowing that He is using me to empower a new generation!
