I’m writing as we are flying in a Air France 767, 50 miles northwest of Paris. Since our six hour layover in Paris was cut short we were not able to leave the airport. However, we have been blessed that both flights have been without issue (minus a slight delay in the first one) and that our group is still in good spirits, despite averaging two hours of sleep last night!
Thank you all for your patience in us getting our big weekly update on the blog. The week was amazing. Just for a little background for you all, we were told there are about 320,000 youth ages 12 to 21 in Estonia. Of that 320,000 there are roughly 3,000 believers…that’s less than 1%! There is obviously a huge need to impact the next generation in Estonia and Eastern Europe as a whole.
English camps are very common in Eastern Europe. Since English is the international language and it is an essential skill needed for communication today, students have a huge yearning and need to practice English. That being said, there are many Christian organizations that host English camps in Europe. Their intent is to share the Gospel (usually more of an introduction to the Gospel) and at the same time practice English with the students. It is an incredible way to show the students that one, Christians aren’t nuts (there are a lot of false misconceptions about Christians in their society), and two, to show them the love of Christ through our love of them. Because of the background of the students, our adventure camp was a step beyond the average English camp.
This camp was for people already with an interest, knowledge, or thorough understanding of Jesus Christ. Because of that, instead of tiptoeing around God, He was the sole focus of the week...and some awesome adventure challenges too! Our week-long focus was Disciples in Christ. Our mornings consisted of practical talks: community (by our very own Stuart Brown), prayer, the bible, and testimony/personal stories (eloquently and humbly spoken by Calder). The evenings were the four G’s of God. God is great (He is in control so we don’t need to be), God is glorious (we don’t need to worry about what other’s think, only what God thinks), God is good (we don’t need to look elsewhere for joy; He is enough), God is gracious (we can’t earn His grace; it is freely given). Before our talks we had amazing times of worship in both English and Estonian. Our talks were also followed up by small group discussions. They consisted of guided discussions and questions for three to five students lead by an both an American and Estonian leader.
Success is defined in many different ways, but I can solidly say, our week was amazingly successful. Our goal wasn’t to convert every student; it was to take as many students one-step beyond where they were. For some, this meant for the total atheist students to simply recognize that there may possibly be a god out there. For others, if they thought there may be a god, it was to show them of the God that we know. For believers, it was to help them greater understand God and His love for them. We did just that. And because of that, we had tremendous success.
God did amazing things this week in a little camp in rural Estonia. God moved mountains, broke down walls, in the hearts of the students. He also spoke through and worked so clearly in the leaders, both Estonian and American. I so strongly felt the “mutual encouragement through each other’s faith,” the disciple Paul speaks about in the book of Romans. It was clear that our group was so clearly handpicked to be apart of this trip. Thank you for trusting both God and us with your support. Thank you for all you have given and for your continued prayers.
With much love and gratitude
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