Romania Team – Update #8
Day #5 of camp!
Friday was a different day from the days before; a more laid back itinerary, which was very nice for us (we were able to actually take naps!) but also an eventful day of increased connection with the kids after the intense emotional and spiritual experiences of the day before.
As far as camp activities went, it was mostly all fun and free time. We went “hiking” (a long walk through the city to a beautiful park where we bought ice cream and rode in boats on a pond full of turtles); we had a volleyball tournament (between the different teams of students, and also between the American leaders and the Romanian leaders, with the Romanian leaders pulling off a very close victory); and then a worship night and a big bonfire with watermelon and S’mores.
As fun as all of this was, the stories we all have of our interactions with the kids that day will stick much longer in our memories. Here is one of mine:
I (Twila) was very convicted during these last few days of camp that I had a wrong impression of missions: that it was all about leading people to Christ, and if you didn’t manage to personally lead someone to Christ you had failed in your mission. I realized, especially after not being one of the people in the prayer room praying with the students, that missions are about letting God use you for HIS mission – and to use you in whatever way He pleases. I had also been sensing a tug on my heart that I needed to speak more boldly to the students and ask them questions about their spiritual state, so when I sat down to breakfast on Friday morning I chose an empty table and prayed that God would give me the words to have a conversation with whichever student sat next to me. Not long after, a girl I had exchanged a few pleasantries with before in limited English sat next to me. I asked her what she thought of the Labyrinth, and she said that it was a very good reminder for her but that she felt like she had lost her joy. I sensed I would need more help communicating with her so I pulled up Google Translate on my phone and we had an amazing conversation about how she felt isolated from any sense of Christian community at home and that she was afraid that when she went home she would forget everything God had revealed to her and be at the mercy of her negative thoughts again. We were not particularly similar people and we did not have particularly similar experiences, but it was like I had experienced and learned all the exact things she needed to hear that morning. I was able to encourage her in her search for faith-centered community, but also to reassure her that her primary community was with God and that He understood her even if no other human soul could, and I told her about the importance of prayer, confession, and repentance for staying in close community with God. She said, “Wow. I think that was exactly what I needed to hear today.” She also told me that she had intended to sit at that table for breakfast because when she first saw it no one was sitting there, and I laughed and told her, “I sat here because I believed God wanted me to share His words with someone. I think God wanted both of us to sit at this table.”
A personal story from Dane:
Dane was in the prayer room on Thursday night, and he noticed a boy sitting by himself. He decided to pray for the boy, that he would get up and sit beside him to ask for prayer. No sooner had he said, “Amen,” than the boy got up and sat next to Dane, and Dane was able to pray for him. Dane was so excited to see this evidence of the Spirit at work. He also has many more “small” stories to share that he doesn’t think would make for very interesting reading, but we both agreed that it is in these “small” stories that we saw some of the most amazing, BIG changes brought about by God.
Praise God for the responses of the students to the gospel. Please pray for our next leg of travel to Vienna for our debrief. And thank you for praying for the heat wave! It is still hot but it is no longer a heat wave.
