With the organizational and spiritual support of IPO “Hope to People,” a Christian outreach camp took place in Belarus. This is the feedback on it.
This summer, our church held a family camp again, and we want to share with you the blessings we have received from our Lord through this ministry.
The camp was held from 1st to 7th of July in a pine forest on the shore of Lake Selyahi, which is about 65 km from the city of Brest. It is family camp, so there were many young people and families with children, and the older age groups. We had also invited to the camp our non-Christian relatives and friends. In general, approximately 110 people were able to take a vacation at this time to spend time together. Our goal was to refill our souls with the Word of God and relax physically.
The objectives of the camp were not about relaxation, enjoyment of fresh air, or the sun and swimming, although it was also present. However, we had more important goals. They consist of the following:
1) Worship and praise Him.
2) Getting to know God, His will, including personal worship of Him, spiritual growth and strengthening of faith, practical skills of humility and obedience to the Scripture.
3) Strengthening our unity, deepening of the relationships with each other, gaining practical skills by ministering to each other.
4) Use camp as an opportunity for nonbeliever, relatives and friends. to get to know God and Biblical truths.
Accordingly, the entire program of the camp was aimed at achieving these goals.
At 07:30 am, before everybody wakes up, employees had joined prayer time and Bible study, to be guided into a new day with God’s Word and His will in different circumstances and situations. In addition, we analyzed the past day, discussed the needs and prayed together.
The main parts of the camp program were the morning and evening worship time by the fire. For children and young people, we organized Bible studies, which were led by the Sunday school teacher.
The theme, which we discussed this year, was: “The relevance of the Gospel.” Within the cycle of sermons we have studied questions of the Gospel theology, the presentation of the Gospel and the practical life by the Gospel. In-depth study of Scripture has allowed us to learn more about God and His holiness, absolute perfection, His devotion, God’s mercy and love shown to us in Jesus Christ. The importance of topics raised was the fact that the Gospel is necessary not only to unbelievers, but for believers to live this gospel every day.
In addition to the worship time, every evening we gathered around the fire, praised the Lord in songs, listened to the preaching of God’s Word, and prayed together. The evening sermon was on the Epistle to the Philippians. The preacher emphasized the danger of legalism and true dedication of man to God.
The testimony of some ministers about their repentance before God and call to the ministry was something special this year. We had them almost every night.
Amazing blessing for us this year was the fact that our church could take on the summer vacation a boy from the orphanage. He was also in the camp and, according to him, it was a wonderful time, where he could see how religious people live, as well as learn more about the Great God.
Every day, youth leaders prepared various games for children, youth and the general public. Game were designed in such a way that they were not only interesting, but they taught people to serve one another, do not look for personal benefit, but for the neighbors to take care of each other, in practice, and to learn to apply Biblical principles.
For those who did not participate in the games, we had a small group that discussed the morning and evening sermons. People could ask questions that came up in the course of hearing of the sermons or clarify something.
It was a time when God worked in our hearts, our character, over reactions, our affections, and a general atmosphere had an effect on those who are still not saved. We continue to pray for these people and stay in touch with them, bearing witness to them about Christ. Pray for us, so that we continue doing what we started this summer and for non-Christians to become children of God.
Several brief testimonies:
Kolja B.
1. We had good preachers. Praise God for that! We heard good sermons in the morning and in the evening. It was deep, filled with testimonies of God’s work. I enjoyed listening to the Lena’s, Jurij’s, and Sergej’s testimonies. It would be great to have more testimonies next time.
2. We had an interesting program: games, discussions.
3. I have experienced that people care about others: they helped with planning our stay, provided good meals, and had amazing schedule.
Generally speaking, I had double vacation: physical and spiritual.
Tatjana M.
I am grateful to our God Jesus Christ and ministers of our church for spiritual and physical rest time at the lake “Selahi”. God bless all you served and preached. From the sermons, I understood that sanctification process lasts one’s entire life. God hates sin and punishes us for it. Moreover, I learned that we need to mention sinfulness of a human when sharing the Gospel. God will judge the dead and living. If that person will sincerely ask forgiveness for sins, God will show mercy. God was showing me the strengths of His Word before camp. Through the Bible, God encourages us in an unusual manner. The Bible has answers on any questions. I am grateful God that I got to know His truths and am grateful for forgiveness and salvation, which He gifted me.
Andrej S.
The recreation time in Selahah was totally different from what people imagine to be classical vacation time. Our souls were resting while our bodies were at work. Camp organizers follow the principle “Don’t let your soul be lazy”, so sometimes we were tired morally and physically. However, I am very satisfied from this vacation time. What is the secret? God’s Word was preached a lot. We had good communication time with each other, served each other, and had the opportunity to share the Gospel to thosewho never heard it before.
We were surrounded by pretty nature with fresh air. In addition, God blessed us with healthy and tasty food. It is a bouquet of blessings, which our Lord gives us. These blessings stay in our hearts for a long period of time.
We are grateful for your prayers and participation in our ministry.
Respectfully, Jurij P. and Sergej O.
