How would you describe God? Is He intimidating? Is He Almighty? Is He Creator? If you do not understand His nature you don’t really know God. Besides, God longs to be known as He truly is. The seminar “God wants for you to see Him” covered seven attributes of God. During the seminar, students started to get to know the true God and His purpose for each person. Their prayers have changed and in addition, we believe, their understanding of the world has been reshaped.
From July 23 to 29, the education department of IPO “Hope to People” organized the camp “Pearl” for students, who are orphanage graduates. During the camp study, students discussed seven attributes of God: kindness, sovereignty, holiness, wisdom, justice, love, and faithfulness.
Kindness
Kindness is God’s generosity, which makes a person happy. This is a quality, which God emphasized, when He declared “all his kindness,” to Moses. In Exodus 34:6, He said of Himself, as the abundance of grace and truth. This perfect attribute is called generosity. Generosity means giving selflessly, regardless of what the receiver deserves, giving much more. During the day, campers learned to act according to God’s grace. They repented of their unbelief and ungratefulness, learned to make a step of faith, and learned to trust God in prayer.
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is a quality of God, whereby He governs over all creation. To be a sovereign God, He has to be omniscient, omnipotent, absolutely free to do whatever, wherever, whenever and however He wills. God exercises his sovereignty in His own names, promises, and in the Messiah Jesus Christ. What can we do in response to God’s sovereignty? We must bow down to the King of the Universe and devote to Him all our belongings and ourselves. We must discard the anxiety and respect the mystery and might of His kind, compassionate, just and sovereign guidance. We must worship God for who He is, and not only for what He did.
Holiness
To be holy means to be different, unique, and distinctive from others. It is a complete absence of sin and evil. God reveals His holiness through His people (life of Moses), Law (Ten Commandments), and the Son of God. Jesus had a holy birth, a holy life, was the revelation of glory and holiness, and had a holy resurrection. How can we act in response to God’s holiness? We can do it through our dedication, proper thinking, obedience to the commandments, and our attitude.
Wisdom
Wisdom is an attribute of God, which means that He is using the best method to get the best result. Wisdom is the ability to judge fairly, following a consistent plan of action, based on knowledge, experience and understanding of the situation. This is also the ability to set goals and achieve them with the most advanced tools. God reveals His wisdom through His creation, providence, and redemption. He is not only the Creator and Ruler; but He wants to save people. He wants His creation to love and honor Him. He wants people to change, for His glory and praise.
How can we learn to be wise? Wisdom begins with respect toward God. We need to ask for wisdom in our prayers to God. We are responsible for our spiritual food, which is needed for our souls.
Justice
Very often students ask a question: Why do bad things happen to good people and vice versa?
God reveals His justice in the natural way. His justice is in the human heart, in His role as a Judge, and on the Cross. How can we respond to God’s justice? During the morning and evening worship services, students were offered the opportunity to accept Christ as their Savior, and not to meet with him as a Judge. In John 5:22-24 we read that we need to refuse to take revenge and to realize that God is the single judge. In Psalm 73, we read about rejoicing in the thought that God will restore justice. We should always remember that God is the only Judge.
Love
Love is an important attribute of God. At first glance, it is easy to understand, but at the same time, it is the most difficult one. All people are looking for love. They do not have enough love for three main reasons: they do not know about the existence of God’s love; if they do, they do not accept it; and if they have tasted it, they do not know how to keep it. God’s love is a holy attitude toward everything that He created. God’s love is characterized by generosity and sacrifice; it is unconditional and enormous.
John 3:16. The love of God manifested in His kindness, mercy, patience, and grace. God’s love is even shown in thoughts; He thinks of us, He is kind, open, and accessible. He wants to be our friend. God experiences with us our pain, joy, hopes and dreams. How does God reveal His love? He reveals it in creation, “everything by Him and for Him.” God is observing where and how we worship. He is punishing us, to protect us from acts which are harmful for us. In His Son, Jesus revealed the nature of God’s love: Jesus showed grace and compassion, the teachings of Jesus were filled with love, and He died on the cross for us. The price that God paid for us, tells us how valuable we are to Him. We are worthy the life of His Son. How should we act in response to God’s love? We must accept His love in our heart and believe genuinely.
Faithfulness
How is God able to be faithful all the time?
He is omniscient, almighty, holy, eternal, omnipresent, and immutable. He cannot stop being who He is. He shows his loyalty to us through His Spirit, the nature of the Word, the Son, and works in our lives. What do we do? We must leave the past in the past, bring the problems to Jesus, put our hope on Him every day and share about His loyalty.
Some feedback from participants:
I liked the seminar. I learned a lot about God. I liked the trip to Kosino and Beregovo. I enjoyed the interesting tours in Transcarpathians. Each day I saw God’s creation and God’s love.
Kostya
I listened to a seminar, sermons, and believed in God. The Wisdom and Kindness of God touched my heart. I really enjoyed the seminar. I discovered many new things. I loved worship time at the camp. I liked the geysers, pools, mountains. I liked everything; I hope to come to this camp again.
Vova
I liked the trips, rest time, and seminar program. I learned a lot about God, understood the attributes of God, who is wise, just, sovereign, and the best lesson – God’s love. I liked the sermons of John and Marilyn. I liked the craft and many new songs that worship God. I will take those things home in my heart.
Masha
At the camp I learned to trust, I met new friends. Thank God and John for letting me come to this camp. I am grateful to my group leader; she was able to cope with me.
Yaroslava
I liked the seminar and learned a lot about God: that He is holy, true, wise, righteous, merciful, almighty, eternal, and my best friend. At the camp I come to a conclusion: God is waiting for me, I decided that I would read the Bible. I liked everything: the tours, geysers, and sanatorium. Thank you to all, who took part at the camp and for inviting me to this camp.
Yana
I enjoyed listening to the seminar. The sermons of John poured into my heart, like a waterfall into the river. I took for myself a note that you need to forgive, to love, to be happy and to pray. I had a great time at camp. I have found many good friends. Wish you God’s blessings.
Ira
I liked the trip to the geysers. I liked the preaching of John. The sermons were very interesting. At the seminar, I learned about God’s love, wisdom, justice, and faithfulness. We visited the sanatorium. I met many new friends. From the seminar, I learned that God loves me and wishes me all the best. He wants us to accept Him into our heart, so I asked for forgiveness, repented about my sins. I decided to read the Word of God, try not to sin, and do only good deeds, keeping my body and soul in purity. After this camp, I would like to change my life, to devote myself to the service of God, to change my friends, because they do not believe in God. May the Lord bless you.
Diana
I thank God that He gave me an excellent opportunity to relax at the Christian camp “Pearl.” I liked the seminar, John’s sermons, and the Bible lessons. All the parables and difficult words were explained to me at the camp by leaders. Personally, I realized that God is punishing us because of God’s great love. God teaches us to learn more about Him, to praise His holy name, to come with all difficulties to Him and to trust Him through prayer, all that is in our hearts. I also learned that my soul has a price higher than the body. I have often paid more time to the body than to the soul. I thank the sponsors, the team, and everyone who prays for us. Thankful to God for the blessed time at the camp.
Alla
The Lord blessed the team and the students, who stayed at the Christian camp. We have seen the fruits of the Holy Spirit, who worked in the hearts of the students. During the morning and evening worship sessions, we praised the Lord through the songs, skits, and through the works of God in our lives. Then there was a seminar and Bible lesson, during which we had a discussion of the topic reflected in the seminar. There were sports and craft time. We had excursions and different trips in the afternoon. Trips to castles, museums and a visit to the geysers and pools positively impressed all participants. Mountains, rivers, geysers and the beautiful Carpathian region stopped time for a moment, so people could think about what they see and feel. Individual meetings with orphanage graduates were interesting. We got to find out all the issues related to their future studies. The Lord protected the children, students and orphanage graduates during all the camp. God gave a unity to the team and let the Holy Spirit work through leaders. The team met for Morning Prayer, during which we read God’s Word, and had an organizational discussion (i.e. talked about the schedule for the day). During the evening team prayer, we thanked God for His blessings and the safety of the children and the passed day.
A team of the education department of IPO “Hope to People” is grateful to God for 30 people, who decided to follow the Lord during the summer evangelistic camps and for the opportunity to participate in the impact of God’s Word on the young people’s hearts. Thanks to all the brothers and sisters, who prayed and financially supported the camps; special thanks to the Memphis Second Presbyterian Church.
Please continue to pray about our relationship with the children, students, and orphanage graduates and teachers, who visited the camps. Also, pray about further cooperation with the Second Presbyterian Church, upcoming winter camp for students and orphanage graduates, and for the work with children in orphanages: Verba, Mizoch, and Klevan.
