{"id":5020,"date":"2013-08-26T15:41:50","date_gmt":"2013-08-26T15:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hopetopeople.avahost.ws\/?p=5020"},"modified":"2019-06-06T15:44:17","modified_gmt":"2019-06-06T15:44:17","slug":"camp-in-selyahi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/hopetopeople.org\/en\/camp-in-selyahi\/","title":{"rendered":"Camp in Selyahi"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the organizational and spiritual support of IPO \u201cHope to People,\u201d a Christian outreach camp took place in Belarus. This is the feedback on it.<\/p>\n

This summer,\u00a0our church\u00a0held a family\u00a0camp\u00a0again,\u00a0and we want to\u00a0share with you\u00a0the blessings\u00a0we have received from\u00a0our Lord\u00a0through this ministry.<\/p>\n

The camp was held\u00a0from 1st<\/sup>\u00a0to\u00a07th<\/sup>\u00a0of July\u00a0in a pine\u00a0forest on the shore\u00a0of Lake\u00a0Selyahi, which is about\u00a065\u00a0km from the city of Brest.\u00a0It is family\u00a0camp, so there\u00a0were many\u00a0young people\u00a0and families with\u00a0children,\u00a0and\u00a0the older\u00a0age groups.\u00a0We had also invited\u00a0to the camp our non-Christian\u00a0relatives\u00a0and friends.\u00a0In general,\u00a0approximately 110 people\u00a0were able to\u00a0take a vacation\u00a0at\u00a0this time to\u00a0spend time together. Our goal was to\u00a0refill our souls with\u00a0the Word of God\u00a0and relax physically.<\/p>\n

The objectives\u00a0of the camp\u00a0were\u00a0not about\u00a0relaxation,\u00a0enjoyment of\u00a0fresh air,\u00a0or the sun\u00a0and\u00a0swimming, although\u00a0it was also present. However,\u00a0we had more important\u00a0goals.\u00a0They consist\u00a0of the following:<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0Worship\u00a0and\u00a0praise\u00a0Him.<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0Getting to know God, His\u00a0will, including\u00a0personal\u00a0worship\u00a0of Him, spiritual growth\u00a0and strengthening\u00a0of faith,\u00a0practical skills\u00a0of humility\u00a0and obedience\u00a0to the Scripture.
\n3)\u00a0Strengthening\u00a0our unity, deepening of the relationships\u00a0with each other,\u00a0gaining practical skills\u00a0by ministering to each other.<\/p>\n

4) Use camp\u00a0as an opportunity\u00a0for\u00a0nonbeliever, relatives\u00a0and friends.\u00a0to get to know God and\u00a0Biblical truths.<\/p>\n

Accordingly, the\u00a0entire program of\u00a0the camp was aimed\u00a0at achieving\u00a0these goals.<\/p>\n

At\u00a007:30 am, before everybody wakes up, employees\u00a0had joined prayer time and\u00a0Bible study,\u00a0to\u00a0be guided\u00a0into\u00a0a new day\u00a0with God’s Word\u00a0and\u00a0His will\u00a0in different circumstances and\u00a0situations. In addition, we\u00a0analyzed the past\u00a0day,\u00a0discussed\u00a0the needs and\u00a0prayed together.<\/p>\n

The main\u00a0parts of\u00a0the camp program\u00a0were\u00a0the morning\u00a0and evening\u00a0worship time by the fire.\u00a0For children\u00a0and young people, we organized\u00a0Bible studies,\u00a0which were led by the\u00a0Sunday\u00a0school teacher.<\/p>\n

The theme, which we discussed\u00a0this year, was:\u00a0“The relevance\u00a0of the Gospel.”\u00a0Within the cycle\u00a0of sermons\u00a0we have studied\u00a0questions\u00a0of the Gospel theology,\u00a0the presentation\u00a0of the Gospel and\u00a0the practical\u00a0life\u00a0by the Gospel.\u00a0In-depth\u00a0study of Scripture\u00a0has allowed us to\u00a0learn more about God\u00a0and His\u00a0holiness,\u00a0absolute perfection, His\u00a0devotion,\u00a0God’s mercy and\u00a0love\u00a0shown to us\u00a0in Jesus Christ.\u00a0The importance of\u00a0topics\u00a0raised\u00a0was the fact\u00a0that the Gospel\u00a0is necessary not only\u00a0to unbelievers, but\u00a0for believers\u00a0to live\u00a0this gospel\u00a0every day.<\/p>\n

In addition to\u00a0the worship time,\u00a0every evening we\u00a0gathered\u00a0around the fire,\u00a0praised the Lord\u00a0in\u00a0songs, listened to\u00a0the preaching of God’s Word, and\u00a0prayed together.\u00a0The evening\u00a0sermon\u00a0was\u00a0on\u00a0the Epistle to\u00a0the Philippians.\u00a0The preacher\u00a0emphasized the\u00a0danger\u00a0of legalism\u00a0and\u00a0true\u00a0dedication\u00a0of man to God.<\/p>\n

The testimony of\u00a0some ministers\u00a0about their repentance before God and call to the ministry was something special this year.\u00a0We had them almost\u00a0every night.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

For those who\u00a0did not participate\u00a0in the games,\u00a0we had\u00a0a small\u00a0group that discussed the\u00a0morning and evening\u00a0sermons.\u00a0People could ask questions\u00a0that came up\u00a0in the course of\u00a0hearing\u00a0of the sermons\u00a0or\u00a0clarify something.<\/p>\n

It was a time when God worked\u00a0in\u00a0our hearts,\u00a0our character,\u00a0over\u00a0reactions,\u00a0our affections, and\u00a0a\u00a0general atmosphere\u00a0had an effect on those who are still\u00a0not\u00a0saved.\u00a0We continue\u00a0to pray for\u00a0these people and stay in touch with them, bearing witness\u00a0to them about\u00a0Christ.\u00a0Pray\u00a0for us, so that we continue\u00a0doing what we started this summer and for non-Christians to become\u00a0children of God.<\/p>\n

Several brief testimonies:<\/p>\n

Kolja B.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u2019s work. I enjoyed listening to the Lena\u2019s, Jurij\u2019s, and Sergej\u2019s testimonies. It would be great to have more testimonies next time.<\/p>\n

2. We had an interesting program: games, discussions.
\n3. I have experienced that people care about others: they helped with planning our stay, provided good meals, and had amazing schedule.<\/p>\n

Generally speaking, I had double vacation: physical and spiritual.<\/p>\n

Tatjana M.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am grateful to our God Jesus Christ and ministers of our church for spiritual and physical rest time at the lake \u201cSelahi\u201d. God bless all you served and preached. From the sermons, I understood that sanctification process lasts one\u2019s entire life. God hates sin and punishes us for it. \u00a0\u00a0Moreover, 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.<\/p>\n

Andrej S.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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 \u201cDon\u2019t let your soul be lazy\u201d, so sometimes we were tired morally and physically. However, I am very satisfied from this vacation time. \u00a0What is the secret? God\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

We are grateful for your prayers and participation in our ministry.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Respectfully, Jurij P. and Sergej O.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\" \"\" \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the organizational and spiritual support of IPO \u201cHope to People,\u201d a Christian outreach camp took place in Belarus. This is the feedback on it….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[84,228],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/hopetopeople.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5020\/"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/hopetopeople.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/hopetopeople.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post\/"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hopetopeople.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3\/"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hopetopeople.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments\/?post=5020"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/hopetopeople.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5020\/revisions\/"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5021,"href":"http:\/\/hopetopeople.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5020\/revisions\/5021\/"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hopetopeople.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5018\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/hopetopeople.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/?parent=5020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hopetopeople.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/?post=5020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hopetopeople.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags\/?post=5020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}