Summer camps
Camp season 2014 is here!
The long-awaited springtime has finally arrived, and summer will be upon us before we know it. And that means that summer camps will be starting soon, and now is the time to start actively preparing for them.
Together with a local Christian camping organization, we organized and conducted a three-day training seminar for Christian children’s camp staff. The goal of this training was to draw more people into actively participating in camp ministry. We really wanted to set young people’s hearts on fire for this ministry, to help them understand better what children’s camp ministry is all about, and what makes it special.
Right now our main emphasis in ministry is creating a camp program, developing and refining Bible lessons for camp use, etc. Please keep us in your prayers as we begin camping season this year. Pray for the hearts of the children who will be attending camps. Pray that the seed of God’s Word that will be planted in their hearts will fall on good soil and sprout up into new life. Pray that God would give us the wisdom we need to develop an interesting program to use in the camps we’ll be conducting this summer.
I also want to share some good news. I’ve begun working as a kindergarten teacher in an elementary school. This is simply a miracle as far as I am concerned, and it’s a great blessing for me. I was hired despite the fact that I don’t have any higher education, or even experience as a schoolteacher. Now I have 22 wonderful children that I not only teach to read, write and count but can give them much more. I want to pour the unconditional love of God into their lives and hearts, and help them come to understand the basics of Christian behavior. Even though this school is in a village, I’m more than happy to make the daily trip, just to be able to work there. This is something that brings me a great deal of contentment. Nadya also often goes to work with me, to help with the children.
We’ve begun our outreach project, using gifts from Samaritan’s Purse, and have visited seven orphanages/gov’t boarding schools already. We have a short evangelistic program ready for our visits. We teach the children Christian songs with hand motions, do a skit for them, and then pass out the presents. These days have been full of unforgettable moments as we see so much joy in the faces of so many children. We are planning to visit the orphanage where we conducted a summer camp last year with our little program and gifts for the children there, as well. We are praying that this will strengthen our relationship with this orphanage even more, so that we will always be welcome there.
We’ve also started an outreach project using training seminars for schoolteachers and orphanage staff. So far, we have conducted two seminars on the topic of “Tolerance.” We are currently preparing to conduct the next in the series on “Addiction.”
Of course, with everything we’re doing, our ministry in the church is still our main emphasis. We’re teaching Sunday school, involved in youth ministry, and many other things.
May all the glory go to our Lord!
Ira and Nadya,
Missionary staff with Agape Ministries