Well I just finished my last camp and boy was it an interesting camp. It was a lot different than any one I have ever experienced. This area of the country is very hard to work in. It is very closed to God. But the camp was still amazing. Last year there was twelve students signed up for camp and 6 of them dropped out because of a rumor of the church being a cult because it is a small denomination. This was a real discouragement for the team last year. This year we had 36 students!! It was such a huge difference. The students were fun but they were also pretty hard to connect with. This part of the country was especially influenced by Communism back in the day. Today it is a very atheistic part of Slovakia. We found as we went through the week that the students did not only think there is not a God, but they didn't really even care to talk about it. Most atheists will want to argue about why there is not a God. These students would just say to us, “Well that was a interesting story but God does not exist, lets talk about something else.” We soon realized that we would not connect with them through telling about God but would only connect by our love for each other and for them. During the week the students made comments about how they could see we were different and they wondered why we were. By the end of the week there were a number of students at least interest in considering that there might be a God. There were some that decided they would like to spend more time with the Youth Group. Ten students decided that they are going to a Christian Music festival this weekend called campfest, which is put on by Youth For Christ here in Slovakia. Both of these things were very encouraging despite the fact that none of them accept Jesus into their life. As for me this camp was an interesting experience. I spent a lot of the camp doing a lot more program things, allowing the Slovaks to spend more time with the students. I also spent time working with the leader Rudo, encouraging him and showing him how to lead better. He is someone I will be working with in the fall, I am very excited about this. Despite the fact that I was doing all this program stuff I still seemed to be having an impact on students. One of the coolest things for me was something one girl said to me at the end of the camp. She said, “You are the best American I know, No one has ever carried my bag for me and that was the first thing you did when I got to camp, I will always remember that.” This was so interesting to me. When the students arrived I carried as many bags in as I could, because it was what I should do. I never thought that it would have such an impact on someone. I was also able to connect with one boy named Erik. he was an interesting kid. He is a Christian, but does not really seem to know how to really show it to his friends, to be an example. I talked with him about how his friends were atheists and how allowing Christ’s love to flow through him to others could be such a good example for his friends. I really enjoyed this camp! I appreciate all of your prayers for me and my team. I also ask that you pray for the other interns as they prepare to go back to America, that they will adjust well and find a place to connect again. Also I ask that you pray for me as I prepare for the fall and all that it brings, that I will continue to trust in God through it all. Thanks!
