Youth Group Visits

This summer there will be six English camps and one soccer camp in Estonia. This past week my team and I visited all the youth groups we will be working with. There will be three terms of camp this summer; three camps the first term, and two camps the last two terms.

Pärnu

The first youth group that I will be doing camp with is in Pärnu. Kuldar, Andrus and I will be at this camp together. Upon meeting the team I instantly felt comfortable and at home with them. My team and I  met together for fellowship, to share our vision for camp and discuss and review the details of the camp. It was neat to see their excitement for camp and desire to use it as a tool to grow their youth group.

 After meeting together we headed out in pairs into the town to hand out fliers and invite students to camp.  Despite a sudden downpour everyone continued to walk around until all the fliers were given away. We were on a mission and weren't going to let a 'little' rain stop us.

While walking around one girl stopped me on the street and wanted to know what we were handing out. After I explained a little about the camps I gave her a flier. She smiled and gave us a big hug and then ran for her bus. Her reaction was completely out of blue, but made us smile. I am praying I'll see her at camp.

Prayer Request: That God would bless and encourage the youth through the camp, their desire is to see many students make decisions to follow Christ.  Prayer is also needed for strong relationships with the youth group to be made with the non Christians, ones that can be carried on after camp and through the year.

Rokvere

My team and I traveled to Rokvere last Sunday and ran the Sunday service. Our goal was to share the vision of camp and encourage the whole church to take part in disciplining this summer. They have a strong youth group and we wanted to help get the church to back them up in prayer, financially, and in having a  mission minded summer. It was neat having each person on the team play a part and really function as a body of Christ, each playing their specific role. 

I wont be doing a camp with this city this summer, Johanna and Andrus will be, but I am glad I was able to go and know that my team and I were able to encourage and challenge this church and their sister church.  

After the church service we drove to another city and met with the sister church. K-oma hopes to do an English Camp with them next summer. Samantha and I were asked to share a testimony at the service; why we are here and what God has been teaching us. I was nervous about what to talk about but it came together in the end. I was able to share a little about my experiences with English Camps and how God has been teaching me about His ultimate control in life. 

Kohila 

The second camp I will be a part of is the village of Kohila. The American team that was going to be partnering with them had to back out a month ago. As of right now I will be at camp with Innar, Lucka, Samantha, Amalie, and two girls from the UK. 

This group has had a lot of growth, a few of the students who will be leaders at camp this year became Christians at the English camp last year. One of the boys went from never hearing the Christmas story last year to being a camp leader this year! My team and I were able to visit the group and talk about the details of camp. The group was more reserved, yet seemed eager for camp. We ended the night with a walk that was suppose to take an hour and ended up being two hours. (Estonian hikes and Czech hikes are similar in that way) It was a great time to really get to know some of the youth. The time walking with them helped me connect and excited to meet up with them again for camp.

Prayer Requests: For the youth group to be spiritually and mentally prepared for camps, they are a little frustrated with the location of the camp. Also for all the of 'Americans', there is only 7 of us, at camp to be able to work well and serve the youth group. 

Kuressaare

The third camp I will be working with is a little city on one of the islands of Estonia. My team; Innar, Andrus, Samantha and I took a 12 hour car ride to meet up with the team. The car ride was a great time for the four of us to really connect as a team. We each have different strengths that fill in each other's weaknesses. I really feel like together we will reach the needs of this camp. I am so excited for Kuressaare to be my last camp for the summer. 

Meeting with the group started out rough. We meet in the city's youth center and it wasn't the most inviting and warm environment. After reviewing the details of camp we headed to a park to play One Touch, a modified soccer game. Playing outdoors with the group made everyone feel at ease and we were able to have fun, laugh, and really connect with the students. 

The youth group is very friendly and open. The leadership in the group changed and they are going through a transition period. The youth group is young in age and faith, but willing to learn and desire to pursue the non-Christians at camp.