Rakvere, English Camp

Joyful, Fruitful, Body of Christ, and Affirming. All words used by my team to describe this past English Camp with the Rakvere church.

This was the third year the American church from Atlanta, Georgia worked with the youth group. Most of the Americans had been to the camp in the past. This allowed for students to jump right into camp and open to sharing during small groups in the morning and evenings.

When asking students what their favorite part of camp is the most common answer is small groups and the labyrinth night we created. The two most spiritual parts of camp! God is the one who is speaking, working in, and touching the hearts of the students at camp. The reason they come back year after year is because of the love they feel and the openness they experience.

This camp was one of the more challenging ones for me. I had a hard time finding my place and connecting in a deeper way with the students. For some reason I had a hard time relating and talking with the students, something that usually comes easily to me. I felt lost without structure during the day; free time in the afternoon and evenings were the hardest times for me in camp. I longed for small group time, afternoon activities and sports. I learned that God's perfect plan may involve taking me out of my usual comfort zone and growing me in other areas (and to use my limited time with students or people wisely)

Throughout the week I was able to see one girl in my small group be challenged by God. She came to camp because one of her non–christian friends told her about it. She expected to come, make some new friends, and meet Americans. But she left excited to read more stories from the Bible, attend youth group each week to see her new friends, with new ideas, thoughts, and questions about life, and really feeling loved by people other than her family. She told me she is not ready to be a christian. She is not ready to change her life. But I know that she was touched by the Holy Spirit at camp. She broke down one of the nights at camp and felt for the first time the emptiness in her that only God can fill . . . and she knows it. I received a letter from her after camp and she ended it with, 'you were the first person who has ever prayed from me, and I don't know why, but I don't think I will ever forget it.' . . .I am still praying for her.