We have just completed a camp for 24 children in a remote location in the mountains of Romania. The scenery in Romania is absolutely amazing! Our journey to the camp location took about 3 hours by car -- not because the distance was so long but because it is mostly small, curvy roads. This journey gave me the opportunity to see parts of Romania that I had never seen before; making me appreciate the majesty of God as displayed so wonderfully in this country.
I feel like we had a very successful camp experience with the children from Sanger (and other places). AS the children were leaving this morning they were crying because we were all separating after spending so much time together this week. I have been a part of many camps through the years and this is usually the reaction. For many of these children the emotions were probably a little more vivid because most of them have never been to anything like this before (when I say "most" it may be more accurate to say "ALL"). Some of these children may have never seen the mountains or been on a vacation.
I am always impressed by the way the children from Sanger enthusiastically recite Scripture verses and the way they pour their whole selves into singing the songs. Their singing will truly bless your heart! On our final night of having a gathering with all the children I shared a very simple and direct message from God's Word about how we all need to be forgiven of our sins. When I asked for any who wanted to "Confess" Jesus as their Lord none of them responded. After this we had a time for anyone who wanted to write down a sin or some other burden on a sheet of paper and place it on a cross that we had there for them. It was moving to watch all of the children and many of the adults -- Me first -- put notes on that cross containing things that we need God to take from us.
The next day two of the oldest boys came to me and said they had decided to accept Jesus as their Savior. The final night as we gathered to celebrate I asked for these guys and any others who had decided to accept Jesus as their Savior to stand up and not be ashamed of Jesus. I was blown away when over half of the children stood up -- and they were all representing the oldest in our group! I have been doing these kind of ministry events for many years and it felt like these children knew exactly what they were doing.
These children have a difficult living environment so please be praying for them. As our team prepares to go and be with these children in their village tomorrow morning I am already wondering how many of them will come and how many of their parents will come to see what they learned. How awesome would it be to see some of these parents accept Jesus as their Savior tomorrow. Keep us in your prayers. I will update you on our sharing time tomorrow in the village of Sanger and in Betel Baptist Church in Cluj, Romania.
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