God on the Move
Montana meets South Africa
During the first week of July, some of our staff
headed to Etwatwa, a township about an hour away, with a group of teens from
Montana. While we were there, we had the opportunity to run a Holiday
Bible Club at two local churches as well as do some evangelism training &
door-to-door evangelism alongside some of the youth from those churches. It was
such a sweet time serving the community there & seeing the teens from
Montana step up & lead games, lessons, & small groups. The Lord took
them out of their comfort zones & used them in big ways! In the 4 days we
were there, we saw 44 trust Christ as their personal Savior!
The two girls you see here come from different places
& have very different stories but both of them found Jesus that week. Odwa,
on the right, is from the Eastern Cape, about a 24-hour drive from Joburg. She
just happened to be visiting some family at the time & decided to come see
what we were doing. As I began talking to her, she explained to me that before
coming to Etwatwa, she didn't believe in God & was heavily influenced by
the opinions & beliefs of those around her. However, after hearing from
God's Word & about what Christ did for her, she decided that she did
believe in God & wanted to have a personal relationship with Him.
On the left is Gamu. As we discussed the gospel in our small group time, Gamu expressed that while she believed in what Christ had done for her, she needed to clean her life up before she could come to Him. Later, I had the opportunity to speak with her more & continued to explain that God wants & loves us the way we are & that He is the one who cleans us & makes us new. She was so excited to understand this truth & prayed then & there to trust Christ as her Savior.
On the left is Gamu. As we discussed the gospel in our small group time, Gamu expressed that while she believed in what Christ had done for her, she needed to clean her life up before she could come to Him. Later, I had the opportunity to speak with her more & continued to explain that God wants & loves us the way we are & that He is the one who cleans us & makes us new. She was so excited to understand this truth & prayed then & there to trust Christ as her Savior.
BattleZone Winter Camp
This year held our second annual BattleZone winter
camp. We had about 80 campers, many of whom were coming to camp for the first
time. During camp, I had the opportunity to lead worship during the
sessions as well as help counsel alongside one of the DTC students. This was their first time counseling & it was
so exciting to see the Lord work through them in spite of their fears &
hesitancy.
Two of the campers I got to connect with from my group, Holly & Leah, came
with a lack of understanding of the gospel. They claimed to know Christ but
based their salvation on their own works rather than Christ's work. Throughout
the camp, I was able to share with them & by the end of the camp, they left
with an understanding of the gospel & greater desire to live lives that
honor the Lord.
Mozambique
During
the first two weeks of August, the Lord gave me the unexpected opportunity to
serve at two camps in Mozambique alongside the WOL missionaries there. Not
really knowing what I would be doing or what to expect, I went in with an open
mind ready to serve. Since both camps were completely in Portuguese, I
obviously did not serve in my normal role as a counselor. Instead, I was able
to help with housekeeping, taking photos, and making videos. Since I was so
accustomed to counseling at camp, this opportunity to work more behind the
scenes gave me a fresh perspective on camp & reminded me of the importance
of prayer. Though I could not communicate much with the campers, I was
constantly reminded of the importance of prayer both for the campers and
counselors, remembering that God doesn't need me to make a difference in
people's lives. It was so neat to see the counselors intentionally interacting
with their campers and the impact that they made. During those two camps, we
had about 90 campers, many of who were churched but living a double life. The
theme of the camp was Demascarados (taking off the mask) & many made a
decision to stop living with masks. There were 45 who trusted Christ as their
Savior & 47 who made a commitment to living their lives sold out for
Christ.
ReplyDeleteAwesome!