Matthew 5:16

"Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" Matthew 5:16

Monday, August 30, 2010

Camp Season and the Next Generation

Hey everybody, Chris here!

It has been a while, what shall I start with?
The next generation of the James gang is on the way!
That's right, Lili is pregnant, and I am going to be a daddy! :o)
(S)he is due to take their first breath on March 8, 2011.

Please be in prayer for good health for both of them!

As for what happened this summer, well Lili already wrote the exciting stats down below (it was a great year with lots of campers), and while I was not involved directly with the campers as last year, it was still a great time! I was part of the sing team, did special musics, some weeks I made the camp video, others I took photos and ran sound, while one week I helped lead the singing and played guitar. (It might sound busy, but it was more than manageable, and our camp room leaders deserve the credit for taking a lion's share in making this camp possible!)

Check out a video from one of our weeks, our theme this summer was superheroes (and stay tuned to the end, to see what theme next year's camp will have!):


The next year is starting soon, with new students! (Praise God for 8 Hungarian young men who are coming to study the Word of God!) Pray for the incoming class, as there are still some students waiting for visa issues to be solved!

It also means that we need to raise support for this year, and while I am not sure what the budget is, I do know that last years budget was not met, not even enough to cover WOL's cost to feed me :o) (Sometimes I eat a lot!! :o))
So please consider partnering with us in that way, either through a one-time gift, or monthly support. I know it's a rough world out there right now, but every little bit counts!

Have a great day people!
Lili, is there anything you wanted to say? Oh, you mean you already wrote it... okay, then I'll stop talking... :o)

********************************
Hey there, so it's me (as in Lili) now! : )

Wow. The past two months have been very special, busy and awesome!

We started camp on June 27th and the last day of camp was August 14th. We had 825 campers, over 230 salvation decisions were made, we had more than a hundred flood victims who came for free. So many people supported us in prayers and many gave a lot of money so that more campers could come. This was my 8th summer here at WOL (out of which I spent 4 full summers here) and I can say with confidence that this was the best so far!

I was the jokers' coordinator this summer. Jokers are those summer volunteers who are not working with the campers directly, but are helping the whole camp go smooth. Like the worship team, kitchen workers, coaches, translators, maintenance people, etc. I made their schedule for the week and told them who their work leader is going to be. Some weeks we had over 30 jokers.

It's always weird to me when I can't be with the campers so much since I loved to be a counselor and I know so many of them. Each year as they come back and I see them grow and mature, I thank God I had a chance to be with them for a week and get to know them. It's really amazing to see how they walk with God and how God is changing them so much. I only see them summer time (unless they come to the Bible clubs during the year) so it's a lot of change.

Tuesday nights are my favorite. When I see all those hands raised and the tears in their eyes... I was one of them 8 years ago. It's really an honor that God shows us part of His work right away.

Each week I made 2 to 4 interviews with campers who made a decision to follow Christ that week. Their testimonies are amazing. Let me share with you one.

Tímea (10 years old)

This is my first time here at camp. My parents don’t belive in God, but as soon as I get home, I want to talk about Him to them. We don’t talk about faith or God at home at all. I understood that Jesus died for my sins and that He rose again on the third day. I’m very glad that I could learn this and so much more. I enjoyed being here, and I would like to come back next year. I heard many new things about God, and I cannot wait to share it with others!

She was sooo enthusiastic. Oh my... It was really amazing to see her eyes full of joy. She was so excited to go home and tell all about what she had heard to her parents!

This is why we are here. To tell the campers about our Savior and so that they can go out and share their faith with others as well.

My niece and my mom came for a week too! It was very good to be able to see them and spend a week with them. I love them so much!

One of my really close friends got married on July 31st! Both Chris and I were in the wedding, I was one of the bride's maids and Chris sang at the wedding. We were and are very excited for Sanyi and Regi! Regi is the one who talked to me about WOL and who took me to the camp where I got saved. We've known each other for over 8 years now. You can see all the bride's maids on the picture. We were all classmates in High School. Out of the 5 of us (including Regi, the bride) 3 of us are married now. : )

Well, we have another news to share... Becky is going to be an aunt! : ) Or as Chris would say: The next generation of the James' is on its way.

I got pregnant on our honeymoon and I just started my 4th month. God blessed us with this baby and we are very thankful to Him. Please keep us in your prayers! It is a beautiful thing but we definitely need wisdom.

I'm so excited about this new state in our lives and so happy that we can share it with others! We told our close family first and they are very happy too!

Our plans haven't changed because of the new member of our family, we still plan to stay for one more year at WOL and then go to the States to finish school after which we are planning on going to a closed country as missionaries.

Well, that's all for now! Hopefully you will hear about us soon enough!

God bless you all!

Chris, Lili and the Baby