Camp, Camp and more Camp!

Sorry to keep all of you wonderful friends, family, and supporters in the dark for so long but I was at three different camps in the last few weeks and did not have internet access. So I will try to sum up the camps in as few paragraphs as possible, but I am afraid if I start writing I just won't be able to stop!



Camp 1 - With GrapeVine church in the Carpathian Mountains

The mountains are only a couple hours from L'viv where I am staying, and they are very beautiful... Similar in altitude to the Appalachians, but more rural, and of course much colder in the winter. I was working with a Canadian team this week. It was great to get to know them even though we often joked about Canada vs. America stuff, but only in love :). This camp was a student camp, but unfortunately very few students signed up for it for whatever reason... but God really blessed it anyways! When we got there, there was already about 50 kids there from a boarding school, so we decided to include them in everything.It was really amazing how God worked in this... the school they go to is for kids with no parents or with parents who didn't take really good care of them (alcholics, drug addicts, etc.) So it was truly a blessing just to spend time with them and to love on them and play games and stuff. It was sad just to see some of them. They looked like they were 6-8 years old but they were 12 or 13, due to a lack of both nutrition and nurturing they looked much younger and many cases than they actually were. It was really heartbreaking but rewarding to get to spend time with them and give them love and attention that they probably have never had before. It was great to minister to them and to be involved with the Ukrainian team in telling them the gospel, the people from GrapeVine did a wonderful job! The mountains were pretty fun, although the 100 or so steps from the main level to our cabins sometimes got old when you ran all the way up to the top and forgot something! Also, we went swimming in the nearby river 3 or so times it was cold but the weather was hot so it was very refreshing. All in all it was a great week and it was hard to say good-bye to those kids.

Camp 2 - With Trinity Church past Horodok by some lakes.
This camp was about an hour past Horodok (the town we have been working in for the last 6 years) by a lake and pretty much in the woods. It was good that it was far away because the kids are away from some outside influences...parents, priests etc., but it was also difficult in some ways just because it was in the woods. There were about a trillion mosquitos and it was very wet all the time so it was hard to stay warm and comfortable, and hard to dry things...often times we bundled just for warmth which is something I am not used to in the summer. I kept telling people this is winter weather in Florida and they would just laugh even though I was serious. In this camp we had many great activities. The Texas team has been coming for a few years also and they have some great ideas and programs. They brought a whole band for one thing which was great. Also we had English class, a Hobby class (photography, survival, dance, crafts, etc.) and of course time for sports (mostly football(soccer), ultimate frisbee, dodgeball). Most importantly however we had bible discussions, testimonies, and a message every night. My group was all people from Horodok so we had a very difficult group for bible discussion... probably the most difficult in all the camp because Horodok is much more strongly dominated by catholicism than nearby L'viv where young people are more likely to think for themselves. It was difficult, but still an amazing time as we went through some important issues and had our group thinking about some things they never have had to think about before. Also each small group had 3-4 Americans and 1-2 Ukrainian believers so it was a great thing to have different testimonies and stories to share, plus a pool of knowledge and wisdom to draw from. Overall it was just a great time and very encouraging and I hope that it will cause some great things to happen in L'viv and Horodok both!

Camp 3 With Trinity church...Day camp in L'viv

Now this camp we ended up having at a private school in L'viv where Trinity church meets every Sunday. We were supposed to have it at the same place as the previous week but for certain reasons I will partially explain we had to change plans. It was going to be the same place but different people, but an unfortunate thing happened which I would still ask you to pray about because it hasn't really been resolved. I am not going to talk about it here really so if you want to know more that is fine but basically the money for both weeks of camp was stolen... just a bad situation is all I will say, but I think God also used this for his Glory and He knew everything would be fine. It was a little stressful going from a camp that had been planned over a 6 month period to planning a new camp and schedule in one day with the ukrainians the Sunday before the day camp started but it all worked out. It ended up being a real blessing though because a lot of the kids from the first camp came to the second. They heard the gospel again, discussed the bible further, and developed more and better relationships with us, each other, and the ukrainian team.It was amazing to see and today like 20 of them from the first camp by the lake who had been coming this last week as well came to church with us and then to the Airport to say good-bye to the Texans. It was really cool to see these relationships that had been built, and I know of a few of the kids who did repent who will be continuing to come to church...Please pray for all the kids who were at camp... they did hear the gospel and often times they said they understand but said it is just a lot to take in... so pray that the Holy Spirit would move in them and that they would continue to seek God, and that he would just keep tugging on their hearts. It was a truly amazing 3 weeks, and although tiring, sometimes I think it would just be great to do summer camp non-stop! Thank you all for your prayers and support and know that I love you and miss you!

Your Brother in Christ - Joey Kader