I am just back from a 3 day camp with our church’s youth group and it’s been a great experience. Not only was it great fun, but many teenagers were reached with the gospel and more than that, the testimonies of their friends and the new people they met at camp.
We spent three days and two nights up in the mountains of Tenryu (which were stunning. Kind of like postcard Japan) where we played games, sang songs, heard messages and testimonies and spent a lot of time in the river due to the intense heat!
Now that the camp is over, the work isn’t. Many teenagers now need to think on what they heard and make life-changing decisions. And so the need for prayer is great as ever.
There were non-Christians and new Christians there and I know that no matter the stage in their journey, they all need the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit just as we all do. Within themselves they don’t have the strength to resist the devil or hear the voice of God through the many distractions in their lives which is why we need to pray on their behalf.
On another note, a few weeks ago I was teaching one of my smaller classes (3 girls about 10/11 years old) and they started talking about gods. I asked them ” what gods do you know about?” and two of the girls said that they didn’t know really know anything about gods but that they knew about ‘Tenkokunokamisama’ the God of heaven. The other girl said that she didn’t know about any gods apart from Jesus Christ, which put a huge smile in my face. I then asked her how she knew and she said that she goes to church on Saturday evenings. I was so happy to hear about that in a place where nobody knows anything about the gospel and ever since then I have been praying for this young girl (Ayaka) that God would reveal more and more of himself to her even at her young age and that she would grow to love Him and know Him as her Lord. Also that she would be an influence on her friends too.
Praise God who delivers the weak from those to strong for them and who sustains the weary. He gives us strength to believe when we don’t have it in ourselves and he delivers us from the devil who is always seeking to ruin us.
Here are some pics from the camp
heart4japan 