Summer Camp

Melissa Lewis teaches children at English camp

In the Czech Republic, summer is camp time. The majority of kids take the months of July and August to spend time outdoors and learn new skills. From horseback riding to soccer to English, most kids are busy for the entire eight weeks of warm weather. Missionaries living and ministering in the Czech Republic are using this tradition to share Christ through teaching English. Teams from America come and bring materials, special treats and traditions (like s’mores), their native voices and dialects, and most importantly, their personal relationships with Christ.

Preston Pearce, missionary in Prague, spent a week teaching English at a family camp in July.  The six attending families are part of a conversational English class that meets weekly during the school year. “The camp atmosphere provides more opportunities to share Christ in a relaxed, natural way,” Preston said. “I spent three hours every morning talking to the men and sharing my life one-on-one.”

Mary Ann McMillan, a short-term missionary in Prague, spent a week interacting with five girls that were part of a camp for young adults. Devotions, testimonies and discussion groups allowed for many spiritual conversations.

Volunteers make the difference


Larry and Melissa Lewis live in Plzen, Czech Republic. Their annual English camp is a little different, being a day camp for all ages. This year, 100 participants aged four to 74 came together. Fourteen of those attended a class to find out what the Bible was about, and one became a believer. In addition, two unbelieving families requested that the Lewises host a Bible study the Sunday after camp.

Melissa has been very pleased with the Czech response to this camp each summer and gives credit to God for bringing faithful volunteers alongside them.

“One reason the camp was such a success last year and this year is because of the commitment of First Baptist Church, Forney, Texas, the past few years,” Melissa said. “They come every year –several times, in fact. They are continually in the community with us and the Czech people really trust them.”

As a result of the camp, families are seeking the truth and asking spiritual questions. The Lewises will continue follow up through a weekly youth group and a monthly worship service.

Harold and Ginger Johnson, missionaries in Eastern Czech Republic, also credit faithful volunteers for a strong Christian testimony among Czech people. Volunteers from Chicago travel to the family camp each year. “The same families come back over and over again,” Harold said. “They spend time before and after camp in Czech homes and really get to know them.”

Russell Kyzar, a missionary who works with Russians in Prague, helped teach English at a camp with 25 young people, mostly teens from immigrant families of former Soviet countries like Ukraine, Moldova and Kazakhstan. A nine-member team of volunteers from First Baptist Church, Clinton, Miss., teamed with local church leaders to see five youth express new or renewed commitment to Christ. One young man summed up his week on his Facebook profile.

“I now believe in God,” he said.

Many of the Mississippi volunteers were on the first mission trip of their lives. In addition to English, they also taught American sports. Jim, the football coach, has vowed to return overseas and use his passions for Jesus and sports to influence young people. Prior to the trip, he had no idea that his favorite sport could be used internationally to lead people to Christ. “He said he wants to bring three or four other Christian coaches to Europe,” Russell said. “He can see a future in this sort of ministry.”

Camp is where it happens


All of the missionaries in the Czech Republic have seen that the camp atmosphere is very important in bringing people to Christ. Harold keeps it in focus all year as he ministers through youth group and home Bible study in Hradec Kralove. He shares Christ at each opportunity, but his focus is getting people involved in a camp or retreat because he knows that is where they open up and allow themselves to consider a different worldview.

“If you are one believer in the midst of Czechs, you don’t have a voice,” Harold said. “But at camp, all that changes.”

Posted by Karen Pearce on Sep 7, 2010

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