Filthy Rags: Half-Way Point.

It has been another busy week of planning and preparation work for camp. Here is a quick rundown of the youth camp details.

July 23rd-August 1
70-90 campers between the ages of 14-21
Believers and nonbelievers
Evangelism and discipleship
Located in Lipetsk, Russia
Our team (Dan, Aaron, and myself) will be doing crafts, teaching English, teaching guitar, helping with sports and activities, sharing our testimonies in the different campers' tents at night, and other random errands.

We have continued building relationships with the orphanage graduates and the young teenage girls the missionary here knows. Some of the orphans have expressed serious interest in coming to camp, and a few of the teenage girls are in the process of signing up. Tonight we met with the young girls one last time before camp (we leave for Liepetsk on the 17th to begin more prep work for camp). It was so encouraging to see how their hardness has softened and we now have a friendly relationship with them. They are more open to laughing with us, asking us questions about God, and giving us hugs. This is the picture we took tonight after we invited them to the church for the first time and hung out.

Please pray for Tania, Nastia, Lina, and Kristina.

We have also had time this week to hang out with the Russian believers and play with their kids, and babysit for two of the missionary families here so their parents can have a night of rest. Tomorrow I have been invited to go to a river walk with a Christian peer. She is invited her friend who does not know Jesus and who wants to practice her English with me. Please pray that we have good conversation and that she understands the Gospel.

I know this has been a detailed rundown of this past week, but it may be my last update until after camp (2 weeks from now) due to a lack of internet when we leave Tambov. In light of that, I am going to share one last story, and ask that the body of Christ would lift up this sweet girl in prayer.

This girl came to family camp as a guest with a family from the Church. She is 11 years old and has endured a lot in life. I am not going to share her entire story, but she has witnessed drugs, alcoholism, family members in and out of jail, and a completely absent father. The government is now trying to determine if she would be better off in an orphanage, which would whisk her away from the missionaries here who have gotten to know her, and the church here that is involved in her story. Pray that her home is infiltrated with the peace of Jesus and that there would be advocates here for her to determine what is best for her. Pray that she is able to understand the Gospel and that God draws her to Himself. God hears the prayers of His own, and He surely answers.

Speaking of prayer, I also ask that you continue to pray for youth camp. Pray that lives are changed by the Gospel and that believers are able to grow and mature in their faith. Thank you for the ways you have been praying. If I had time, I would write about all the ways God has been answering your prayers, because we have seen Him at work in wonderful miraculous ways here! Here are a few more fun pictures.