AMEN! The Lord did it again!!!! Camp just finished and oh my goodness, I am so blessed by this Teen Camp and for several reasons: the spirit was amazing, the kids were responsive, as well as the leaders, and the atmosphere in general was wonderful. There was a lot of laughter and joy was prevalent everywhere. It just seemed that people got it this time around. On one of the last nights before camp ended Neil Macris gave a really great message, at the end of it he gave an altar call asking people to come up into two groups; on his right he asked people to come up that wanted to profess Christ as their Savior and on his left people that were already born again but wanted to dedicate their lives to the Lord. If you are familiar with altar calls then you know that the preacher is standing there for at least 5 min giving everybody the time to come up that need to psyche themselves to go. I kid you not; within 10 seconds all but 3 of the campers were sitting in one of the two groups! 4 people gave their lives to the Lord that night and the rest dedicated themselves to Him! AMAZING! 10 seconds people, 10 seconds! I’ve never seen anything like this before. My only prayer is that these were real commitments and not just an emotional hype. I truly hope that we will see much fruit from these kids in the future. A lot of these kids know me from the Teen Worship Events which means that it’s going to make it easy for me to do some kind of follow up with them :o) I’m really excited!
Another reason why I was really blessed by this camp was the leaders that were there. I made a point of it this year not to hang around the foreigners that are there to help but the Greek leaders. For example at lunch or dinner, instead of sitting down with the English speakers, thus taking the easy language route, I sat down with the Greeks. I need to advocate that this is the first year I feel like my Greek is up to it. Still now I don’t understand everything that goes on around me but I understand most of it. Praise the Lord I’m finally getting to where I need to be :o) Its taken its time! Greek is not an easy language let me tell you… :op As a result I feel like I really got to know the leaders. I’m walking way with friends. People that I’ve seen around for years but never had a chance to really talk to. Others that were acquaintances from Bible school but during this week grew closer. I feel so blessed :o) Just today I went out for lunch with some of them that turned out to include coffee afterward. I love the Greek culture! They have a savoir vivre that not many other cultures have. The relational aspect of the culture is wonderful. They are always up to just hanging out. Parea is a very important word within the Greek language and means fellowship or company. I am so thankful that the Lord brought me to this country! I have come to life here surrounded by people that love life just as much as I do, it is a wonderful thing to be a part of :o)
Thank you Lord!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
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I love the way you describe Greek culture and life. It seems to be filled with an openness and warmth that so many other cultures lack or are uncomfortable with. I think about here for example where you never make eye contact with anyone let alone smile at someone or say hello to a person you don't know!:) These things are met with the deepest suspicion! :) Parea sounds like a beautiful concept, one the world would be a bit better off for using more regularly! I hope you continue to be blessed in every aspect of your work and life Janet!
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