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When we arrived, Joel Wagner a missionary friend with Bibles International, picked us up and gave us a tour of a 2,500 year old Buddhist Pagoda. It was very elaborate with many smaller ones around it. It was beautiful but sad. It is such an empty religion yet the place was full of people trying to reach Nirvana, a state of nothingness.
We arrived safely in Tedim, after two short flights in a prop plane and an almost 4 hour drive over 60 miles. The road was rough because of construction. “Soon” it will be a nice road. They are attacking 40 of the 60 miles all at once. The curves of this road compare with any around The Wilds.
Report by Dan Brooks
We just finished two great days of Staff Training. The counselors are a mix of young people from the church here and a group from local Bible colleges. The concept of camp in this area is a Bible conference-type week with services all morning, some afternoon free time and evening services. So this “new” concept of being with the campers all day and digging into their lives was a little overwhelming. It has been neat to watch some of the counselors get excited about some of the things we have been teaching. We can’t wait for them to see it in action.
God has been so good in giving strength and help, and giving a partner in ministry in Joel Wagner. It has been like having a 3rd CampsAbroad team member with us, but one who has great insight into the culture. He has jumped right in and been a huge help.
Fast forward several hours and we just finished our first night of camp. Check-in is always a little bit of controlled chaos at any camp, and it definitely was that here! When all was said and done we ended up with 170 campers! We are having to be flexible with our plans as our numbers ended up being about 30 teens and 140 junior age campers (or younger!). Please pray for wisdom as we adjust schedules, games, and messages. We played Cat in the Hat on an elevated outdoor patio tonight, and the kids had a blast!
Report by Andrew Stoner
We just finished camp in Myanmar! It has been evident that God is answering prayer. Pastor Mang, the camp director, has been praying and fasting for a year for this camp. We told them that we have people praying all over the United States for this camp as well.
As far as we know this was the first camp of its kind in this state and possibly in the country of Myanmar. I don’t know if you can imagine introducing Big Ball to kids who have never seen one before, but there was a lot of excitement this week!
We wanted to share a few specific answers to prayer. When we arrived at the airport it was raining hard and it continued to rain off and on during the weekend and our days of Staff Training. God even showed His protection on the road because the night after we drove through the mountains there was a landslide that closed the road for the day. The morning that camp was supposed to start, it stopped raining and we have had beautiful weather all week. We were also praying for the ball field to dry out. There were several sections that were very muddy, and one by one they dried out, some just in time for games we needed to play in those areas. God is good!
We also thank God for His work in hearts! We believe that some of the young people came to Christ this week. Many of these young people were from Catholic backgrounds, and some from other churches that do not preach the Gospel. We are so thankful they got to receive the Good News this week.
Pastor Mang was very excited about how the week went. This was new for him too, and he was such a good learner. Today after camp he declared that this will be the way they will run camp from now on. That is not to credit us or Camps Abroad. It just shows the value in running camp with a Biblical philosophy. It shows how big God is. His Word transcends culture, language and opinion. His Word is truth and it works.
We were so thankful to have Joel Wagner on this trip with us. He has been a great help to us, but he has also been a great help to the campers. Most of them did not own a Bible, and Joel handed out over 140 New Testaments to the kids.
We really feel blessed to be on this side of the world and see God’s work, but we realize that many of you have had a large part in this ministry as well through your support for Camps Abroad and your prayers for us. Thank you for your ministry this week!
Report by Andrew Stoner