We finally had the youth camp on July 4-10. Every year this comes with new challenges as we learn how to server better and better. We had over 60 young people this year, out of which 35-40 attended no church and neither did they know God personally. We took time to help both the unbelievers and the believers. We worked in teams even though it hasn't been easy. God gave each person an opportunity to grow spiritually.

Every night I would lead a time of prayer and fellowship for the young Christians who were there to serve and help. We would pray for the ones we worked with every day and ask the Lord to open their hearts.

Besides the morning Bible studies that were organized to present the gospel, we would spend time with the youth during the day helping them to get to know God. There were even occasions when the group leaders shared the Gospel personally with them. I shared the gospel with a 18-year old young lady who is my cousin. She made the decision to give her life to the Lord. I found out she was in an inappropriate relationship with a guy. I got to spend time with both of them and told them how they should both honor God with their lives.  A few days later, they came to me and told me that they wanted to repent and follow God. I realized how hard that was for them. I made a commitment to be there for them and help them with the difficult questions or things about the Christian life. Actually, we feel we should do that for all the people in the camp who made a decision for the Lord. From the previous years' experiences, we know that their enthusiasm doesn't last long. Therefore, as far as we are concerned, we'll do our best to help them know the Lord and grow in their faith.  Every young person from our church helped with the camp, being assigned a specific group of people.

We had youth meetings in the past and we'll continue to do that but our duty is to personally assist the people who made a decision for the Lord.

On Sunday, July 25, we had a special night for the youth. Our purpose was not only to reconnect with them but also for them to see the model of a Christian life. Afterwards, we had a time when we could just talk and get to know each other. The message delivered that night was about faith and how we could get to know Christ. We were happy to sing some songs from the camp.

We've also had a special time for our family this month. Together with Anatol and Nadia's family, we went to the seaside. It's been a good and relaxing time. On the other hand, it's been good to be away for a while so that we can strengthen our focus on the ministry. Every day we had fellowship and rejoiced over special Bible passages.