Barbara Nave, associate pastor at Sanibel Community Church on Sanibel Island, FL, USA shares her impressions after spending a week at Creation Camp 2011.

You can read more about the camp we had in 2011 on the Creation Camp blog.

After months of preparation, prayer, leadership trainings, and a lot of work, the day to start Cupcini Creation Camp 2011 arrived! We came to church early in the morning where the camp was taking place. In previous camps we had from twenty four to three hundred sixty people participate, but we did not know how many to expect this year. Our prayer was that the Lord would bring exactly the ones He wants to see in the camp.

As we were getting ready for the first day, children and young people began gathering at the church early. Five hours before the time to start we already had over twenty registered. In two more hours this number doubled and we had close to fifty. People were coming from all parts of Moldova. Some traveled up to four hundred kilometers, changing buses several times. The final number was over one hundred and eighty, with over one hundred being unbelievers. We prayed that the Lord would touch their hearts and they will trust Jesus for their salvation, becoming His followers. The Lord transformed so many hearts and restored so many lives.

This year we taught another Precept study in English – “Digging Up The Past”, which is a study from the book of Genesis: Chapters 3-11. Our leaders worked hand to hand with Sanibel Community Church from Sanibel, FL. Their team of leaders helped us with teaching English, testimonies, drama, worship music, crafts and other things.

Worship time during the morning and evening chapels had a great impact on everyone. They invited new friends every day. Another attraction was the opportunity to learn and improve their English through songs and studies in the English language. God used all of that to bring new children into His family. We saw many come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ: children, young people, parents, grandparents, people that came to participate in the camp and people that just stopped by.

We praise God for the mighty way He moved in the hearts of many people. During the entire week, the whole city of Cupcini was talking about the camp. Brothers and sisters from a number of churches were mobilized and united in love and service. We had more people showing up to help than we had work for. Just at the church’s kitchen we had over thirty volunteers.

Once again we saw the power of God in such a clear manifestation as hearts were changed and turned to Him.

For the word of God is living and active… – Hebrews 4:12

Sunday Morning Service at Creation Camp

During the Creation Camp in Cupcini, Moldova, we hear so many stories and so many testimonies of how God was touching the hearts of young people attending the camp. Here is what some of the participants have said:

Daniela, 14, comes from a family where only her mother is a believer. Daniela was saved at the camp: I have studied Genesis many times, but at this camp made so many discoveries, God revealed many new truths and I am very glad! I have decided to be more responsible, to give more time to the studying the Bible, to follow my Lord and his Word all my life.

Celebrating US Independence Day

Anastasia is 18. Her brother, who was saved earlier, invited her to the camp: She said: It was a great pleasure to be at this camp, to meet so many nice people that know God’s Word and apply it in their lives. I want to continue studying and want to understand all that the Bible says, and I pray God will help me get to know Him personally.

Xenia, 17: In this camp I learned that everything was created by God’s design.  And also, if I have studied Genesis in the past, studying it once again helped me discover true treasures from God’s Word. I decided to glorify God every single day of my life.

Kate, 15, her father is a pastor, but she is not saved yet: I have learned about the age of the Earth, about Biblical foundation of Creation, three parts of Christian apologetics. Especially I was amazed to learn that God created light before He created the Sun.

Digging in the Word of God

Anastasia, 18, was saved earlier, but in the camp she decided to be baptized and to join the church. So she had just one question: When is the baptism?

Kate, 24, was so encouraged to study Genesis at the camp that decided to get to her home hometown and start new Bible study groups, where she will teach the same study to people in her city.

Semion, 17, is a student in a Turkish high school where Muslim teachers from Turkey are teaching and indoctrinating Moldovan boys in Islam. He came to our camp and was saved! He also decided to be baptized and join the church. Here is what Semion said: I found out about Creation. Before this camp I thought that evolution theory is the most trustful.

Vasile, 22, is student at State University: I was pleased to learn about many Bible truths that support Creation and I think that evolution theory can not be called science. I want to be rooted deep in Creation subject to be able to support form scientific point of view and from the Bible that God is the Creator of the Universe and evolution is just an invented theory.

Lunch time

Andrei, 20: I have learned the Lord created all of us, and we are not a product of evolution. God created everything in 6 days, including man. I want to continue studying the Bible.

Tamara, 15, comes from an Eastern Orthodox family who did not want to let her come to our camp, but God finally made it possible: I have learned the Jesus loves us so very much! I knew this even before the camp, but I experienced His love in a very special way when it was just His hand that brought me to this camp.

Sasha is 12. His parents are divorced and his mother left him to be raised by his grandmother. He says: After this camp I started believing in Jesus Christ as my Lord.

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. – Hebrews 11:3

We have received a number of questions that participants asked us, such as: Why do people refuse to believe in the truth that they know from the Bible and continue to spread the wrong theory of evolution? When is the next Creation camp? Why did God create the tree of knowledge of good and bad? Why did they beat Jesus before crucifying Him? When will the Leadership Training Institute be this summer? I want to come! How can I become a leader in the next English camp?

The importance of the follow-up is shown in a request from one of participants at camp: I have so many questions and I want to have someone give me the answers from the Bible, so that I will understand things as they are. Please pray for all campers and for our teams that do their best to provide the answers and to conduct others to personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. – Genesis 1:1

The Moldova for Christ Summer English camp became a tradition after nine years of conducting more than 100 camps. This year the Lord gave us grace to organize and lead another English camp in the city of Cupcini in Northern Moldova. We started by praying with our leaders for the place to conduct the camp, the Precept study to teach, and for the participants who asked us all year about the next camp. We also prayed for the finances as well as the volunteers who would come to help and make the whole camp possible.

The Lord answered our prayers by leading us to a public school principal who joyfully said “Yes!” to our proposal to have the camp at her school property. The study was also chosen as the Lord really stressed upon us the necessity of teaching Creation to the kids. Every day at school, children hear in one way or another the theory of evolution that leaves no room for God in someone’s life. So we knew we would need the Precept study for kids, God’s Amazing Creation by Kay Arthur. The study had to be in English to aim at two goals – teaching God’s eternal Word and improving English for all participants.

Worship Music

As time approached, a training seminar for leaders and other camp workers was conducted at Cupcini church, and we went through the study book together, discussing how to teach the same lesson in teams with different levels of English skills. Many of our brothers and sisters continued to pray and to fast for the camp to be a tool God could use to bring many to salvation. Invitations were printed and we began sharing them with our friends and relatives, and the Lord started moving in the hearts of those He wanted to come to our camp.

On the first day of camp we had more than 120 registered who showed up for the camp. Children and youth came from all over Moldova – from the northern edge of the country to the southern borders. Many had never met before but the love of Christ united all of us quickly and everybody felt right at home. Everyday we had new people joining the camp and the number went up to 140!

From the whole number of participants, well over half were not from believing families and were exposed to the Gospel for the first time in their lives. The Lord touched the hearts of many and by the end of the camp and one by one, 20 of them trusted Jesus and prayed for forgiveness of sin and for salvation. Praise the Lord!

A special blessing was to have many orphans at the camp to minister to who have no place to call home. A number of them were also saved, and now they have a home and a family of brothers and sisters in Christ!

Group Study

We are so grateful for the Sanibel Community Church from Florida in the United States, and for Brian Cochrane family to come again this year to assist us in this very important project of reaching young people with Moldova for Christ. They served sacrificially day and night alongside our team, teaching, singing, playing, encouraging, preaching, and just loving Moldovan kids and all of us.

The baseball clinic was another element that attracted many to the camp, with baseball lessons taught everyday and a great game on the last day of the camp when all the camp came to watch. At the same time, many local people stopped to see a baseball game played live for the first time in their lives and joined us. As a result of training in previous years and all during this camp, the game was really good and captivating to the audience.

Baseball Game

Everybody enjoyed watching DVDs, such as Six days of creation and God of wonders – a collection of videos from Creation Museum, about the complexity and harmony of life on earth. These video materials fit wonderfully into the study, complementing it visually.

But above all, we are so thankful to our Lord Jesus Christ for the honor of being His co-workers and of sharing the precious Word of God with Moldova’s young generation who are desperately looking for direction and hope, which only Jesus can give them. Please continue to pray for these kids as we do the follow up work.

For more information, pictures and videos from Moldova Creation Camp, please visit our camp’s web page: http://creationcamp.moldovaforchrist.com

By Barb Nave, Sanibel Community Church

When I was twelve years old, my parents allowed me to go to church camp.  It was a lovely lakeside camp and our days were filled with fun activities and Bible study.  During the week at camp I heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ and accepted Him as my Savior.  Because camp is where I met Christ, I have always had a heart to make camp experiences possible for children and teenagers to have a similar opportunity as I did.

English Camp in Moldova is a wonderful and valuable opportunity for children and teenagers to experience the Love of Christ in a community of believers.  Each day is packed full of fun activities.  Students work with American English speaking teens and adults and increase their vocabulary and speaking skills throughout the camp time.  We study God’s Word in the English language which also helps to equip the students for their general studies in school as well.  God’s Word is presented in understandable terms and each student has opportunity to be transformed by the Word of God.

One of the things I enjoy the most about English Camp is the relationships I build during the camp time and the friendships that have grown over the years.  It is wonderful as students return each year and I can see their academic growth as well as their spiritual growth!

My husband’s passion is coming to Moldova for English Camps and teaching baseball in the afternoons.  During activity time, the students can choose many sports, crafts or arts to enjoy.  Chuck does “baseball”!  He helps the students learn to play this favorite American game.  He also has opportunity to share with the students what to do when “life” throws you a “curveball”…..or in other words…..how God can help you through difficult times and circumstances.  He is always amazed at the skill of the children and youth and their passion to learn new things.

We excitedly pray all year and are anxious to go when summer comes and it is time to go to Moldova for ENGLISH CAMP!

In planning for the Moldova for Christ Summer English Camp 2009, we prayed, set the dates, and as time approached, began working toward making this ministry possible. As it was expected, many details had to be decided and we trusted the Lord to guide us in every step in the direction he wanted us to go.

The Lord put on our heart to choose the study of the book of James, titled “Boy, have I got problems!” by Precept Ministries International as a workbook for the camp. We began studying the book with all the leaders, and everything was coming together and nothing looked unusual. Little did we know the surprises we were about to encounter. Here is how the Lord changed our direction and how He turned what some wanted to be evil to be a blessing for His glory.

We signed the contract for renting a former communist indoctrination camp for children for our Moldova for Christ English Camp. It is a nice place in the woods nearby Edinet city in Northern Moldova and can hold up to 300 participants with fields for playing soccer, volleyball and basketball. However, the camp belongs to the Government.

When we started enlisting participants from all over Moldova, Satan began opposing our work by using the Minister of Education who is member of Communist Party. We were told that we could use the place for the camp but with the condition that no Christian work would be done at the camp, and they would have to approve the program for the camp.

As we negotiated again and again, it became obvious that we will not be able to have our camp at this location. We were frustrated and disappointed; more than 150 participants were already enlisted from many cities and villages. After much prayer the decision was made. We would have the camp in the building of our church in Cupcini that is still in the construction stage with no facilities to hold the camp at all.

The number of participants dropped and we were praying for direction from the Lord. The camp started with about 75 participants, and another 20 were added in the first days. Of great help in conducting this camp was the Sanibel Community Church, Florida team of 12 that helped lead studies in English, songs, drama and sports.

Since the camp was smaller than we planned, half of our team was free to do another ministry – Vacation Bible Schools in villages. They went into nine villages and more than 500 children and adults heard the Gospel. Many prayed and trusted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  We were also able to show the Jesus Film in four villages where nearly 300 people heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ! As result, the Word of God was proclaimed to far more people than we were planning for.  What the Communists meant for evil, the Lord turned into a blessing and a far greater proclamation of the Gospel!

At the English camp at the church we had a blessed time as well! In just a couple of hours the balcony became our restaurant for the camp and people from our churches cooked food for the camp around the clock at our home. Many people from Cupcini First Christian Church opened their homes and hearts to host every camp participant for 10 days. The Word of God touched everybody and dozens of teenagers were saved! Everybody enjoyed the Bible study in groups with two leaders in each- one from USA and one native. Drama time in the evenings engraved the truths studied during the day in the hearts of the boys and girls. A baseball match at the end of the week was a spectacular presentation to the whole camp. Relationships were built that strengthened the body of Christ all across the country. We also praise the Lord for the ones who were saved at camp that have already been baptized, joined the church, attended Training Institute for leaders in Cupcini and are actively ministering in local churches!

For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see. –  Psalm 36:9

God’s power is best displayed when we admit our human strength is insufficient to His sovereign strength and ask Him to show up and move in our midst. The children’s English camp just outside the city of Chisinau, Moldova is a perfect example of how God can work through ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

God works. A camp originally intended for 80 children from a local area brought 330 children and youth, ages 6 to 18, from all over Moldova as well as Romania, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Poland and Siberia. Three American teams from different states and church backgrounds met each other just one day before camp began. More than 30 Moldovan young people with basic English skills arrived to translate for the American teams and work with all the children. God truly brought all things and people together to achieve His purposes.

In big and small ways, God showed up. He provided big blessings like great weather, health and safety for the children and volunteers. He also provided small blessings, like a warm shower or piece of fruit for an afternoon snack. And He moved in a huge way across the expanse of the camp. More than a third of the children made decisions of faith in Christ. The “12 and Under” group were taught Old Testament stories about men appointed for God’s work before God sent His Son Jesus to earth. The “Over 12” group studied scripture from John 17-21, which covers Christ’s last days of ministry, his death and resurrection. Songs like “One Way, Jesus”, “Forever”, “Praise Adonai”, “You are Holy”, “Crucified”, and “Your Love is Deep” rang out as themes of praise throughout the week.

O Nations of the world recognize the Lord; recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong.   –   I Chronicles 16:28

The Glory of God is man fully alive (Waking the Dead, John Eldridge). Our team discovered the meaning of being truly alive as we used the gifts and abilities God enabled us to give during camp. Anna (Fiser) ministered by teaching and playing soccer and baseball; Shara (Reed) shared her talents of craft-making and story-telling, and Mitzi (Quarterman) witnessed through teaching dance and song. Everyone also shared in small and large group settings. By week’s end, my team truly understood the meaning of Jesus’ words: It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). The day we returned home, I read an excerpt from a daily devotional that spoke to me and seemed to capture our mission experience:

Whenever the Holy Ghost sees a chance of glorifying Jesus, He will take your heart, your nerves, your whole personality and simply make you blaze and glow with devotion to Jesus Christ (My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers).

Camp is now over but God’s work is just beginning in the lives of many of the children from camp. These children heard the gospel and witnessed the hands and feet of Christ serving them all week. Christians from all over Moldova are following up with our new brothers and sisters, inviting them to church and Bible study. Just days after camp ended, 15 children attended First Christian Church in the village of Cupcini for the first time. Currently, several teenagers from camp are going through an in-depth Bible study on godly marriage with Pastor Alexandru (Sanduleac).

God saves. The book of Acts gives an account of how the early Christian church was formed and how the message of Christ’s salvation was spread to other nations. Whole nations were reached by a mere handful of zealous followers of Christ. Peter introduced the gospel to one Gentile in Caesarea, Phillip took the message of Christ to Samaria and to one Ethiopian man, and Barnabas influenced the ministry of Paul who spread the gospel to many non-Jews for the first time.

God prevails. God does not waste anything we are willing to give, whether it is time, money or other resources. Pray for these children, the Moldova for Christ ministry, the next mission teams and our home church—that we would not waste one bit of who God made us to be. By God’s grace, may we remain faithful to His calling (Acts 13:43).

His purpose in all of this was that the nations should seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him. –  Acts 17:27

Every Summer Moldova for Christ Ministry organizes English camp, where young people from Moldova and other countries can come and spend 10 days learning English language using Bible Study materials. Each time we use a different Precept study for this purpose. Worship songs in English during our chapels in the morning and evening are another great opportunity to sharpen your English.

This year we had our English camp in July, in a nice place in the Codri Forest or Moldova. Over 360 participants came from Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Uzbekistan and USA. The study for the English Camp 2008 was Jesus: to eternity and beyond, Precept, which is based on the Gospel of John, chapters 17 though 21.

All camp was divided in 23 teams, led by 23 national leaders. Every team met at least 2 times a day for 2 hours of group Bible Study, discussions and fellowship. Activities directors offered a variety of choices for afternoon activities, like crafts, visual arts, puppet show training, ping-pong, baseball, solo training, guitar lessons, soccer and softball.

God moved in the hearts of 25 brothers and sisters from United States of America to come and help us in teaching English and leading teams and the camp itself. We thank our God for partnership with churches from 3 states: Mississippi, North Carolina and Florida in this project.

And we have seen God at work in the hearts of all participants of the camp. at the beginnning of the camp over 70% were non-Christian, but by the end of the camp 128 of them were saved and gave their lives to Jesus.

Please be praying about partnering with Moldova for Christ Ministry in organizing, supporting and conducting Summer English camps. it is an outstanding opportunity to reach the young generation of Moldova for Christ!