God is on the Move!
Our 2018 Slovenia Team returned home last Wednesday the 11th. Below is Kaci's update on how the Lord used them during their week of camp and plans for follow up in the next few weeks. Her letter begins with the English camp she was apart of the week the Grace team arrived.
God is on the move in mighty ways
English and Fusion camp have come and gone, but there are many stories of God's faithfulness to be told. From him answering prayers of no rain when it was 100% chance of rain, to calling one of our beloved students to himself. He is at work! Lets start from the beginning.
English Camp- we prayed for 20 students to come to camp, and the Lord was faithful to not just bring 20 students but to bring 25 students!!!! Praise God. I loved being able to join in on one of the english classes, led by Karis's mom. My favorite part of the whole camp was seeing students so exited and intrigued. These camps are like nothing else they've experienced before. This was the first time for many students being exposed to the gospel and being told the stories of King David and Jesus. Our theme for camp was Reign Forever. Our big question of the week is, who are you going to let reign your life? Be praying that the Lord would use this camp to connect families with the local church in Maribor.
Over halfway through english camp, a taste of home arrived in Slovenia, the Grace Church of DuPage Slovenia Team!!! Oh, how I was so excited for their arrival. It was a great celebration of being reunited with my brothers and sister in Christ from my home church in Chicago. They came to serve at Maribor Fusion camp. I had the delight of being able to pick them up from the airport and bring them to orientation. We spent the next few days preparing for camp before being sent to Fusion camp. It was a time to be equipped relationally, physically, spiritually, logistically, and culturally. A little shoutout goes to this team for their servant hearts. So thankful for their willingness to jump in and join in the work God is doing in Maribor, Slovenia.
Fusion Camp: Once again, we prayed for 40 students to come to Fusion camp and God faithfully provided by bringing exactly 40 students to camp. With over half of them being new students, most of them were being exposed to the the gospel for the very first time. In case you don't know what Fusion is, it is a relational ministry where we use music as a tool to reach young people. Throughout the week we have choir practice and various workshops of teaching music, media, dance, and english. At the end of the week we put together the band and choir to preform a concert with 10 songs. You may be wondering how we manage to do that all in one week, and I'm wondering the same thing. Somehow, it always works out and we put on 2 awesome concerts
These were the girls in my room! You may recognize some of them. Two of them were the girls that I really connected with last year. I loved being able to room with all of them. It created some really special bonds. My favorite part was being able to play the Ukulele every night as they fell asleep, per their request.
Meet my english class! You may recognize some of these faces as well! Two of them being my fellow brothers, Kal and Cris. It was such a joy to serve alongside them in the class. During the week we were preparing for the talent show, so we prepared various accents from Irish to American to even some Slovene accents.
God at work in student's hearts
One of the students had been attending Fusion for the past 3 years, and had made it very clear that she did not believe in God. We had been praying for her heart, that God would meet her. Guess what, HE ANSWERED. On gospel night, she was jumping (literally) with joy pronouncing that she met God. What an answer to prayer. Can you be praying for her as she is a new believer. It's very important that she gets rooted in the word and in the church.
God at work in my heart
This camp was quite a different camp compared to last year. Not only with camp being in a school instead of a castle, but also as my role as an intern. I had a lot more responsibility which included leading an english workshop, camp dance, dancing in camp band, late nights, and Labyrinth. Most of free time was spent in the supply room getting things prepared for the late nights or for the labyrinth. It was an adjustment getting used to what my role was compared to last year on the Grace Church team. I would say my biggest responsibility of the week was for gospel night, which was preparing the Labyrinth. In case you don't know what that is, it's a "maze-like" experience we send the students through where they can take time to reflect upon the messages they have been hearing throughout the week. Preparing for the Labyrinth is no easy task. It takes a lot of thought and preparation. As the big night got closer I realized I was carrying this weight on my shoulders when I should have surrendered it to God. The night before the Labyrinth, one of the Maribor missionaries came into the supply room. He told me a story about God working through him by bringing someone to Christ through one of his worst sermons ever. He then told me about one of the best sermons he ever had and no one came to Christ through it. This served as a great reminder that this is God's work and he has simply invited me to be apart of it. Even if I set up the Labyrinth perfectly and said the gospel just right, it still wouldn't be up to me to save these kids. Its up to God on how he chooses to work in the students hearts. He is simply calling me to walk in faith and obedience every step of the way. After labyrinth was over, I felt this true humility come over me that I've never felt before. I'm praising God for the ways he used the night to speak to not only the students, but also to me.
Prayer Requests
With camp season officially being over, we now begin follow ups. A lot of the Slovene leaders will begin the LOOK study with students that were interested. Be praying that the Lord would use this time to continue to draw students closer to himself.
For my last 3 weeks in Slovenia. Pray for my time in meeting with students, that the Lord would give me words to say that would encourage them and push them forward in their walks with Christ.
Pray for the student who prayed to receive Christ, that she would be equipped to read the word, to pray, and that she would be ready to invest into the church.
For my personal time in the Word and with God. Camp season is crazy busy but now is the time where things slow down a little bit. Pray I would spend quality time with God and would still be open to what he has to teach me.
Thanks for standing firm with me in the gospel,
Kaci
