God is working here in Vancouver at the Sports Camp! There are four different teams, three from different churches in the states working together with The Bridge, to form one team with a single purpose. It is a beautiful picture of how the body of Christ works together for His purposes.
The weather was terrific the first day - lots of sunshine. We had 42 kids in attendance. The very first day one of the new kids (a seven year old Asian boy) had a great conversation with one of the teenage counselors. They were talking about God. When the teen asked the little boy if he knew about God, he said he thought he died at Christmas. When the teen explained about Jesus' birth and death and reason God planned it that way, the boy said "he didn't live very long then, did he?!" The teen explained his death was several years later. Another little boy brought a book called Questions and Answers About the Bible. He has been bringing it every day. Jerry, the pastor of The Bridge, is telling a Bible story each day. This year he is telling the story about Daniel. Each day he leaves off the story at an exciting point, which causes the kids to anticipate the next day. It's exciting to see at the end of the story, the little boy with the Bible book always gets it out and turns to the Daniel story to look ahead.
Tuesday and Wednesday did not look so well as far as the weather is concerned. It rained all morning Tuesday, and most of the day on Wednesday. It is supposed to rain the rest of the week - please pray for sunshine for us! In spite of the gloomy weather, spirits remained high and we had a great time. All the kids still showed up and participated in the activities. We have had to modify games because we can't play basketball when the court is so wet.
Today (Wednesday) two of the campers asked a lot of questions about God and church. They asked why Christians go to church. One of the kids said he was a Christian (he prayed a salvation prayer with Jeremy a few years ago), but that he doesn't go to church. Please stay in prayer for us as the leaders answer all the questions the kids are asking. We are thrilled that they are asking such deep, probing questions.
Matthew 28:19 tells us to go and make disciples of all nations. There are numerous nationalities represented at the sports camp, some of whom don't speak much English! Of the 42 kids, 40 of them come from completely unchurched homes. Even with the language and religious challenges, we are seeing how God's love breaks through, so that they don't become barriers.
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