Every year the NYI Zaanstad goes on a weekend camp! The pictures of this camp are online now. Please visit the |
Awakening at youth camp
Written by Dennis Mohn
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It is a miracle in itself that youth camps can take place this year. Unfortunately, it was difficult to recruit leaders, and so we weren’t able to get started with all preparations on time. Usually, we prepare camps for about eight months, but this year we started eight weeks prior the camps. In faith, we booked camp locations praying that God would also help us in finding the leaders who could set up the camps. Young people signed up as participants all year long, but leaders didn’t; until God decided to interact and prompt people from all over the district to call and email us: They wanted to be part of the camp leadership! Within eight weeks we were able to arrange everything.
We are just in the middle of this camp and I am excited to see what we will happen and how the Spirit will move amongst the group. I want to call on everyone reading this to pray for this camp. Pray for the youth as well as the leaders! Pray that God will keep working in and through them. Thank you for reading this and all your support!
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The Netherlands hosts two youth camps every summer. One camp for teens and one for youth are held at separate locations. As usual talent nights are a regular activity during the one-week camps. Yesterday night the youth camp was having a great time and enjoying the multiple talents present at the youth camp. One after one people came up on stage to perform a drama, a sketch, a song, read poetry, or host a game for the whole group. But then, somehow, God entered the stage.
Already exhausted of the hasty preparations we entered camp week. As leaders we kept telling each other that this is God’s camp and that we need to trust Him that He will take care of it just as He did with all preparations. He certainly did! It already began during one of the day activities. The youth went out to be a blessing to others. One group went to fix up someone’s garden. Another group went to an asylum seeker’s centre to play games with the kids. And another group went to an elderly handicapped home to make pancakes for them. In the evening of that day we decided to skip the worship service because we realized that they were worshipping Jesus already all day long.
Yesterday at the end of the talent night, 70 young people and leaders experienced an awakening and moving of Gods Spirit in a mighty way. I have never been part of anything like that at a youth camp, or anywhere else! At the end of all the fun presentations, one teen got up and asked if he could share something very quickly. He was sharing how he struggled a lot in the past year; how friends at school, the divorce of his parents, his negativity, and the feeling of loneliness drove him into isolation and deep sadness. Through the songs we sang at a worship service earlier this week God spoke to Him and made clear to him that it is not God who neglected him but that it was his own attitude that drove him away from God. At that moment the Spirit filled the room and awakened the hearts of our young people.
One teen after the other came up on the platform and shared. People gave their testimony and others even preached and encouraged the group. All those people who shared and as well as others who wanted to receive prayer were asked to stand so that others could stand around them, laying hands on them to pray for and with them. Many tears were shed, many prayers spoken, and many hugs were given and received. For two hours people were praying with and for each other, worshipping in song, sharing and preaching, and being everything the theme of this camp is all about – “we are!”
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