Skip to main content

Camps, God and Neighbor

Petra here. On the last day of Family Camp, one participant said that camp was like a small picture of heaven. The coment made me smile because I've had that same thought myself many times. I often hear statements like 'Why can't the camp last longer?' or 'Why can't it be the way it is at home?' A student once asked me if it's possible to live like this all the time because it seems too perfect? I told her that I think this is a small foretaste of something even better.


For 50 years, those of us who serve and participate in camps, along with numerous who came before us, have been able to taste that small part of what awaits us in eternity. There are certainly many different factors that cause camps to leave such a strong impression: praising God together through songs, serving in the city, studying the Word, going for walks, the sincere joy of swimming in the lake, encouraging conversations, changed lives, homecooked food, etc. 

But I would say that there is something else - our neighbor. Camps give us a unique opportunity for our large world to shrink a bit for at least one week while our understanding of our neighbor expands. Through all these years, campers in Orahovica have had the opportunity to be with people from different cities and countries, different world views, different social status. Some children have had the opportunity to befriend a person with Down syndrome for the first time at the camp. Others made friends with Roma children for the first time or met children who live in a foster family. 

Last year, in just one month, we had people from Italy, Brazil, USA and Korea at the camp! This summer we had people from 5 to 76 years old at the children's camp! In Orahovica, God teaches us that His picture of our neighbors is much deeper and wider than ours, and so our neighbor becomes a little girl with intellectual disabilities with whom we share a room or an elderly lady who sings to us in Korean while preparing kimchi.

God calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves. In order to be able to obey this command as best as possible, our idea of our neighbor should constantly expand. Sometimes for that we need to visit new places, experience new cultures and get out of our context. But to begin with, it is enough to look around and see that even in a small Slavonian town, God is working to expand those horizons. What a privilege and honor!












Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Exciting News

We're moving to Zagreb! In May we accepted an invitation to work with an evangelical church in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. We will be working with a young, vibrant evangelical church whose pastor we’ve known for more than ten years. This is an exciting opportunity for our family! Zagreb, Croatia Moving to the capital is significant for our kingdom work: Zagreb is Croatia’s leading city,  a place where lots of young people go to college and begin their careers. A prominent leader recently said, “Where the people go, the gospel needs to go.” We are honored to serve alongside a pastor whose vision we share while filling a need for full-time workers. Jeremy’s role: Teaching Bible studies. Leading the national scout ministry he began three years ago. Preaching occasionally and teaching English. Petra’s focus: Preparing the kids for their new school and preschool situations. Transitioning our family to city life. As things stabilize she will also take on minis...
Post a Comment
Read more

Keep It Going

I flew into Buffalo, NY late Saturday night and drove with my parents to a skilled nursing facility where my grandparents live. I had come to the States for one reason - to join the celebration of my grandparents' 70th anniversary. It had been a last-minute decision, so it came as a surprise to my grandparents. As I sat with my grandmother while the others were preparing for the party, I asked her if she had any advice for those of us with less experience. "Keep it going," she said simply. Then a few minutes later I overheard a conversation my grandfather was having with one of the guests. Upon learning that they were celebrating their 40th anniversary on the same day, he said "Keep it going." Hearing the same words from the two people who have kept it going for 70 years made an impression on me. In fact, the more I thought about the message I realised there were two very important implications. First was the obvious one: commitment. In our 10 years of...
Post a Comment
Read more

Love and Marriage

We often pray that God gives us discernment and guidance as we try to figure out what parts of our ministry to let go of and what possible new things He wants us to be involved in. One of our biggest prayers is that no part of our work ever exists because of tradition or because of our own desire or need for it. We aim to work in accordance to His will. Family and marriage ministry is not something either of us really considered much when we first started working here but God has really been leading us and it is increasingly becoming a bigger part of our work. As we mentioned in previous newsletters, we began a couples small group. We are now privileged to be just one of the almost 30 small groups that meet all over Croatia in affiliation with the organization ‘Family Life’. The Croatian ‘Family Life’ team has been a huge help and blessing to our marriage and family ministries. Together we were able to organize a one-day marriage seminar in October that 17 couples attended. The re...
Post a Comment
Read more