Our youth fought long and hard in “The Challenge of the Nations” this year. Divided into the countries of Nepal, Egypt, Mexico, and South Africa they participated in a wide variety of sports, relay races and various activities both on the ground and in the water. Through the games they learned essential life lessons such as: working as a team, everyone has something to contribute, fighting through pain and fatigue to finish what you’ve started, giving 100% all of the time, and never giving up even if winning seems impossible.

Although “The Challenge of the Nations” was a large part of youth camp, it was not the most important part. Many of our youth look back on the evening services as the best part of the day. On Wednesday and Thursday, God poured out his Spirit so strongly that all but one of the youth present accepted Christ as their Savior, there were several first-time commitments. Some of the youth said that as a result of the camp, they feel a renewed motivation to pray and read the Word. One young man said that God is helping him overcome his aggression. Another of the youth (that comes from a catholic background) said he felt a weight fall off of his shoulders and realized that his relationship with God can be alive and full of joy.

All of us in the leadership team came to camp expecting so much this year, so much so that some of us were afraid we would be disappointed. God never disappoints! In fact, he poured out abundantly above what we could even expect. Please, continue to pray. All of the youth that accepted Christ for the first time come from unsaved families, do not currently attend church, and some are not from Zagreb so follow up is difficult. We are doing our best to keep contact through social media and putting them in contact with churches near by them, but please be praying that those seeds that were planted continue to grow.