Last week I was at the annual Bible Camp of the Churches of Christ in Croatia. Now held on one of the islands in the Adriatic Sea, this was the 57th year the churches have held this camp. With me at the camp for the week were many of the teens with whom I work year-round. Ivan (my co-minister at our church) and I led the teens’ discussion group each afternoon. We are in the photo below with the group.

Two special Ukrainian boys, Andrei and Timofei, were also at the camp with us. They are part of all our youth activities and God is developing in them a strong faith and desire to follow Jesus. Their parents wrote this to me after the camp:

Also at the camp were the Ukrainian orphan kids with whom we have been working the last four years. It has been since all the camps last summer that three of the eight have chosen to be baptized. They are all important to our church. They are pictured in the photo above at the camp (Thanks to Jeremiah’s Hope for the photo).

Two days after the American group left, after the Youth Camp was over, I departed for the USA. I took Adam along with me. Adam is one of the young men with whom I work one-on-one, in Bible study and discipling. He is also the son of one of my co-ministers in our church. Our main purpose for the trip was to join my brother, Justin, and his teenage son, William (photo at bottom, center) on a backpacking trip in Colorado. We hiked the same trail and climbed the same mountain (Mount Hope, photos above and below, left) that I did on my first backpacking trip as a 13 year old, 45 years ago this summer! As happens most times on trips like this, we saw amazing nature and wildlife (including a Bald Eagle!), and learned lessons about ourselves and about God. The old man’s knees and ankles even did great! We also visited some of my supporting churches, as well as people at the church in Brownwood, Texas, where Adam’s Dad came to faith in Jesus as a foreign exchange student in high school. The photo at below, right is Adam reading scripture in the Leander Church of Christ, one of my supporting churches.

Last week we held our teen camp in the mountains, and it was our biggest one ever! There were over 80 of us altogether, including more than 40 of our young people (Croatian youth, and Ukrainian youth living in Croatia); volunteers from Zagreb; and 28 Americans (both teens and youth leaders) from the Southside Church of Christ in Lexington, Kentucky, one of my supporting churches. We truly had a special and blessed time together. The theme of the camp was, Unfiltered: Seeing Jesus as He Really Is. Me, my Croatian co-worker, Mateja, along with Jeremy and Allie (Southside Youth Minister and summer Youth Intern) shared evening Bible messages about the real Jesus, and how He wants to meet us without masks or filters, and how we need to see and experience Him for who He truly is. Each day was filled with discussion groups; worship in Croatian, English, and Ukrainian; games; sports; crafts; prayer; and wonderful fellowship. Many of the teens said this was the best camp ever. Many of them shared that their favorite part was the worship and prayer time, both as a large group, and when the adults spent time praying with each teen individually.

The young people from the church in Lexington led most of the worship times, and it was truly inspirational. After the Wednesday evening worship and lesson, there came a spontaneous time of prayer (photo above), with groups of the young people staying afterward, praying together, and for one another. This went on for over an hour. Many of the teens stayed in the room for that, instead of going outside for s’mores. We are so thankful for the way God worked in all of their hearts. The photo below is what one of the Ukrainian boys (Timofei, or Timi) showed many of us on his phone after the camp was over. This sums it up well.

Much thanks to the Leander Church of Christ, in Leander, Texas (just north of Austin) for coming on board in support of our camps!

Champs Camp was last week. This year we had around 25 children and 13 teen volunteers. Our theme was, Kingdom Rock: Where Kids Stand Strong for God. Each day we enjoyed celebrating together through fun Christian songs, Bible lessons, discussions, object lessons, crafts, Superbook videos, games, fellowship, and delicious food. It was especially encouraging to see our teenagers serving the younger children. Some of the kids returned from last year, and we also welcomed several new ones. A few of them are already excited to join our youth group once they turn 12.

The Saturday before Champs Camp, we had our teen volunteers together for a day of training and team building. Many of these teenagers were once campers themselves, and now they want to help make this camp happen for the younger kids. After we finished Champs Camp, we took our teen volunteers on a three day trip to the coast. They spent a lot of time on the sea and hanging out during the day. And then we offered them some spiritual food in the evenings. These teens are also active with us throughout the school year, and most of them will come to our Youth Camp for teens in the mountains next month.

This last Sunday, Kolya surrendered his life to Jesus and was baptized. He is one of the Ukrainian orphans who have been with us the last few years. Kolya is 17 years old. He has a charismatic personality and a kind heart. After spending time studying the Bible with me, and our Ukrainian friend, Dima Grishchuk, and talking and praying together, he said that he was ready to give his life to Jesus and be baptized. He said that he has actually been thinking about this since the last camp at the end of last summer. The photo above right is the teenagers at the church surrounding Kolya and praying for him after his baptism.

I preached twice this month for the Ukrainian fellowship that is meeting on Sunday afternoons in the building where our Croatian church meets on Sunday mornings. This fellowship was started by Dima and Yulia Grishchuk. I worked with Dima in orphan ministry 20 years ago in Donetsk, Ukraine. Yulia and their girls came to us in the Spring of 2022, shortly after the war started in Ukraine. They have seen several people come to faith and decide to be baptized, including several teens who come to all our youth activities. In fact, all of their kids and teens are involved with us. God is moving among them. They have 20-25 people meeting together, all of whom came to Croatia to escape the war in their country.

I am currently discipling five young men. We talk about life, read the Bible together, and discuss it. Adam (16) and I have finished the books of John, Acts, and Romans. We are now working together through the Bible study book, Experiencing God. Adam was baptized three years ago and is developing a deep love for Jesus. Adam’s family are dear to me, and we live close together. Noa (13) is Adam’s brother. We have finished the book of John and are starting on Acts now. Petar (17) and I started meeting together last year. He also has a growing heart for God. Dominik (14) and I started meeting together just this year. He is a young man with a growing heart for Jesus. He often struggles in doing the right thing, but he desires to. He is also very open with his struggles and his failures. He says the time we spend in Bible study and talking together is important to him. I met Matija (18) just recently at a men’s retreat we both attended, but we have already had a few meetings. He gave his life to Jesus and was baptized just a few months ago, but already has a maturity and depth of faith that is beyond his years.
 

Ilona is one of the Ukrainian girls from the house of orphans we have been serving the last four years. She decided to be baptized this month. Ilona’s faith has been growing, and she has been pursuing a walk with Jesus and talking about this, ever since the camps last summer. Ilona has a close relationship with my co-worker, Mateja. Over the past few months they have been studying the Bible together, talking about God, and praying together. We are encouraged to see how Ilona wants to follow God and live a Christ-centered life. Please pray for her faith to continue to grow and that she is encouraged as she follows Jesus.

We clearly see God’s hand in our youth ministry. Each time we gather now, we have an average of about 25 teenagers attending. We enjoy Bible lessons, discussions, songs, games, food, and fellowship together. And knowing each of them more. At the start of each semester, we ask the teens to write down for us the topics or questions they would like us to address, then we work through their requests through the semester, framing our responses from a Biblical perspective. We are also involved with many of these kids in one-on-one discipling relationships.

Oh, and our teens love “musical chairs.”

Andrei is a 15 year old young man from Ukraine. He has been here in Croatia with his family for about the last two and a half years. My friend Dima baptized him this month (photo above) . Andrei’s family is involved in the small Ukrainian church that Dima and his wife Yulia started here in Zagreb. Andrei and his younger brother, Timofei, have also been involved in our youth ministry for the last two years. They come to all of our activities. Their father told us last fall that when they first arrived in Croatia, the boys never smiled. He said that ever since they have been involved in our ministry, they are smiling again. We are thankful for this beautiful family and the growing faith of Andrei and Timofei.