Camp x 2...

I have been back in Brazil for almost 2 months now and a blog update is way over due! Some of you may remember that my first month back was filled with 2 conferences. Both were for leaders in the mission and the church. The first conference was out at our camp and was a wonderful time where I helped serve each day in the snack bar and I loved it :)! The second conference was 3 weeks long and was a training on how to pray with people about past sins, issues, etc so they can experience true freedom in Christ. It was an exhausting 3 weeks but the teaching was so good. Since then, I was able to get back into the swing of things with my "normal" ministry. I started working with the adolescents at church every Thursday night, am getting more involved in cell group ministry and discipleship and currently revamping our intern program which I coordinate. This year I will have the help of a fellow missionary, Micah, as we seek to make a truly life-changing 2 month program. If you would like to see the blog Micah set up, go to www.thepazexperience.wordpress.com. We plan to have the interns blog during their time here so that future interns can see what the program is straight from people who have experienced it.

The next couple of weeks will be pretty crazy as we have our two youth camps happening. AcampTeen, which is our adolescent camp (ages 12-18), begins on Thursday evening. For this camp, I will be going for the first time as a counselor. I will be in a cabin with 10 teenage girls and will be responsible, along with another counselor, to do devotions and spend Thursday - Sunday with them. Most of the girls will be younger because our other camp is for older youth and once most of them get to 15 they go to the other camp. Please pray that the Lord will use me in the lives of these young girls. Also, pray for all of the adolescents that God would be moving in their lives and preparing their hearts for this time away with Him. I know we are going to have a lot of fun and that God is going to do great things.

Returning from AcampTeen, I will most likely need a couple of days to recuperate from waking up at 5am and not sleeping until really late haha. The next Saturday, March 5th, I will be going to Acamp2011, which is the "jovens" camp. The age range at this camp is anywhere from 15 til ??? Basically, there is no age limit. It is kind of like youth and young adults/singles mixed together. Anyways, this time I will be participating and just soaking in the ministry time and having fun with all of my friends. I will be in a cabin with some of my best girlfriends and I am looking forward to 5 days of fun and fellowship.

One thing to note is that the Jovens camp is held during the holiday of Carnaval. Camp is used as an alternative to the parties and such that will be going on all over the city of Santarem and country of Brazil. Carnaval translated means "flesh party" and it is very true to its meaning. Please pray that people will come to know the Lord during this time and pray for God's mercy here in Brazil.

Thank you so much for your prayers and constant support. Look for a blog update in a couple of weeks all about AcampTEEN and Acamp2011.

Here is a link to a video for AcampTEEN: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV0qjjIVJaM

Here is a link to a video for Acamp2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdS9dXjfTeY

*They are in Portuguese but it will give you an idea of where I will be going :)