Sunday School Camp

Here is my (Ian's) account of Sunday School Camp. 

Friday 12^th October started with rain. Would camp go on? Yes. We meet at the church at 3:30pm and started to load the kids into the cars to take them to Siteki. After we all settled in we had supper.

We then sang songs and played games and was told what we would be doing on Saturday. 

The theme for this year’s camp was LIGHT OF THE WORLD.We as Christians should carry the light around the world.

We had to imagine that we were on an aircraft and flying to different places around the world.

First stop was the Sudan, and we learned how hard it is to spread the word of Christ in that country. The Muslim dominated military continuously attacks churches, hospitals, schools and Christian villages in an attempt to rid the country of Christians. The Gideons give out bibles to the schools and have to be very careful not to get caught.

Second stop was Afghanistan. With a population of 29 million plus there are only about 14,559 Christians. The lack of religious freedom makes Afghanistan one of the least reached countries in the world and requires a lot of prayer and help for Christianity.

Our third stop was China. As a communist country the government has total control over religion.

We learned that the government has limited Christianity by allowing state-monitored churches to operate. This led to underground churches being formed. Anyone who attends a house church and is caught is subject to torture and imprisonment by the government. With a population of over 1.3 billion only 8% are Christian’s China needs a lot of prayer.

Another place we visited was the UK where Christianity has seen a serious decline for many years. English culture has become very secular with a large focus placed on pleasure as the ultimate goal in life. England has demonstrated a fair amount of hostility towards Christianity and has focused more on providing rights for minority religions. I must say though that during our time in England in March we learned that there is a lot of new pastors coming out of bible college, and in the area we were in many young people were attending church and so many people going to church they have to have two services. England still needs prayer. 

Our final stop was Guatemala which is a predominantly Christian country with the majority of the people practicing Catholicism. Christianity in Guatemala has not experienced much growth in recent years and there is a lack of discipline among the church. Prayer is needed to help bring the people to a disciplined relationship with GOD.

Matthew 5:14-16    HOW CAN YOU SHINE YOUR LIGHT FOR JESUS

John 8:12     WHO IS THE LIGHT OF LIFE?

The kids had a good time (including being rowdy at bedtime). I'll be teaching the Sunday School class and interacting with the kids every week. Please pray that God would use me in their lives and that I would be a good model for them. 

P.S. - If you want to support our ministry, the fastest way is to make an Online Donation via www.WorldOutreach.org
Go to "Donate" and select our name, Stephens, Ian and Jenn SWAZILAND. The system can process USA and International cards.


Or simply mail your gift to World Outreach Ministries, PO Box B, Marietta, GA 30061 and designate for Ian and Jenn, Fund Code #97.