Transform Europe Network | CONNECT| April 2020

CONNECT April – June 2020

agazine M

GOD ANSWERS

Prayer

• George Müller’s legacy • Bulgaria’s miraculous turnaround • How prayer birthed an underground Bible School • Escape from a terrifying apocalypse • Praying at the heart of the EU

EDITORIAL

George Müller's legacy Among the famous Christians of Bristol, who served God with remarkable results, were preachers like John Wesley and also social reformers like Hannah More. However, it is George Müller who is remembered for his testimony of prayer and confidence in God. For more than fifty years, he looked only to God to meet the constant needs of Bristol’s orphan homes and the daily care of thousands of poverty-stricken children. He avoided asking his friends and associates for money and shunned the sharing of urgent financial need. With reluctance he published the annual charity accounts.

This edition of Connect highlights the vital role of prayer in support of Transform Europe Network that has operated through its Bristol office for almost 50 years. God has sustained the work of TEN, formerly Eurovangelism, as a constant lifeline to our partners in Eastern Europe. We hope you will be encouraged to read stories of answered prayer and see how God is able to turn situations around.

Our quarterly Heart Cry prayer diary, that accompanies the Connect magazine, shares the upcoming prayer needs of our partners. Trustees, ambassadors, staff members and an army of supporters will join together daily to bring these requests before God our Heavenly Father.

We also have a faithful team of intercessors who receive weekly emailed prayer bulletins related to immediate needs.

We continue to witness God’s providential hand supplying the needs of the poor and enabling the Gospel of Jesus Christ to reach tens of thousands of people. Prayer has always underpinned this work and we are so grateful to every supporter who prays for TEN and our partners.

Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man's power ends.

TRANSFORM EUROPE NETWORK Registered office: 23 Apex Court, Woodlands, Bradley Stoke, Bristol BS32 4JT Tel: +44 (0)117 961 5161

Email: info@ten-uk.org

transformeuropenetwork

Web: ten-uk.org

George Müller

TEN Magazine written and produced by the TEN team. Design by Simon Petherick Graphic and Web Design.

Transform Europe Network (TEN) is the operating name for Eurovangelism.

Registered in England and Wales as a charity (no. 1140592) and company limited by guarantee (no. 7507682).

2 — PLEASE DO NOT SEND MAIL TO OUR PREVIOUS HOLDENHURST ROAD ADDRESS —

Welcome I wonder, if a bit like me, you sometimes say to yourself, “When I get to heaven, I’m going to ask God about that.” For me, one of those topics is prayer. It’s a wonderful source of strength and yet so beyond my understanding.

I have lots of questions.

What is prayer? How does it work? What influence do my prayers have? Why am I sometimes so committed to pray and at other times find it so hard?

Why do some people seem to have a hotline to God? Why do some pray for years seeking an answer, whilst others get an instant response? I could go on.

I’m not sure of the answers, but here’s the thing.

It is in seeing prayers answered that my questions fade away. I realise that prayer is not a subject to be studied or a process to be dissected!

I’m really excited by the stories in this edition of Connect. You’ll read reports of prayers being answered and how your prayers have played a part in God’s transformative plan. Some are miraculous answers to prayer and others are about quiet persistence as God has been at work.

We hope you like the updated Heart Cry prayer diary. Let us know if you want more copies. Please can I encourage you to take it and perhaps share a copy with your house group, church leaders or prayer partner, so that you can pray together. The prayer diary is also available online at ten-uk.org/pray.

Can we also pray that the Coronavirus pandemic will end soon and that the church will shine a beacon of hope in the midst of fear and uncertainty. Read more on page 10.

Wishing you a blessed time during Easter as we rejoice in the risen Saviour.

Contents 4 God is faithful and answers prayer Joel Preston, Müllers 5 Escape from a terrifying apocalypse Greece 6 A miraculous turnaround Bulgaria 7 Praying for an underground Bible school Romania 8 Marino and the EU North Macedonia 10 Coronavirus, COVID-19 James Vaughton 11 Partner profle Anatoli Yankov 12 Partner profle Jovica Bacvanski 13 Have your prayers been answered?

Albania 14 Puppets, purpose and prayer North Macedonia 16 Team opportunites 18 More about giving 19 Summer Camps in Romania Summer Dreams

James Vaughton CEO, TEN

3 in Bulgaria pray under the watch of the police. Full story on Page 6 Cover photo: Christians

God is faithful and answers prayer

by Joel Preston, Charity Leader, Müllers, Bristol

Prayer. It’s one of the first things that comes to mind for many people when they think of George Müller.

Living in Victorian Bristol, Müller was consistently confronted with the needs of vulnerable and homeless children and God stirred something in him to act. He notes in his journal how, "God’s glory was my chief aim, that it might be seen it is not a vain thing to trust in the living God." This desire is what led Müller to adopt a principle of never asking for money, but praying for God to provide what was necessary, and He did. It is believed Müller raised the equivalent of more than £100 million in today’s money, enabling him to build five orphan homes and provide care for more than 10,000 orphaned children in his lifetime.

His legacy stands today as we at Müllers seek to bring Christian hope and wholeness to children and young people around the world.

One way we do this is through the Scriptural Knowledge Institute, also set up by Müller, to provide prayerful and financial support for missionaries and Christian leaders around the world.

Because of the funds that come from prayer and the empowering work of the Spirit, we have seen children rescued from abusive families in Moldova. In Rwanda, children attend a weekly Bible class and receive a cooked meal. Trafficked children are being set free and cared for in India.

God’s provision makes a difference to the many and the individual. There are many elements in such journeys to freedom and empowerment. Surely the most significant one being the power of provision through prayer.

To this day, we are still seeing what George Müller set out to prove that "God is faithful and still answers prayer."

Find out more at mullers.org 4

Escape from a terrifying apocalypse Hundreds of people fled in panic as the fastapproaching flames engulfed the coastal resorts on the eastern coastline of Greece in July 2018. Many ran towards the sea, others attempted to drive through the terrifying apocalypse.

Among those fleeing by car was TEN partner Viorica and her husband Dominic who became caught in the middle of the fire while driving home along the highway. They experienced first-hand the horror and fear of not being able to escape.

With the flames fast approaching and hardly able to see anything due to the thick smoke, they prayed for a way out of the highway that was packed with cars and full of horror-struck people struggling to escape.

The police finally redirected them and for a few moments they felt relieved. But then they drove into another fire and with more urgent prayers and boldness they drove on only to discover a third one.

Fearful and unable to see ahead, due to the darkness and flames, they prayerfully drove on through to finally reach a safe place.

Sadly, many lives were lost that day and local churches brought comfort and practical help for the bereaved and those made homeless.

Viorica and Dominic praise God for His protection over them and value the support of all who pray for TEN’s partners.

They prayed for a way out of the highway that was packed with cars and full of horror-struck people struggling to escape.

5

Bulgaria’s miraculous turnaround When the draft version of the Religious Denominations Act was presented to the Bulgarian parliament on 4th October 2018, Christians in Bulgaria faced the prospect of a new law that would severely restrict the freedoms they currently enjoy.

In a show of unity, Christians across Bulgaria took to the streets for prayer and peaceful public protest. Church leaders urged their fellow Christians from across Europe and beyond to pray and make written representations to their MEPs, Ambassadors and Bulgarian government officials.

Local church leaders, with the support of thousands of Christians across Bulgaria, engaged in eight weeks of marches and prayer rallies, often in severe wintry weather.

Churches were united and defiant in the face of threats by the lawmakers, and leaders were resolved to maintain their freedoms to preach the Gospel and freely assemble together, whatever the cost.

Supporters of TEN joined in prayer with literally thousands of believers across the world in solidarity with their Bulgarian brothers and sisters.

The dramatic breakthrough came

just before Christmas 2018. The parliamentary voting on the second reading of the amendments to the Religious Denominations Act resulted in each of the controversial changes being dropped. God had answered prayer. It was with much joy that Christians in Bulgaria praised God for the miraculous turnaround by the government.

TEN’s Bulgarian partner, Pastor Theodore Oprenov of First Baptist Church in Sofia summed up: "God has granted us a remarkable blessing, by allowing us to see the will of the political powers changed. We are fully aware that this would not have happened without the prayers and strong international support."

Evangelical leaders in Bulgaria are mindful that despite the change of heart by the government on this occasion, the long-term future remains uncertain. Ongoing prayer is required.

6

Praying for an underground Bible school Prayer birthed an underground Bible school that eventually became the Emanuel University Oradea in Romania.

During the darkest years of persecution under Communism, revival came to the beleagured Second Baptist Church of Oradea during the ministry of pastor Liviu Olah. In the mid-1970s there were many months of fervent prayer and fasting and the Holy Spirit planted the vision for an ‘underground’ School of the Prophets to equip a new generation of men and women for evangelism, church planting and discipleship.

Fifty students enrolled for the first school and met in hiding. Away from the eyes of the Communist secret police, the students gathered together in the mountains, in the woods or in homes during the night.

Two years later, another fifty joined the school. They too experienced God’s protection from the secret police and caught the vision. God also provided additional teachers and Bible study resources through the Slavic Gospel Association.

Young evangelicals were on fire for Christ and His Kingdom. Soon, the floodgates were wide open for a new day in Eastern Europe

and beyond. Finally, in December 1989 Communism lost the battle and the Iron Curtain fell.

With the demise of Communism, the School of the Prophets emerged from the shadows as an evangelical theological seminary that was driven by the faith, fire and passion of the persecuted church. In 1990, Emanuel University Oradea was founded with nothing—no campus, no budget, no library and no faculty.

By the grace of God, the underground Bible school became Europe’s only government accredited Christian university to this day.

As an evangelical university, the vision expanded to train not only the next generation of pastors and missionaries, but also schoolteachers, social workers, musicians and business leaders for Romania and beyond. This year Emanuel University Oradea celebrates its 30-year anniversary with more than 2,800 graduates serving in forty countries around the world. Please continue to pray for the university, its staff, resources and students.

7

Marino and the EU Praying at the heart of Europe.

He heard God say, "Brussels”.

Croatian-born, Marino Mojtic, his wife Vesna and two daughters live in Skopje, North Macedonia and serve God through the Evangelical Church of Macedonia. Five years ago, Marino felt in his heart that a shift in ministry was coming.

Two years later and still with no idea about what might lie ahead, Marino called out again to God, "What is it that You have for me? Please tell me!"

Then he heard God say, "Brussels".

Brussels? For some reason, he knew it meant the European Union. He responded, "I don’t know anyone there! How am I going to do this?

And why me?"

Marino Mojtic in Strasbourg

8

Then the Lord reminded him of the many prayer walks around the Parliament and Government buildings in Skopje that he was involved with in recent years. Was this preparation for something greater that he could not understand back then? In fact, almost 40 years ago God birthed an unbroken prayer initiative at the centre of Europe’s bureaucracy.

Soon after the formation of the first elected European Parliament in 1979, three MEPs, Wynn Griffiths, a Welsh Socialist and Methodist, Maria Luisa Cassamagnano Carretti, an Italian Christian Democrat and Roman Catholic and John Purvis, a Scottish Conservative and Presbyterian met together to pray while sessions of the European Parliament were held in Strasbourg. They were soon joined

by Paul Symonds, a Jesuit priest and Stephen Biller, a Catholic and staff member of the European Democratic Group. As a most unlikely group, they came together around the person of Jesus Christ, discussing a text from the Bible, and ending their time together with prayer and jointly proclaiming the prayer "Our Father" in their own languages. "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…"

Almost 40 years ago God birthed an unbroken prayer initiative at the centre of Europe’s bureaucracy

Marino arrived at the EU Parliament in Brussels for staff prayers on 22nd September 2017. His first visit coincided with the 15th annual Prayer Breakfast of the European Parliament.

Needless to say, he had a blessed time and heard much about the need for prayer in Brussels. Soon afterwards, he met Ian and Jill Jean, who were missionaries in Strasbourg, France and very much involved in the prayer gatherings in the EU Parliament. They became Marino’s mentors and taught him his first steps, "How to walk in the Parliament" and they also introduced him to particular MEPs. Today, Marino’s vision is to develop a chaplaincy ministry in the EU Parliament in support of MEPs and staff members.

Despite the absence of an official chaplain, Marino serves as an unpaid volunteer. Marino meets MEPs mostly on an individual basis and listens to their concerns and offers prayer. He also supports the prayer gatherings in Strasbourg that coincide with the monthly EU plenary sessions.

There are many newly-elected MEPs and some are showing interest in the prayer gatherings. Marino sees God at work in the lives of the both MEPs and EU staff.

Please pray for Marino as he travels from Skopje each month to Brussels and Strasbourg to serve God’s purpose at the heart of Europe.

Marino Mojtic with Ian and Jill Jean (above) Marino Mojtic with John Purvis (left) 9

Coronavirus, COVID-19 James Vaughton, CEO TEN

I am making a short statement on COVID-19 because the national restrictions on movement and assembly are already disrupting our partners’ vital ministries, church services and planned outreach events for Easter.

• Please pray that each of the partners of TEN will know God’s wisdom.

• Pray for the health and protection of their families and elderly relatives.

Across the UK, we face weeks and possibly months of upheaval in our every-day lives affecting our schedules and social contacts.

• Pray that TEN’s elderly supporters will know God’s peace and protection.

There are also financial implications for partners, and members of their congregations, who have jobs to help provide for their families. There is concern about loss of income as a result of the sudden economic downturn or absence due to sickness.

• Pray that God would replace any shortfall in regular income.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

Let us remember the advice of James:

There is also an impact on TEN. We are having to rearrange planned visits to our partners in Albania and North Macedonia and review arrangements for teams from UK churches who plan to visit Eastern Europe in 2020.

• Pray that TEN’s partners will feel supported by TEN during the current crisis.

• Pray for the UK church teams planning to visit Eastern Europe in 2020.

• Please pray that God would reveal creative opportunities in the midst of change.

(James 1:2-4).

These are tough words but let’s consider them and ask for God's help to enable us to live them out. Please let us know if there are specific things we can pray for you at this time. Thank you for your continued support.

10 10

PARTNER PROFILE:

Anatoli Yankov

John, Desi, Anatoli and Ezekiel Yankovi

After leading churches in two other Bulgarian cities, Anatoli and his wife, Desi moved to Svishtov (where Anatoli became a believer in his youth) in 2000 to become pastors there. About 40 people currently attend the church.

The believers range in age from children to retired grandmothers, but a special emphasis of their ministry is to children, teens and adult orphans.

Before Anatoli was a believer, he was a professional Judo competitor and trainer. Using this experience, he leads a sports-related project to train young people. Anatoli says, "We are trying not only to train them but also to give them an example of how we can live in these difficult conditions and have hope for the future."

The current group of local school children are mainly of Turkish or Roma

ethnicity. Every week in the church, Anatoli leads the ministry with children and teenagers to develop their faith in God. He clearly has a heart of love for this work.

About seven years ago, Anatoli and Desi started visiting an orphanage and have kept contact with some of the orphans, who are now independent adults, to provide practical aid and disciple them.

A major challenge and prayer need in Bulgaria is the economic crisis, lack of work or low pay. Many people leave the country to look for work; those who are left struggle with apathy, discouragement and lack of motivation to engage in church ministries.

Their vision for 2020 is: The Church is God’s family (based on Ephesians 2:19).

FACT: The number of Bulgarians migrating to other countries increased by 10.4 per cent over the 2008–2018 period.

If you would like to support Anatoli’s ministry in prayer or finances please contact Melanie Griffiths at the TEN office on melanie.griffiths@ten-uk.org or 0117 961 5161.

Source: European Data Journalism Network 11

Jovica and Savka Bacvanski

PARTNER PROFILE:

Jovica Bacvanski Jovica Bacvanski started visiting Montenegro weekly in 1999. The next year, with his wife Savka and a young baby, they moved from Serbia to the capital city, Podgorica following a definite call from God. Unlike their homeland of Serbia and Albania to the south, Montenegro has barely a handful of evangelical churches.

Jovica leads Christ Gospel Church in Podgorica. In addition to the Sunday service they hold a regular weekly prayer meeting (about 70% of the members attend!). They have teams of two who visit church members who are weak or sick, they lead a homegroup, run a preacher's training group and have recently started a children’s work. They have planted a branch church in Kamenari and want to start

a church in the popular coastal resort of Tivat.

The work has grown slowly. Some of the church members came from a regional drug rehab centre. They went into the centre as young drug addicts, got saved and found a different outlook on life and joined the church.

There have been encouragements in the past few years with several believers getting baptised and mature Christians joining with musical gifts to augment the worship group.

Their vision and prayer for this year is for GROWTH, both in numbers and in deeper spiritual life.

Jovica: "The Lord has been so good to us all of these years and we know He will always be with us."

If you would like to support Jovica’s work in prayer or finances please contact Melanie Griffiths at the TEN office on melanie. griffiths@ten-uk.org or 0117 961 5161.

FACT: Montenegro has over 625,000 inhabitants, less than 300 are evangelicals.

Source: Operation World 12

Have your prayers been answered?

by Besa Shapllo, Mission Possible Albania

Every three months TEN asks its partners in Europe to provide prayer requests for the Heart Cry prayer diary and these are sent out to supporters. Here’s a story of how prayers have been answered.

In February 2019, our partner, Besa Shapllo in Albania sent the following request: "We need to have some camp activities outside of the Bathore area. But these activities have a high cost for our budget. Our prayer request is that God makes it possible that this path be opened for our Teen Group!"

Besa explains, "Bathore is a shanty town of 7,000 people a few miles north of the capital, Tirana. It’s home to Mission Possible Albania’s Hope Centre. It is important to understand the cultural obstacles we face. There is a reluctance among families in the Bathore community to allow their children to travel outside the town.

The absence of teenage daughters of marrying age, even for a few nights, can generate awkward gossip. It would be an acute embarrassment to ask poor families in Bathore to pay for the cost of the camps and many Muslims

The teenagers experienced one of their most meaningful and beautiful weekends in their lives. are afraid of their children becoming Christians.

"The specific prayer requests were published in TEN’s Heart Cry prayer diary for 6th to 10th April 2019. God answered prayer. The children’s summer camp in July proved to be one the most fruitful camps ever organised, and the teenagers experienced one of their most meaningful and beautiful weekends in their lives. Thank you to TEN and every supporter who prayed for the Mission Possible Albania camps."

13

Puppets, purpose and prayer

by Allan Spencer, TEN Trustee

Although Boxing Day is generally a day of rest and reflection, for one family it was time to pack suitcases full of puppets and travel to North Macedonia for a 10-day mission with local TEN partner Dragan Manev and his wife Biljana.

At that moment we prayed, ‘Please help and show us how to do this God.’

Along with puppet performances, they also helped with the distribution of over 1,100 shoeboxes in schools, kindergartens and specially hired restaurants ahead of Orthodox Christmas on the 7th January. The family team, consisted of husband and wife Allan and Jane Spencer and son Richard, who are members of Keynsham Elim Church near Bristol.

Allan explains, "Although we’ve used our puppets alongside Dragan before, each opportunity to perform our Macedonian songs and sketches was special. However, two events stood out for us. Firstly, following a divinely-led request by Dragan that was favourably received by the Muslim head teacher, we presented our evangelistic performance at a school for 8–12-year olds who were predominately Muslim.

"On another occasion, we accompanied TEN partner, Pastor Tefik, a Muslim convert now working

extensively in the Roma Muslim community. We attended the launch of a completely new work in the heart of a Roma community in the town of Kichevo and planned to present our puppet performance in a building only yards from the town’s mosque.

After two hours driving, we arrived in Kichevo to find a large crowd outside the venue waiting to enter.

Squeezing through the noisy throng, with our puppets and props, we were astounded to discover that the room was already packed wall to wall with 250 expectant children and adults.

There wasn’t even space to set up our puppet theatre. At that moment we prayed, 'Please help and show us how to do this God.' We then spotted some large cardboard boxes filled 14

with Christmas shoeboxes at one end of the room. By draping a large black cloth over the boxes, we created a makeshift but useable theatre!

Three minutes later, with a few hastily grabbed puppets we began our performance and simply went for it!

"Although initially apprehensive about how we might be received we were amazed by the laughter, cheers and enthusiastic handclapping from a room crammed with so many people.

Even after 20 years of puppetry, this was a remarkable experience and one none of us will ever forget.

And once our very improvised set was over, the task of handing out 500 shoeboxes by Pastor Tefik and his team began.

"Despite the obvious crush and excitement, I must say that everyone behaved impeccably with older siblings taking care of the younger ones, who sometimes appeared to disappear beneath the swell of bodies! It was a real privilege to have been part of that inaugural work.

"Later I became aware that the Muslim director of the office venue we had used had made known his pleasure at what we had all collectively done for his local community. Indeed, he made it clear that the door would remain open for Pastor Dragan and Pastor Tefik and his team to return again for further work in the Roma community. And who knows, maybe even the puppets!"

Photos: The Spencer family with Pastor Dragan (p14); Crowds waiting to enter the hall to see the puppets (p15 top); A happy crowd with Pastor Tefik on the right (p15 bottom) 15

Team opportunities Opportunities for teams to visit Eastern Europe during 2020 It’s not too late* for your church to consider sending a team into Europe this summer.

Getting a heart for mission and investing a week of your life creates lasting friendships and life-changing experiences for every team member and especially for the children and youth attending summer camps.

Here are some thoughts from one of our ambassadors, Rachel Lee who coordinates the Ignite Team who run summer camps in Romania every year: "When you step out and do mission, to me it’s such a freedom feel.

"At home, it’s so easy to be distracted from praying and getting close to God. On summer camp you really feel that God is with you and spiritually, you wake up almost praying and when you have that time with the Lord you really feel that closeness. You get a real freedom. So, although not always easy, it’s a real blessing being on mission."

Romania

Moldova

Marinela Rotariu

Anatol Dunas

A team of 10–12 people to help run the Hospice Summer Camp for the brothers and sisters of those in our care.

Dates: 3–8 August 2020

A team of 10–14 people to help with the annual Summer Camp in Cahul for local children

Moldova

Serbia

Valeriu and Angela Munteanu

Dusan and Mirjana Beredi

A small team of six people to help run a Summer Camp in July 2020

We have opportunities for teams to help with DIY projects, Summer Camps and outreach in Novi Sad throughout 2020

*Please contact the TEN office about latest travel impacts due to COVID-19.

16 16

TEN is looking for a Prayer Ambassador Are you passionate about prayer? TEN is looking for a prayerful and enthusiastic volunteer to inspire and coordinate prayer for our partners in Europe, support and expand our network of intercessors, help to edit our quarterly Heart Cry prayer diary and coordinate and develop new prayer initiatives.

The role requires good administration, organisation and communications and it would be helpful to be familiar with digital communications, such as Mailchimp and Facebook.

Please contact Melanie Griffiths at melanie.griffiths@ten-uk.org or phone the TEN office on 0117 961 5161.

FIVE WAYS TO GIVE 1

Online A monthly or one-off gift

2

Standing order Download a form

3

4

5

Cheque

Telephone

Purchase

Made payable to TEN

Donate over the phone

Buy an Essential Gift

For more details visit ten-uk.org/give or call 01179 615161 17

MORE

iving G ABOUT

Do you want the work of TEN to grow?

As CEO, I am asking everyone who is committed to supporting the transformative work of TEN to prayerfully consider their giving to TEN. Perhaps you are a recent subscriber to our magazine and have never given financially. You may give regularly or have donated just once before. Would you be able to increase your giving, however small, or commit to a regular amount each month, especially to our Strategic Fund?

You will already know about the amazing work being done in Eastern Europe that is supported by generous donations to our annual campaign appeals, like Summer Dreams. TEN supports its 60 national partners in lots of ways and is grateful to God for the generosity of individuals and churches. What you may not appreciate as much, is the enabling role of my dedicated team of five staff based in our Bristol office. As one team member put it, “We are the pipeline that delivers the fuel to our partners.

Maintaining the pipeline is as critical as distributing the vital fuel.”

Let me give you an example.

Recently, one of our partners needed to move out of his modest home that had become unfit for habitation. He was about to become homeless! The cost of renting a suitable home had tripled. Who did he share this need with? TEN. This request set wheels in motion and our Partners and Projects Officer liaised with the partner to find out more details. The urgent need was shared with TEN’s intercessors group who joined with the office team to pray for God’s provision. As a result of donations made to its Strategic Fund, TEN was able to provide temporary financial support towards the shortfall in increased rent.

There are lots of similar stories of the 'background work' of the team.

To maintain this essential support, we require donations to our Strategic Fund. Please use the enclosed Response Slip to send us details of your donation.

Many thanks, James Vaughton CEO

18

Summer Camps in Romania

by Lucy Hynam, TEN Youth Ambassador

I first heard about the Summer Camps in Romania when I was about nine years old. It was during a conversation I overheard at youth club between my mother and a young person. Growing up, I never went to church regularly, although many of my parent’s friends were Christians.

I went on my first camp in Romania when I was 15, though in all honesty, at that time I never believed in God. In fact, I came to the camp with a list of my own unanswered questions. I think that is why I was able to connect with the young people as I too was just beginning to learn about God’s love.

Each subsequent camp visit taught me that even though we don’t share a language, love transcends languages.

Through doing art, playing sports and spending time with the children and teenagers we built a bond and trust that truly enabled us to show the love of God. I witnessed teenagers, who at the beginning had been so disinterested in what we were sharing, slowly begin to soften their hearts and many even ask for prayer. When you first meet the older children, it is so hard to imagine what they have been through as they portray an image of indifference.

Summer Camps allow these teenagers, many of whom act as a parent for their younger siblings at home, to be able to connect with

others as teenagers, if only for a few days.

During the camps I’ve felt physically and mentally exhausted, but this vulnerability has brought out skills I didn’t know I had. I had no idea of the love and joy that we as a team could feel for the young people whom we had known for such a short period of time.

ten-uk.org/summer-dreams 19

TRANSFORM EUROPE NETWORK SUMMER DREAMS APPEAL

Help sponsor a child in Eastern Europe to go to a Summer Camp in 2020

ten-uk.org/summer-dreams