On Tuesday we traveled across the Volga River to a beautiful place with cabins and lots of space for walking and playing games and swimming.
We made lunch together and then divided into discussion groups for Bible study. We talked about the story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery ( John 8:1-11) also John 1:29-36. We shared how it makes us feel when God forgives our sins and talked about why it is important to confess our sins. Nadya reminded us about how John Wesley had told his small groups to meet daily and confess their sins to one another. We did an exercise using Shoe strings and tied knots in them for each personal sin as we silently confessed them to God. Then one on one with partner we exchanged our strings and we prayed for our partner and untied the knots as we prayed until the string was again free. We then spoke confidentially with our partner about our specific sins and we prayed for each other. Tears were shed and hearts were lifted to bear each other’s burdens and to know how much alike we are (my partner and I shared many of the same sins)and how precious each of us is to God. We talked about the laws in Deuteronomy and the law if love in Christ.
We had another discussion about all the behind the scenes people who support the heroes of the Bible but are not often named or much talked about.Yet they had a very important role in the work the hero was called by God to do. In fact they were also called by God to provide the support and protection and encouragement that the hero needed to complete the task.
We went down to the beach and drew pictures in the sand representing aspect of who God is. People drew the sun, a rainbow, a tree, a church, family, mother and child,mountain among other pictures We also found something to represent who we are to God. Several people use a plant or a leaf. The plant is put in the ground to grow where God wants it and might be seen to be a weed by some but it is hardy and able to grow in difficult soil like a beach of sand because of God ‘s love and care and even flowers there. Or we can be a leaf in God’s tree and think about what that means to be nourished directly from the tree of God.
Angel ornaments were made and decorated to give as gifts to others as a gift from the camp group.
We had special time of sharing and stayed up later so we could pray as Nancy Hoffman’s goddaughter had brain surgery in Tulsa. We were getting with then and had the privilege of playing with them through our night as she had surgery. Currently she is doing well in ICU.
We had about 8 people stay overnight and 3 children. The rest if the group is coming back and forth from their homes to stay with just during the day. Our beds were really comfortable when I finally went to bed at 11 pm. After evening closing prayer there were still notes to make and blogs to write.
Written by Lauranne Harris
