Darryl - Youth Camp Program

Following Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday we now have the opportunity to give!

Giving Tuesday is an opportunity to step back from the spending frenzy of the holiday weekend and consider those whose needs are met through the generosity of others. 

When I served as a local minister I went through giving campaigns (generally referred to as “Capital Stewardship” campaigns). Most often the purpose was to raise money for new facilities or building upgrades. While these kinds of campaigns are needed, I’d like to suggest giving opportunities that are less focused on comfort and more focused on others.

I’ve heard people quote Malachi 3:10 as a motive for giving:

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this…and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it…

I’m not very comfortable with our use of this passage. First, I’m not certain that we can apply this passage directly to ourselves and secondly, I think Jesus provides us with a more powerful motivation in the Sermon on the Mount.

…I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends his rain on the righteous and the unrighteous…be perfect [or complete, whole], therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

And then Paul in 2 Corinthians 8:7-9

…see that you also excel in this grace of giving. I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity o your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich…

Giving is never about receiving. If I am seeking a blessing or a benefit from my giving then I’m missing something of the point, aren’t I? We are called to give because we are children of our Father and he gives extravagantly to everyone. We are disciples of Jesus who became poor for the benefit of others (Philippians 2 speaks of how he emptied himself and became a slave for our benefit). As disciples we are to become like our teacher–Jesus. As he gave up for others, we give up for others.

Naturally, I am going to promote Eastern European Mission because I believe in what we are doing: providing Bibles for those in Eastern Europe who want to know more about God: providing Bibles for public schools in Ukraine, Croatia, and Romania; providing Arabic, Farsi, and Urdu Bibles for refugees pouring into Greece, the Western parts of Eastern Europe, Austria and Germany.

I encourage you to find someone to give to. Whether it be EEM or some other non-profit. But give because you are the child of the great giving God. You are the sibling of the sacrificial Son of God, the Messiah. 

Give because you can’t avoid giving–it’s your nature.

^{*If you would like to make a gift to EEM you can select the “DONATE” option on our dropdown menu, you can do the same on EEM’s main website at www.eem.org or you can mail a check to our Dallas office at} 

^{Eastern European Mission
P.O. Box 670928
Dallas, Texas 75367-0928 USA}

I have a gratitude journal I keep sporadically. In it I’ve written small essays on rain, daughters, Ukraine, sunshine and a number of people, situations, and things I thank God for.

There are a lot of folks who suffer and go through difficult times. It has always amazed me that those who seem to really suffer tend to be more thankful.

I remember Flora Dollar. Her son lived with her and was totally dependent upon her. He suffered from severe mental disabilities and he experienced very limited mobility. Flora, herself was dirt poor. She also was in terrible health.

As a youth minister in my early 20s I would visit her from time to time just to sit and have conversation. She had her own way of serving others. She wrote note cards to the sick and to the bereaved. Physically she couldn’t get out of her home much to serve others. But she could write notes and she could pray.

She told me once that she felt compelled to do these things because peopled didn’t have it as well as she did! They needed her encouragement and prayers.

It is amazing how those of us who are comfortable tend to complain when things get a little difficult. It’s amazing how we who have so much cry the loudest at discomfort. Now, I can’t point fingers at any particular group. To do so would be unfair and ungracious. I can only look in the mirror and point at myself.

We are called to live grateful lives. We are called to recognize that even if we have troubles and difficulties we have been given so much.

What am I thankful for?

• A God who loves me and a diverse community that is dedicated to loving others.
• A group of likeminded individuals who are so committed to loving kids in Ukraine that they will give up vacation time, raise funds, and even spend their own funds to serve children in youth camps.
• Team Leaders who step up to the plate to lead these great teams.
• An incredible staff at EEM who have a vision for the people of Eastern Europe, who truly believe that God’s word will not return to him empty.
• To work with some of the best people on both sides of the world.

What about you? What are you thankful for?

Politics is about governing a nation. Christianity is about loving and serving the world.

Today is November 3, 2016. In less than a week the United States will select their new president. The campaigns have been filled with accusations, insults, and fear. No matter who you vote for, it seems most people feel there should have been a better option.

I can’t give you another candidate for President.

But I can give you an opportunity to transcend politics.

Love.

Don’t worry, this is not a post to tell people how to vote. Instead, I’d like for you to lift your gaze beyond November 8, 2016. Lift it to the summer of 2017 and beyond!

You have an opportunity to transcend politics and power plays by extending love to children in Ukraine!

In Ukraine there are children whose lives have been negatively affected by the conflicts in the Eastern part of their country. Many are refugees. Many have a relative who is serving in the Ukrainian military. Some have lost relatives in the conflict. 

They all need a little bit of hope. They need a friend who can offer another perspective.

Perhaps that friend can be you.

How about it? Explore our website and see if this is something you can do. Complete the online application and get the process started. Maybe 2017 is the year for you to start something new.

We’re not asking you to govern a nation. We’re asking you to do something much bigger than that: serving and loving the world!

Fall is the time for recruitment and travel. It’s always a blast to be able to visit with university students, campus ministries, and churches to tell the story about the youth camp program. The reaction is usually the same: people are amazed at the opportunities!

Think about it: where else can you go into a secular youth camp and study the Bible with and distribute Bibles to kids? Where can you do this with the blessing of the camp directors? 

Ukraine wants their children to develop good character, so they are quite happy to have us come to teach character qualities like kindness, honesty, courage, patience, and discipline using the Bible as the source material. They see us as partners and an added benefit to the children’s camp experience.

Whoever influences our children will have the greatest impact on the future of our country.

This is what we are being told. 

Can you imagine this? Don’t you want to be part of something like this: to change a country–for good?

Granted not everyone is cut out to work with kids. But if you are, you should check out the opportunity to serve on one of our short term mission projects. Explore the rest of our website. See if this is the kind of service you’d like to be a part of. 

So far I’ve been able to tell this story to campuses in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Texas. Want to hear more about it? Give me a shout out! I’d love to talk with you and tell you our stories.

Fall’s the time to start seriously considering signing up to travel to Ukraine in 2017! 

Don’t you want to go?

It’s always great when team members begin to share their experiences with others. A big shout out to Daniel Casella who has been chronicling the experiences of Team Agape, one of our oldest camp teams who was operating in Ukrainian camps since before the official EEM program started.

You can read Daniel’s report on Team Agape on his blog “The Lion is Alive”. Click here to read it. 

Once a young disciple visited an aged monk who lived in the desert. The monk had a reputation as one who knew the heart of God. He was gentle, kind, and always willing to serve and to listen to the hurts of others. 

When he entered the cave, the young man found the small, frail, old man. The monk asked how he could be of help and the young disciple said, “Sir, I want to be a true follower of Jesus–one who knows his heart.” 

“What is your discipline, your rule, my son?”

“Well, I read my chapter, I say prayers, I give to the poor, and I attend the services.”

The little monk smiled and then slowly stood up. As he stood he stretched out his hands and gradually the little old man didn’t seem so little–his presence seemed to fill the cave, his eyes lit up, and his finger-tips seem to burst with light: a holy flame! 

“Why not, instead, be consumed?” he asked.

Too often Christianity has been perceived as a pep rally on Sundays followed by whatever on Mondays. In America we live in a society where still the majority claims to be Christian but lives don’t seem to be any different. It is a world where Christians are perceived to be no different than anyone else.

I really don’t think any of us want to be this way. We want to be different. We don’t want to be satisfied with a little devotional here, with being generally nice and polite there—we want to be consumed!

I think of an interpreter friend who has spent the last few years going back and forth from the Ukrainian controlled side of Donetsk to the separatist controlled side delivering food to those in need–food he bought with his own money. He’s been arrested and interrogated more than once. He also provides funds for adolescent orphans going through trade school–to help them with their living expenses.

I think of several young adults who serve as our interpreters who also dedicate their lives as volunteer mentors for children in Ukraine. I picture Anne Boyd, a beautiful lady who has dedicated her life to the poor in Kovosna County in Romania. She is in her 80s and if you were to ask her when she is going to retire, you’d be told in no uncertain terms that there is no word in the Greek or Hebrew for “retirement”!

Then there’s Madeline in Romania who has risked the ire of her family (and her physical well being) to follow Jesus. There is Massoud who is risking his very life by leaving Islam to become a follower of Jesus. His dream is to return to his country of origin to share this new life of joy he has found!

You can think of others, too! People who are single-minded in their focus–who have purpose and who aren’t going to give up.

These are people who know what it means to be consumed. I think they learned it from someone else who was consumed with God’s kingdom: the one we call Jesus. Philippians 2 sums up his life—he did not consider equality with God something to exploit but he emptied himself and became a slave—for us. Why? Out of love. Every choice he made—read the gospels and you can see it—centered around rescuing his creation. The times he healed people—it wasn’t to prove he was God—it was because, as God, he loved his creation and was moved to heal it.

And this is what he calls us to. To be consumed, like he was. But how do we do this? First of all it is a supernatural job—we have to be open to God’s Spirit at work within us. But there is one main thing, if we really grasp it, I believe will make everything fall into place.

Not easily into place because none of this is easy!

Are you ready?

Love.

 That’s it. Jesus nails it in Matthew 22:36-39 with the great commandments: love God and love your neighbor. You get this straight—everything falls into place. Paul says it, James says it, John says it—it is this love for neighbor that fully wraps up what following God is all about.

I’m not talking about some nice feeling. I’m not talking about tolerance. I’m talking about a serious, gutsy, decision to do what is best for others: a love of others that is built on the foundation of love for God.

This kind of love catches you on fire. You start seeing hurt and you ache to bring healing. You see loneliness and you are compelled to bring kindness. You see hatred and you burn to sow peace.

When you give yourself up to love, when you truly begin to focus on others—for the sake of Jesus—it will catch you on fire!

So, are you content to read your chapter, give some money, sing some songs, pray, and go to church? Why not, instead be consumed?

There are many opportunities to serve others. If you are reading this blog you have already shown yourself intrigued by what we do in Ukraine. I hope you will consider giving your time to serve children in Ukraine. Will you take the sacrifice to serve? Will you give up your time? Are you willing to wear yourself out for kids in the name of Jesus?

Then perhaps you need to consider spending some time in Ukraine this next Summer! We’re recruiting volunteers for the Summer of 2017. Are you willing to be consumed for kids?

Think about it!

by Glenda Moore, Team Mayak

Glenda is team leader of Team Mayak that serves Camp Mayak in the Poltava region. If you want to know more about the EEM Youth Camp Program, please connect with us through the website!

Let me just start by saying that I haven’t actually physically been lit on fire besides the times I’ve burned myself cooking or the time the gas in the fireplace decided to flame away my eyelashes, eyebrows, and some of my hair… I haven’t actually been completely submerged in the flames. 

However, I have been lit on fire many times in my life by these people that carry these torches and quite literally if you stand too close to them you will be swept away in the flames of their passions.

I love the fire starters, the torch carriers. 

These people get me. They are closest to my heart. They’ve been lit on fire and they passionately light other people on fire for the greater good. They don’t apologize for loving people with their whole being. They just do it and they do it with so much joy and commitment that you too start to spread the fire. 

I’d like to say thank you for those who’ve lit up the trail and who continue on so effortlessly catching people’s hearts and pointing them in the direction of love. Love is the answer. It catches people off guard. It sacrifices and forgives. Love doesn’t keep score because it’s too busy caring more for others. There is no ego attached. It’s puts up with anything and at the same time looks for the very best in others. 

The fire starters who’ve lit me on fire repeatedly care far more for the futures of “our children” than anything else. They are compassionate and honest and focused on changing the world. These people reside on all parts of the planet. They are American teachers, doctors, lawyers, business men… they are Ukrainian and German and from all political parties … They are all the people that pour themselves completely into the one belief that we are all called to this task, to change the world, and I am with them 100%. And I too am a shameless, reckless, fire starter.

The people that I love on both sides of this planet want to catch you on fire. 

They don’t want to burn your house down, singe your hair and eyebrows off: they want to catch your soul on fire with the deepest love possible for all children. 

I want to throw you a little warning here… Once you’ve become lit on fire you cannot be unlit. You are forever changed. People will talk about you, talk about your craziness…

And people will be lit on fire because of you. 

Do you want to be on fire? 

Glenda Moore and a Ukrainian “fire starter” at Camp Mayak. These children are waiting for you!

As of this week our teams have begun their journeys to Ukraine, staring with Team Roza from Glenwood Church of Christ in Tyler, TX. We ask you for your continued prayers for safe journey and for effective ministry.

This is always the most exciting time for a team. They have been working non-stop since team formation, February 1 (some began even sooner than that—almost as soon as they returned from last year’s trip in mid summer).

We are very pleased with the great group of team members and interpreters who will be working in the camps this year. We also look forward to working with a camp new to us in Lviv—Camp Druzhba (Friendship).

As always, the success of any endeavor is never dependent upon just one person. I’d like to thank all of our American team leaders: Geoff & Sherry Casella (Team Agape—Bammel Church and Memorial Church in Houston), Terry Kile & Sue Ann Mills (Team Imagine—Southside Church in Fort Worth, South Fork Church in Winston-Salem and too many other churches to name!), Glenda Moore & Tami Carroll (Team Mayak—Southwest Church in Amarillo), Jim & Sally McConnell (Team Mudbugs—White’s Ferry Road Church in West Monroe), Marjorie Hollingsworth, Jerry & Elizabeth Frazier (Team Roza—Glenwood Church), and Ray & Julie Castellano (Team Spirit—Burleson Church, Burleson, TX). Their leadership has been exemplary. 

We cannot leave out our Ukrainian team leaders when we speak of teamwork and honor to whom honor is due! Our Ukrainian team leaders are Alina Shin (Agape & Spirit), Valentina Shvydkaya (Imagine), Stas Kuropyatnikov (Mudbugs), Dmitry Pashchenko (Mayak), and Andrei Zolotuhkin (Roza).

Not named are all of our American and Ukrainian team members! We just don’t have the space to list every name. But every one of them is precious and an important part of this beautiful effort. We are all co-workers, friends, and family!

Finally, I must recognize two very important team players. Inna Kuzmenko has been working with camp programs for years beginning with World Wide Youth Camps and since 2009 has been my faithful and very professional assistant. She began her work for EEM under Denise Baggett a few years before. Inna is our Ukrainian Camp Coordinator who serves a liaison between camp directors, the Association of Workers of Children’s Health Resort Establishments (LITO), and our interpreters. She also organizes in country travel arrangements for the teams (among many other duties).

Finally there is my friend, Alexander Pishcheyko who is the President of the Association of Workers of Children’s Health Resort Establishments (or LITO). This was the organization that in the beginning invited us to come into the camps of Ukraine. He has introduced us to camp directors across the nation, has advocated for us, and has located camps for us to partner with for the last several years. It is because of Alexander’s advocacy, EEM has had the opportunity to enter into several camps throughout the years. Each summer we travel together to view the various camps and how our teams interact with the various camp staff and children.

Without these wonderful friends and team players (and those who have participated in the past) there would never have been a Youth Camp Program.

I honor all of these amazing people and praise God that I am able to participate with them each year. As I have constantly said: I am one of the most fortunate people alive—I get to work with the best people on both sides of the globe!

by Daniel Casella, Searcy, AR

EEM Event at Searcy, AR

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. –Paul, the apostle, Ephesians 6:12

Recently, EEM hosted a dinner here in Searcy and shared the amazing stories of God’s continued work in Eastern European countries. From Bible teaching opportunities to newly opened doors to Bible distribution miracles. Whether the stories unfold faster or slower than what some might prefer, they’re all unfolding at God’s pace, to which EEM has learned of no better way to respond than with the sentiment “Godspeed.”

Dirk Smith, vice president of development, who gave the presentation said something that speaks to the pace God has set lately for EEM’s mission.

“People ask me all the time, ‘Man, how do you travel so much?’ My response to that is I can’t not travel. I can’t not tell this story, because I want to share it with as many people as I possibly can because it’s truly a blessing to be a part of this.”

As Dirk continued, he told dinner guests about the Youth Camp program and the Ukrainian government’s invitation to teach Christian ethics in the secular youth camps.

“Here’s the challenge: There are 500 camps and not a whole lot of EEM staff. We’ll do all the heavy lifting. We have four years of curriculum – in Ukrainian, in Russian and in English. We will find the interpreters for you. But you have to go. You’ve got to put together the team and go.”

To that call, six teams have responded this year.

======================

Team Training, Dallas, TX

Two weekends ago, EEM hosted its Team Training retreat in Grapevine, Texas to help these teams prepare to go full speed into the spiritual battles each will face – now, as they continue preparing, and later when they arrive to their respective host camps. Activities of the training weekend met three needs: mental preparation by learning what to expect this year, emotional preparation through spending time together as teams, and spiritual preparation in praying for Ukraine all throughout the weekend.

The teams were blessed to hear the perspectives of three Ukrainian team members who are presently in country. Each of the teams were able to receive the firsthand perspectives from these Ukrainian team members that will aid them in avoiding unnecessary hang-ups and keeping God’s pace when they get to camp.

Although I will not be able to join my team this year, I was welcomed to come to the training weekend to assist with the event. I was there to help, contribute to discussion, and wish the teams Godspeed in person as much as possible.

When Christians think of “camp”, what probably comes to mind is the idea of a place you go to find retreat. To some extent, these camps in Ukraine are a retreat, especially for some of the Ukrainian children who attend. To a much deeper effect, though, these camps are more like boot camps when we remember the spiritual warfare that is the very reason these teams go.

Though I can’t go this year, I remind myself that an invaluable element to the spiritual battles these teams will encounter is the distance team members: those who lift them up in prayer, contribute funds as a blessing from God, help purchase or donate supplies for the trip, or those who in any other way offer support and assist these teams’ preparation.

As we continue to wish these teams Godspeed and join God’s team as their distance team members, let us always keep in mind that at God’s speed and pace the mission will be served. Godspeed, EEM Youth Camp Program teams!

“God’s work, done God’s way, will never lack God’s supply.” – Hudson Taylor

Daniel Casella is a veteran team member of Team Agape (Bammel Church of Christ, Houston). He has been participating with the EEM Camp program for several years. 

On February 19 & 20 team leaders from North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, New Mexico, and Louisiana gathered together to begin their plans for traveling to Ukraine (and one team to Latvia) this summer. Each of these incredible individuals are dedicated to the task and passionate about sharing God’s words not only with children, but staff and interpreters this summer.

The team leaders represent seven teams. I’d like to ask you to pray for them by team. Pray they raise their funds, pray their hearts and minds will be prepared, and pray they will go in the power and strength of God. 

Here are the teams:

Team Agape (hosted by the Bammel Church in Houston, TX). They travel to the Ivano Frankivsk region in Ukraine. Theirs is the third session of Camp Smerichka.

Team Hope (hosted by the Crestmont Church in Pottstown, PA). This team is sort of an “auxiliary” to our program. They utilize our materials but serve orphanages near Riga, Latvia.

Team Imagine (hosted by the Southside Church in Fort Worth and the South Fork Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina). They will be in the Rivne region near Ostroh, Ukraine. The camp they serve is Camp Korchaginets.

Team Mayak (hosted by the Southwest Church in Amarillo). They travel to the Poltava region of central Ukraine where they serve a camp dedicated primarily to orphans: Camp Mayak.

Team Mudbugs (hosted by the White’s Ferry Road Church in West Monroe, LA). This is a brand new team who will be serving a camp in the Lviv region of Ukraine. The camp is new for us and it’s name is Camp Druzhba (friendship).

Team Roza (hosted by the Glenwood Church in Tyler, TX). Roza also works in the region of Ivano Frankivsk at Camp Edelweiss.

Team Spirit (hosted by the Burleson Church in Burleson, TX). Spirit will be working in the first session of Camp Smerichka in the Ivano Frankivsk region of Ukraine.

These leaders represent nearly 60 people who will be traveling this year. They will pair up with teams of interpreters and together they will share their lives with kids (and staff) and share character lessons from the Bible. Their work is powerful and meaningful. And it touches lives. For good.

For those interested in the program please explore the website and be certain to contact us!