Darryl - Youth Camp Program

June is the time of waiting.

Recruiting is an on-going thing, but our intense period of recruiting is usually from August- January 31. In September the Camp Directors Meet and report on their experiences with the American teams, evaluate the Summer’s program, and negotiate and sign the protocol of agreement. Also during the Fall we edit the now completed three-year rotational camp curriculum to stay current and fresh. In February the teams are assigned and Team Leader Retreat takes place while in March Team Training is conducted. In May we have Ukrainian Team Training. Most teams travel to and work in Ukraine during the month of July.

And then there is June.

June is the month of anticipation. Teams have been holding regular meetings from March until now (usually 12 team meetings). There are last minute preparations and perhaps a final fund raising push. But June can be the moment of quiet before the flurry of camp life. For new team members it can be exciting and nerve-wracking. For team leaders still working through the budget figures it can be challenging.

For you it can be an opportunity: an opportunity to pray.

Whether you are a team member, a supporter, or a curious visitor–we need you. Our teams know they cannot survive without God’s blessing, grace, and help. They cannot survive without fervent prayer.

If you are not traveling to Ukraine this Summer can you be a true “HDTM” (Honorary Distance Team Member) by praying. We believe this is a work God has invited us to participate in. We believe that he also invites those who cannot personally travel to Ukraine to be a team member through prayer.

So, below are the teams. Will you pray for them, their members, and leaders? Will you pray for the camps, camp staff, and children? Pray not for our success–pray that God is glorified and hearts are touched.

Team Agape – Western Ukraine: Camps Smerichka & Edelweiss (Team Leaders: Geoff Casella & Terry Montgomery)

Team Imagine – Eastern Ukraine: Camp Dzerzhinyets (Team Leaders: Terry Kile & Sue Ann Mills)

Team Inspire – Eastern Ukraine: Camp Beryoska (Team Leaders: Stephen Pieroni & Steven Potter)

Team Love Wins – Eastern Ukraine: Camp Yastrebok (Team Leaders: Robert & Sandra Brock)

Team Mayak – Central Ukraine: Camp Mayak (Team Leaders: Virginia Stubbs & Glenda Moore)

It is impossible to say with certainty what the numbers will be–but we anticipate working with 2,000 children or more. Please pray for the children and camp staff that they will be open to our team members and to God’s Word. Pray that our teams will have a positive impact for God.

We need you as a part of our team. The least you can do is the most you can do: pray!

Thank you and blessings!

Yesterday was an exhausting but exhilarating day of training for our Ukrainian team members! The picture posted is a “translating triad” exercise where each person is given a different Russian parable or story to share orally in the triad. One shares in Russian or Ukrainian, one translates into English, and the third person evaluates the translator. After about five minutes they rotate among themselves where the one who translated now speaks the Russian/Ukrainian, the one who evaluated now translates into English, and the first one to share now evaluates (and so on until all three members have a chance to translate and be evaluated). Other items were covered in training: what to expect in camp, a review of last year’s program, a review of curriculum, what to expect from Americans, etc. Much emphasis was placed on practical experience. The Ukrainian team members shared their own journeys of faith with each other, they completed activities that will be used in their teaching at camp, and they discussed their own reactions to camps and working with American team members. Veteran team members also shared their insights about how to work as translators and team members.

Much thanks goes to my assistant, Inna Kuzmenko who co-led the seminar and to Dasha Novikova, Director of Operations for EEM’s Donetsk office who started the training off with an introduction to the work of EEM in Ukraine. Certainly, a lot of thanks goes to these translators who gave up a Saturday, some traveling several hours to come to Donetsk. They are truly a dedicated group. As I told them, I am so blessed to be allowed to work with some of the greatest people on both sides of the world! Today is Sunday and I will be traveling an hour or so outside of Donetsk to speak to a house church led by one of our translators, Sasha Rodnaev. His wife, Juliya is also one of our translators. Sasha and Juliya are wonderful young Christians who work so hard to spread the word of Jesus throughout Ukraine. They open their own home every week to host the church in their community. I am very excited to be able to be a part of their assembly and to encourage them. Please keep the 2013 Youth Camp Program in your prayers! It’s only a month and a half away for some of our teams to begin their work at camp! Love Wins!

This weekend is our annual Ukrainian Team Training Seminar in Donetsk, Ukraine! As always it is a joy to spend time with our Ukrainian Team members from across Ukraine. Each year I am impressed with the dedication and quality of our team members. These young men and women are incredibly intelligent, dedicated, and sincere. They want to do the best possible work and they eagerly look forward to being with the American team members in the Summer. For those of you who have never participated in the Youth Camp experience, I wish you could meet and get to know these wonderful friends and co-workers. I am eager to reconnect with familiar friends. But there is also a bit of sadness, too. For each year someone may have had to move on to another country or to a profession that will not allow them to take off and work in the camps. This is the hard part of my job: missing my friends who for some reason or another cannot join us. I take comfort in the fact that they are with us in spirit and that they would join us in a moment if they could. This is a microcosm of what the youth camp program is all about: building eternal relationships and friendships. It is the fulfillment of the two most important commands: loving God and loving others. Every ministry worth the effort focuses upon these two primary tasks. If you wish to measure the success of any endeavor then hold it up to love. Does the ministry promote love of God? Does it demonstrate love toward others? Ministry is not ministry if these two elements are not at is heart. Please keep me in your prayers as I travel to be with my Ukrainian team members this week!

There is a child in Ukraine who needs your influence and love. He doesn’t need your money so much as he needs your friendship. Will you give yourself? In July, five American teams will travel to Eastern Europe to serve and to build relationships with the children of Ukraine. Some of these kids are orphans, children whose parents are drug users, abusive, or absent. Other children are kids from more traditional families. As in America, Ukrainian families may be single parent, stressed, irreligious, nominally religious, atheistic, or even devout. They still need God’s love and adult friendships. What’s more, they want to make friends with American adults like you. You may wonder, “What can I offer?” You offer God’s love wearing blue jeans. You offer friendship. You offer the Bible (our teams distribute approximately 10,000 Bibles and Biblical materials each summer). You offer the training in Biblical character that Ukrainian educators, camp directors, and parents want their children to have. And you offer hope for an entire nation. Our teams are already formed for 2013. They are going—and they are going to make a difference. So what are your plans for the Summer of 2014? Do you have places to go and people to serve? If not, we have some ideas!

We’re just a few days away from 2013’s team training! Nearly 50 people are planning on gathering in Dallas to prepare for this Summer’s EEM Camp Program in Ukraine. Speakers for the training include Darryl Willis (Program Director), Inna Kuzmenko (Ukrainian Program Coordinator), Terry Kile (Team Imagine Leader), and Virginia Stubbs (Team Mayak Leader). Special presentations will be made by Team Imagine and by Team Agape member Nan Noles. Topics to be covered include “A Day at Camp”, “Culture and Connecting”, “The Care and Feeding of Translators”, and “Traveling and the Trip.” Basics in language, camp curriculum, team funds, and religion in Ukraine will also be explored. Team Training is an essential part of team preparation and all team members are expected to participate in the event. The success of short term mission efforts is often determined by the effectiveness of pre-trip planning and preparation. This is especially true when roughly half of the team members for 2013 are new to the Youth Camp experience in Ukraine. Please keep our teams in your prayers as we enter into this time of intense planning and preparation! Blessings and peace!

Fourteen men and women gathered at the Hyatt Place Grapevine Mills this past weekend to prepare for our 2013 Eastern European Camp season! Team Leaders for five Teams heading to Ukraine and one team heading to Latvia met to discuss their roles, brainstorm ideas, share their experiences, and seek God’s guidance. Each year I am impressed with the quality of men and women God raises up to  lead these teams. This year has been no different! Keep these men and women in your prayers: Robert and Sandra Brock (Team Love Wins), Geoff Casella and Terry Montgomery (Team Agape), Steven Potter and Stephen Pieroni (Team Inspire), Terry Kile and Sue Ann Mills (Team Imagine), Viriginia Stubbs and Glenda Moore (Team Mayak), and Eric Williamson (Team Hope, Latvia). We also ask your prayers for the EEM staff overseeing this ministry: Inna Kuzmenko (Ukrainian Camp Coordinator) and me. We love what we do, but we are also sobered by the tremendous responsibility and opportunity we have been given by God: to plant God’s word into the hearts and hands of the children and adults of Ukraine and Eastern Europe.

We now have over 50 team members signed up to go to Ukraine this Summer! Nearly half are new team members. Now the teams will begin their preparation in earnest! We begin with Team Leader Retreat in a few weeks where team leaders, both veterans and novices will meet together in Dallas to go over the details of leading a team. New team leaders will be mentored by the more experienced ones. This is a time of prayer and planning. A month later in March all of the teams will gather in Dallas for Team Training. This intense weekend is designed to acquaint team members with the culture of Ukraine, the curriculum to be taught, and to build unity and team. It will be a time of excitement, encouragement, and equipping. Can you help? We have five teams and 50 people who need your prayers. Will you pray that God will unite all of our team members and equip them to accomplish his great mission in Ukraine? Will you pray that he will build them up, strengthen them, and open their eyes and hearts to the people of Ukraine? Will you pray their work truly reflects the love and power of the God of all nations? Remember: the least you can do, is the most you can do—pray. If you would like to know more about the Youth Camp Program or EEM in general, please explore this website and our main organizational website at  www.eem.org. Or feel free to contact me with your questions.

January 31, 2013 is the deadline for all applications and recommitments for the EEM Youth Camp Program! Are you going to be one of those who will impact the children of Ukraine this Summer?

If you want to be part of an amazing adventure with the potential to change the nation of Ukraine for good, now is the time to get on board!

But why? Why are we so committed to the camps of Ukraine? Here are some things to consider:

• The camps we serve are secular camps. These are not Bible camps. So our influence is more important than ever! Many of these kids are not attending Bible camps.
• Furthermore, since these are not Bible camps, we are not supplanting anything that should be done by local Christians. If anything, we are supplementing the local churches’ influence and efforts.
• The camp directors and children of Ukraine are responsive to American teams and very interested in making friends with our team members. They invited us to come. No one forced or manipulated their way into these camps. Instead the President of the Camp Directors Association of Ukraine requested EEM to send teams in order to teach biblical character and participate in cultural exchange.
• The relationships developed here are long term and on-going. Thanks to social media, many of our team members maintain regular contact with kids, translators, and camp staff throughout the year.

 Please go to our “forms and costs” link and follow these directions:  complete the application form. Before you select the “submit” button on the form, print it off. Click “submit” and as soon as you do email me at dwillis@eem.org letting me know you have done this. It is essential for you to hold on to your copy of the application.

Are you ready to make a difference? Sign up today!