Pastor Artur Pold, director of Camp Gideon in Estonia, wrote the following update from Estonia:
Dear Friends!
We have completed our 19th season of camp ministry. This was a special year. We had 14 events that involved 1300 people including children and adults. Below are some testimonies of children from our church who have experienced camp.
One other special thing is that we had orphans from Russia who were adopted by Russians or taken into foster families. I was talking to staff of the charity organisation «MIR» and they have told me that the kids were crying for three days wanting to come back to camp after they’ve left it. [Stoneworks, Love Russia and MIR partnered together to make this camp happen.]
This summer ministry teams from Brazil, USA, Russia, Britain, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, Australia, Denmark, Latvia. God id expanding our horizons making this camp international and cross-denominational.
Mike Cantrell from a United Methodist Church in Athens, GA who has been serving as a missionary to Russia for 10 years, has become the true friend. He is helping us collect funds for our ministry and is bringing teams to serve at camp. With God’s help we are hoping to rebuild the guard’s house and turn it into a house for missionaries. We hope this house will be a recreation for missionaries who serve in Russia and other places and who need a break. We’d like to build two apartments, one on each floor, so two families could stay there at the same time.
Now that the camp sessions are over, we still have builders, mechanics, water and heating system operators and an artist working at camp. We are finishing up walls in our main white housing. We’ll continue the work until the cold is here.
We are waiting for the missionary bus from Germany and we’ll do outreach in Johvi. The driver and the bus will stay at the camp.
We thank you all for your prayers and support.
Special thanks to:
- Asbury Methodist Church
- Ludmila Plett from Germany
- Saint James Methodist Church from Athens, GA
- Estlandskomiteen, Norway
- The leadership of Methodist Church of Estonia and Taavi Hollman and many more faithful friends!
Respectfully, Arthur Pold
Children’s Testimonies–
Amina: I liked being in the camp. God has changed me in the camp. I want to come here again.
Gabriella: I like camp Gideon. I spent really good time in the camp. I liked to take part in the games, competitions and skits. During the camp God taught me to pray and it became easier for me to do it. God has changed all the kids. I would really like to come here again.
Natasha: I really liked camp Gideon. It was very funny. I liked everything in the camp. God was helping me. God’s changed my attitude to all the people during the camp. I’d really like to come in the camp Gideon again.
Martha: My name is Martha and I liked the camp, it was really funny and wonderful. I really liked the games and crafts. God has been working with me in the camp, He kept giving to me strength and energy to play every day and pray more confident. God’s changed the kids in the camp their obedience and mood. I’d like to come here every year, because I liked it here.
Dasha: I liked the camp very much. It was funny interesting and nice here. I liked that we had played every day, been doing different crafts. Every day God has been helping me in different activities. God’s given me the new friends in the camp. I would really like to come back here.
Nikita: I liked being in the camp. God has touched me in the camp. I began to obey the adults. I’d like to come here again.
Yanek: I liked the camp. There was no fighting here. The crafts were interesting. I’d like to come here in the winter.
