Artūras Rulinskas, Pastor of the Free Christian Church in Lithuania, shares how camp ministries have played an integral part in reaching youth in the region. Rulinskas is the leader of the Mennonite Brethren Conference in Lithuania, which is a young conference of 230 members in 9 churches.
Last week, I spent some time fixing an old bicycle, actually raising it from the dead. I had to do a lot of repair work, polishing off the rust and repainting it with a new color. Changing the rusted chain to a new one. Replacing all the cables, brakes and gear shifts. Putting on a new seat. Now the bicycle doesn’t look as bad as it did before, and I think it is capable of serving another two decades.
Serving in a church in many cases is similar. We can maintain the shape or form of the church, but we can be rusted beyond belief. We are concerned with details that a church would need to address, but those are bigger and harder to deal with than changing an old, rusted bicycle chain.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Free Christian Church came into existence. As a young church, we were mostly composed of believers with no religious background, with no real knowledge of Christianity or how to follow Jesus. However, a group of Mennonites came alongside our community, and today, we are in the family of the International Community of Mennonite Brethren.
One of the ministries of Free Christian Church in Lithuania (10 small congregations) is camp ministries. This year, we celebrated our 28th summer of camp ministry. To have a camp, we prepare ahead, form a team, have team-building meetings, choose a theme, write financial aid letters, prepare games and much more. We have two camps–one for children and one for teens. Each camp is relatively small, with about 40 children and 60 teens. However, as I have learned, God has different arithmetic than people do. Often, his counting is that less is more.
Since we do not receive a large number of children attending camp, we are able to focus on quality. We have 20 camp counselors who are able to minister to the 40 kids or 60 teenagers who attend. Some counselors are seasoned and mature, while others are young and excited. To the church, this ministry is the best time of evangelism, discipleship, counsel and comfort. After camp, children already begin talking about when they will grow up and become camp counselors.
What do those camps mean to me? It is like riding a well-tuned vintage bicycle through the nicest sites of the country. It is summer, so the ride has to be enjoyable.
Prayer requests
- A teen camp occurred on August 3-9. Pray that the Holy Spirit would be working in the hearts of all participants after they attended and that they would continue to have open hearts to the work of God.
- Continued physical strength for counselors and camp organizers, unity as a team and good weather during camps.
- That the church would be strengthened because of summer ministry camps. Pray that more men would be interested and would join the camp team.
Did you know?
- Lithuania has about 3,000 lakes. Source: https://www.britannica.com/place/Lithuania
- Lithuania celebrates a pink soup festival serving Šaltibarščiai, a soup made with grated beets, chopped boiled eggs and kefir. Source: https://lithuania.travel/en/trade/why-lithuania/the-most-interesting-facts
- Lithuania is home to one of the oldest trees in Europe, the Stelmužė oak, which is more than 1,000 years old. Source: https://www.treeoftheyear.org/previous-years/2017/Dub-v-Stelmuze
This article has been posted by Christian Leader staff. The Christian Leader is the magazine of U.S. Mennonite Brethren.
