The Morgan-Gurrs

It’s Thursday afternoon of camp – and it’s been raining! The first significant period of rain for the two weeks of camps we’ve done.

This week is the camp for our youngest children, and it has been so much fun – the children have seemed very small compared to the previous camp, and much more willing to do things. The leaders have been great, and very willing to join in everything and be with the kids…..having fun!

We have been taking the morning teaching sessions, looking at Paul’s third journey and subsequent journey to Rome. One morning turned out to be interesting as the electricity dropped out just as we were starting! It took Kay back to her roots, as she carried on without anything technical and told the story straight. It may well have been one of the best morning meetings!

The evening meetings have been on significant encounters with Jesus, each session taken by a different person every night.

Each year on this camp we look at the biography of a well known Christian – and this year we were learning about Joni Eareckson Tada, someone who has been a huge help to many people over the years, including many on the camp.

Joni was kind enough to record a message for the campers, and we played it to them last night – the looks on their faces were amazing and the gasp audible as they realized Joni was speaking to THEM! But no where near as amazed as some of the leaders who were thrilled that Joni had taken the time to record the message. It was one of those precious memories to be stored away and appreciated for a long time to come.

We have one more day to go – the sun has come out again, and we’re hoping it will be dry enough for the bonfire tonight. We all go home tomorrow evening after a final day of learning, swimming, horse riding and much much more.

Hungarton’s “Aspire” camp was great – the leaders worked hard and served well, the campers listened, joined in and had a huge amount of fun (along with the leaders!). This week the site is occupied by the youngsters of St.Luke’s Church, Thurnby.

This week also sees the start Children Worldwide’s “One Way” camps both in the UK and in Latvia. The UK camp is the last of 3 camps at Dalesdown, and this one is the children’s camp. Please pray for Sarah Covington and her excellent team of leaders, and for Jon Bonner who is the speaker for the week.

The Latvian One Way camps are “English Speaking” camps, where the campers can learn basic English, as well as hear about the Gospel. Please pray for Kristaps as he directs these camps, and for Graham Reed who is the pastor for both the camps – plus the mixed Latvian and English team.

The Camp at Dalesdown is in need of prayer – one of the leaders was taken to hospital last night with an Asthma attack (now back on site, but not well) and another leader, a policeman, was called back into work because of the riots, so they are two male leaders down. We are thankful that a visiting friend of CW was able to stay and fill in last night!

The next Hungarton camp (Activate) begins on Sunday, and we are putting the finishing touches to some rather inventive styles of story telling. We need to do some off site videoing for the first story….. Which will involve much wig wearing, strange accents and pretending to be on the news….. (We do have fun in our job!)

Please keep praying!

It’s that time of year and camps are in full swing all over the place.

Although we are physically involved in the Hungarton camps in Leicestershire, as general directors we are the ones ultimately responsible for other Children Worldwide camps, both here and in Latvia.

The camps at Hungarton are going really well. This week we have a mix of kids from both church and non church families – some with no knowledge or understanding of the things of God. This has made putting things together quite a challenge – especially for Steve, who is co-leading the worship.

Although Kay is in charge of all things technical for the week, her expertise in other areas is being well used!

We have a great team of leaders, but please pray for the tent leaders specifically, especially in the tent quiet times as they try to lead the kids in looking at Isaiah 53 in the mornings. Some of the kids are finding the questions the passage raises great and a challenge, but others are answering the obvious questions, but are not easily able to apply the truth to their own lives. (The answer is always Jesus, but that’s where it ends!)

Please pray that the kids with church backgrounds would not only hear and understand, but that the “penny would drop” from head to heart.

And pray that those who have no church background would be able to understand what is being taught, and be able to apply it to their own lives.

In the morning meetings, Tim Dixon is teaching about Joseph’s life…..his story telling is quite colourful, lively and totally engaging! But he isn’t holding anything back and is challenging the kids about the way they live their lives – this morning especially!

In the evenings we are looking at stories where people encountered Jesus in unusual ways – yesterday was Jesus clearing the temple. The whole idea about a gentle Jesus losing His temper caused some lively debate for some of the tents in quiet times! Tonight is the thieves on the cross.

Although we do have specific roles here, it is more in a support role – which we love, and Kay is really appreciating just being in the background and helping where there is a need, or if a leader needs specific help with how to engage the children with quiet times.

Our next camp, “Activate”, back here in Hungarton is in 2 weeks and we are adding the final touches to the teaching on Paul’s final Journey. (“Taking God’s glory with us where ever we go”) But more on that in another post!!