Our Passion:

ENABLING CHURCHES ON EVERY CONTINENT

TO REACH THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF TEENS
THROUGH LIFE-ALTERING, CAMPING EXPERIENCES.
Over the past few years, our CampsAbroad representatives have made an effort
to network with other likeminded contacts whenever we are traveling.
Sometimes that networking takes place during an actual camp trip; other
times it happens on specially arranged survey trips. But the results have Endean
been well worth the effort! We are seeing an influx of high quality
MYANMAR (YANGON)
Even through decades of political instability and religious oppression, Bible-
Tim & Rachel believing local churches in Myanmar (formerly Burma) have continued to stand
firm. Now that the persecution has lessened, they are taking full advantage
on the road of the opportunities God is giving them. In March, our CampsAbroad team
and in the air! met up with Joel Wagner of Bibles International to assist a local Bible school in

20,000
camp contacts in places like China, Georgia, Belarus, Vietnam, and Yangon with a different kind of teen camp. The camp was held on their property
miles driven
the Philippines. In fact, the three camps highlighted in this issue (in the States) and was unlike anything they had ever experienced before. The campers and the

95,000
are direct results of those increased networking efforts! miles staff absolutely loved it. More importantly, they fully embraced the philosophy of
flown ministry behind the approach to camping that we introduced. The camp itself was a

50
great success. The counselors were mostly 2nd or 3rd year Bible students and did a
individual
BANGLADESH (BARISAL)
meetings phenomenal job. The 100 plus campers maxed out the property and absolutely

30 church
In November, our second CampsAbroad team arrived in meetings
Bangladesh just 8 months after the initial trip earlier in the year.
The first camp in March was well received, but everything was so new
to the local believers that we judged a follow up camp would be helpful to
cement what was learned the first time. Nine local churches participated in this second camp
(held in a completely different area of the country), but this time, we were careful to limit the
number of campers and increase the number of qualified counselors. It definitely made a difference!
For one thing, this group of campers absolutely loved the activities—this time, several more nationals
jumped in to help with crowd control as well as running significant portions of the program. Believers
in Bangladesh consistently face persecution from area Muslims and encounter many difficult choices. Camp
provides an opportunity for young people to get away from the pressure for a while in order to focus on God’s Word
without distraction. But these churches also invited many unsaved young people out to hear the gospel as well. We
know of at least 12 Hindu young people who attended this particular camp. Over the course of the week, around
Instagram
100 young people made professions of faith in Christ. Area pastors are working hard to follow up with them.
loved everything: from the games to the food to the services. Our team worked
closely with four national men who were fully engaged from start to finish.
As exciting as it was to see a number of campers respond to God’s Word,
we are even more excited about the future potential in the diverse land
of Myanmar. We are already talking to a different group of churches in
Mandalay (the second largest city in Myanmar), another group in the border
town of Tamu, and another group on the other side of Yangon about
holding camps in the future. If some of these younger Burmese
that we are training catch the burden for taking camp back
to their towns and villages, there is potential to see a
Follow us on camping movement started in this needy country! That
Facebook and already seems to be happening as a group from this first
to see the
camp in Yangon is planning to run another
camp 15 hours away, using the things
latest photos of our travels. they learned at the earlier camp. It
is already starting to spread!

SOUTH AFRICA (PORT ELIZABETH)

Looking back at our records, we see a pattern: CampsAbroad has sent at least one team to South Africa every
year since 2014. That might sound like a lot, but during those years, the Lord has opened up ministry
opportunities with three different groups who are passionate about camping. This past December,
the Brooks’ and the Endeans visited all three of our contacts as they drove across the southern
coast to Port Elizabeth. The missionary team there purchased a 20 acre property at the end
of October—and held their first teen camp there 5 weeks later! Needless to say, they were
scrambling to get everything ready, but the first teen camp went off remarkably well. (They
even installed an in-ground pool!) Camp Rhino was built to accommodate 75 camper but
80 showed up, so they hurriedly built 2 more bunk beds. Most of the campers spoke Xhosa
as their first language which meant that all of the Xhosa-fluent staff were kept busy talking
to young people throughout the week. Over the course of the camp, 18 young people
professed Christ as Savior! They have quite a team of American missionaries and nationals
in Port Elizabeth—and they are just getting started. We look forward to seeing how God uses
the camp there for many years to come!
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