Calvin Synod Herald, 2009 (110. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2009-09-01 / 9-10. szám
CALV IN SYNOD HERALD 9 4. Do not fear change and new ideas. In fact embrace those initiatives that are Biblically based and are being led by apostles of the present day church. 5. Engage the services of a ministry coach/consultant, who specializes in helping congregations develop strategies for growth, and who can also work more closely with church leaders and the pastor in this effort. The Calvin Synod Conference, the United Church of Christ, the Hungarian Reformed Church in America and Bethlen Communities Church Center have personnel and resources available to help our congregations in this important endeavor. At the end of the day, the decision will be yours. We can leave this conference feeling good about having attended. But if we go back home and begin nothing new, nothing will change, and we will be asking the same questions a year from now. Please go home. Seek God’s guidance. Ask for help, if necessary, but please, make the commitment that you will no longer lead a dying church. Let us rebuild and renew our congregations, to the Glory of God and to the benefit of humankind! Rev. Imre A. Bertalan Youth Camp 2009 Report The Hungarian Reformed Church Youth Camp actually began this year in March at Penn Scenic View where the Counselors met for a retreat and camp planning. All those involved with planning this year’s camp were greatly aware that we were facing a serious fiscal crisis - the camp treasury was low and the camp budget had to be reduced. We moved forward after heartfelt prayer and much careful planning. The camp theme this year was “My Heart - Christ’s Home” based on a booklet by Robert B. Munger. Each camp day was based on gifting a “room” in our hearts to our Savior. Our camp verses were Revelation 3:20: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. ” Another camp verse was Romans 10:9-10: “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord, ’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. ” Our numbers were a bit fewer this year: 29 Campers, 27 Counselors, 3 Ministers and 5 Little Ones. But we know God draws those He desires to be there for this appointed time and we were grateful for each person. Camp was held again at Laurelville Mennonite Church Center where we have been for over 30 years and during the week of July 19-25. We began our week with some mixer games to help the new arrivals get acquainted. Afterward we watched the movie Fireproof, a story about a troubled young firefighter and his wife. The firefighter gave his life to Christ which brought great joy to his life and saved his marriage. Monday through Friday were very full days and highly structured evenings. After breakfast each day, a prepared devotion was given to each camper. Morning became each camper’s time alone with God to read and reflect on the scripture(s) and to spiritually prepare for remainder of the day’s activities. After the morning devotion the rest of the day was organized around a scriptural theme. Monday morning’s theme - or ‘room’ - was “The Study” or the control room of our hearts. The scripture was Philippians 4:4-9. Tuesday morning’s theme was “The Living Room” or the importance of taking time to be with the Savior and scripture focus was 1 John 1:1-7 and Matthew 7:7-11. Wednesday morning’s theme was “The Dining Room and the Rec Room” where we examined appetites, fun times, friends and our relationship with the Lord. The scripture focus was Ephesians 5:1-11 & 15-17 and 1 John 2:15-17. Thursday morning’s theme was “The Bedroom” where we touched on temptation and the scripture focus was Proverbs 5:15-23, Hebrews 13:4 and 1 Corinthians 6:15-19. Friday’s theme was “The Hall Closet” and the importance of consecrating our whole heart to Christ. The scripture focus was Psalm 139:1-6, 23 &24 and Ecclesiastes 12:14. Every day after devotion and before lunch there was a speaker. Speakers included Sandy Crumrine from Ligonier Valley Ministries as well as our own Gitti Bertalan who shared with us how Christ is working in her life and how He can also work in the lives of the campers. Gitti’s presence was a true blessing as she is a former camper and counselor! Also among the speakers was David Kohout as well as Rev. Walt Goss who is currently the Contemporary Service Pastor at the Trenton Hungarian Reformed Church. After lunch each day there was Group Bible Study. Some of the topics that were studied in the context of scripture included wordly pressure, a Revelation timeline, as well as the letters of Paul and also people of the Bible such as Rahab. Late afternoon of every day was spent in Team Challenge where the campers separated into teams that they were with all week and engaged in various learning tasks all with Bible related themes. The final Team Challenge took place on Friday. The teams all loved this event because it’s an elimination challenge based on obscure questions from the Bible. For each right answer each team gets to eliminate a token that belongs to another team. And once a team is out of tokens, they are out of the game. It is very amusing for the group to see the campers come up, look around and then choose whose token to eliminate. Following the daily Team Challenge was dinner after which the campers attended one of four workshops: Hungarian Cooking, Inside Contemporary Christian Music, Acting for the Christian Soul and Hungarian Culture. And after the workshops, each night there was a different structured program. The Monday night program was Camp Initiation where new campers and counselors were welcomed into our ranks via a silly prank. Even our new Co-camp Director Les Torok was not safe! Laughter and smiles were the result as all was done with love. Tuesday night’s program was Game Night where the campers and counselors were split into teams and engaged in a fun race. Wednesday night’s program was a dance called “Christmas in July”. The Meeting House was transformed from July to December with twinkling Continued on page 10
