08/07/10 by jfan | Austria, News | 1 Comment »
I have stories written down to write you but I don’t have the time to tell you of all of them. This week has been FULL of spiritual growth as well as a few coming to know Jesus as their savior. We are minutes away from leaving the hostel, this is the day of 1000 goodbyes. Our students have exceeded any expectations we had, it has been a trip that will take us days to process. Thank you all for your prayer and support, I will try and post when I get home of a few more stories to share with you.
J-Fan
08/06/10 by jfan | Austria, News | 1 Comment »
This is always a difficult argument in my head when talking about those who have become friends of God since it is Him who does the work and Him who judges the heart, but it has been amazing to watch the Lord work in hearts here this week. There is a group of boys from Armenia that were on the verge of getting sent home at the beginning of the week, but since then they have straightened up and been pretty enjoyable. One in particular began asking tons of questions and understood the Gospel for the first time this week. Today he was speaking with us saying that he loved Jesus, he believed He paid for his sins, but that he was unwilling to give his life to him because he feared he would fail, fall back into sin and mess it up. After talking with him for a few minutes, being careful not to force his decision, he sat there in silence just thinking. Then he said to Peter: “I want to give my life to Jesus”. From there we got to watch the Lord call another to Himself.
Another Armenian boy who was here last year was a trouble maker last year, but this year is fantastic and told us he had given his life to Jesus this year after coming to ETC. Every day he has met with a different leader during his quiet time and asked them to: “tell me something about Jesus”.
I don’t know details about this one, but a girl who was having a conversation with Emily either wanted to give her life to Jesus, or already did and was wanting to “re-commit” her life to Him. Again, I’m unsure of the details and I’m far from knowing her heart I do know it was a great conversation whether it was her giving her life to Him, or her learning that nothing can separate her from Him.
These are merely a few of the stories I know about, not to mention to countless that I don’t know. I just wanted to give you a taste of what the Lord is doing here.
J-Fan
08/05/10 by jfan | Austria, News | 3 Comments »
Dear Friends and Family,
THANK YOU! I can honestly say that if it was not for all of your prayer and constant support that this week would not have been the success that it has been thus far. I do ask that you will continue to pray that God might grant us strength and the ability to remain faithful to Him. We are on the down hill stretch and now more than ever we must be seeking Christ’s guidance in everything we do. I personally ask that we might be intentional with every conversation we have the next two days and are able to finish strong. Once again thank you for constant prayer you have helped us so much!
Love,
Kyle Ewing
p.s. sorry mom and dad for not calling!
08/05/10 by jfan | Austria, DBSM Blog, News | No Comments »
Nothin like a good ‘ol Texas bonfire to bring people together:) When we first started coming we had to bring the marshmallows from the U.S. because they didn’t sell them here… we like to think we’re the reason they now carry them in some stores.
The days are beginning to fly by and the camp is running much smoother as time goes on and the teenagers finally understand they can’t push us around:). Most of our nights are filled with stories of what God is doing, He is moving in so many lives it’s hard to communicate what is going on here. It is amazing to watch Him work, we are all getting to see Him do things not only in the lives of the campers, but in our own lives as well.
Yesterday seemed easier than the previous days and we are energized by the fact that we only have 2 days left with these teenagers and we don’t want to let that time go and not take advantage of it. Pray that we will not miss opportunities because of being tired, mentally drained or spiritually empty. Pray that God would fill our own cups as we pour them out these last few days.
I can’t describe the heaviness of the Gospel here, nor the density of the ministry opportunities. Many teenagers are constantly asking great questions and listening to our challenges. There are teens here that have come to faith at this camp in a previous year, or after that had gone home a previous year, and it is encouraging to see them and be able to be part of the discipleship process in their lives. I wish you could see what we see, it leaves us nothing short of true worship.
08/03/10 by jfan | Austria, News | 4 Comments »
God has been so good to us here in Austria, we have seen so many encouraging things from many people here including Americans. We are loving our time here, but we are all very exhausted already! Our daily schedule goes something like this: our own quiet times… breakfast… worship… their quiet times where we sit with them individually… on to small groups… 1 hour of free time… lunch… english helps… afternoon activity/game…1 hour of free time… dinner… evening program… movie or free time… campers to bed… leader mtg… us to bed:)
It has been fun to follow up with some students from past years who have come to know Christ and now are experiencing sanctification. The majority of teenagers here are unsure what they think about God, though there are also a good number who know Him through Jesus. There are others who reject the notion of God completely, but even these are coming to trust us more as we develop a relationship with them. Today has been heavy with many GREAT conversations which are very encouraging to us. I hope to get one of our students to write a post soon telling you a small snapshot of their experience.
J-Fan
08/01/10 by jfan | Austria, News | 2 Comments »
We have barely made it past breakfast and already we have seen amazing things happen. So far there have been many teenagers here who are not Christians that have been very interested in the Bible and many of them sat with both American and Austrian leaders this morning wanting to know how to have a “quiet time”. I do not know details yet of these conversations, but God was very good in letting us into a few hearts this morning. Most of them don’t even own Bibles and they spent time going over Romans 3:22-24 this morning! Please pray that the teenagers here who do not know Him would have an open and willing heart towards the Bible and towards the name of Jesus. Even as I write this leaders are talking with their small groups about what they would say if God asked them why He should let them into His Heaven. Like I said, Day 2 starts with a bang:)
J-Fan
07/31/10 by jfan | Austria, News | No Comments »
After spending one full day and two half days in Vienna we have finally arrived at the camp. The feel is very different this year with many different teenagers here. Our team has absolutely hit the ground running! Kyle, Lauren and Julia ran our “ice-breaker” session today and it was hysterical and we left knowing every campers name! This years start has far exceeded my expectations, as has this team the Lord has assembled. We are humbled by how quickly these teenagers have taken to us, and I’m personally humbled by watching our high school students jump straight into the lives of the Austrians with no questions asked. I’m proud to serve along side the other 15 Americans on this team, but I’m equally as proud to serve along side the Austrian team. God has assembled an amazing group of Austrian leaders and the unity we already share with them is irreplaceable during this week.
We are again faced with a decision of how to daily present the Gospel to the unbelievers here as well as equip the believers. It’s hard to do this during the same teaching session, though I am more convinced that the most life change will not happen during those times, but during the times that we share our lives with the Austrian teenagers. Please pray that God might save some and pray that true discipleship would happen through us here.
J-Fan
07/30/10 by jfan | Austria, News | 1 Comment »
After 20 hours and 12 minutes of travel we finally made it! We experienced the shortest night of our life, the most interesting of airplane food and we even got to blitz through Windsor on our layover (thanks Alexis:))!
Once we arrived we met up with Reini, Michi, Peter and Adam who got us to our home away from home and we had the best meal yet with all our Austrian friends. Today will be filled with team building and camp planning… with some site seeing along the way. My favorite site to show the students is St. Stephen’s Cathedral. It is a beautiful structure, with breathtaking relics, windows and architecture. However, you will never see this cathedral without it being cleaned. The outside is made of white stone, that though it looks beautiful at first it is quickly stained by the pollution from the city. The church continually tries to “wash” itself of these “stains”, but they can never get themselves clean enough. Sound familiar?
J-Fan
07/27/10 by jfan | Austria, News | No Comments »
Hey everyone, we are 1 day away from leaving on our trip to visit our Austrian friends! We are ready in every way possible, the plane can’t get to that gate fast enough! We will be using this site to update everyone as often as possible. Please pray for God’s grace, God’s provision and for God to save some. Above is a daily prayer calendar that we would love for you to join in praying with us as well. Check back here for more posts!
-J-Fan
07/26/10 by eddeaux | Austria, News | No Comments »
Things to pray for from now until July 28th
* 1 Peter 3:15 “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”
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