Today, we start with a wholehearted “Praise the Lord” because our first day at camp couldn’t have been better.

Campers arrived at 9:05 AM, and our team of volunteers started welcoming them from the minute they walked in the door. It’s not always easy to make conversation with high school students when you don’t know anything about them or if they speak English, but somehow it all worked. Our high school volunteers are joy-filled to be serving the Lord through service to the Hungarian children. It was beautiful to see the conversations and games begin even before the first class.

Camp is very well organized.  We have been doing this a while and the routines we must keep camp moving along are well established. This year we do have a new dynamic – we have Gypsies enrolled in our classes. I didn’t know what a “Gypsy” was, so if you need an explanation, I can share with you what was told to me.

Gypsies is another term for the darker-skinned Roma people who live in Hungary (and some other European countries). They are known to love music and entertainment. There is racial prejudice against Gypsies by the fairer-skinned Hungarian people for many reasons. They are often seen as lawbreakers.

This group of Gypsies is accompanied to camp by their Bible Study leader. When he introduced himself, he said that he was a Gypsy and that he wanted people to know that not all Gypsies were lawbreakers, although many were.

Söndi, our missionary contact here, said that it could present a difficulty for us because the prejudice against Gypsies very strong. So far, we have not had a problem. The kids seem nice, and their leader is a man of God. After camp today one guy from their group picked up our musical instruments and played music while our beautiful high school girls danced with the Gypsy teen-aged girls.

Please share the joy that Orchard’s own can grow in their love for the Lord for meeting people from different cultures. Please pray that the brave Gypsy leader and missionary who brought them into this camp will accomplish their goal, and that the Hungarian children will break the tightly held stereotypes about Gypsies.

Dillon shared the Word today. He clearly preached salvation through Christ alone. It seems like many of the children have a belief in God and are willing to consider the God of the Bible, but don’t know much about him. With your prayers I know we can fill that void and teach them about our King.

Please remember to praise God for our wonderful team of high school workers. They are dedicated and overjoyed to have the opportunity to serve here in Hungary.

Pray for the long-term missionary’s here, Shaun and Söndi, who are discouraged and count on the Orchard for emotional support.

Pray for Dillon, an Unlocking the Bible Resident, who is leading our mission here, and his lovely young wife Kamren, that they will form relationships during camp that will see them through many years of pastoral care in this tiny Hungarian town.

Praise the Lord – his word will not return empty and ask that we can preach it clearly.