Off to camp!

It is late Saturday night, we are all packed and ready to go. Tomorrow morning we leave for the Heaven's Open church retreat. For those of you who do not know, this is when we head off into the woods, and spend a week camping, studying, praying, sharing, worshiping, and resting together with folks from the H.O. church. This is often one of the highlights of my (Dan's) trip, not because I enjoy camping or anything remotely similar, but because of the relationship building that goes on during this week. It is a time to seek God, to contemplate, to worship and to experience a unique form of fellowship. It happens because everyone leaves their day to day lives behind and focuses on God. Lets face it, our lives (whether in the US or in Russia) are hectic and loud. There is so much screaming for our attention it is hard to stop and just listen to God's voice. It is difficult to just sit back and experience Him and only Him. That's why this week is so importyant for me personaly and for everyone in attendance. It provides the time we need, at a pace that is benificial, to make contact with God. To be restored, encouraged, or changed.

I am also keenly aware of how much both Lucy and I will need your prayers this week. We go in order to participate and be a vehicle by which God will touch peoples hearts. But we are imperfect tools that need your prayers and the blessing of the Holy Spirit. Some ways that you can specifically pray for us.

• Pray for me (Dan) as I will be preaching each evening (mon. thru Sat). The texts will be from 6 different moments in the life of David. We will examine how our choices can have such a huge impact on how we and those around us expereince God. Pray that God will speak powerfully through me.
• We will also do a lot of one-on-one counseling. Pray that we will understand people clearly as they share with us and that we will know how to respond (in Russian) to their needs. Pray that God will give us the strength to encourage and engage people throughout the week.
  
• Many of these conversations come at the end of the week and may feel rushed. Pray that we will be able to connect with people early thus leading to more in-depth conversations.
• Pray for us personally, that God will also allow us to rest and be touched by Him and others at this camp.

Next Update will be in a week when we return from the retreat.