August Newsletter 2024

With a heavy Muslim and Catholic influence many times people think it is their works that earn favor with God. This overshadows the great spiritual truths of salvation by faith alone. We all need to be reminded or for some, given the information for the first time. Patrick took to the pulpit this past month with great vigor from the Holy Spirit to preach on justification by faith alone. An interesting part of Omega Church service is at the end there is a question-and-answer time. Patrick’s sermon was received with many questions and discussions afterward. So much so that the following week, the pastor preached on the same subject just to make sure everyone not only understood but could speak the truth for themselves. Once again after the service, there was much discussion on the topic. This month was also an execution of months of planning and exciting developments.

In January, West Cabarrus Church visited ABWE The Gambia ministries and recognized the need for increased youth funding. With heartfelt generosity, they contributed a small offering. This kind gesture was instrumental in helping us address some desires at the Omega youth program.

For the past year, we actively collaborated with our partner church, Omega, to engage and support the youth. We soon found that they were expected to participate in an annual camp. However, when discussing with the youth about creating a camp plan, we were stunned by the youth's passionate dislike. They described the camp to be more like a dull business conference rather than an engaging youth retreat.

Additionally, the cost was too high for some to even participate.

In response to their feedback, we asked the youth group of about 15 or so to brainstorm alternatives. Mostly they wanted to design the camp themselves. Michele, who comes alongside the youth program, proposed a new idea: a 24-hour fun-filled youth meeting leading to a deeper relationship with God. They embraced this with enthusiasm. Michele helped transform this idea into a reality with the help of our sending church Grace Baptist of Hurlock because of their involvement in the Delmarva Baptist Fellowship Camp that they have planned for years. Once she had a template of ideas, she empowered the youth to become leaders and directors of the camp. Six dedicated youth volunteers, including Alyssa, took on various roles such as meal planning, activity coordinator, media/music, games organizer, devotional leader, and master of ceremonies. Each leader chose their role based on their strengths, ensuring their preferences and ideas were at the forefront.

A generous member of Omega Church offered their preschool facility, which was empty for the summer, as the venue for our 24-hour youth meeting. This act of kindness provided the perfect space for the event. Although we usually have 10-15 youths at our youth group meetings, the 24-hour event attracted 35 participants! This enthusiastic response was a delightful twist, considering the initial reluctance. We utilized only half the funds from West Cabarras Church and with some physical help from our teammate Joan Schmitz we ran a successful event.

After the event, they said they grew deeper in understanding themselves in Christ and they are eager to organize a similar event during the Christmas break. They have even asked if we can grow the event and invite other church youth groups to join in after hearing from others about the camp. The harvest is plenty but the labors are few. Does anyone want to come to help us run this event over Christmas Break so we can open it to even more people eager to be discipled?