“What a surprise it was to him when he found out that each plot is based on Bible stories.” It is amazing what the words of God can do to open the eyes of lost people in this world! Dmitri, a young man who was organizing outdoor activities for youth in the community, approached Atryom, who was also organizing camps for youth. He wanted to see if there could be a joint effort of some kind.
God had different plans for Dmitri though. It wasn’t about a partnership, but instead, it was about Dmitri’s salvation. Dmitri’s eyes were opened up to Truth. He saw how God’s Word was impacting lives, and he wanted to be part of it. Praise God that Dmitri is now organizing youth events in a new way—a way that is sharing the Gospel of Christ and changing hearts. Please continue to pray for the SGA-supported Summer Bible Camps as they have already begun. Pray that many lives will be impacted this year.
Here is more of Dmitri’s story as told by Atryom . . .
I want to share with you the fruits of our ministry. For a long time now, we have been organizing camps for teenagers, where we use sports, games and most importantly Scripture to proclaim the Gospel to young people. We use Bible stories to write scripts for our Summer Bible Camps. A few years ago, I met a young man named Dmitri. We struck up a good conversation, after which it turned out that he was also organizing outdoor [events] for teenagers in our city.
On the first day of our acquaintance, he called me for the purpose of cooperation; he was so interested in my events that we decided to arrange a meeting. The first question he asked me was, “What book or game do you use to organize your trips?” And what a surprise it was to him when he found out that each plot is based on Bible stories. He was astonished, and it boggled his mind. How could it be possible? Therefore, he decided to attend one of these trips. There he first heard about Christ. He was so impressed that he wanted to learn more about God. I invited him to several meetings where we studied the Gospel. He regularly visited it. On one of those days, I asked him about what God was calling him to do. Dmitri answered me that God called him to repentance, but he prayed to Him, and nothing happened in his life. He felt he was still the same. But his life was changing before my eyes, even though he was struggling a lot. Sometime later, he came to my house, and his eyes were shining. “I was praying,” he said. “You told me to pray, and God answered me a few months later and now I know for sure now that I am forgiven and saved.” After a while, he was baptized. Dmitri now serves at our camps, and he became a mentor for difficult teenagers with deviant behavior.
God is good! He continues to work with our hearts! I want to ask you to pray for our ministry so that God will continue to send us teenagers.