Days 4 & 5

Tuesday afternoon—after 6 hours, 4 trains, and 3 stops—we finally arrived at the Felsengrund Conference Center for the BMW Missionary Conference! Needless to say, the team was excited to arrive, set up, and meet the children and teens we would be serving for the rest of the week. 

After dinner we had our first opportunity to work with the children, providing childcare during the opening session of the conference. We had a blast teaching them games, eating candy, and getting to know them! Later that night our team stayed up playing games with the teens, building relationships and enjoying some awesome fellowship with them.

Wednesday morning was the first day of our VBS program. We began the morning with a team devotional and time of prayer, where Kelly Salas pointed us to Romans 1:11-15 and challenged us to see our obligation to share the good news of Jesus Christ with these kids and to be "eager to preach the gospel." 

There are only 6 children in the VBS program, allowing us to give more personal care and attention to them as we go through the teaching, games, skits, and crafts. We taught the kids that God created everything, and created us with a purpose: to glorify Him.

While half our team was running the VBS, the other half were meeting with the teens attending the camp. Nic Whitehead led a discussion on encouragement, talking about how the gospel encourages us and empowers us to encourage others. They also played a bunch of games (and probably ate too much candy!). The whole morning was full of fruitful fellowship as we taught the gospel to children and teens and also began developing relationships with them.

Some of the most encouraging parts of the conference have been the meal times. As a team we have intentionally spread out among the missionaries, teens and children. It has been such a blessing getting to know these missionaries and hearing their successes and struggles out on the field. This is a group that loves and serves our Lord and have sacrificed greatly to see his gospel spread. They are living the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:15, "I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls."

We are eager to continue serving these children and their families, trusting that the Lord will use His word to encourage and convict. 

(For various reasons, we have been asked not to share pictures of any of the children at this time to protect their identities)