Party... People... Portugal!

I have one week left until I return to the States and I'd say it's about time for an update!

The last time I sat down to type about everything was before the camps started in Portugal. I have since finished my month in Portugal and am now one week in to my two-week trip to Northern Ireland.

July 12th started the International Camp at Centro Biblico de Esmoriz (the Bible camp in Esmoriz, Portugal). We had a high school team come from America through Youth Missions International (YMI). The team happened to be led by a couple from Christ's Church! (That's the church I've gone to since I was 2 and that first got me connected with Awana and YMI. I basically owe most of who I am today to the people and ministries God has put in Christ's Church.) Kind of like the Canadians in France, this one-week team "adopted" me as one of their own. I joined them for daily devotions and assisted them in running the International Camp. We also had this dude come from England who came to help with sports. 

(This English Dude... Joe... I looked at him the first day he came and I thought 'Sweet! He must be.. 18. That's close enough to my age. We can have mature conversations and be friends!' Then I made the mistake of asking Joe how old he is... FIFTEEN!!! And it turns out that he thought I was SEVENTEEN. Granted, that's a step up from the usual sixteen that people peg me as, but still! I am a twenty year old woman who wants friends her own age! But I digress... Joe turned out to be really cool and we ate biscuits and drank tea as time went on.) 

For the International Camp we had around 20 campers.The focus of the camp was practicing English. If anyone was caught speaking Portuguese, they had to help with dishes for the next meal. All of the group times in the camp were gospel-focused. We had morning devotions with our rooms led by an American and a Portuguese leader. Then after breakfast each of the American teenagers on the YMI team took turns leading a daily lesson. The theme was sports, so we talked about what it looks like to be on God's "team."

I connected pretty quickly with two high school girls who came to the camp to practice English. Apparently "American English" isn't taught in their schools. These two girls, Diana and Daniella, were super excited to speak English with a group of Americans. From what I learned in my conversations with them, I think they grew up going to church with their families, but they are unfamiliar with Christianity outside of the pews. I shared a lot of goofy conversations with those two girls, but one day on the beach we were able to have a serious discussion about sin. Those girls have a lot more questions and things to talk about than what can fit in one week. They loved camp so much that as soon as they got home they started planning on coming back for Sports Camp. (Sports Camp started the week after I left.) These are just two campers who demonstrate why camps like this exist. The gospel is being shared. Lives are being changed- one conversation at a time. 

I wish I could go into detail about all of the campers that I got to build friendships with. That week we became family. I was encouraged daily by all of the goofy faces and sincere hearts shown by the people I was surrounded with. 

The church youth in Portuugal don't have a lot of programs to connect with each other. I grew up with youth group, Awana, and a strong group of Christians in nearly every school I went to. (And I went to a lot of schools...) But in Portugal the community is significantly smaller. The camp is one of the main ways that the christian youth can meet and gain the tools to share their faith with others around them. 

After International Camp came Kids Camp. This was my last week in Portugal. Another American YMI team came, this time a church group from the Key Peninsula, but they focused on park evangelism that week.  I had a simple week of introducing the daily Bible story and hanging out with the kids. The hardest part of kids week was that I still don't know Portuguese and most of the kids don't speak English well enough to hold a full conversation. We communicated mostly through charades or grabbing a Portuguese leader to interpret. I think at one point I was playing "Simon Says" with one of the smaller girls who pulled me outside, but I was just copying whatever she did until she yelled in Portuguese and then laughed again. It was a very confusing time. One guy just kept speaking to me in full Portuguese whether I understood or not.

Overall, Portugal was a refreshing time of connecting with the local church and pouring into the youth. I will forever treasure the friendships that I made. I'm praying for a couple of my new friends to join me at Moody in Spokane next year! 

On Friday the 24th I traveled to Northern Ireland. The missionary I'm serving here is fantastic and I can clearly see how much I have to learn from her! The first week here has mostly been our tourist days and preparing for a single parents camp this next week. 

I'll update on Northern Ireland later... when I can give it the time it deserves... most likely when I'm home from my trip. 

Thank you for taking the time to read about what God has allowed me to do and be a part of! If I left out anything you want me to talk about or if you have any questions, please leave a comment or send me a message!