A report comes this morning (Friday) from Roland Maust (Grace Brethren Church, Millersburg, Ohio) who is speaking at the Northeast Ohio District Camp, which concludes tomorrow at Beulah Beach near Vermillion, Ohio.
“We’re searching for buried treasure,” he says, alluding to the theme of the week. But the biggest news he reports is that 34 young people have accepted Christ since Monday. Of that number, 22 accepted Christ at last night’s (Thursday) evening session, with another six who prayed with their counselors before going to bed. Most of these are first-time decisions.
“We’ve never seen this happen,” Roland admits. He attributes the working of the Holy Spirit to the fact that the week has been bathed in prayer. The staff gathered early on Sunday for a time of heart searching and confession. In addition, many people have been praying for the camp for several months.
He requests continue prayer for the remainder of the week. The students, all in grades 3, 4, or 5, go home on Saturday. Many will return to homes that will not be supportive of a decision to follow Christ.
There are 237 young people and 80 staff participating in the camp. They are from churches in five different Grace Brethren Districts – Northeast, NorthCentral, and Northwest Ohio; Indiana; and Heartland. The camp is directed by Pastor Bob Combs of the Grace Church in Norton, Ohio.