July 31 Update from Ocean City, MD

Greetings from Ocean City, MD.  Our team of 14 Student Volunteers (2 Bulgarians, 3 Moldovans & 9 Romanians) have all arrived and acclimated to life in Ocean City. 

There are 13 free meals each week that area churches & ministries provide and that we have the privilege to attend.  Yes, we eat but more significantly, we have the opportunity to meet students, build relationships and invite them to our twice-weekly Coffee House - English Club (CH-EC) meetings and our special cultural activities.  Last week, a team from our home church in Staunton, VA helped out at Son'Spot and with some of our activities

Monday CH-EC attendance has been averaging about 40-45 due to our close proximity to one of the free meals and the influx of about 10 American students from the CRU summer mission.  On Wednesdays, we average 25-35.  Each CH-EC meeting we play games outside in our backyard or across the street in the park until dark and then come inside for small group discussion focusing on a parable or miracle of Jesus.  Students seem to really enjoy sitting around on the carpeted floor and interacting with each other.

Recent special cultural activities have included water sports, a team pool party, trips to Assateague Island National Seashore, a free Danny Gokey concert on the beach and an evangelistic cookout in partnership with the American CRU students.  Each time someone shares the story of how they came to know Jesus.  GOD is enabling us to connect with many students - we have 450 followers on instagram and there were 2,900 views on one of our recent videos.

Please pray that GOD will draw students to Jesus as we spend time with them and seek to engage in spiritual conversations.  Thanks for partnering with us.  Stay tuned; in the next day or so we will share something exciting.

with love & appreciation

Steve ( & Shelia)
for the team