We Were Made for More

Dear friends,

I hope you're all doing well!

At the heart of what we do as Neighbours and Nations is a vision to see a generation arise that doesn't simply attend church, but actually lives all in for Jesus. A generation of young people who know who they are in Christ and are filled with the Holy Spirit. We want to see an army arise that will take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

Over the last few weeks, I got to see this vision come alive in a new way. And honestly, it was incredible.

An Army is Awakening

From July 24 to 28, Neighbours and Nations Camp brought together around 230 young people from different nations for five days of worship, teaching, community, games, prayer, and mission.

My role throughout the week was to run the afternoon activities and evening games, look after the campsite and those camping, serve on the prayer and ministry team, and disciple and lead a youth missions team.

Throughout the week, we explored what it means to be made in the image of God, what it looks like to surrender our lives fully to Jesus, how to live in relationship with the Holy Spirit, and what it means to be commissioned, not only to the nations, but to go home and live on mission where God has already placed us.

One of the things I loved most about camp was seeing young people move from simply hearing about these things to actually responding to them. It was such a beautiful experience to see God touch so many people as the prayer team gave words of encouragement, prayed over people, and helped facilitate spaces for Jesus to encounter and transform both young people and leaders.

We also saw God move in incredible ways through prayer, including several physical healings. I personally saw God heal knee and ankle injuries, hand pain, arthritis, and even restore someone's hearing.

One of my favourite stories was when I was praying for a young teen. I asked what I could pray for, and he told me he only had about 40% of his hearing. So I prayed, but nothing seemed to happen. As I continued praying, I felt the Father's love for this young boy, so I began praying from that place. He was visibly touched. After I finished praying, I moved on to pray for someone else.

The next day, in the middle of our evening worship, this same young boy, who is significantly bigger than me, came over and bear hugged me. I thought I was going to fall over, haha. He said, “You won’t believe it. I have full hearing in my ears for the first time in years!” So we celebrated, thanking God, and dancing around like little kids on Christmas morning.

Man, God loves His people.

Përshëndetje nga Shqipëria

The morning after camp finished, I took a team of eight Germans and four English to Durrës, Albania. It was time to live out our faith and put into practice what we had been talking about all week.

Because of the heat, we structured our days around morning and evening ministry. We spent time serving around the base, visiting families, picking up litter, worshipping, praying together and building community as a team, and even the occasional swim at the beach. Then, most evenings, we headed out onto the streets to share the Gospel, followed by our now sacred tradition of Italian gelato.

At first, evangelism was difficult for many of the young people. Walking up to a complete stranger and starting a conversation about Jesus isn't exactly something most teenagers naturally feel comfortable doing. So, we started small. During our first evangelism time, we played sports with children in the park,  painted faces, and handed out sandwiches and drinks to the poor.

As their confidence grew, we began challenging them to take another step. We began using flowers to help the girls start conversations, and used “The Four Points” Gospel signs to start conversations, inviting people to guess what the four symbols represented. A simple game created an easy way into conversations about Jesus.

And slowly, over the course of the week, I watched something change.

One of the German students reflected afterwards: “At first, I had a really hard time approaching strangers. But as the week went on, I gradually lost my fear of people. Every conversation helped me become more confident.”

From “I Can't” to “Where Did She Go?”

One of my favourite examples of this was one of the German girls who initially struggled enormously with evangelism. So, during evangelism one night, I bought her eight flowers, so she could use them as a tool to start conversations with women. And then, before we began, we prayed together and asked God to give us pictures of who we should talk to. Immediately, she said to me, “I saw a woman wearing a neon yellow shirt.”

And within 30 seconds of us praying, a woman wearing a neon yellow shirt walks right by us. This young girl was terrified. So, I helped her start the conversation, and together we got to pray for this woman.

Then we found another person. And again, I helped her have the conversation. Then came the next conversation. This time, she did it herself. And then another, and eventually, I turned around and realised I couldn't find her.

She had found an older woman just off the main promenade, had given her a flower, shared with her about Jesus, and had begun praying for her.

The girl who had been terrified to approach someone was now looking for opportunities to do it herself.

This young girl had gone from needing me to push her forward to me needing to keep track of her because she was stepping into boldness for herself.

Everywhere I Looked…

The last two nights of evangelism were some of my favourite moments of the entire trip. By that point, I wasn't really pushing the young people to evangelise anymore. Like with the young girl earlier in the trip, I was mostly trying not to lose them!

We would stand on the beach promenade, and everywhere I looked, our young people were having conversations. The girls were face-painting children and talking with their parents about Jesus.

Other girls were handing flowers to women, telling them they were beautiful and that God had made them with beauty and purpose, then praying for them. The guys were using The Four signs to start conversations, while others were simply walking around looking for someone to talk to.

I remember standing there and thinking, “This is what we were praying for.”

Not teenagers being forced into evangelism, but young people who had discovered that they could actually do this. Young people who were becoming confident enough to step out on their own. Young people are beginning to realise that God can use them, and that He wants to use them.

The Bigger Picture

During our final night, I was talking to one of our young men and challenged him with a simple question, “What does this look like when you go home?”

Five minutes later, he was already inviting people from his youth group to start doing outreach and evangelism regularly.

That was the kind of transformation we had prayed for: that these young people wouldn't just have a powerful week at camp, but would take what God had done and build it into their everyday lives.

I watched young people grow in confidence, faith, willingness to pray, boldness, and in their understanding of God. I watched young people who were initially afraid to approach strangers begin starting conversations on their own. I watched them pray for one another. I watched them serve people they had never met. And I watched them discover that they don't need to be adults, pastors, or experienced missionaries to be used by God.

They simply need to say yes.

And that is what the theme Made for More was ultimately about.

You weren't made simply to attend church or consume Christianity. You were made to know Jesus and be sent by Him.

I'm not going to lie, I’m exhausted. Camp, followed immediately by leading a mission trip, took a lot out of me physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

But somehow, in the middle of all that exhaustion, I felt more alive than I have in a long time. Watching these young people grow reminded me again why I do this. I dream of seeing a generation arise that will finish the Great Commission. A generation that knows Jesus, carries His presence, lives boldly and takes the Gospel wherever they go. A generation that believes every tribe and every tongue is worth reaching.

That is the dream and the prayer. And these past few weeks gave me another glimpse of what that could look like.

Looking Ahead

After a very full summer, I'm now looking ahead to September, when I'll begin helping staff the School of Mobilisation.

I'll be helping disciple young adults and walking alongside young men, whilst touring across the UK and Europe, preaching, evangelising, and equipping the church to live missionally and boldly proclaim the Gospel wherever God leads them.

So, please pray for the school and for rest in these next couple of weeks leading up to the middle of September.

Thank you again for all your support. None of this is possible without you. Thank you for praying. Thank you for encouraging me. Thank you for giving.

Your partnership made it possible for me to do this, to help run this camp, to take these young people to Albania, and to invest in their lives.

You didn't simply help make these weeks happen. You helped create space for young people to encounter Jesus, discover their identity in Him, and realise that they were Made for More.

Thank you for believing in me, believing in this ministry, and most importantly, believing in what God can do through a generation that simply says yes.

Blessings,

Cameron