Dance Camp

This year’s dance camp stands out in two ways: new dance studio and new dance teacher. The past 3 years were held at an abandoned building with no mirrors and no AC, not the best setting, but God made it work, and Rachel was amazing in leading the camps. This year, we were blessed with a donated dance studio owned and operated by a pair of professional dancers and having Christina lead the group this year because Rachel could not make it. The studio is a huge blessing because it has a large wall of full length mirrors, a wooden dance floor, and an AC unit. 

Here is a short testimony from Christina:

It’s been amazing to see God’s strength in my weakness teaching dance camp this year. It’s only Tuesday, but we’ve already gotten to speak to the girls about the Gospel! On Monday I taught half of the dance and I forgot to do much of anything else out of nervousness. It was a little intimidating at first to keep asking questions to get the girls to open up because I only knew English, and they would look at each other like, “what did she say?” and then look back at me to shake or nod their head to answer my questions. I heard that Rachel, the girl that taught the previous 3 dance camps, would take breaks in the middle of the camp to do a devotion or share testimonies. Sebastien suggested that it would be a good idea to do it again this year, and I agreed. Today (Tuesday), I had calmed down enough to remember the 10-15 min break for all of us to sit around and share. I shared my testimony about this past year and opened it up for questions, not expecting too much from a group I haven’t seen talk much in English. A few asked some good questions and allowed for further sharing about my testimony, and ultimately an opportunity for the Gospel to be presented. When a group of girls get together and share deep, heart filled thoughts and experiences, it’s hard not to tear up or maybe even choke up a bit, so thank God, Sebastien was there to carry this Gospel out to the group. One girl openly said she personally didn’t believe in God/ a god, and another said she was raised in a Christian home. So we took some of their comments and lightly explored their beliefs, and in the end encouraged them to find out more for themselves.

It was such a precious moment to be able to spend a whole hour talking with the girls about the gospel and what challenges they were experiencing in life. One girl in particular was able to open up and share her incredible story that touched our hearts. We want to share this so that we can pray for her, but to keep her confidentiality we won’t mention her name. Over the past 6 years, our new friend has been struggling with depression, eating disorder, self-harm and suicidal thoughts. Her parents recently divorced and she has dealt with bullying in school.  She refused the recommendation of therapists and psychologists who suggested in-patient treatment (hospitalization) because she believed her situation would only get worse. But God protected her all along, and even though she does not yet believe in God, she has had victory! Staying clean and free from self harm the past 72 days, she has not done anything to hurt herself. With friends and her boyfriend by her side she is staying strong. But we also know that only God can sustain her and heal her from her pains and sorrows. Our hearts long for her and everyone in camp to know Jesus Christ for themselves. 

Thank you for praying for the 8 girls that are dancing with us this year. We trust in God’s mighty work and will continue to love and serve the people here.








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