Father Son Campout

Greetings to all! We just returned to San Jose from the jungle for another ministry opportunity. We went for the Exploradores del Rey Father and Son Campout. Don't let the name fool you! There were a lot of fathers and sons there. The theme of this camp was Roma (Rome). Cesar was there along with his soldiers. It was really an interesting camp.



The first night of the camp, as the kids were coming of the bus, we had an attack on Rome. There is a picture showing a catapult launching something on fire. Yes, we launched flaming coconuts (that's me drinking coconut juice on the left) at the attackers. No, we did not hit anyone. They were 200 yards away, and the catapult (when it worked) only launched the coconuts 50-75 feet. It was fun for me to play with a catapult. I do not know if we could do this in a church parking lot in the U.S, though. Yet, it served it's purpose to really get the boys attention.

During the day on Saturday, a Roman soldier kept going around to all the boys to try and get them to drink "beer." It wasn't really beer, but the boys did not know it. He kept talking to them about how Cesar was the god above all gods, and it was interesting to hear what the boys were saying to him. They kept witnessing to this Roman soldier.

That night, there was a service at the amphitheater. Pictured here is Cesar with his Roman soldiers. The soldier on the left (not the boy sneaking in the picture-MK Jonathan Dallagher) came off the stage and into the audience and started talking to a Royal Ranger commander about Jesus. Then, he knelt and gave his heart to the Lord. The boys and dads all cheered.

Cesar appeared and figured out that he had become a Christian and had him "beheaded." The boys learned how to stand up for their faith and what they needed to be able to contend for their faith in Jesus Christ. Many came forward to give their hearts to Jesus, rededicate their lives, or to seek the in-filling of the Holy Spirit. It was an amazing time at the altars. I have put more pictures from the camp on our website: www.mattixfamilynews.com.

Here are some more pictures of the kids. There is a picture of Chariti with her new friend, Naomi. She is a really sweet girl. She ran around with us for most of the weekend. Also, Sherry was the camp nurse. She took care of a boy that had cut his head open on a low-hanging tin roof. He had to be taken into town to get some stitches and a tetanus shot. The rest of the time, she mostly had to pass out Tylenol for headaches. She was a good nurse, and she was able to talk with a lot of people.

This camp was better than the last in one major aspect: I understood most of what was going on. So, I guess I am learning Spanish here. It was fun to listen and talk with a variety of people. God is really helping our family learn Spanish.

Blessings to all who read this,

Charley