she said it best.

I had a thought this night. It scared me, but it woke me up to a new way of living life. I had a thought that I would die for these students to be protected from the enemy (Satan: which means adversary). The ones who don't know Christ; my hope is they are safe. The ones who do know Christ; my hope is that they may gain tools against the enemy.

God moved in such a big way this week. I will not tell you in my own words; I will show you a testimony from camp. From a girl whose life, I believe, is forever changed.

Sandra,

If you read this, I hope it is okay that I am sharing this. You are an awesome person and this letter means so much to me and the american team.

-brett

--------------------------------- Testimony ------------------------------------

Dear team USA,

After arriving home I felt I needed to write a letter to you all. At first I wasn’t sure about it but then I thought to myself that I have nothing to lose.

I just wanted to let you all know what a great job you did. Spreading the word about God and being our friends in this short period of time. You’re all amazing, friendly and cheery people. I wish you all the best. I must say, being a non-Christian I was a bit skeptical when I heard that it’s going to be a religious camp but now I feel that coming there and meeting all of you was the best thing I could have done. The time I spent with the eight of you was amazing. I gained the strength and confidence to pursue my dreams. Before this miraculous experience I was unsure and worried about my future but at the moment I’m calm and excited about whatever there is to come.

I told Kayla that even though I don’t believe in God I think there’s truth in every story. After hearing stories that Brett told us I have more respect for those who believe strongly about God or anything else. I feel you did well with this camp and I hope you feel that you reached the goal you tried to achieve. I thank you, as many times as there are stars in the sky.

Sandra Kelt

SAMANTHA – Your friendly personality and smile will make every person feel good and happy. No one can be sad when you’re in the room. I look forward to the time when you can take me to eat Mexican food. =)

BENTON – Funniest guy ever. Your great speaking skills will make people trust in you. You also know how to make an impression if you realize it or not. By the way, let me know how “So You Think You Can Dance” works out for Danny!

MEREDITH – The sweet girl. You’ll never be sad. You always laugh and have a good time. Like Sam, you light up the room.

SCOTT – The Charmer. You draw people, especially girls, with your looks. But there’s so much more to you than your appearance. After talking to you I realized that you’re very passionate and concentrated on the task in hand. After the job is done you laugh your heart out and have the best time of your life.

TYLER – The intelligent one. I think it’s great that you want to spread the word about heart conditions, especially with kids. I believe you’ll do great things in your life.

WILL – Even though I didn’t get the chance to talk to you, I think you’re a great guy and very important part of the team.

BRETT – The story teller. A born leader. You’re good at what you do, don’t ever stop. You made every story believable and interesting to listen to. I thanked you personally and I thank you again. Because of you this past week had a good impact on me.

*KAYLA – You’re not the biggest person in the world but you have the biggest heart. You were there when I needed someone to talk to. Thanks to you I realized that I’m not as bad person as I thought I was. The letter you wrote me will always remind me of our conversations and your comforting words. You are a sweet, sweet girl.

Good luck to you all and all the best!

*FAVORITE

consider yourselves challenged.

This week and at every camp I have seen with my very eyes the movement of God.

Two girls decided to trust in Jesus Christ last night. Not only did this huge thing happen here at camp; we also saw Christians from different walks with Christ become challenged by the story of God and by the gospel of Christ. I had a conversation with someone today who became a Christian just in the last year. Before he came over to Estonia to serve at this camp he was asked by someone, "Do you believe everything that the Bible says?" He answered honestly, "I do not know enough about the Bible yet to know if I believe it or not."

This morning he told me that after hearing the story of God and the bigger picture of creation all the way to the death and resurrection of Christ that he does believe in the Bible and he is interested in reading more about the stories that are in there.

You see, when you get the bigger picture of God's story you understand why certain things are the way that they are. Also when you understand things like, the Israelites for hundreds of years had to over and over again sacrifice a lamb for their sins but yet they still would not stay close to God, then they would have to continue sacrificing animals. God would forgive them when they made the sacrifice but they still continued to mess up over and over again. So when John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God , he knew what he was talking about. No longer would humans have to make animal sacrifices to God, because Jesus came as the ultimate sacrifice. What would it be like if every time that you rebelled against God you had to go and find a lamb and sacrifice it for your sin and then the next day you made a sin again? You would have to wait until you got another lamb to get forgiveness from God.

Jesus makes so much more sense just knowing about the Israelite's sacrifices. You can begin to understand that by the Grace of God we are forgiven before we even sin and we do not have to kill animals and offer them to God.

I believe these students have a better understanding of why Jesus came and I also believe that these students may be able to better see that they are a part of the story and that God is the main character and as humans, we can be his supporting actors and actresses. God has been desiring to have a relationship with His humans since the days when He walked in the garden with Adam and Eve. I hope that by the life that Jesus lived here on earth people may return back to God's way of living. I hope that whether you are a Christian or you do not even know God that the Gospel of Jesus Christ will challenge you. No matter how young or old you are the Gospel should challenge you and change you. I hope that the Gospel will continue to challenge me and change me day after day. I also hope the same for you all. All things point to Jesus. All things.

thanks to Him.

As I finished setting up the room for the main meeting during free time two girls walked in and one of the girls began to talk with me. I asked her how she has enjoyed camp and she is loving it. She said that she had heard some of these stories before, a couple in school. She also told me that she goes to church on Christmas. We continued to talk about camp and she told me a story about what happened yesterday. Scott also told me this story and I am so proud of him on how he has stepped up as a leader with his group this week. Scott prayed over his small group (which she is in) and afterwards she began to pray also. She thanked God for things in creation like animals and flowers. She continued on to tell me that she had never experienced the feeling she had after she prayed this time. She felt dizzy. After she told me this she told me that she is not that strong of a believer of God and that one time, I'm not sure how long ago, there were some storm clouds forming where she was at. She didn't want the rain and so she prayed to God to hold the rain and it did not rain! This is the reason why she believes in God. I am not sure that she knows a lot about Jesus and so Scott shared with her who Jesus is and she also excited to hear more of the stories at camp.

Tonight's stories are the "Birth of Jesus" and the "Life of Jesus." I am looking forward to being used to share these stories with the students. Please be praying for those who do not know Jesus to understand who he is and why he came. I will be praying for this as well, it would be awesome if they became believers in Christ, but honestly for me, the most important thing is just that they know who he is and why he came to earth. If they know who he is then I believe down the road of their life they will believe in Him. These students are really awesome and so unique.

I would like to share a verse that sums up this week for me. I have had in my mind all week that this camp is only happening and going so well by the grace of God. Also the only way I can explain how the number of students that are at this camp doubled from just a week and a half ago is because of God's grace. This morning just a little while after I woke up, I read this...

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing." Romans 2:20

The reason I place this here is to say, if I do not recognize the grace that God has poured into this camp and into my life, then Chris died for no reason and I also would have no reason to tell these students the story of God. Thanks to Him for Grace!

woah. woah. woah.

I am so blessed to be apart of this English camp. God has trusted us with more than we deserve and I am so thankful for this. Just 5 days before camp we were only expecting to have 15 students here. As the days became closer to camp more students began to sign up. We have between 33 and 36 students at camp with us. God has trusted us with this many for the week. I am familiarizing this with the scripture that states, "to whom much is given, much is expected." So this week we are giving to God quality. A quality camp that allows students to have relationships together and with their group leaders.

We will serve. We have been called to be servants and to be used by God this week. Every story that is told is for His glory and every relationship that is made is for His glory. God alone deserves the praises for everything that is going on here at camp!!! I am so excited to be a part of this!

-brett

PS Braden James Morris was born into the world today! Happy birthday! Mary, I am praying for you and Braden!!

Kuressaare camp Day 1.

God,

I love you. You are so great.

Amen.

Today great things are happening already and God is using people to connect. Once again, this camp is so different than any other. I love that no matter how many camps you have, they are never the same. The structure of them remain the same, though the relationships and things that happen are so different. God always places great people together to show His light. He is using us as His vessel. Please keep the students and leaders of this camp along with the students and leaders of the Rakvere camp in your prayers. The Northpoint team is at the Rakvere camp helping and the "Benton & Co." team is here at the Kuressaare camp helping.

People to keep in prayers:

• Josh Causey (hosting at the Rakvere camp)
• Scott Paige and Benton Cranford (Scott is hosting all week here at the Kuressaare camp and Benton is "Dancer Danny")
• Innar Kruglov and Chris Brock (These are the leaders of the camps; Innar=Kuressaare, Chris=Rakvere)
• Storytellers at the camps (Chris Brock *Rakvere* and myself here at the *Kuressaare* camp)

Hope that everyone that is reading this is doing well.

-brett

Kuressaare.

This is Kuressaare; it is on an island off the coast of Estonia.

preparation.

Yesterday began the preparations for the final two camps of the summer! I have been looking through the Story of God to get ready to be the story teller at the final camp I will be attending.

Our team enjoyed being together for the last camp and now we will split in two again. Two or three of us will be going to Kuressaare and the rest will be going to Tallinn. The teams that are arriving this week are both from Georgia; one team from Northpoint Community Church and the other a group of students from Georgia College and State University, I like to call this group "Benton & Co."

I am very excited for this last camp, I really do believe that God is going to do HUGE things for the leadership team of Kuressaare's church and also for the students that will be attending camp.

Innar and I are heading up this camp and I also believe that God is already and going to continue doing huge things in us as we are both young and new leaders. This challenge is so exciting for me. I am looking forward to learning both the easy and the hard way from this camp. Personally this is my seventh English Camp I have been a part of and I believe that I know more about English Camps than anything else in my life. In all 12 and half years that I went to school I did not learn this much. I have really found a passion in this place and I am sad to have to leave in less than three weeks. Although with that said, I am looking forward to future meetings with Estonia.

On Thursday we will begin our final journey as a team for this summer. Please keep us in your prayers for safety of travel and also for spiritual protection. More importantly please keep the leaders of the church in Kuressaare and the students that will be attending camp from Kuressaare; also the leaders from Rakvere's church and the students that will be attending camp from Rakvere in your prayers. They are why we are here. We love serving them.

-shields

kohila.

Upon return to Tartu tonight there is a piece of my heart that is in Kohila. All week long I struggled with trusting God. I had many challenges and I was also very tired. Though I was very humbled the past two days, as I very plainly saw God working all around me. God gave me so much energy this week and I believe used me as a way to make students laugh all week long!

Some of you may end up seeing some "interesting" pictures of me show up on Facebook; these interesting photos are a character that I played all week long at camp named, Dancer Danny. God really used the character to get students excited and pumped up in the mornings and at the Tuesday night dance party. I for sure don't enjoy dancing, so that is how I know it was God doing all the work! Maybe now I will enjoy and appreciate dancing just a little bit more.

Today we had an after party with the students and it was such an incredible time! The party began with students going all around their town, Kohila, and stopping at stations. The station I was at was on a bridge. At this bridge the teams that would come had to get their team from one side of the bridge to the other, carrying at least one person on their back! It was very interesting, especially since I couldn't explain it very well. I was stationed there with a new friend of mine, Anne. The two of us had some very good conversations and also enjoyed the beautiful river and day that was all around us.

After the big town race was over the winner was announced and we moved onto a field to begin hanging out as a large group. It was so much fun throwing the frisbee and then eventually eating some great meat and salad. The evening ended with a HUGE game of "Duck, Duck, Goose." It really made me feel like I was 7 years old again! After the game the team and I made our way back to Tartu, where I am now.

I am so happy to have met you Kohila. You have all touched my heart; the team, the students and the beautiful town that you have there. Thank you for coming to camp and thank you for letting all of us serve you this week. I hope to meet you again in the future. Maybe we could have an even better time! Sleep well tonight.

-dancer danny

ps I can't even really explain how much I loved being there. The first two English Camps have been incredible this summer. Praise God. Please keep Innar and I in your prayers as we will soon begin preparing for our last English Camp this summer. Also, please keep Chris, Evelin and Logan in your prayers as they will soon be preparing for their last English Camp this summer. I will be a story teller at the last camp, telling the story of God to students who most likely don't know it. What an opportunity. 'night

dance party.

Today was an incredible day of camp. I began my day off on a good note and feeling confident about what was ahead! And God was totally in charge today! I was reminded this morning that I can't add an inch to my height nor an hour to my life by worrying, so I shouldn't worry about camp. Thanks God!

This camp and week has felt so different then any other thing I have ever experienced. God, what are you up to in me? I'm excited about it.

Highlights for today:

7. Jeopardy Challenge in the English Environment time. (Our group didn't win, but we say we did!)

6. Swimming

5. Noodles for dinner

4. The Band With No Name (Our "Air Band" for open night mic)

3. Capture The Flag (BRUTALLY AWESOME)

2. Open Mic Night's DANCE PARTY (best dance party Eastern Europe has EVER seen)

1. Seeing students having fun and smiling.

Please continue praying for all of the students at camp!! Also for the leaders and Dave the speaker!

Prayer requests:

*Students would feel comfortable to really open up the next day and a half.

*Students and leaders would be protected from injury.

*Leaders would be trusting that God CAN do anything in these student's lives!

-brett

woah!

So this morning we faced rain and cold weather. As the day moved on the skies cleared up and the sun created heat! The past day and a half of camp has been somewhat difficult and unknown to me. Being a small group leader is such a new thing for me here in Estonia. I am currently in my sixth English Camp and it is only the second time I have been a small group leader. The first time was in 2007; the first time I came to Estonia.

Please keep all of us in your prayers. All the leaders and students! God is great; he is in control. God is Good; he will provide. God is glorious; I don't have to fear others. God is gracious; I don't have to prove myself.

All said, I am feeling very interesting right now. New emotions at this camp, but it is all very exciting and thrilling at the same time!!

-brett

ps: I was able to make lattes tonight in Cafe time. It felt great to be making coffee drinks again!

"Look to the skies hope arise
See His majesty revealed
More than this life there is love
There is hope and this is real"

-Hillsong United

summer camp.

Today was the beginning of the Kohila English Camp. It feels so different then every other camp I have been to. It feels like a summer camp. What I mean is...the facility is very outdoors. The main meeting spot is in a pavilion and the sleeping spots are cabins! I am really enjoying it.

The students that are here are so awesome! Most are very interactive already. Tonight we went through the first two scenes from the story of God. These stories were; Creation and Adam and Eve. Please be praying for all of our small groups! The students that are in Greete and I's small group are: Helen (16), Evelin (17), Anne (17), Mari (17) and Kristiine (17). SO there are now names, faces and souls to the students whom we have all been praying for! Stinkin' cool!

I love you guys!

-shields

ps ~ tomorrow night we will Sauna! SUPER!

i've got friends.

All over the place I've got friends. God has blessed me with who I think are the greatest people in the world as my friends! This week has been a really tough week for me. It was meant to be a week of rest for the next camp and up until tonight I have felt everything but rested. Today started out as a horrible day and it was only piled on from the previous days of the week!

When I got home from the office today, the mom of the family that I live with asked me, "How was your day?" I replied, "If I could be honest with you, it was crappy." She then told me, "Well you still have the night."

She was right.

I had to ask forgiveness from someone here whom was a victim of my own stubbornness. I hate that it can happen like that, I felt so horrible. After the two of us talked I felt much better. Lesson learned. Although it is hard to be humble and ask for forgiveness, we need forgiveness to make it through life. So thank you sister for your forgiveness!! Christ was shown through you tonight!

Earlier tonight I was able to see some of my closest buds through iChat. I was able to see them rehearsing worship music for Sunday and then to goof around with them for some time. Thanks TJ for initially starting it all earlier this evening (or morning in ATL) I love those guys and it meant the world to me to talk to them!

Tomorrow I will be leaving Tartu again with the awesome team that I am apart of to embark on a new journey. English Camp: Kohila

We are all very excited about what God will be doing at this camp. We have high expectations!! I am having the opportunity next week to be a small group leader. Please keep me and my partner for the week, Greete, in your prayers. Prayers for the students that will be at camp will greatly be appreciated!!! These students are one of the main reasons why we do camps!! Please also keep the leadership team from Kohila, Estonia in your prayers as they are the other reason why we do camps; to help equip them with leadership qualities.

The Lord is doing great things here in the youth of Estonia and also in my heart!

Until next time,

Nägemist!

-shields

today.

I was at Lõunakeskus and i was watching people ice skate. I decided... it was peaceful watching ice skating.

thank you Salem Chapel.

Looking through pictures from last week's English Camp I saw this one and it brought me joy.

The team from North Carolina did such an amazing job and I LOVED serving and working with them.

so thank you Salem Chapel.

You are amazing people!

belly dancers, bombs, singing and Jesus.

Good day to everyone!

It has been such a busy 8 days and I am hoping that I can catch you all up in this blog post.

God has been doing great things here in Estonia. 7 days ago I left with my team to go to a city in Estonia called Elva. That day we met with a great team from the city and had some training with them. Later on in the evening a team from Salem Chapel church in North Carolina made it to Elva after 46 hours of traveling. They should have made it much sooner than that, God had different plans with them. They were very tired but joyful when they finally made it. We had some training with them that night and then we all went to get rest for camp.

The next day (Sunday/Pühapäev) all of us went to the church in Elva to join their congregation for service. After the service Chris and I left to head to Tartu to pick up all the materials for camp while Kati and Evelin went ahead to Sihva to check on the facility where camp would be. The team from North Carolina stayed with the team from Elva because they would be joining the students for camp to ride on the bus with all of them. This year we wanted the camp to begin on the bus, which seemed to work really well.

As Chris and I were finally heading to Sihva with the materials Chris received a phone call. We were told from Kati that there was a group of belly dancers that were putting on a concert in the school we would be staying at and we would have to wait until later to set up. This meant one thing, IMPROV. So, that is what we did. Everything worked out very well, we ended up starting our first session right on time as planned. Later on that night around 1:30 in the morning some locals decided to mess with our camp and throw mud at the windows of the rooms that the girls were staying in. We could not get them but it ended up being a short night of sleep. God was in control.

The next day we continued on with our sessions and had our first English Environments which consisted of Comics, Meet & Greet, and CSI:Estonia. The students had a great time. At the end of the day we were pretty exhausted. We had seen the students were really struggling to listen to and talk about the story of God. Some were even at the point of saying, "I don't care about God, don't talk with me about it." We were very trusting that God had the students in His hands. The night of the second day of camp the fun began again at 1:30 in the morning. This time though it was homemade vinegar "bombs." When the first set of these "bombs" went off we called the police and basically the police said we don't care, call us if it happens again. Well we ended up calling again, after the second set of "bombs" went off. This time they came out and the local kids had already ran away, so the cops took one of the blown up bottles and set and watched over the school for the night. That night was another short night of sleep. God was still in control.

The next two days we continued on with the Story of God and English Environments which now consisted of The Amazing Race, Jeopardy, and World Villages. The story became very tough for the students as we began to talk about the flood (where God killed everyone on earth) and other stories where the students seemed to see God as mean. Somewhere in this time we had a student leave camp because there was too much God involved. It was very cool though that in the last 4 or 5 parts of the talk to see the mood in the room changed. We began to talk about the Israelites and how they kept messing up and going back to God who would forgive them. As this part of the story wold go on I believe that students began to realize that the people were the problem and that God was always consistent and Holy (good, right, and perfect). God was in control and grabbing the students hearts.

On wednesday we introduce the students to the part of the story where Jesus was born and about the live he lived. All the miracles he did and how he loved and forgave everyone. This is where things really changed and the students were relieved because, "Ahh, finally something good in the story!" On Thursday morning the story of Death and resurrection was told and the students talked a lot about this in their small groups. After the meeting on Thursday we had lunch and took many pictures and then the students got onto a bus with the team from North Carolina and headed home. God had been so in control everyday that week even when things could be very hectic. I made so new very special friends this past week at camp and I won't forget them.

We had students who changed and were very interested in looking more into this "God thing." One guy, who I am very proud of, decided that God was pretty okay after stating at the beginning of the week, "I don't care about God, don't talk to me about it.

On Friday we had a great "grill and chill" and picture party with the students from Elva. We had an opportunity to share somethings we were all grateful for and then I took a moment to thank God for all of those things, the people there and the food. It was a very cool moment. We had goodbyes that night, this was very difficult to say goodbye to everyone. We had all been so close that week. After goodbyes, our team + the North Carolina team headed back to our hotel in Elva to get some rest before our early morning the next day.

On Saturday we got up around 5 to 5:30 in the morning to have breakfast and then head to Tartu to catch a train to Tallinn. The train ride was great, it consisted of good sleep and conversations about where the church (as a whole) is at in the States. The rest of the day was so much fun. We did soooooo much walking but it was totally worth it. The team split up and went shopping and sight seeing. Then we met up and took a journey to a place where over one hundred thousand people were gathering to sings songs together. Laulupidu 2009 was going on this year. This happens once every four years and I was so glad we were all able to be a part of it. After Laulupidu we walked back to down town Tallinn to go back to our Hostel to spend the night. The next morning we sent the North Carolina team in taxi to the airport to begin their journey home. After sending them off our team met up with Märt and his family for lunch. Then we met with our two friends Meelis and Johnny D. to get on a bus and head back to Tartu.

I hope this all made sense to you guys. I was just trying to get it all out in one entry. I learned a lesson here, make entries every couple of things as things are happening! haha.

Over the past two or three weeks some very cool things have been happening in my life and I am very excited to see what is to come from it. God has been blessing everyone here so much and I am so glad to be a part of what is going on in this country.

All the Glory be to our Father!

-brett