Dear CFO Family around the world,
Here is a testimony to God’s work and “going farther out” that came to the CFOI office last week. Enjoy the connections, and pray for God’s kingdom to grow through this camp in Russia!
Hello and greetings in Jesus’ name,
New Russian Camp Building
I came to Christ at age 15, in 1974, while attending a wonderful CFO camp in Northern California. Now at age 55 I can say that Christian camps have played a powerful role in my life. I volunteered as a camp counselor for seven years during my teens and early 20s. I met my wife at a camp for teens in beautiful northern Minnesota where we have lived and raised our family for the past 27 years.
Since 1994 I have been involved with a ministry in Petrozavodsk, Russia where we have collaborated with indigenous Russian leadership to operate a Christian Center in a major public school. Several thousand students have heard the Gospel and many have come to Christ over the years. One of the most effective and fruitful offshoots of this ministry has been camps for young people, similar to what I experienced at CFO so many years ago. However, this entire region of northwest Russia –the Republic of Karelia, has had no Christian campground or retreat center facility available and affordable for the Body of Christ.
Russian and American Christians Dedicating the Building
Long story short, with the generous donations of Christians around the US and many volunteers in Russia from several different churches, a beautiful retreat center has been built. My wife and I had the privilege of attending the dedication service there on June 7th. We came away marveling at all that God has done to make this dream a reality. The vision and anticipation among the Russian Christians is such that we sense and pray that this special campground facility could well outlive us and be a great blessing to the Christians of this area of Russia for generations.
I wanted to share this little testimony about how the good seed of the Kingdom of God, from a long-ago CFO camp has continued to grow and bear fruit. – Jeff Sullivan