March 12, 2008
Welcome to the Fields of Hope - a seed planting update, World Wide Youth Camps' electronic newsletter. Below you will find links to a number of relevant and interesting reports about WWYC's ongoing, year round work in Russia and Ukraine. Please take the time to click on the links below and thank you again for your commitment to and interest in what God is doing through World Wide Youth Camps.
 Beginning with the End in Mind by Rob Browne, WWYC Director of Russian Operations
I continue to be amazed at how the voice of God in one sphere of my life is so very applicable in other spheres of my life as well. I am not surprised by this though because God is the same whether he is at work in the realm of reaching young people for Jesus Christ or in your/my professional life or our church body or our physical family.
Traci and I home school our children. It is an all encompassing task that is, hands down, the most rewarding aspect of our lives these days. We get to see daily the progress (and note the lack of progress as well) that our children are making in their spiritual, intellectual, emotional, relational and academic development. It is truly humbling, invigorating, frustrating, and enlightening and it constantly shows us our dependence on God. Recently, Traci brought a book to our attention by a woman named Lori Lane. The title is "Beginning With the End in Mind." It's a wonderful challenge to parents to be laser like intentional in all they do as parents so that the end desire for our children can more easily (though it will never be easy for sure) be attained.
Let me quote from one paragraph in the book. Lori says,
"...I live in the west where everything does not grow on command like it did when I lived in the Atlanta area. I've watched gardeners in our area spend countless hours reseaching, reading, going through seed catalogs, preparing soil in the fall, etc. They spend all this time preparing before they EVER put a seed into the ground. Why? Because they know that just planting seeds will not produce the type of vegetable or flower garden they want. They have a definite picture in their mind of what they want their spring garden to look like, and because that picture is so vivid and specific, they are willing to put in the time and planning to make that garden a reality."
This is a time of the year for the WWYC staff that is trying to say the least. In the last month I've been in Nashville, TN, twice, Washington, D.C, Moscow and Novosibirsk, Russia, and have worn the different hats of development, recruiting, team building, and mentor training along the way. The summer time part of this ministry is truly life giving in a way that no other time of the year is for our staff. Before we can get to that point though, before we can see that "spring garden" mentioned above, we must do the tough work of planning, equipping, promoting, and building now a foundation we will only stand on once this summer finally gets here.
Simply put, we're beginning our work this summer right now with the end in mind. Team meetings, fund raising, seeking orphan sponsors, equipping team leaders and team members is definitely not the glitzty and glamourous aspect of our ministry year but it is so very important if we want to end our summer work and kick off the mentoring year with the expecation that the seeds planted will be given every possible chance of survivial, growth, maturity, and reproduction. That's the end we have in mind.
So, now let us begin...
Rob Browne
Latest News
The latest in WWYC News is available by clicking here to read about:
WWYC's Upcoming Harvester's Luncheons
Staff Notes
Notes from staff members and their efforts are chronicled here:
Rob Browne - Reaching to Russia (Developing People)
Rob Browne - Reaching to Russia (A New Partner)
Focus Countries
Read about the latest efforts in each of our Focus Countries by clicking the links below:
Russia News 2008 Mentor Retreat in Novosibirsk, Russia
WWYC Opens First Office in Russia and Begins Official Registration Process
Ukraine News 2008 Mentor Retreat in Donetsk, Ukraine
Current Teams
Read about current teams that are preparing for fall and winter trips by clicking here.
Russia - Sunny Studio Team USA
Sunny Studio Team Nashville
Fall Mentor Retreat in Novosibirsk
Greater Atlanta Christian School/Caritas Kid's Club and Orphanage Outreach
Ukraine - Orphan Camp in Simferapol, Crimea
Orphan Camp in Cvyatogorsk, Donetsk Region
Summer Camp Orphans Sponsors Needed
Once again we are asking for help in sponsoring orphans from the city of Novosibirsk to attend our two sessions of Sunny Studio Camp in Novosibirsk, Russia. Sponsorships are again $350 and this includes both the camp experience and the full year mentoring program which is truly at the heart of WWYC's ministry in Russia. For information about sponsoring a child, please contact WWYC Director of Russian Operations Rob Browne at rob@wwyc.org.
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