Story number 3 for 6 May 2003

(Russia)–With summer quickly approaching, camping ministry is becoming a huge priority in the former Soviet Union. Michael Johnson is with the Slavic Gospel Association. He says summer ‘Pioneer Camps’ were always popular there. “These are camps that before the wall came down, where kids were taught atheism in the pioneer camps. Now we have an opportunity to go in an do summer camp through the evangelical churches where the kids are taught the Gospel.” Now, those camps sit largely empty and evangelical churches are using them for ministry. Johnson says the SGA is raising money for scholarship. “The cost to send a Russian child to camp this summer is $75 per child. And, our statistics show that if roughly 90-percent of the kids who come have never set foot in a church, typically about two-thirds of those kids will make a profession of faith during that two to three week period.” SGA hopes to send 15-hundred children to camp this year.