The Revival Church in Vancouver, WA completed another season of summer camps. First the children’s, then the youth, and finally—the family camp. After that there was a baptism of twenty-five young men and women that marked the end of the season of reaping the fruit of the youth ministry.
The church has over 400 members. The Sunday school has 120 students under the age of 10. There are many more teenagers and young people. Sunday School Principal Irina Karpenko often reminds parents, “Sunday School is not a childcare service. Everything is very serious here. Our children read the same Bible and pray with the same sincerity. They do not believe in some "childish" God, but in the same one that their parents believe in. This is a real church." The church has not only a Sunday school, but also two youth groups, as well as a full-fledged youth ministry.
English ministry pastor Daniel Henderson says his target audience is younger generations who know the Bible from childhood and are prepared for ministry. Over the past six months, the English ministry has grown from 120 to 200 people and continues to grow. The unity and continuity of generations is one of the main values and obvious blessings of the Revival Church.
Many young people most often turn to God in the camps, so there is a direct link between the quality of summer camps and the number of youth in the church. “I myself repented at a Christian summer camp and have since become a committed advocate for this ministry,” says Mikhail Cherenkov, a senior pastor of the church. “Back then, back in Soviet times, we called the camp a “forest church.” It was not so much a time and place for entertainment as an opportunity to think about the most important questions of life: what do you believe in, what is the meaning of your life, whom will you serve. I have seen many of my friends who repented and committed their lives to Jesus during the camps. There, in the camp, their journey to the church began. If we want such a serious approach to the camp, then the name "forest church" is the most appropriate. Of course, the point is not in the name, but in what we want, for the sake of which we are doing all this. We want younger generations to join the church as early as possible.”
Svetlana Iotko
