Taking the nursing home floor by floor, Tirza Klauser sang hymns with several other young people for the elderly people who listened from their chairs. Some smiled, others sang along. A few cried.

Across the building, teenage boys took walks with some of the residents, pushing them in their wheelchairs and talking. Outside, more teens were doing yard work.

The Friday ministry trip to the nursing home formed the climax to Osterfreizeit, Germany’s Easter week youth camp, April 5-11 at Edersee, Germany. More than 70 teens and 16 adults gathered for the week-long camp focused on the theme “Called.”

Morning devotionals, evening services, activities and the ministry project were planned to reinforce the theme.

“We wanted the students to hear, understand and feel that God calls them,” said Debbie Güting, co-pastor from Gelnhausen Church of the Nazarene who was part of a team that planned and led the camp. “First, that He calls them into a relationship with Him and second that He calls them to make a difference in this world.”

Spending time at the nursing home was a way to give practical application to what the teens were learning in the camp.

“I enjoyed the day, but it made me think about it all as well. It made me sad to hear people say that they usually don’t have any visitors or to hear what kind of sickness they have,” said Klauser, who attends the Gottmadingen church. “I think God wants us young Christians to care about the old ones. We are a generation called to make a difference in this world and to make the life of others a bit better.”

Besides the outreach event, the teens lived out their “call” in other practical ways, including a game in which they took small items and went through the village trading repeatedly with people for items of increasing value. When they were done, they held a silent auction for the items they collected, raising 100 euros for a Germany Work & Witness team’s summer project.

The practical activities went hand-in-hand with the spiritual growth occurring during the week. Before going to camp, Klauser said her perception of faith in Christ tended toward feelings of obligation and pressure. After the camp, she sensed that her relationship with Christ is about freedom and joy.

“I think He showed me that He isn’t the God who has only one way of dealing with us and isn’t flexible at all. Quite the contrary: He has a lot of ways and is flexible …the only thing that doesn’t change is that He is God.”

 

 

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Click on the image to view more pictures of the Easter youth camp.