Recently 91 youth celebrated the 7th annual Nazarene Youth Camp at a beachside location near Dili, East Timor (also called Timor-Leste). Many young people experienced powerful deliverance as they were challenged by the camp theme: "Becoming an Example to This Generation."

Devotional messages and sharing times were led by a variety of speakers from East Timor, Indonesia, Brazil and the US. According to East Timorese leader, Pastor Samuel, one of the most memorable services took place on Saturday night, as campers were given the opportunity to receive Christ.

“Everyone was instructed to sit in a large circle. In the middle of the circle they lit large white candles and placed them in the form of a cross. One of our pastors presented a clear invitation to everyone and asked them to write their sins on a piece of paper and to place them into the fire. The youth leaders then gathered around to pray for the ones who had made a decision to follow Christ.



A pastor’s wife, Deborah, began to pray in Indonesian. Her prayers touched the heart of God and many began to cry. One young man, for whom we’ve been praying for a long time, began to weep. Then he started to make very strong, strange sounds in his throat.

Warren Neal, a practicing nurse, said, “I thought he was going to choke, then he fell on the floor and began to
convulse."

The pastors gathered around him and began to pray in the name of Jesus that the evil spirits in this young man would leave. As they were praying, Pastor Ully began to sing a song in Indonesian about the power of God!  After a while the pastors asked the young man if he had accepted Christ as his Saviour and he replied, “Yes!”  Shortly after his confession, the young man started vomiting.

“It was as if he was vomiting up all the evil that had been inside of him!” said Neal.  “After the young man settled down he prayed again thanking God for his deliverance."

The memorable camp concluded on Sunday morning with final worship time challenging the youth to resist temptation and stand strong on their decision to follow Christ and be examples to their generation.

Please pray that those who made decisions will continue to remain strong and that we will be able to find ways to disciple them over the weeks and months ahead.