News From Around the World

• 14 Children Attend Summer Camp in Germany
• Ghana Camp Volunteers Experience Challenges
• Southern African National Council Chairman Reports on Region

14 Children Attend Summer Camp in Germany

From Aug. 2 to 7, 14 children and nine adults from Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland attended summer camp at the hostel Naturfreundehaus in Oerlinghausen, Germany. This year special guest Lara Muir from southern France was part of the staff.

Following a brief orientation meeting on the afternoon of the arrival day, campers learned how to make decorative candle holders. In the evening the first Morse code class was conducted by Paul Kieffer, who has been a licensed ham operator for 40 years.

On Thursday, the first full day of camp, campers enjoyed various games played with a parachute. In the afternoon the group walked 1.5 miles through the forest to the nearby Oerlinghausen glider airport, which is the largest of its kind in all of Europe. A sunny afternoon provided an opportunity to watch dozens of starts and landings on the parallel grass runways at the airport. In the evening campers practiced the song selected as this year's special music for the children's choir at the Feast of Tabernacles.

Friday's main activity was a special "bicycle" ride on train tracks. The train line between Rinteln and Barntrup is no longer in regular service. Instead, the tracks have been leased to an outdoor activity group that provides special cars propelled by bicycle chains and gears.

Staff members accompanied campers on the uphill climb of 8 miles before the group turned around at 2 p.m., the time set for one-way traffic on the tracks to reverse. Local member Elisabeth Hellmig met the group along the route and prepared a barbecue lunch. On the downhill stretch staff members did not have to provide much help pedaling. The campers enjoyed seeing how fast they could go on the descent.

For the daily interactive Bible study, campers were divided into two groups based on age. The theme for this year's camp was the Ten Commandments. Using various puzzles and other craft materials, instructors Hermann Göhring and Mr. Kieffer helped the campers see some of the underlying principles found in the basic points of God's law.

On the Sabbath campers were divided into two teams for a Bible quiz competition conducted by Mr. Kieffer. Questions for the quiz were taken from the book of Genesis and were divided into four categories by degree of difficulty.

In the afternoon, visitors from the local Bielefeld congregation joined the group for Sabbath services. The campers performed special music prior to the sermon, a PowerPoint presentation by Mr. Kieffer. The sermon covered an overview of the Ten Commandments and showed how the theme of freedom from slavery still applies to today's world. After the service, the group had coffee and cake, a German tradition for mid-afternoon. In the evening campers, staff and visitors enjoyed a barbecue dinner.

On Sunday, the last full day of camp, the group traveled to nearby Detmold by car to view two historical sites. The first stop on the day trip was the Externsteine, an unusual natural stone formation of several large boulders used anciently as a site for cultic worship. After lunch the second stop was the Hermannsdenkmal, which was completed in 1875 and commemorates the victory of Germanic chieftain Arminius (Hermann) over three Roman legions in A.D. 9. Hermann's victory ended Rome's attempts to extend its dominion beyond the Rhine River. After returning to the hostel and enjoying a final evening meal, each camper received a certificate of participation that emphasized his or her contribution to the camp.

Despite weather forecasts at the beginning of the week predicting rainstorms from Thursday through Sunday, it only rained briefly on Wednesday and Saturday afternoon. The weather otherwise was cool and sunny.

Naturfreundehaus Bielefeld, the venue for the camp, uses volunteer supervisors during the year. Its members are expected to volunteer a couple of weeks a year to provide oversight when groups use the site. This year's volunteer supervisor was the same one as for the previous camps. He called us a "low-maintenance" group and said he will schedule himself again next year when summer camp 2007 is in session during the last week of July. UN

Article and photos first appeared on www.ucog.org.

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Ghana Camp Volunteers Experience Challenges

by Melvin Rhodes

Before they even got on the plane, the six Youth Corps volunteers (Laura Beth Childers, Zachary Smith, Francesca Nixon, Mark Mirigian, Michal Lisa Capo and Kirsten Korthuis) headed to Ghana's annual summer camp were learning some serious lessons about the hazards of modern travel.

We all woke up Aug. 10, departure day, to hear of chaos at London's Heathrow Airport as a result of a terrorist scare. British police had intercepted a plot to blow up 10 to 15 jumbo jets.

As a result of the terrorist scare, new rules were introduced on hand luggage. The result was long delays at some airports. For the eight of us going to Ghana, our flights from the United States were delayed as were flights from London to Accra. Michal Lisa did not make the connection and had to fly to Accra a day later.

Four of our volunteers had to wait 10 days for their luggage, so finding replacement clothes and toiletries in Ghana was a priority. Included in their luggage was some of the equipment needed for the summer camp. We simply had to make do. The soccer balls and Frisbees can always be used next year!

Eventually, everybody made it and we were in Accra ready to see some of Ghana en route to Kumasi, the venue for our annual summer camps.

In Kumasi, we were able to buy the clothes needed. The camp was held at Prempeh College. Staff stayed at the Freeman Center, a guest house run by the Methodist Church. We had 100 campers from around Ghana and 30 volunteers helping.

Everything went well on the first day, but then three of the four girl volunteers from the United States got sick. The two guys were fine and remained so.

Laura Beth had to go to the hospital when dehydration became a problem, and she was not able to keep anything down, including fluids. They gave her an IV, which helped her build up her fluids. After one night they released her, but she needed to return as she continued to dehydrate. Francesca, the only girl not to get sick, was able to stay with her.

When a blood test showed that Laura Beth had been bitten by a mosquito, the doctors and nurses began to treat her for malaria, which was actually making her dehydration problem worse. The malaria pills led to more vomiting and diarrhea. It became necessary to take her to Accra, from where it was hoped she could get a flight home to continue further treatment for dehydration.

It took us all day but we made it, just in time to get the two last seats on a British Airways flight out of Ghana. Two of the girls left. Kirsten, who was also sick with a stomach bug, tried to leave on KLM but there were no spare seats, so she had to remain for a further 48 hours.

Every year, we all have to come together to help each other, but this year the bonding that took place was that much greater. We worked very well together as a team. UN

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Southern African National Council Chairman Reports on Region

André van Belkum, chairman of United Church of God, Southern Africa, gave the following report to the Southern African National Council Aug. 27.

South Africa

Positive trends are once again reflected in our recent office report. Distribution of The Good News magazine has remained constant and stable, despite the fact that a controlled renewal program is in operation. Circulation projections indicate that the distribution of the magazine will increase slightly, possibly by 1,000, by the beginning of next year.

One reason that the circulation has remained steady is the response from the Internet, both from the United States and from our local Google advertising. Recently over 100 requests were received in one day, which is a record. Average new GN contacts have risen sharply over the past months. Noticeable is the increase in the value of donations received from our GN readers. It seems that donations this year will once again surpass the record set last year.

The monthly average of literature received and sent from the East London, South Africa, office has increased by over 30 percent and is putting additional pressure on our staff members. However, at this stage they are still able to cope, and they continue to use two homes as offices to process the mail.

Malawi

Over the Pentecost season Bill Jahns visited both the Blantyre and Lilongwe churches in Malawi. There was a record attendance of 73 in Blantyre, where Mr. Salawila handles incoming and outgoing mail for Malawi from his home.

There has been a proposal from a member to purchase a tract of land for constructing a church hall and other buildings in Lilongwe. Mr. Jahns will keep the council informed regarding the viability of such a project.

Zambia

From July 7 to 13, my wife, Elize, and I visited the members in Zambia. The first stop was in the Copper Belt region in the north, where Sabbath services were conducted with 31 in attendance. After lunch a question-and-answer session was held.

We were also able to spend valuable time with Derrick and Cherry Pringle who use their office in the town of Kitwe as a base for receiving and distributing the literature for Zambia. The Pringles kindly drove us about 400 kilometers (250 miles) to meet with our pastor, Kambani Banda, and his wife in Mumbwa.

From there we traveled to meet with our members from three congregations in the Mumbwa region. Sabbath services were combined with 84 in attendance. We slept over for two nights, and spent a joyous time fellowshipping with our members.

Incidentally, this past season our members, who are all farmers, more than trebled their maize crop yields, largely due to the application of fertilizer supplied by LifeNets.

It was encouraging to witness the construction of three church halls, made possible by donations from the Good Works Program. Each of the three church areas will have its own hall once they are completed, hopefully before the end of October this year. We were able to keep costs down as a result of members offering their time and expertise with the construction process. Our trip to Zambia proved to be extremely profitable.

Zimbabwe

From Aug. 6 to 13 I undertook a visiting tour to Zimbabwe. I was met at the airport by Mike and Primrose Mukarati, who manage our office there. Their son Gabriel accompanied us on the trip and to our first stop, Mutare, where we met with a group of six new people. They all work for the same organization and are keenly interested in our teachings. However, some of them have to resolve a Sabbath problem, and we hope and pray that they can make alternative arrangements with their employer.

After visiting with our only member in Mutare, Mrs. Harrison, we returned to Harare. There I teamed up with member Harris Hlazo for the remainder of the trip. The Mukarati family returned to their home in Kariba.

From Harare Harris and I visited Theresa Chichaya and her family members in Kadoma. She is a widow, but is a successful small-scale farmer. It appears God blesses her as she reaps good crops, no matter what adverse weather conditions she has to face. With financial support from Australian brethren and the help of a friend I have known for years, we hope to reactivate a borehole water well on her property. This will be a great help to her, especially during the dry season.

Next we traveled to visit another member who, with her husband and children, farm in the Kwekwe region. They feel extremely insecure as the Zimbabwe government continues its policy of occupying mostly white-owned farms. So far their dairy farm has not been seized. They appreciate our concern and prayers.

Our last stop was the city of Bulawayo. There we observed the Sabbath with a group of 16. They now meet in a hall close to public transportation. Previously they met in the home of Stephen and Vetina Tshabalala, who just a few years ago were the only members there.

During the visit we baptized three people, including the son of Mrs. Chichaya. We also welcomed into our fellowship Fanwell Gorondo who left our former association in 2006 as a result of doctrinal changes. We also finalized plans for the Feast, which this year will be held at Lake Chevero, 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the capital city, Harare. Again, this was a rewarding and profitable trip. UN