In June, 40 children from Zo Christian Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana attended Zo’s first Kids Camp. Through Bible lessons, songs with dance, and other VBS-like activities, children learned about God’s love and Christ’s salvation. A partnership between two FEC churches, Brookside and Zo Church, made this event especially exciting.
Stephanie Rupp, a volunteer from Brookside, organized the camp alongside Zo Church’s youth pastor, Mang Sang Sung. Stephanie’s passion for international outreach led her to connect with Mang Sang and his Zo community which moved to Fort Wayne from Myanmar (formerly Burma).
With training, the youth from both Brookside and Zo Church ran the Kids Camp almost entirely without adult help. “It was amazing to see how one generation is training and equipping another,” Mang Sang says.
Mang Sang is thankful for the Lord’s provision since this program did not exist before Brookside’s involvement. He is excited to launch more summer camps in the future. Zo Church invited many in its community to attend Kid Camp, doubling the number of attendees Stephanie expected. “That was amazing,” she says.
Many Brookside youth were impacted when they saw the Zo people worshipping in their own language, and Stephanie and Mang Sang praying in two languages together. “We learned from each other,” Stephanie says. “It was an honor to partner with our brothers and sisters in Christ.” The two leaders agree it was a huge blessing to see their churches partner together and would love to do it again.
