Dear Family and Friends,

      As many of you know I injured my knee on May 17, 2014 during our soccer outreach, that we have done every Saturday, for months. My back was in excruciating pain on May 24, 2014 from walking on my messed up knee for so long. I returned to America to get medical treatment. They told me in Belgium, they thought I injured my meniscus and I would need an MRI for my knee. They couldn’t get me an MRI in Belgium for a month. As for my back they believed it to be a bulging disc since they didn’t have an MRI machine they just guessed. So they sent me home with three different kinds of pain pills and a muscle relaxer to take 4x a day. Belgium could not provide me with the good health care that we have in America. It is nationalized health care.

   When I returned to America I went to the chiropractor the first day I returned. It wasn’t a bulging disc but my pelvis was out on my right side and my sacrum was twisted. He popped me back into place and told me I needed to come back three times a week for pain management. It wouldn’t improve till my knee improved. I got the MRI and my ACL was damaged and I had a bone contusion. I was given a back brace and knee brace. Additionally, the doctor put me through physical therapy for a month, three times a week , for my back, knee, and hip. I developed a inflammation on the bursa of my hip because of my knee and walking on it weird so they told me to do physical therapy and gave me a cortisone shot. For the first two months of being home I was in a lot of pain.

   Then I still had surgery on my knee. They drained excess fluid off my ACL due to a severe ACL sprain. My back hasn’t improved greatly, but my chiropractor has told me to give it time. I am praying for recovery because I have back spasms most nights when lying flat. I haven’t been able to sleep well in months unless I take a pain pill. If my hip doesn’t improve they are going to have to do surgery on it as well. I am still doing physical therapy exercises at home for my back, knee, and hip. I am improving slowly. My knee is almost feeling normal.  Currently, I can’t do a lot of what I used to. But there is hope of improvement over time.

   I wanted to tell you guys that I am not returning to Belgium this year or any time soon. I loved my time there and I felt privileged to be there for a season. However, I have medical bills up to my eye balls WITH insurance from surgery, physical therapy, and specialists. Insurance only covers a limited amount of things and I have to pay for the difference. I can’t leave America with this kind of debt. I have to make monthly payments.  

   Sometimes we don’t understand why things happen the way they do. I am still unsure why I got injured doing God’s work overseas. However, God is still good and has amazing plans for my life. I didn’t lose my leg or break my back this is just a temporary set back. I would have told you all sooner but I wasn’t sure the verdict until now. I was hoping to return.

 I am going to get a job, once my back gets back to normal(my previous job was in Belgium). I am hoping to take a class or two at Arkansas State University online and work towards level two certification in American Sign Language. God, one night, when I was trying to sleep gave me a glimpse of a chess board verses playing cards and I felt like I heard game change. This is a game change in my life. I now have to think of things more methodically and everything is slower like a chess game. It doesn’t mean it is bad it is just slower. When things slow down and I get time to think I realize more that God’s grace is sufficient and we can be world changers wherever we are. I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me. God has a purpose in everything and He has His hand on my life. He hasn’t forgotten me and sometimes healing that isn’t instantaneous teaches us something about ourselves and others.

‘No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’ Romans 8:27-28

I look forward to see what God is going to do in this next season.

Much Love and Many Blessings,

Cami Lynn Woodruff

 

Dear Family and Friends,

 

     We are seeing some breakthrough in Bastogne, Belgium. Well, the last three weeks have been very busy. Firstly, our Wednesday door to door outreach has been going pretty well. One person has shown up to one event drunk, others have texted us wanting to meet, and one other wants to meet for a Bible study specifically on comparing the Koran and the Bible. It might look small but we are making headway.

    Secondly, please keep us in prayer because our soccer outreach for the past two weeks has been semi disastrous. Although we have had good numbers for turn out, we also have had two broken arms, a pulled calf, and dislocated ribs in the past two weeks. The first arm break was from a goalie soccer ball mishap and the second break from falling in the rain. We want to enjoy and play soccer but not for people to always get hurt in the process. However, the soccer ministry itself is still going strong. If you could pray for fast recovery on the injured soccer players, that would be great. In addition, one of the soccer players, who previously was a Muslim and has accepted the Lord, mother is very ill. Please pray for him although he says he has accepted Jesus there is not evident changes yet. Pray for his family because from what we have understood they are all Islamic. Pray that God moves on his heart to tell  his mother the truth he has heard.

Local Belgian friend(not a Christian yet), Justine, and I.



My first day of being 24!

Albert(local Belgian who recently got saved and

 gave me 21 roses at my surprise party!)

                                                           Aline, Justine, Esther and I
                                          ( some of my very dear friends in Bastogne!)
 

        Our Sunday church services have been weird for the last three weeks to say the least. One week we only had a drunk agnostic show up. The next week we had about 14 people show up besides us four (Kerby, Sheila, Justine, and I) so 18 people in all. That was a really great turn out. It was a mixture between unsaved and Christians who are looking for a home church. That week our slide show for our worship acted up so we had to change our whole song selection from what we practiced to simple choruses because we were unable to use the projector. Then the next week we had twelve people show up besides us and seven of the twelve were not Christian. To be precise we had four young adult men who brought a keg of beer with them(two play soccer with us every Saturday), one drug addict with her giant dog(literally), one Catholic(who has no idea what salvation is, he has shown up to other meetings), and one Jehovah’s witness. The other five people (one almost two year old, two young adults and two older Christians in their forties) are strong Christians interested in helping us with ministry and possibly making us their home church (we are praying that will happen)! Basically, as Luc(one of the strong Christian men) was leading out the sinners prayers at the end of service one of the young men interrupted him and started trying to argue with him about God. Then the woman who is a drug addict left crying (however she said she would be back next week). Although she accepted the Lord a few weeks ago and was baptized she has turned back to her old life. We haven’t seen her in meetings for the past few weeks so for her to show up was really great! The Jehovah’s Witness left offended at the end of service and we are still not sure why. And then the three boys who were drinking and the blatantly argumentative drunk left together with the keg of beer. However, the catholic man stayed for prayer. Many Catholics here really don’t understand about salvation they think if you are a good person and have been baptized you will make it to heaven. You don’t even have to acknowledge Jesus. So Kerby and Luc prayed for him.

    Although it sounds like the past three weeks have been a mishap or setback, we have been praying specifically for sinners to come. We have been having an amazing turn out! Please pray as people are coming and Satan wants to distract that God moves in a mighty way. We are seeing God's hand and favor on our ministry here. Please pray for a continuation of people who need Jesus and we can talk to them.

    In addition, on May 9, I turned 24. I had such an awesome Birthday. I have had 21 roses, 2 potted flower plants, two tiramisu cakes, lots of chocolate, earrings, and a bracelet given to me from local Belgians. This was not including what my fellow American missionary friends have given to me. I feel so blessed and loved. What was so funny was Mrs. Sheila made me a cake on Friday (my real Birthday) and we ate it at the concert that night. The next day after soccer outreach Mrs. Sheila invited us over for dinner. When I got to their house they had surprise party for me! I felt so touched how many people had shown up and all the gifts I was given. I feel so blessed to be here. It was so sweet that Justine (roommate and close friend) and Esther (another great friend) planned it. 

Well, that was about it for the past three weeks. If you could pray for:

1.)    Favor with the locals.(God will prepare their hearts)

2.)    My French

3.)    Wisdom on creative ways to outreach.

4.)    Workers for Bastogne on a local level

5.)    A spiritual awakening in Belgium

Love and miss you guys and I can’t wait to see you again.

 

Much Love and Many Blessings,

 

Cami Lynn

Dear Friends and Family,

    We are having a blast here in the Belgium! Lately, we have been doing a lot more evangelism. First, last week we went to Charleroi and helped the church there evangelize different neighborhood areas and invite them to different activities that were going to be happening during Easter. I loved talking to different people about God and just to invite them to come was fun too.

 

   In the same manner, we have been trying to evangelize our own city too. We went door to door today. We talked to people wanting them to know that we are here, where we are at, and of course tell them about Jesus. It went really well. When we first get people who open the door we clarify we aren’t Jehovah Witnesses and that seems to put them at ease. But today Kerby and I were invited into a woman’s house and she was so gracious and we were able to share the gospel with her. It was great, it seems like she was really touched. We are now friends on Facebook and we exchanged contact information. I have noticed that if we put ourselves out there no matter the response we get the favor of God.

   Our English club seems to be dwindling lately but our soccer outreach is thriving. We have grown even more with soccer and we have a gathering after. After we meet at The Bridge (the coffee shop/ministry center) and have pizza and we share something about God with the boys and men. The hangout/food has been a hit the past two weeks we have tried it!

   My sign language class is going pretty well. I met with a girl from the class and her fiancé(who conveniently spoke English) last week and we had ice cream and talked a lot about God. They had a lot of questions for me; neither grew up in Christian households or even religious households. They wanted to know how I practiced my faith and why. They seemed shocked that it was possible. God gave me the opportunity and the grace to share the simple gospel with them. They seemed interested and I hope that we can continue with our friendship. With my work schedule and theirs we are hoping to meet in a month and have dinner. In addition, I am meeting with another woman (who also speaks English) from the sign language class tomorrow, please pray that God gives me favor with her and if possible an opportunity to share my faith. I have been building these friendships for two months now, continue to pray that God gives me favor with these women. Additionally, pray for grace and quick mind in both French Sign Language and French. French has been a very humbling language for me but God has been growing me as a person as I have been struggling with it.

    Please pray that God moves powerfully in Bastogne, Belgium. Pray that God sends revival to this spiritually dead land. Pray that God gives us wisdom on where best to invest our time. We are having services every Sunday night and continue to pray that God continues to meet us there. We can say God’s truth till we are blue in face but if God isn’t there, there is no point of even talking. We want to see a mighty move of God here. We are fasting tomorrow and if you feel led to fast with us please do so. We are going to fast till four tomorrow.

 

Much Love and Many Blessings,

 

Cami Lynn

Dear Family and Friends,

   We had a Baptism last week!! It was awesome. Linda, previously a drug addict, got saved on Saturday got baptized that Sunday. Then there was Pricilla who is a Christian but hadn’t been baptized before and hasn’t had any discipleship came to meet us. After she introduced us to Linda and now they are coming to meetings! We feel so blessed to have them and be able to disciple them. I helped Kerby with the baptisms, which was a lot of fun. However, because it is March it was cold water.

 

Additionally, my relationships with the women in the French Sign Language class are growing. At the end of the semester, I want to get involved with the deaf community here in Bastogne and neighboring cities. Please pray that God gives me favor in that area. I also am going to start meeting with the women individually in the class for coffee and hopefully to talk about life and God.

 Our soccer outreach has boomed! We usually have 6-8 people per-week not including ourselves. We are able to talk to these people one on one when we have short breaks in between the games. We also are trying to schedule activities outside of soccer to be able to talk with them more about their lives and of course Jesus! Please pray that as we are building these friendships that God gives us favor to be able to talk to them about Jesus.

 

    My French language learning is still turtling along, but God’s grace is sufficient. And I feel truly blessed to be here. Please pray that God gives us wisdom on what relationships to invest the most time in and how best to spend our time. We want to be able to disciple people here and plant a church here. Sometimes it seems so overwhelming with all the tasks at hand, but I know that God wants a church here. We desire deeper friendships here. Please pray what would take months to build would only take weeks here.

Thank you for all your prayers and support while I am here. I pray that God blesses you abundantly for your sacrifice.

 

Much Love and Many Blessings,

 

Cami Lynn Woodruff

 

 

Dear Family and Friends,

   I feel very blessed in Bastogne to say the least. We have been doing great and growing as we have created hours for the ministry center. Our English Club has taken off we have about seven Belgian people per class time which is great and some of them we are meeting personally and developing friendships with.

  This last week we had an awesome concert. After the concert we have what we call “round table discussion,” where we ask a question and then we all take turns going around the table answering it. Well, since there are multiple tables and the Christians are evenly disbursed it is a great time open discussions with both people who are searching and also atheists. No one from the concert who doesn’t want to stay has to. We had everyone from the concert stay. The question was… who do you think Jesus is? It was a great time of talking. As a group we have been training on relational evangelism most of the people at the concert we already knew and created friendships with. It was great to be able to share our faith in a warm open setting. No, answer was made fun of and from there I was able to talk to my table about the four spiritual laws and how we all have to make a decision about Jesus. There is no in between either we accept him or reject him. I could tell that my friend who I meet with once a week seems to becoming more interested in my beliefs over time. Please pray that God moves on her heart and that she accepts Jesus as her Savoir.

   My French is coming along. My comprehension is pretty good but my phrasing is still horrible. Please pray that God gives supernatural wisdom as I am studying the language. I wish that I had more time with it my schedule has been very busy.

   My friendships in the Sign Language Class are increasing. My quirky Americaness is growing on them. Please pray as I meet with these women that we get more opportunities than we have had to talk about God. The women are precious and our general interest in Sign Language seems to help, but I desire to be able to share with them more so about who Jesus is. Especially, my deaf French sign language teacher who I don’t think has ever truly heard the gospel.

  Our sports outreach is growing. This last Saturday we had four Bastogne guys show up for soccer and we had a Christian couple ( A local Belgian and American)  from the area also come out. It was an awesome game because we ended with four on four including Justine and I. As our group is growing we are also trying to talk with these guys and see what is happening in their lives. The two Bible studies we have going once a week are doing great. This week I will be leading one of the groups and we are doing to be talking about faith. Please pray that God gives me wisdom on what I should do with it.

   My guitar skills are improving as I play in concert with Justine and Kerby. It is taking time but I feel so thankful to my parents for always encouraging me in that area. Justine and Esther(another friend and ministry partner) are also helping me with vocal training because we do music at the center at least three times a week. I am learning to harmonize which is a lot of fun, but it is not that natural for me. We get so many people coming in for the concert that we take time several days a week to prepare because we don’t want to play badly. We want people to come back and we want to have a good reputation with music.

   We also went to Brussels this last Wednesday for a prayer meeting with other missionaries in the area for wisdom concerning ministry and to pray for each other’s ministries. God really moved and we were truly blessed. Before the prayer meeting we were able to do a little bit of site seeing in Brussels. It was pretty cool! We were able to visit the Grand Plaza, the boy peeing statue, a museum, and of course eat an authentic Belgian waffle.

Prayer needs:

1.)We desire more salvations.

2.) Wisdom on how to disciple the new converts we have.

3.) My French, guitar, and French Sign Language skills improve more.

4.) How to manage time more effectively(prioritize there is so much that can be done here).

Thank you all for your prayers and support. I am fully supported now and I feel so privileged to be here. God is always faithful, thank you for your financial sacrifice and prayers. Without your support none of this could be possible. You are investing in the kingdom of God. May God bless you abundantly for your obedience to Him.

 

Much Love and Many Blessings,

 

Cami Lynn Woodruff

Dear Family and Friends,

     Everything is fine here in Bastogne! We have finally gotten our apartment and have officially moved into it. Additionally, I have been able to rent a bike for a year from a friend for really cheap. Since we don’t have a car it is great for transportation for places that would take us fifteen minutes or more to walk. But ministry here is going great! We had our first salvation of Kerby and Sheila’s neighbor upstairs in February. Praise God!!

We finished painting the ministry center and it looks great! We hung pictures and got some really cool small tables for it. We had Jesus Revolution come for street evangelism. Within the three days of Jesus Revolution being here we have had five salvations because of street evangelism and services. We had ten people that came out to minister and three Belgian Christian friends come out as interpreters. With more people to help minister we were able to reach more people. I have also acquired some more atheist and agnostic friends over those three days. We also have started up English club in the ministry center/coffee shop. J

    We had a concert while the team was here.  Justine, Kerby, David, and I played a rotation of music together. Justine and I are also starting a second Bible study. It is on basic foundational Christian beliefs and apologetics. Basically, why are we Christians and why we believe there is a God? We will be discussing it Biblically and scientifically. We are hoping to get several non-Christians to attend the study.

 I just feel so blessed and privileged to share the gospel here. It is very ironic that I am here to begin with.  I always have had a soft spot for Africa and I really loved my work there.  However, I knew that I heard God about coming here. Although the Belgians aren’t as friendly as the Africans, I feel like I have had more of a sphere of influence over people here than I did in Africa. I also really love talking to atheists about God. I have never felt as purposed as I have here.

   Sometimes salvations can come quickly. But to those who are spiritually dead and have never been alive it is hard to wake them up. If they aren’t searching or really care it feels sometimes impossible. But with God all things are possible.

   Please pray that God opens hearts and doors for more salvations and discipleship to happen here in Bastogne. Please pray that God gives us more influence over people here. In addition, that we have the time needed to accomplish everything He wants Justine and me to do. Please pray for our language learning also, that we learn quickly so that we can minister more. Thank you again for all your prayers and support. I apologize for not writing something sooner but we moved and haven’t really had internet and we had been prepping for the Norwegian team. Keep us in prayer.

Much Love and Many Blessings,

 

Cami Lynn

Justine, Max(our Bastognian friend), and I in Liege

 

 

Dear Family and Friends,

“Car Dieu a tellement aime le monde..” Jean 3:16a

   “For God so loved the world”… that He desires that every tribe, tongue, and nation should hear about His son. In Bastogne, Belgian very few people know who Jesus is. This is a post Christian nation. Please pray that God gives us the timing and the words to say to our new friends here. It is a city in darkness and it truly needs the light of Christ. There are blinders of atheism and agnostic beliefs in this city. Only God’s love can pierce through these blinders.

    I have had more than one opportunity to share God with unbelievers this week who are my friends here. I feel so blessed and privileged to be able to tell others about Jesus in a real tangible way. I know that we are purposed here for such a time as this. Most seemed semi -involved. One of the women I talked to this week was deaf. I asked her what her beliefs were in God and she told me that she had none. She was neither atheist nor agnostic she just didn’t have any beliefs about God. Most likely she has not even been presented the gospel because she is deaf. Two other women, I talked to this week, have respect for those who honor God but they don’t serve Him themselves. One is an agnostic and the other stated to me that she had no real beliefs. Please pray for God to begin to loosen the blinders of assumptions, cynicism, and false doctrine that they believe. Pray that they begin to desire something deeper than the tangible. We are not here by happenstance.

I love Belgium, despite the general dampness, cold, and darkness! Yes, Bastogne is very cloudy now. But I am just thrilled out of my mind being here. We have already had our first small group Bible study on Ruth.  I am excited to see what God will do for us, this year. We are still learning French and mine is improving slowly but surely.  I know that God is giving me grace to learn the language. J 

Much Love and Many Blessings,

Cami Lynn