I am so grateful that I was able to attend the first International Shalom Acamps Summer Festival, which took place from August 8-12 at Lake Balaton in Hungary.
During the festival, I had the opportunity to meet other young people from different countries around the world. We sang together, prayed together, and celebrated mass together, in many different languages throughout the 5 days.
Every morning we heard from a different speaker. We learned about God’s free, unconditional love for each one of us, and how even though our relationship with Him is damaged when we turn away from this love through sin, we can start again because Jesus crushed our sin on the Cross – all we have to do is be open to receive the grace He wants to give us.
After every talk we had a time for prayer and adoration all together, where God spoke to us and we spoke to Him. During the afternoons there were fun activities to take part in, such as bubble soccer or water sports in the lake, and each night we had a different party, like the color party or the Missionary Shalom concert.
On the last day of the festival, we had a very special time to pray together, and to ask the Holy Spirit to come upon each one of us and renew our lives and our relationship with Him. Each person had the opportunity to be prayed for by a missionary.
This retreat was an amazing opportunity for me to make new friends from different parts of the world, to have fun trying new things, and to be renewed in my relationship with God. It was the perfect way to end my summer. I will never forget it!
Danielle LaPointe