Starting the October 2014 Church “Agape House” had opened Kids Bible Club, which later became simply a Bible club, since our teens consider themselves to be more adults than children. This gave us more opportunities to get acquainted with our children, and to gather children from our streets.
Together with our children and youth, we started to go out, as we did a few years ago, and to play sport games (football, volleyball, Ultimate Frisbee) with children from the usual courtyards. We played, got acquainted, communicated, especially children and teenagers are pleased with hugs at a meeting – there is a great deficit of love and warmth. Thanks to this kind of service, we met and became friends with fifteen children, eight of whom started steadily to come not only to the Bible Club, but also to church. Of course, we understand that it’s summer, and they expect new camps, but we pray and serve them so that they were attracted with Bible studies and relationships.
God has given us wonderful opportunities for joint recreation and service.
As usual, we organized a joint trip to the skating rink. It was great to skate two passes in a row, to get very tired, and then to feast prepared sandwiches with tea. It is a time of rapprochement and communication, a time when children discloses to speak and to listen. God gave us the opportunity to serve some children who have very difficult financial situation. We were pleased that they did not take it for granted (as we have already had such case in our practice). This is a beginning of the Gospel in their lives.
After that, we spent a wonderful day together with the community of people with disabilities “Leleka.” On this day we served our friends, beginning with boarding the bus (and for people in a wheelchair it was impossible to do on their own), helped them to move from the bus to the cutter and back. A wonderful time of testimonies was in the bus, while traveling and on the cutter. Ease communication with children. Enjoying the beauty of the Dnieper River, and of quite simple, but our native Dnieper islands.
“For me it was very valuable that our children were witnesses and participants the service of assistance the suffering people. It was especially nice that the children have seen and heard how to witness about Christ, about the value of His death and resurrection. It was obvious that they were interested not only to listen, but soon they joined the conversation, began to ask questions, and some of them even testified. Thank God that we are able to serve them not only by making up for their physical weakness, but we managed while communicating to manifest the love of Christ.”Tatiana.
“Thank you for being what are. For your sympathetic hearts. We would be very happy to go with you to the camp at the seaside, but we understand that this year it is almost impossible. Therefore, we ask you to arrange for us at least one day and one night in the tents, but that there would certainly be a meeting with the sermon”Lyudmila Lazarenko, Chairman of the Society of Disabled People “Leleka”.
“I have to work today, but I have gladly asked for leave to serve and to be a small example for future generations.”Oleg.
It was an amazing day.
In June we celebrated the birthday of the church “Agape House.” The children prepared a wonderful program. It was cooked a stunning pilaf. But!!! The weather surprise!!! Rainy. Chilly. So what???
Thank God for the House of Prayer. The service with testimonies. Joyful worship. Greeting program of children and adolescents. Communication at the dinner table. Casual conversation. Joy of the soul. Communication of spirit.
July turned out to be more eventful.
Analyzing the experience of different Christian organizations that are doing great emphasis on working with children, we have come to the conclusion about the importance and value of day camps. Of course, we really wanted to spend a day camp on the basis of our church. A little alarming was the fact that another church, which holds day camps the sixth year in a row, the camp held just a week before our, and some of our children, we were already working with, were invited to that camp. It was very cool there. 120 children every day. Cool trampolines and other games. Professionally working team of 25 people. Yes, kids really liked it.
We in prayer and trembling were preparing for the first day. And what do you think? Oh, miracle! After the first day of the camp the children coming home, shared vivid impressions of the time at the camp.
Considering the experience of some unfortunate day camps, we made sure that there was good food. The time is difficult now and for many children nutrition is quite important. There were children who came to the camp together with the ministers at seven in the morning and waited for the program to begin. And, of course, we participated in their unscheduled nutrition. Our cooks were, as always, at height. Everything was on time, nourishing, tasty, healthy and festive table on Friday was especially great.
“Mama. Surprisingly, our camp was certainly better “Misha.
“We liked it so much that we decided to make gifts to all the employees of the camp. We gathered and thought for a long time, how to give thanks to you. Thank you. It was a very cool camp. Especially the beach. There were interesting and instructive Bible lessons. I wanted to praise God in songs and movement so much, I wanted to show the children and teenagers in movement the way we love God and the way we want to render Him praise.”Daniel.
“Children learned to be a team. They learned to develop relations. They looked at us. And we wanted to show them Christ and His love. It was especially nice to receive gifts. But nice were not the gifts, but the fact that children themselves thought about it, the collected money (they donated their own money for it). Over 10 years of the camp ministry I have never seen or even heard about it. What a pleasure is to go through such a blessing.” Yulia, a Sunday school teacher.
“For me, especially precious time was morning discussion of the Scripture. All five days, we talked over one verse (Jn. 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father). I really wanted by touching the children to be that flesh in which Jesus lives, and to realize that at this moment Christ Himself touches this child with my hand.”Olga, coordinator of the program.
The final chord of the day camp, which we all perceived as a great celebration, was the family feast, which took place in Tsarichanka and was organized by the church “Agape House”, Baptist church from Tsarichanka village and international children’s charity fund “ABC of life.” God has really prepared a wonderful gift for the children and it was a great experience through which have gone not only children, but also ministers. They plunged into a little fairy tale with inflatable and sports trampolines, fairytale bee, various sports games, drawings on the faces, crafts on the Bible lessons. Children were fed twice for what they were incredibly grateful.
But the most striking was the evening service with Bible lesson, during which has been very well illustrated the relationship between Jesus Christ and the ark. The children were greatly impressed with the truth and colorful illustrations helping to understand these truths.
At the end of the holiday each child has received gifts. But the most lucky was a girl Dasha from Dneprodzerzhinsk. She won a kettle for family tea-drinking. But she has decided that this kettle’s place is in church “Agape House” and it wass a very good step. The girl already sees a family in the church that gives her such pleasant moments of life.
When we were going home the children were full of happy memories. They loudly sang songs, learned at the camp and some of the songs the church sings in worship. It was just an amazing day, real family day spent with the church, which becomes the family for them. On this holiday 65 children and adults could be filled with the joy.
And then, finally, the long-awaited camp on the Black Sea in the village of Zheleznyi Port. Yes, this camp has become sooner a training camp for the next year (if there is Lord’s willing). It was more a family camp, during which we would allow parents to have more influence on children, and we would allow some young in faith people to feel the atmosphere of life in Church during the permanent stay with each other.
This camp has started with the intelligence operation, which carried out few brothers from the church “Agape House” together with young people who are the active participants in the work of the Bible Club. Brothers have visited the places such as Zheleznyi Port, Lazurne, Bolshevik, Skadovsk. They stopped at the Christian camp “Iron lighthouse.” In the morning and in the evening was held a joint worship the Lord, in the afternoon – search of place for the camp combined with relaxation, swimming in the sea, communication. It was a three-day trip, which was to be an excellent environment for of joint motion of adults and adolescents. We are called to transmit life, Paul tells Timothy: “And you followed my teaching, conduct, location, faith, longsuffering, love, patience” (2 Tim. 3:10). We wanted that the children not only hear our teaching, but were in a concentration of life. That someone would explaine them the life and the difficulties faced by religious people. And the Lord sent a variety of situations where it was not easy, but the brothers with honor released of them, continuing to serve one another. As a result, it was found a very good place for the camp, which had the only significant drawback – the lack of shade. But it could be compensated by available to us tents.
So. The journey ended successfully. Place was found. There still was a question of holidaymakers. We have identified a fairly reasonable price. But the number of volunteersng was very small. I will not describe in detail our worries and reasoning, but I will say that it was a joint decision to do a family camp on the basis a house in private sector of Zheleznyi Port.
Soon the issues of tickets and the necessary preparation were solved, and a group of 22 people set off to conquer new frontiers of humility. That was humility. God used that time to humble our hearts and show humility to our children. We were chased by various types of trauma, the price was suddenly raised, we faced with bad food (although we were promised “mountains of gold”). But it bothered us not for long. We’re a little grieved through manifold temptations and went on worshiping the Lord.
Every day we studied the Materials on a theme of the book by Paul David Tripp “Age of opportunities” and every day faced with the opportunity to apply these truths into practice. Fortunately, in every child and adolescent are yet the power, thanks to which there is a constant need for conversation and spiritual edification.
In the evenings, after the service, we had the opportunity to walk together with the children, when more experienced parents shared their experience of impact on the children with the authority and love. We have seen a lot of the shortcomings of children, but it has brought us together rather than remoted.
Not always managed adults to behave with dignity and very correct. Sometimes there were conflicts. I will not mention the names, but I remember well how the conflict was resolved. Forty-five years old woman and a seventeen year old girl stood, hugging and crying. This girl has a lot of doubts about faith in Christ, but that conversation and common prayer opened the door for her into a relationship of grace and love, which covers everything.
There was one more situation when the son poured boiling water on the feet of his mother. It was very painful. Very… But the mother showed in relation to her son a lot of love and forgiveness, which had witnessed a lot of people (including non-believers). That was a bright evidence how suffering from burns mother comforted her discouraged child. God has shown mercy, and the next day the mother bathed in the sea wondering how quickly the effects of burns dissapear. God is great and glorious!!!
In our group were two unbelieving woman, Olga and Tanya. Olga has several times spent time with us at the camp, and Tanya was with us for the first time.
Here are their testimonies:
“My son Kolya lives in the Crimea and has already started to attend classes for the baptized. I hoped at this camp to get answers to many questions. I am very grateful for this camp. Now I know answers to many questions. Some of the questions have appeared. But I would like to go to the meeting of believers to listen to sermons or to listen to sermons through Skype. I hope that it can be done.”Olga.
Olya and Tanya live in the city of Krivoy Rog, and we’ve been praying for missionary church in the city for a long time. Perhaps the Lord through her will open the door of salvation for many people in this great city.
“When I went to this camp with Olga, I thought only about the rest, but people from the church “Agape House” helped me to have a new look on many issues of life. I am particularly grateful to Fedya and Sveta Tsarevsky, who spent a lot of time with us, answering my questions to late at night, treated me with great love.” Tanya.
“I hesitated a long time, whether to go to the camp or not, but having gone, I was not a bit sorry. It was a very good atmosphere. I was even glad to help to discipline the boys and to instil in them a love of physical exercises. Soon I’ll come back to Zhelesny Port. I liked it here.”David.
The sea, the sun, the church together, challenges, joy, rest, a new attitude to the younger generation, the Gospel, the joint prayer, worship together, and again challenges and the strength from above to overcome them. All that for who love God and is called according to His purpose works for the good.
Sergey Timofeev
