In Ochakov (Mykolayiv region), on June 24 – 30, has been held a Christian soccer camp “Appointments with Jesus.”
The camp was unusual, because for the first time we had such a large number of children – 129, and also for the first time there were some parents with us, and for the first time in one camp were involved as many as eight Christian teams from different regions of Ukraine!
There was a lot of excitement about the organization, but the Lord miraculously, as He always does, has arranged everything in a perfect way. Children aged 7 to 17 years old were divided into three age groups, and each age group had its own tournament: “Champions League,” “League of Europe” and “Youth League of Europe.” In every tournament there was a real, harsh struggle for victory. And the main highlight of these competitions was that the guys were distributed in different teams in such a way that every team had representatives of Christian Soccer Club. We as the coaches have decided to do that on purpose in order to teach our children to build relationships, accept and love their neighbors, as the Bible says. And, if there were still some misunderstandings between the players in the first two days, then at the end of the camp the relations in each team became friendly. The children supported each other, served, tried not to see the mistakes of others. They learnt to encourage each other.
The Bible lessons “Appointments with Jesus,” as well as the testimonies of coaches about their repentance, which they listened regularly, have made its positive impact on the children. God gave us wonderful weather, which allowed us to spend plenty of time at the sea.
Unfortunately, time went by very quickly, I did not want to leave. We hope that this wonderful time sharing will be remembered for long. Praise God that He was with us throughout this week and He blessed us in a special way.
Here are the reviews of some guys:
Pavel, 17 years old: “I was amazed as the unbelieving boy did not want to conceal from the referee when did not notice the violation of the rules, said:” We must play fair! ”
Pavel, 14 years old “I liked the way as our coaches shared their testimony of repentance. The camp was awesome, and we played at the end against the team of coaches. It was interesting and fun.”
Eugene: “I with my team as usually, had a little getaway just to relax and rest. This time we went to Ochakov. We lived in the hotel complex Fort Helios. I liked everything here. I met other Christian teams. This year, there were 8 teams: Rivne, Krivoy Rog, Odessa, Shostka, Radivilov, Kiev.”
Yegor: “I was in the camp, which was conducted by the Christian Soccer Union of Ukraine. This is a wonderful time to relax by the sea, and spend time in comfortable conditions. It’s really fun when our coaches break us down and give us to other teams, so that each team could have the representatives from different teams. So, in this way we can find new friends and play soccer together. It was a very cool camp and a wonderful time that the Lord gave us!!!”
Aleksandr Gonchar
