We would like to share with you the blessings of the past summer. Although the war brought a lot of grief and suffering to our country, God is with us, and in Him, we have fullness of grace and daily blessings! In the summer, a group of young brothers and sisters from Rivne had the opportunity to serve in a Christian camp in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

During trips to the affected and liberated cities of Ukraine (and such trips are made regularly because there is a huge need for both humanitarian aid and the preaching of the gospel), our minister Mykola Nikitin learned that the church of our association House of Agape in Kamianske, Dnipropetrovsk region helps and serves a large group of refugees from the Donetsk region. These people were placed in a sanatorium 45 km away from Kamianske, where many children live with their parents or relatives. The sanatorium is situated in the middle of the forest in the countryside. People there are provided only with housing, but they still have to procure food for themselves. Therefore, when adults go to work in the fields and gardens, children are very bored. Our minister gathered a group of volunteers from among youth from the Community of the Good Shepherd church in Rivne, and they, together with the pastor of the House of Agape church and local youth, went to this sanatorium. There, young people held a children’s day camp for children under 15 in the morning, and in the afternoon there were meetings with teenagers aged 15–17.

The children were happy to meet people from other regions of Ukraine, spend time with them playing interesting and fun games, and learn the biblical story about Joseph. Most of the children knew just a little bit about the Bible and God, but they were very open and willingly talked about themselves, their thoughts, and desires, and sincerely confessed their sins. But the teenagers were almost all closed off – they were in no hurry to communicate with the guests, although they listened attentively. All of them, when they arrived at this facility, planned to stay there for 1-2 months, but about a year and a half had already passed. They work hard here because they need money, they pick watermelons, onions, and berries from 9 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon. However, there were young people with whom it was possible to build closer relationships, to talk about their lives and God. You can learn more about this from the reviews of the participants.

Reviews from team members

Our day camp was held for 3 days, and there were about 30 children and 15 teenagers in it. We had a week of preparation for this trip, as it was the first experience of joint ministry for our mixed team. There was not much time, but we saw God’s hand in everything.

The children were very happy that we arrived because they are isolated there, the facility is in the forest and they are bored there and have nothing to do. They did not want to let us go home and kept asking when we would come back again. We studied with them the story of Joseph, and most of the children heard it for the first time. In general, they know little about God, but they have a great desire to listen and learn something new.

Andriy Kazmiruk

 

It is a 10-hour drive from Rivne to Kamianske. Thank God, we got there without any problems, we were met by the Agape House church. We got to know their team and planned out the work. They helped us a lot. We went to serve the children, and our brothers and sisters served us: they traveled with us and prepared food. Pastor Serhiy Timofeev encouraged and motivated us, telling us that we are participating in a spiritual war and can win only with Christ.

After the first meeting, we immediately understood that this was a “very dry land.” 90% have never heard the gospel at all.

We quickly adapted to the younger children: we played games and shared the biblical story about Joseph. It was more difficult with the older ones. They had no interest in the Word. We were just strangers to them. Then we decided to just play games with them. They took the ball and went to the volleyball court. On the first day, a few girls came, then more young people showed up. Gradually, we got to know each other and could already talk a little. Then we arranged for them various “curiosities,” snacks, and watermelons, and they were very happy about that and started telling us their stories. Almost all of them are from Avdiivka and New York, Donetsk region, and have been experiencing war since 2014, and after a full-scale invasion by the Russians in 2022, were forced to move to this place.

On the last evening, we sat by the lake until late, and organized an interesting game of “100 questions,” and that’s when the teenagers started to open up little by little. They really need more communication.

This camp was very useful for our team because we are all involved in different ministries and have never worked together. I wish we had more time to build relationships with the team from Kamianske – I think that we still have a long way to go.

Vlad Yarosevich

 

On the first day, when we just started getting to know the children, we realized that many of them had never heard anything about God. Most of them speak Russian. Small children do not understand Ukrainian at all. Older people demonstratively speak Russian, smoke, and use obscene language. When we began to pray before eating, some simply left and did not even want to be near us.

But gradually the ice in our relationship began to melt. It turned out that they all really wanted to communicate, they wanted someone to listen to them and understand them.

There was a boy there, he was called “Stickman” because he went around and collected long sticks and carried them everywhere. And he hit others with them and was very disobedient, but at the Bible lessons, he listened as attentively as anyone. And when I asked him logical questions, he gave correct answers.

We also had to deal with obscene language. Vlad said that he did not understand such a language and asked to repeat it again, preferably in Ukrainian. Surprisingly, it worked. And on the last day, they began to switch to Ukrainian and no longer dodged us, but enjoyed playing the game “100 questions.” Some of the questions were humorous, but they were also quite deep. I was worried that they would not want to answer personal questions, but it turned out that they really wanted to open up and talk.

I think that we managed to sow something good in their hearts. And I would like to go back there again.

 Diana Yarosevich

 

It was the first camp for me. And I was just learning how to build a bridge to the gospel during communication. And God gave me the opportunity to get to know the girl, Lera, better, who said that when there were air strikes, she always prayed. Once, when she was walking to her grandmother’s house, a cluster mine exploded very close to her, but she was not hurt. After that, it was easier for me to talk to her about God.

Nastya Klyma

 

When I went to the camp, I prayed a lot that the Lord would help me build a relationship with those children, I was really afraid because these are children from the east who have been through a lot. And here we are, and they come out to meet us and one of them takes me by the hand and gives me candy. And I think, “God, this is Your grace!” In general, there were different children at the camp, but God blessed me with a wonderful group. They were 7-8 years old, beautiful, and obedient children.

On the last day, we gave them Bibles, and while everyone was playing, one boy from my group sat down and started reading, although he is usually very agile, and restless. And then he boasted that he had already read 7 pages!

There was another girl with developmental disabilities, she was 16 years old, but she looked as if she was 12. And we had a nice and open conversation with her, and she was so happy, and then we also played ball together. And I look into her eyes, and they are full of happiness!

Zoryana Verbytska

 

I was most impressed by the children’s stories about the difficulties and sufferings they experienced and continue to experience. Often I did not know what to say to them and how to help. But the Lord showed that it is important to just be there, listen to them, and share the gospel with them.

Andrii Katela

Our prayer requests:

  1. Another trip is scheduled, so please pray that God will bless us with everything necessary and give us those who need to go.
  2. Pray for the sown Word to continue working with these children and teenagers.
  3. We ask you to pray for those children and teenagers with whom there were personal conversations so that the local church accepts them and develops relationships with them.
  4. Pray for the team from Kamianske, that they will have both the people and the resources to continue serving refugees.