Soccer camp, the Carpathians Mountains, 2013
We had a wonderful possibility to enjoy a Christian soccer camp from July 24 to August 1 in a small village Polyana in Zakarpatia region, Ukraine. For several years, such a trip to the Carpathian Mountains has served an excellent opportunity to share the Gospel with the children of different age using sports and a fascinating beauty of God’s creation around us. Christians set a very good life example constantly communicating with kids. It starts with an everyday prayer for food and continues with sharing interesting stories about life experience, told by older boys and coaches. An exclusive thing about the camp is a chance for girls to be in. They didn’t use to play soccer, but they were glad to meet new people and to discover a lot of new things about God.
The main subject of our evening meetings was How to Become a Perfect Player in the God’s Team. Children with their coaches studied this topic during their Bible lessons in the morning and in the evening. In their spare time and during the trainings, they tried to apply the knowledge in real life. The most important conceptions of the discussion were passing, which means praying, receiving – reading Bible, dribbling – establishing relations in church and kicking – spreading the Gospel. This part of the camp was very practical and easy to understand for the young sportsmen. Girls took part in the individual discussions, which were called Close Relationships with God. They had lessons in the morning as well and in the evening when they gathered to play the guitar and to talk about what they had learnt. Girls even had a possibility to go to another nearby village Kvitka Polonyny.
Apart from the spiritual trainings, boys started their pre-season physical training: hard exercises, cross-country races, stretching, a lot of work with the ball – became a difficult challenge for young soccer players. Nevertheless, we could witness very strong team spirit, aspiration for improvement and support from the side of older boys during the trainings. Even little illnesses or scorching weather didn’t stand in their way. We can’t say that everything was smooth, we had some difficulties, but with God’s help this important stage of the camp was successful.
We also had a lot of fun playing different games during the evening meetings. Kids really enjoyed the game A Mysterious Friend, when they learned to be attentive to their neighbors and to appreciate friendship. Lots of children thanked sponsors for the magnificent accommodations and tasty food. We have visited this place for several times and every time we are invited for the next year. The hosts appreciated the Christian atmosphere of the camp very much, they admired the respect between children and adults and the way they supported each other.
We thank God for such a great opportunity to organize this camp! It was very productive both in a spiritual way and in a sports way. We hope we would be able to run this camp again in future.
