With such a request, the disciples turned to Jesus Christ, and in response, they received one of the most famous examples of prayer – The Lord’s Prayer. This is exactly the topic that the young coaches of the SKY Christian floorball team have been discussing with children and teenagers during four camps this summer.
At first, the mentors went to a leadership retreat in Zakarpatya, where they studied the Epistle to Titus, prayed, and made plans for evangelizing children through sports this summer. And then, they got really busy with a lot of activities: a field camp in the village of Radyvylov, Rivne region, and day sports camps in three secondary schools in the city of Rivne.
The coaches organized interesting leisure activities for them, and also reflected on the Word in order to understand why Jesus gave such an example of prayer, which begins and ends with worshiping the Heavenly Father.
“We are from Kyiv. When the war started, we left the capital and temporarily settled in the city of Rivne. We are infinitely grateful to the local church Community of the Good Shepherd and the Christian Mission Hope to People, as well as to everyone who cares about us. Our children can safely grow up, learn, communicate with other children, play sports, and go to camps.
After our arrival, we looked for ways to be helpful in the ministry. After some time, I was appointed to be responsible for sorting out, organizing, and distributing humanitarian aid for displaced people, and in my spare time, I help in the kitchen, in the laundry, and in maintaining order on the mission’s property. From time to time, my husband in his free time from his main job evacuates refugees to other settlements of the region and to the border, he helps his eldest son to carry heavy materials, perform necessary repair work, etc.
We are very grateful to God for the time spent in the SKY floorball club’s camp in Radyvylov. Although we served as cooks and were very busy from morning till night, the apparent presence of God and the absence of air-raid sirens is such a blessing from God! During these few days, we have more than once seen wonderful answers to our prayers, when it seems that we do not have time for something, and as a result, we once made it to the right time! And thank God for that!”
Tetyana Semenchenko
The head coach of the SKY team, Vitaliy Bakunets, shares about day sports camps:
“It was much easier to talk with the children about God in one of the Rivne schools, where the floorball club has been functioning for several years. 35 children would come to classes every day.
In another school, where through the camp we only tried to recruit those willing to join the new team, in a spiritual sense it felt like an “unploughed field.” It was more difficult for the children to focus their attention because they were not used to reading the Bible and praying. 60 new students took part in the camp.
But the last day-camp was held in a school where there was generally a “desert.” The camp was attended by 40 children. The coaches of our team had no idea that in the city of Rivne, which is considered one of the most religious Christian centers in Ukraine, many children still do not have a clue what the Lord’s Prayer is.
Feedback from participants of day camps in schools:
“I really liked this camp. Although I was the oldest there. It was pretty enlightening for me as well. I think that it is really good that it was a Christian camp. It was very interesting. I liked everything, especially the lessons, because that is the most important thing. I also liked the floorball itself. The whole camp was cool!”
Maria, 16 years old, Zaporizhzhia region
“I really enjoyed the camp. We played floorball and other games and held sports relays. It was entertaining and we talked a lot. I liked the lessons about the Lord’s Prayer, especially the story about Nebuchadnezzar, the king who lost his kingdom, but when he worshiped God again and glorified Him, God returned the kingdom to him and made him king again. The biggest takeaway for me was that people should not be proud.”
David, 9 years old, Kharkiv
“This summer was very busy and active for me because this is the first summer I spent in camps. 4 camps are not easy, but it was a very interesting time for me. Sometimes it’s hard, and it makes you want to give up, and sometimes you’re so excited that you’re ready for more than one camp. At such moments, you understand how important support and prayer are.
Jesus has been revealing Himself in a special way during this time. There is little of one’s own strength – there are many children, a lot of work – there is a little internal resource, but the Lord never gave up on me. It is difficult to keep the focus on the most important thing and not fall into some kind of routine, but God reminded and renewed in my mind what is important so that all children can hear and understand the gospel. And He did it through us. I can say with confidence that I was just an instrument in the hands of God, and He was doing His work. About 150 children heard the gospel during this time and some even more than once. The work is done — the Word is sown, and as a result, everything is in the hands of our God. We pray that God will bring to us those whom He wants to.
Diana Yarosevich, SKY floorball club coach
I’d like to wrap it up on an optimistic note. In the last days of summer, four girls – the players of the girls’ floorball team SKY, who worked side by side in the church all these months of the war and took baptism classes, entered into the Covenant with the Lord in the Rivne church Community of the Good Shepherd.
