A camp for teens is always a challenge for mentors, and if these teens live during a war, have lost their relatives, survived the occupation, were refugees in other countries, experienced violence in their families, etc., then this challenge becomes twice as big.
It is precisely such young people (37 people aged 14–17) who visited our outreach camp “Love+” this year, which was held in the Carpathians at the Bethany Children’s Foundation on July 21–27.
Knowing that the topic of love evokes the most emotions in teens, because everyone strives to love and be loved, for studying biblical lessons we chose the course “Loving God and Loving One Another is the Essence of True Faith,” prepared by the PRECEPT UKRAINE MINISTRY. It shifts our focus to the Great Commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ, who summed up the entire Law of God in one simple and understandable phrase: love God and love people! Only God is the source of love. And only by knowing His love can we love God and our neighbors. In the light of this truth, we studied biblical texts, and at the end of the camp, the teenagers said that they had gained a new understanding of sacrificial love and relationships with neighbors from the Bible. This has made us really happy, because the camp was somewhat tough. Most of the participants were in a Christian camp for the first time; not all of them were used to the rules and living according to a routine. We had to resolve some conflict situations; someone had to be comforted, but someone had to be called out.
Every morning and evening we had a joint spiritual activity: praising God with singing, listening to the preaching of God’s Word, mutual prayer, and communication with the leaders. The following topics were studied in the Bible classes:
- Choice: the two commandments of love (Mark 12:33)
- Commitment: love God with all your heart… (Deuteronomy 10:12)
- Acceptance: love your neighbor as yourself (John 15:17)
- Serving one another. (John 15:12)
- Dedication: accepting Jesus Christ and following him (1 John 3:23)
Every afternoon we had the opportunity to go to the thermal waters of the Kosino and Berehove resorts, the Karpatyya water park in Mukachevo, excursions to the Schönborn Castle, and the Kvitka Poloniny sanatorium.
God allowed us to show love and serve many teenagers from different parts of Ukraine. Each of them is currently going through a difficult path of forming life values. Many unknowns lie ahead; this world beckons with its values and desires. Therefore, young people now especially need God and his guidance.
We pray that the name of the camp “Love+” will come true in their lives, so that through living faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, their life and service will be a testimony that they love God and their neighbor.
We are sincerely grateful to everyone who joined in holding this camp, in particular: BF Mennonite Center and Hilfe für Menschen und Kirche.
***
My name is Oksana, and I am from Rivne. I am 17 years old. I was in the camp thanks to my best friend, Lily, who visited this camp for the first time last year, and together we spent 7 unforgettable days.
What I liked most were the trips to the water park, team tasks with photos, and camp games.
I became very close friends with the girls from our team — Tanya, Elya, Vika, and Zhenya, and also strengthened my friendship with my best friend Lilya even more.
During Bible lessons and evening sermons, I learned a lot about God, about Jesus Christ, about His disciples. I began to love my neighbors more and hate less. My dad went missing in the war. But loving your neighbor as yourself and loving God is the foundation of life.
I believe in God and the Savior Jesus Christ with all my heart and soul and trust Him with my life.
***
My name is Oksana, and I will soon be 15 years old. I was born and live in the city of Kosiv, Ivano-Frankivsk region. I was invited to the “Love+” camp as the winner of the All-Ukrainian Olympiad “Young Bible Scholars.” This is my first time in a Christian camp.
Of course, I was a little worried about whether I would find friends here, whether they would accept me into the team, and whether I would be satisfied, but everything turned out much better than I could have expected. The children, those who are faithful to God, accepted me kindly; we quickly found a common language and began to glorify God together.
There were a lot of interesting and new things at the camp. I personally do not read the Bible, but studying the Word of God with the help of textbooks, in small passages of a few verses, with explanations, questions, and answers, was very exciting.
Here I found many friends; everyone had the opportunity to get to know each other. I especially remembered our mentors in each team and how they shared stories about their lives and the choice to believe and obey Jesus Christ. Many of their testimonies were very exciting. I also believe in God, maybe even love God.
