These are the words from the song that became the anthem of the Christian youth camp “There Is Light!,” which was held by the Christian Mission Hope to People at the recreation center of Charitable Foundation Bethany in the village of Polyana, Carpathian region, from January 9 through 15, 2023.

The participants of the camp were orphans and children of displaced people from Donetsk (Mariupol, Myrnograd, Dobropillia, Kostyantynivka, Lyman), Zaporizhzhya (Dniprorudne, Stepnohirsk, Mykhailivka) and Luhansk (Severodonetsk) regions, who now live in Rivne and Ternopil regions. The camp team consisted of volunteers from various evangelical churches, which was overseen by our mission worker Arkady Slyoza. In total, there were 54 participants.

In this camp, there were, what we can call, a lot of first-time things:

  • – this is the first winter camp during the war;
  • – camp participants were faced for the first time with frequent and long power interruptions;
  • – for the first time the team consisted of such mentors;
  • – most of the children and young people came to the Christian camp for the first time;
  • – for the first time there was no snow and, accordingly, no skiing (and this is the only thing that frustrated some).

In general, everyone was happy and participated in joint camp activities without hesitation. We’re talking about:

  • — morning and evening worship;
  • – topical sermons with presentations “Creator,” “Sin,” “Love”;
  • – Bible lessons on the topic “How Do You Know that God Is Your Father?” based on 1 John;
  • – hikes and activities, games and contests, trips and excursions.

The team participants were divided into four teams: two boy teams “Generators” (9-13 years old, mentors Dmytro Tymoshchuk and Vadym Nevirkovets), and “Powerbanks” (14-19 years old, mentors Pavlo Rudenko and Mykhailo Chekomudyan) and two girl teams “Victory” (6-14 years old, mentor Tamila Melikova-Zaskal) and  “Fireflies” (15–18 years old, mentor Maryna Chekomudian).

With God’s help, the team of mentors managed to create a warm atmosphere in the camp. The Lord blessed to build a good relationship between adults and children – in response to the sincerity and openness of the mentors, the children also opened up and tried to follow an example shown by their leaders. Teamwork contributed to maintaining discipline and order in the camp. The children became good friends with each other.

The feedback from the participants tells us that they enjoyed having not only fun and leisure in the camp but also the main part of it – Bible study! Although for some it was unusual and hard to understand at first.

However, the team put in a lot of effort to convey the gospel in simple terms to make it clear to every participant of the camp with a prayer for the Holy Spirit to enlighten their hearts to accept the truths and salvation.

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him, there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5)