Probably the most memorable moment of the camp was gratitude and tears of the children on the last day of camp. We tried to illustrate the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ: for their transgressions and disobedience children had to receive punishment, but instead of them one of the counselors, who had not been guilty, took the punishment… This illustration touched to tears many children and even many counselors who worked in the camp.
Children’s day camp was held by Bible Missionary Church of Christ the Redeemer in Ivano-Frankivsk. The camp took place on the premises (and yard) of our church from 13 to 18 June. Age of the participants was from 5 to 13 years. A number of participants – 40-50 children (since it was a day camp, there was a different number of children on different days). Every day camp run from 10:00 to 16:00.
The theme of the camp was the presentation of Gospel day by day. Starting with the theme “God the Creator” and ending with the theme “God the Merciful Savior”, we tried a consistently and available to present Gospel for children. This is what was the main purpose of the camp. Of course, more than that there was a lot of useful and interesting in the camp: good food, sports, games, Bible lessons, crafts, etc.
It should be noted that not only the children liked the camp, but also many parents, who brought their children every day to the camp, enjoyed it. In this case, we are talking about parents who are not members or parishioners of our church. For example, we were impressed by the words one mother said: “What are you doing here in this camp? I have not seen my children so happy and joyful! How did you achieve it?” When, in response, we noticed that, on the contrary, it seemed to us that the camp had a lot of shortcomings and chaos, this mother quite seriously replied: “If the children enjoyed it so much, it means that there was no chaos!”
A very positive result, in our opinion, is that immediately after the end aftercamp work has begun. The children who were at the camp were invited to attend crafts group, which would be held at our church twice a week. The children won’t only do crafts, but they will also listen to Bible stories and lessons. The group has already begun to function and several children regularly attend it.
We are grateful to the Lord for the blessing of this camp! God has blessed us in bringing the Gospel to children and in communication with them. He kept the children safe physically (first aid kit, we almost did not have to use it!), He blessed with good weather, and He brought to this camp many children (more than we expected!). Most importantly, children, who participated in the camp, are the children of the world, who have appeared in the walls of our House of prayer for the first time, and perhaps for the first time, they have heard the Gospel. Thank God for that!
We also sincerely thank all those who supported us in conducting this camp. Thank you for your support and prayers! It is thanks to your help that this camp took place and the influence of God’s Kingdom spread to the hearts of dozens of children in our city! We ask you to pray about the Good News heard once would sprout in the hearts of these children as the fruit of faith and repentance. Please also pray for God’s blessing on the crafts group for kids at our church.
Serhii Kyrylenko
acting pastor of the Church of Christ the Redeemer
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