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Dear Friends,
The teen camp finished well at the end of last week. It was a tough week for the leaders, and Bohdan and Sergey said that the teams this year are probably the weakest they have had as they are inexperienced and lacking in number. This is because many families and helpers from the past have fled the area to safer places. What was great to witness was the older youth helping as team leaders like Yegor, Camilla and Dasha, and overall the camp was a huge success for the teenagers.
The majority of children attending came for the first time, but there were a few teenagers that returned. One of these was Christina -pictured below in the blue dress with Dasha. Christina does not know her paternal father as he walked out on the family when she was very young. Her mother remarried, and her stepfather was amazing to her and the family. She loved him dearly. Sadly, 3 weeks ago he was killed fighting in the war. She was still grieving, but Dasha was so good with her, encouraging her and listening, and answering questions patiently alongside her. At the end of the camp, Christina wrote to Bohdan to express her thanks and to ask what it was to become a Christian.
This young man above broke both his arms a week before the camp. The team did not know this, but he didn’t arrive so Bohdan called his parents to find our what was wrong. He had been involved in an accident and had broken both arms in a fall. He assumed he could not come. The next day they helped him come to camp and was there for the remaining 4 days and loved everything. The love and care that was shown, not just by the team, but with his peers was overwhelming for him. They found ways for him to help play some of the games. In the end he did not want the camp to end. Here are some more photos of the previous camp week.
The youth camp this past week was the last of the camps. This the 5th camp in 6 weeks, and understandably the team are exhausted, especially with the more inexperienced teams. They were camping and living on-site for the week and all went well – it is amazing how many tents you can get on the site! Sirens sounded for parts of the day, but this did not deter them from having a good time. One of the reflections made by Bohdan and Sergey in my call with them is how many children have now experienced death in their family. This is much greater than ever before and is affecting them mentally.
Next week sees the start of the youth camp – the last of the camp weeks. Numbers will be intentionally lower as the older youth will be camping on site. This camp week starts next Monday through to Saturday morning. Bohdan has asked for us to pray that this goes smoothly as there some risks in holding this camp, but the older young people cannot wait to be together.
The general situation within the Sumy region continues to get worse. Bohdan took a trip to Sumy city to get supplies for the camps, but found many more buildings destroyed and closed. The city has lost its busyness as many have fled, and others are fearful of coming out into the open. The border areas from Sumy and beyond are very dangerous. Pastor Andrew and Veronica have been told to leave the area now. As they foster children, the new rules do not allow them to live in their village any longer. This was highlighted by what happened last week in the neighbouring village. A child who was fostered from one of the orphanages went out to play and stepped on a land mine. The parents said he tried to fix the land mine before stepping off, but sadly he was brutally and unnecessarily killed. He was just 11 years old.
They have now introduced new check points throughout the region which are mobile and have people that will knock on doors to force people to sign up to fight, this is causing real fear amongst the population.
This coming Sunday nine people will be baptised early in the morning! We hope and pray for a great time for these people and pray for God’s blessing on their lives as they journey in their Christian walk.
Thank you again for the continued support and prayers
Every blessing
Peter Martin
Founding Director of Hope Lebedyn
