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Dear Friends,
The first camp finished well, and the team is now running a camp at the Centre for children with special educational and additional needs. Forty children plus their leaders from the Educational Centre are attending. Power remains unreliable because of ongoing drone attacks on power supply infrastructure, but as you can see from the photos, the children have greatly enjoyed everything taking place so far.
The camp in Hryntsevo deeply affected both the team and the children. The children’s trauma and mistrust were clear, yet by the end of the week many were in tears because they did not want the camp to end. Parents again said the experience had changed their children’s lives.
In his report, Bohdan shared this heartbreaking story:
"Whilst in the camp we noticed a boy named Ivan. He moved to the 11th grade. He didn't look very neat. His clothes were dirty and hadn't been changed for a week, and his behaviour was strange overall. We thought that maybe he had a developmental delay, but everything is fine with his brain. Then the director said that this boy had a mother who was an alcoholic and constantly drank. She drank at the cemetery taking him with her, and when she was lying drunk, Ivan was constantly by her side – he was only 3 years old when this was happening. She died on one of these drinking sessions and people found Ivan sat and crying beside her, nobody knows for how long. His father took Ivan to Hryntsevo, but neither he nor the grandmother have looked after the boy. He was simply imprisoned in the house so that he did not go anywhere except school. This explained his "strange" behaviour. But, interestingly, he constantly wanted to be close to the leaders, to hear something, to feel the warmth of love. I wanted to give an answer to some question. When we talked about the fact that God loves us as parents, it "cut" to his heart, he cried because he had no family. It's hard for him to be friends with his peers, so we constantly tried to fix it. They can joke with him, and he reacts sharply to this. When he received the gift we presented to him there were tears in his eyes as he had rarely received any gifts until now as a grown boy."
While the camps have been running, the team have also been helping as many people as possible. Since the start of the war, they have regularly visited the nearby village of Budilka, which has been badly affected. Missiles have destroyed much of the village, and many families fled, leaving mainly elderly residents and refugees. With no shops in the area, these visits are greatly appreciated. During this time, a church also began meeting in a home, and the team now supports it with aid and by helping with the services.
Tatyana, 73, has been attending the home group for two years. She became a Christian, helps in the village, and, like many others, asks many questions about the war. Her son, Sergey, is serving in the armed forces.
Please continue to pray for:
Thank you for your ongoing support and prayers and for the many gifts sent in to help fund the camps. It is greatly appreciated.
Every blessing.
Peter Martin
Founding Director of Hope Lebedyn
P.S. It costs around £35 for one child to attend a non-residential camp week. This covers two meals, drinks, snacks, and all activities. We need to send $25,000 to meet these costs, so if you can contribute in any way, we would be very grateful. This link can show you more info……Hope Lebedyn's page | Stewardship
