Valentin L.
SGA-Supported Missionary Pastor in Ukraine

Our church was especially blessed to host the ROCK Children’s Camp over the summer. We served a total of 350 children over three camp sessions lasting four days each. The participants were mostly children from vulnerable social backgrounds including displaced families, low-income or large families, children of our defenders, children of military personnel who lost their lives or went missing in action, children from families who lost their homes due to hostilities, as well as orphans.

During such difficult times of war, when powerful explosions could be heard at night during the camp, God provided an amazing atmosphere of comfort, joy, and safety during the day. The village children valued the camp especially highly — perhaps even more so than children from bigger towns — because they rarely have anyone willing to come there and organize something like this for those kids. For most of them, it was a one-of-a-kind opportunity to spend a week filled with games, joy, friendship, hope, life lessons, and the love of Christ.

At the end of the first week, the theme of a pure heart was explored, and the children watched a simple dramatization about Jesus Christ. During the call to repentance, almost 90% of the children came forward to sincerely pray to God, asking for forgiveness for their wrongdoings and giving their lives to Jesus! One was 12-year-old Yarik. Although Yarik doesn’t come from a Christian family, over the course of the week, we found him to be a very responsible, kind, and friendly boy. One evening after the activities, we had a very interesting conversation. Even though Yarik is still very young, he had developed a smoking and vaping habit. Yarik admitted that he could not bring himself to quit smoking. He likely started smoking when he was around eight years old.

Our conversation soon turned into something deeper. We talked about God’s love, His best intentions for each of us, about heaven, salvation, and the forgiveness of our sins. None of us is perfect, and true change comes only through repentance and a genuine faith in Jesus Christ. Yarik asked if all the counselors at the camp also believed in God, and I replied, “Yes, we all do.” He paused briefly, then smiled and said, “I really enjoyed the camp. I want to become a believer, too.” On the last day, during the call to accept Jesus and pray, Yarik stepped forward and took a public step of faith. Praise God with us for what He has done this camp season!