Youth Camp at the Lake

Finally getting around to my updates after a few weeks of being out of town. The first I went to was a camp with the Central Church here in L'viv. It was a youth camp and we went about an hour away to a lake. The name of the camp was "It's Worth It 2." It was mostly children from believing families but there were about 12-15 guests from non-believer families. It was a great experience to see the youth change from day 1 to day 6 as they talked about different themes in small groups, and heard a message every evening. One thing that stuck out at me was the fourth day when we had a "camp game" in which we posted signs everywhere saying this or that was prohibited. Then throughout the day we took notes of people who broke these rules.

Some of them thought it was funny to be disobedient, but at the end of the day we called them all up to the front when we were sitting around a bonfire. Then they were told that they would all be sent home the next day. Then the director said he would take the punishment for them and they poured a bucket of cold water on his head. It was interesting to see that reactions of the youth and many of them felt very bad for the director who didn't do anything wrong but was punished. Of course, as you can probably guess now, this was a good example of Christ who took the punishment of our sins but was holy and blameless, never doing anything wrong. Camp was a great blessing for me, I always seem to get more out of it than I think I am putting in. God works that way sometimes. The last day the camp staff and leaders stayed an extra half day to clean and pack everything, but also to enjoy time together and of course to enjoy a very tasty barbecue. It was a nice time to debrief and also for me to spend some time with some friends I've known for years but haven't seen much this year. The youth really changed a lot from the beginning and I pray that these camps wouldn't just make a difference for a few weeks, but for eternity. Thanks for your prayers and support, and continue to pray for peace in Ukraine as the east is still at war.