Awana Camp Helps Kids Handle Weight of War

There are two realities in Ukraine today. First, war is devastating. Second, God loves and cares for the children of Ukraine and wants them to be with Him forever. Awana summer camps in Ukraine are helping kids handle the weight of war and learn to put their trust in God.

Recently The New York Times put together a video documenting the impact of the war in Ukraine on children. They spoke with kids in “grief camps” and asked them, “What is war?” In response, one child said, “It’s when strangers enter your house and tell you to leave your home and then they’ll shoot you.” Another child said, “I don’t know, but I think it’s when politicians misunderstand each other and because of that people die.”

War is weighing heavily on the precious kids throughout Ukraine; their fears, their salvation and their physical needs have been at the forefront of the minds of all of us at Awana and those we are partnering with. Our teams on the ground in Eastern Europe have been working continuously to bring hope, health and spiritual healing to a hurting nation.

Awana Romania Missionary Adi Stanciu shared with us his recent experience of teaching at an Awana summer camp in Ukraine, along with fellow Awana Romania leaders.

Says Adi: At the discussion group with the children, about their fears and reasons for prayer, we met several children who confessed to us they are afraid of death. In the context of the war they are going through and the similarities from the Bible with the children who were in danger, they had the courage to tell us that they too identify with similar dangers and worries. It was exciting to be able to pray with them, encourage them and talk about the children from the Bible who overcame these dangers and became heroes. I taught them to pray, to trust in God, to have courage and to love their family.

When we got to talking about Naaman, who was an enemy of Israel, and about the girl taken as a slave in his house, we talked about the love of the enemy. For the kids, the Russians are mortal enemies, and it was difficult to make them understand that the weapons we have to fight with are love, faith and courage.

Although their language was so different than ours [Some kids spoke a dialect of Romanian.], everyday the children tried to learn the Bible verse. They hardly repeated it after us the first day. But the next day they came to us to tell us yesterday’s verse learned by heart. Then I saw their interest in memorizing the verses correctly and persevering.

At the beginning we had a rule that whoever brings a friend the next day, gets 1,000 points for his team. From the third day we had to tell them there were no more places in the camp, but new children continued to come, reaching almost 200 children at the end of the camp.

On the last day of the camp, we had wanted to go out with the whole [teaching] team to the city, in Cernauti (30 kilometers away) to go to a restaurant to celebrate together. They [the Ukrainian leaders] impressed on me when they told me that it is difficult for some boys to leave the village because there are military “filters” who take those who are over 18 years old and take them to the front without stopping at home. That’s why the families from the church organized a special meal, with traditional dishes and a fantastic atmosphere, which I also experienced in the community where I lived in Romania during Communism.

The war, the material shortages, the danger of the bombings, the bad news from the front and the injustice with which they are treated by the Russians, have made these people more faithful, more dedicated in service, more united and more self-sacrificing for the benefit of those who are affected at the front. Every week they collect humanitarian aid from the products they grow in the field and send them to the front to the soldiers and families who are near the front. I heard stories that moved me to tears about the people near the front or those in the cities systematically destroyed by the Russian army.

I know that our mission was so small and insignificant compared to the difficult situation in Ukraine, and we had the grace to be far from the front line. But I hope that through our small contribution we can help to encourage and heal the trauma of these innocent children and bring hope to them that God is in control of everything and nothing is by chance.

I also brought the good news of the Gospel that can bring salvation and eternal life for those who believe in the Lord Jesus.

Thank you very much for supporting us in this mission through prayers, funds, encouragement and, above all, the love you felt for us. Thanks to you, we were useful, convinced that we were doing the right thing. … You covered our backs in the spiritual battle we went through, and the necessary funds were enough to finish the camp well.

Thank you and those who supported this project.

If you would like to send notes and pictures of encouragement to teams on the ground in Ukraine and neighborhing countries, or to clubs in Ukraine, please send them to communications@awana.org.

You can find previous Ukraine updates by going to the Ukraine updates category at awana.org/blog.

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