Awana Ukraine Camp Teaches Heaven Is A Place With No Wars, Tears or Evil

Over the months since we’ve been covering Awana Ukraine, we’ve heard from a number of Awana staff and leaders. This month our special guest author is Olga Tarasenko. Olga was the camp director at an Awana summer camp that took place in the refugee center in Cherkasy. We’ve written often about the refugee center, which typically provides clothing, food, humanitarian aid and a place to sleep – all made possible by generous partners, like you. Now summer camp can be added to the list of things the center provides! We thank God for the success Olga shares and for all the loving, caring leaders who served in the camp.

So our day camp was for five days, and it took place in the local hospitality and refugee center. We invited children from different backgrounds to the camp. Most of them were hearing about God and participating in a Christian day camp for the first time in their life.

All these children personally know somebody who is at war right now, some of them have very close relatives at the front now (dads, uncles, elder bothers …). We know of at least one child whose father died at war. This was a great chance for us all to get together, get to know each other, speak about God Who is in control, Who knows and Who cares. We had a very nice number of children and leaders involved, which gave us an opportunity to build relationships and trust. Some leaders were once kids at Awana day camps before, and this time they could be part of a serving team. Praise God.

We didn’t have any air alerts during the hours of the camp except for the last day. On the last day we had to go to the shelter for part of our program and actually listen to the story about heaven and what a wonderful place it is with no wars, no tears and no evil, and this all was in the shelter. We also invited parents for the last day. It was a happy and sobering moment at the same time. We were happy to see parents and their kids playing games, enjoying each other, competing and having fun in the midst of war stress. But it was sobering because there was only one dad there. We realize that we are lacking men with their families and loved ones now, and the reality will only get worse.

We know that some kids were playing games with their moms while their dads are fighting for our freedom. One mom came in her military uniform because it is her everyday life now. Her daughter was in the Awana day camp for the second time this year, and after the camp she came to a church program for teenagers.

One mom was very happy to share about her daughter on the last day. She said, “My daughter has become quite unsociable lately since her dad went to war. She has been to some camps before but either she didn’t like them and didn’t want to come back the next day, or asked me to take her home. This camp was quite the opposite. She felt love and acceptance. She liked it so much that she couldn’t wait for the next day and actually was more willing to miss her English lesson than her last day at camp.”

We praise the Lord for how He is working in the hearts of children, parents and leaders in the midst of this war, and we thank you for your continued prayers and financial support. If you’d like to read our past reports, you can find them at awana.org/ukraine-blogs.

To financially support the work of the Awana Ukraine team, please go to: donate.awana.org/give/ukraine

If you would like to send pictures and notes of encouragement to the children and leaders in Awana, you can send them to communications@awana.org.