Camp LELA | Heritage Ukraine

The night before the children arrive we like to gather the whole team after several days of training and have an evening of fun. There are of course the rules of the camp, introductions, and then the fun. We had a great evening last night playing some interesting games. Please pray for us as the next camp starts.

Today is the last day of the third camp. The kids will head home tomorrow. Please pray for them as they go.

Please pray for our volunteers today. This morning there were very heavy rains. There were many rivers running through the camp. Some places are dry like the office and supply tents, but most of the sleeping tents are wet and so are the sleeping bags. This afternoon it cleared off and we were able to dry some things out. Pray that the rain holds off tonight and that it will dry out.   Pray for our water situation as it is nearly impossible to truck in water and supplies at this point because of the dirt roads that are now covered with water and mud. Pray also for our volunteers. Many are from the eastern part of Ukraine. The fighting has intensified in this area and many are concerned about their relatives and friends as fighting has broke again in more towns this week. The mood of our team is somber as they think about the fighting, struggle through difficult weather situations, and work with troubled children. Thank you for your prayers.

What do we do all day at Camp LELA?? While the children are still sleeping, many leaders get out of their tents around 5 AM. Some brave a cold shower and others just brush their teeth. J For those that desire, we meet for prayer time with the camp Pastor. After that we ask that each volunteer to spend some time on their own praying and reading God’s word. At 7 we meet in groups, at 7:30 we meet all together for prayer and singing, and at 8 we have breakfast! The children rise around 7:30 and begin their day. After breakfast, we have a short time of cleaning the camp and then the morning meeting. The morning meeting is a fun time of greeting each other, singing, sharing of God’s word, and laying out the plan for the day. After the morning service, the children meet with their leaders and discuss the morning message and the plans for the day.   Craft time and sports are next. There are many different options for the kids. They can sign up for a variety of crafts. If they don

Please pray for us as we continue our camps. This week is a camp with 100 children. Please pray that the older children will be interested and will enjoy their time here. Pray that our volunteers would reach out to them. Please pray for the next team of volunteers that will arrive on July 28th. We need strong leaders and lots of hands as our next camp with be with children that need a little more assistance than usual. Please pray that God will give us all patience and wisdom in dealing with many children. Praise God for the children that have opened their hearts to Christ for the first time. Praise God again for the finances that He has provided for us to do this work for His children.

The next camp has begun. One hundred children are here at Camp LELA this week to experience the love of God and to have lots of fun. It amazes me how much everyone likes to swing. Every camp we tear most things apart that the kids have built to allow the next kids to create their own things.   It seems that every time new kids come they immediately think to build a swing.

Here is a short video update that was shown in the States in a church today.   Thanks for your prayers and financial support.  

Another camp has ended and training for the next has already started. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. Please pray for this group of children. Eight boys made the decision to accept Christ. Please pray for our struggle to get water into the camp in an efficient way.

The last day of camp is always comes with a mix of feelings. Everyone is tired and really looking forward to a little rest, but on the other hand no one wants the time to end. On the last day of youth camp we spent the morning playing trust games, having another large group meeting, working through a series of obstacles, MUD PIT!, making airplanes, and doing manicures. The evening was spent at a large bonfire for the whole camp.          

This week at the youth camp we had a photo contest. The teams came up with different poses and ideas to support 3 different themes. The photos turned out great with a little assistance from our amazing photographer. Theme 1: Team Photo     Theme 2: Friendship        Theme 3: Pilot              

The kids are having a great time this week at camp! The kids have had the opportunity to learn many things in the master classes (first aid, how to pluck a chicken and make lunch, how to build a hideout, how to play cricket, how to play football, and many other things. There has been lots of games, (even one at midnight), time for swimming in the pool, bonfires every night with tasty treats cooked over the fire, singing, playing in the rain, and much more. The kids have heard several different messages this week, too. One about friendship, one about health, and about how God created them as special and unique individual.  The kids were divided into teams on the first day and they have had lots of different competitions and have been judged on many things. One day someone prayed that the right team would win at the night game. The team that God wanted to encourage. One team, Non-Stop, had not really succeeded at anything. But they won the night game. The prize for winning the night

Today we opened our camp to nearly 70 children from several different orphanages. Our plan was to have this camp for teens. However, we were sent many elementary age kids, too. But that’s okay! We will adapt a few things and create some new games and crafts for them. We are thankful for our volunteers and their willingness to adapt.   We welcomed the children, sang a few songs, and played a few games to divide the kids into teams. The rest of the day was spent getting haircuts, creating team names, painting team posters, and getting acquainted with each one another.   Please pray for us as this is one of our shorter weeks as the kids will leave early Saturday morning.

Youth Camp volunteers arrived on Saturday and we had training for two days. We were very thankful for a lady that came and spent many hours teaching our team how to work with children that have experienced trauma. It was great training and the volunteers learned a lot. It is hard to think about the many difficult things that these children have suffered through.   We closed out the training with some introductions of the teams that will work together throughout the week and a played few games.      Thanks for your prayers for our volunteers.

Thank you so much for your prayers over the last week. We had a great week with many boys at the boys camp. Please continue to pray for our water situation. We have a temporary solution, but we need to find a long-term solution. Please pray that directors would send all of the children on Monday without any issues. Pray that the right tickets can be purchased for a timely arrival. Pray for safe travel. Please pray for our week of camp. The next camp is the youth camp and most of the children will be teenagers. Please pray that our leaders will build positive relationships with the children and that their hearts would be opened to the Gospel. Please pray for our team and that we would work well together. Please pray for Slavik that he would have strength and wisdom in all of this work.

It's been a great week for the boys! They have done lots of "guy" stuff like building forts, shooting guns, sling shot paintball fights, getting really, really dirty, and etc. There has also been great food, riding bikes, games, soccer, swimming, and singing. Most importantly the have been shown the love of Christ by our many volunteers and have clearly heard about His love for them. Praise God! Here are a few pictures. If you would like to see more photos from the camp, follow this link. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/z1xnm9vpmq1s6wc/AABpn_1ZTukE656T_7MCb3kwa

The first day of Camp LELA was today! What a great day. The first camp is small and is for boys only. It's the best way to break in the camp. First kids from Balta arrive and a few learning the layout of the camp. Play area filled with kids playing games. Jumping for Joy that we have water going into the pool!