Prayer focus

THANK YOU, GOD

• For the article by CCI/Ukraine’s Tetiana Levchuk, published in the Christian Education Journal: Research on Educational Ministry. Entitled “Camping in Wartime: Stories of Formation and Hope in Ukrainian Christian Camps,” the article explores how Christian summer camps in Ukraine—amid ongoing war—provide adolescents with vital spaces for faith formation, relational refuge, and restorative normalcy.
• For two resident camps in Georgia together hosting 110 young men with 59 staff members, both with a strong evangelistic focus, aiming to develop Christlike character and a servant’s heart in young men.
• For the four-day Camp Contact, Armenia with 60 young adults, where six campers dedicated their lives to Jesus. For the youth Camp Aven-Ezer, which hosted 230 participants for six days. The camp teams poured into the camp all the knowledge they had gained during the CCI/Armenia National Conference last May.
• For the pastors’ prayer gathering in Country X, where 26 leaders from different churches came together to lift up the Christian camping ministry, asking that it would flourish and shine brightly in their Muslim country.
• For the six-day residential Camp Discovery, Ukraine with 112 campers, the team shared the story of Christmas and celebrated Jesus together with the campers during the summer.

ACTIVITIES 

• Camps in Ukraine are in full swing. At CCI/Ukraine, we are glad to see that the supportive community of camp leaders we have built and continue to develop is working effectively. On our online forum, leaders have been helping one another this past week with needs such as craft supplies, wide games, sports activities, camper follow-up curriculum, camp program equipment, and action songs.
• The CCI/Georgia team is managing the Manglisi campsite, which is currently hosting a rental group of 65 children. This campsite belongs to a Baptist church and is used throughout the summer as a rental venue for Christian camps.
• The CCI/Armenia leadership team is visiting Camp Crossroad, which is hosting 70 campers, to meet the team and encourage them.
• Camp [Name Withheld] is running a session for 43 campers in Country X. The CCI/Country X leadership team is visiting a campsite that could be used for future camp sessions and the Staff Training Workshop.
• Camp Discovery is now holding a meeting to evaluate the camp and to prepare the program for the follow-up meetings.

INTERCESSION

• Please intercede for our camps, as many are working to build links that connect campers to post-camp follow-up activities. This includes engaging churches and families so that the transformations experienced at camp can be sustained and deepened through supportive relationships and meaningful involvement.
• Pray for the camps currently running in Armenia and Georgia, for engaging programs and redemptive relationships with the campers, all for God’s glory.
• Pray for the ongoing camps in Country X asking the Lord to cover and protect them from any interference. Also pray for camp staff and leaders who have lost their jobs because they chose to serve in camps this summer. May the Lord provide for them abundantly.
• Please intercede for the Camp Discovery campers, that more of them would open their hearts to God’s calling.
• Thank God for protecting Oleg, Andriy, and Maxim—the husbands of our staff Oksana, Dasha, and Jenya—this past week as they serve near the war’s front line. Pray for their continued health and safety.  

FROM THE MISSION FIELD   

Stanislav, 14, a Camper from Ukraine

Stanislav, 14, from Ukraine, first heard about camp from classmates. He knew it was a Christian camp with daily Bible lessons and conversations about Jesus. Coming from an Orthodox family, he was familiar with Bible stories, yet expected camp might be boring. That changed on the first day. The lessons were lively, the atmosphere energizing, and he quickly made friends, often helping the cabin leader organize activities.

One lesson especially stood out: the radical transformation of the Apostle Paul. The idea that Jesus could turn someone so cruel into a church-planting leader made a deep impression on him. As a history lover, Stanislav was also fascinated by the story of Zacchaeus: how Jesus came to the lowest man in the geographically lowest city on earth, and was even more amazed that these accounts were supported by historical facts he knew from school. These moments gave him a firm conviction: “The Bible is a true book.”

By the end of camp, his expectation that it would be boring had turned into a new view of God and of himself. He saw that God could change even the hardest hearts. He also discovered his leadership abilities, as his counsellor often invited him to help lead activities and take responsibility within the group. Equipped with truth, new leadership experiences, friendships, and a fresh perspective, he returned home confident in the Bible, eager to follow Jesus, and ready to live out his faith.