stories of impact

My name is Alexey, 

I was an ordinary boy. I had just finished my sixth year at public school and was making plans for the summer with my friends from the street. Suddenly my mother suggested that I should go to a Christian camp – one of her friends had a connection with the camp. I was sure that kind of camp was not for me, but my mother 

My name is Alexey, 

I was an ordinary boy. I had just finished my sixth year at public school and was making plans for the summer with my friends from the street. Suddenly my mother suggested that I should go to a Christian camp – one of her friends had a connection with the camp. I was sure that kind of camp was not for me, but my mother insisted on me going there. So, I agreed, after all it was only for ten days. 

When I came to the camp I was pleasantly surprised – no boring Bible studies and no restrictions I had expected to see there. On the contrary, there was a lot of fun, new sports, like baseball, American football, archery, exciting crafts classes. At that camp I learned that the Bible was not a boring book and at that same time I met God, whom I had considered non-existent and unreal. 

Those ten days at camp changed everything about my life. Instead of spending the rest of the summer with my street friends, I went to the local church and joined the Sunday school program. In the church there were people I had met at camp. I was enjoying my new friends – playing soccer and studying the Bible with them. 

When my mother saw the changes in my life, she believed in the reality of God and as a result we have been part of Christian church for 18 years. 

I continued to go to camp every summer, and when I grew up, I became a camp counselor and later on a program leader. I cannot imagine a single summer without our camp. At this camp 18 years ago I met God and my life was changed forever. What would have happened, had I not listened to my mother 18 years ago when she was sending me to camp? Camp definitely became a turning point in my life.

My name is Karina, I am a University student. And camp has shaped my life. 

I first went to Christian camp when I was 12. I come from a non-church family. At camp I immediately appreciated the relationships. I enjoyed the attitude of staff to campers. Staff were committed and sacrificed their time and energy to serve campers.

As a camper I 

My name is Karina, I am a University student. And camp has shaped my life. 

I first went to Christian camp when I was 12. I come from a non-church family. At camp I immediately appreciated the relationships. I enjoyed the attitude of staff to campers. Staff were committed and sacrificed their time and energy to serve campers.

As a camper I understood I could influence other children’s lives by showing them they could be loved just for being the way they were. So I decided I wanted to serve at camp. My first staff position at camp was at age 15. I played the role of a penguin who travelled in the mountains. And then throughout the day I had to appear among the campers as a penguin and talk to them about the theme of the day. Later on I served as a sports leader and as a program leader.

Looking at committed camp leaders in my camp I understood that sacrifice was part and parcel of every Christian’s life. You sacrifice not only the resources you can replenish (money and energy), but also the resource that cannot be replenished (time). And it was at camp that I understood that the time spent at camp couldn’t be considered as time just spent. You get inspired at camp, you build relationships with people, you draw nearer to God, you get satisfaction from serving others.

Now as a camp leader I love the fact that I can use the gifts and talents that God gave me. By doing this I can influence and change somebody’s life for better. I can influence somebody’s value system and the development of a child, who would later on become a servant of God. The best motivation for me is that some day I will be able to see how God will have developed the seeds I have sown into the children, how my campers will have changed, how their behaviors will have changed, what decisions they will be making in life.

At church I am engaged in running a children’s club in a village a few kilometers from the town I live in. I am also engaged in our church day camp. I organize events for children at the stadium. I organize Easter and Christmas celebrations for children in our church.

Thanks to camp I have many friends, I have learned to multitask, as well as to delegate and not to try and do everything by myself. As a result I have more time for rejuvenation. Besides, camp has helped me to become a friend of God, to get to know Him better and to understand that He is the One who can make my life better and more fulfilled.

I have completed three levels of the CCI-Ukraine instructor training course. I am passionate to see young people engaged in our camp effectively, so I am doing my best to learn how to help them do it. Today I help train our camp staff, and I am excited about it. 

There is a very special group of camp leaders. These are the children of the camp leaders trained between 1991 and 2010. These children grew up in Christian camps because their parents were program leaders, sports leaders, crafts instructors, music leaders, cooks or camp directors – senior camp staff. They observed their parents lead and 

There is a very special group of camp leaders. These are the children of the camp leaders trained between 1991 and 2010. These children grew up in Christian camps because their parents were program leaders, sports leaders, crafts instructors, music leaders, cooks or camp directors – senior camp staff. They observed their parents lead and they are the first generation to have learned, not just from books or in class, but who saw live role models with their own eyes. David is one of them. His mother became a Christian in early 1990 and immediately joined her church’s camp staff as a camp administrator, camp nurse and a crafts instructor. David grew up at camp. As far as he can remember he was at camp every summer: first as a staff child, then as a counsellor, and then as a sports leader. Now he is a high quality camp counselor. David attended our instructor-training course in order to teach boys at camp effectively. Today David is a CCI-Ukraine certified instructor.