My First Time At EEO Summer Camp

By Peter Wooding in Kiev, Ukraine

I was filled with both fear and anticipation as I arrived at a boarding school just outside Kiev in Ukraine last summer.  Not only was I the only Englishman on this Eastern European Outreach ten day summer camp for 116 at risk children, but I was the only Westerner there at all.

I had felt the challenge to come after Jeff Thompson director of Eastern European Outreach told me they needed team members for the camps.

He explained: “Each summer Over 600 at-risk children attend our summer camps and hear the gospel. We call them children at risk because they are from single parent families, needy families, orphanages, or living with family members. Most of the orphans in the former Soviet Union are “social orphans” meaning they have a parent that is alive.”

“Knowing that you have a father that is alive, but he has abandoned you, is almost more difficult for a child than thinking their father is passed away. The children who attend camp look happy on the outside, and they are, but when you get under the surface, you hear stories of neglect, abuse, and abandonment.”

Our goal during the summer camps is to get the kids to open up, to connect with a counsellor, to share their heart and open their hearts to the healing love of Jesus. Thus, we try to create a safe and fun environment that they want to return to year after year. Most of our counsellors now used to be children in the EEO child sponsorship program. They want to give back and minister to the children who attend camp because of what Christ has done in their lives.”

Mosquitos - Lack of Sleep

During the first few days of camp I was feeling the cultural challenge of being the only Westerner in camp. I missed my family, and everyone spoke a strange language called Russian. Facing the physical challenges of a lack of sleep, mosquito bites, and extreme humidity didn’t help.

However the outpouring of love from the children helped me to overcome all of these challenges and put into perspective why I’d come all the way from the UK to be here.

So many things melted my heart including when one little girl most likely looking for a father figure spontaneously began holding my hand.  During parent’s day when the children were visited by their mums and or dads who brought lots of snacks for them, one boy excitedly gave me one of his peaches. Another boy proudly placed the friendship bracelet he’d made onto my wrist and a girl handed me a beautifully decorated egg she’d painted during her master class. One young girl called Nastia excitedly told me in clear English:

“I love this camp very much.  It’s very beautiful as I meet my friends and make new friends and I love God very much because this camp helped me to love God.  I want to thank God that He sent me these new friends and He sent me to this camp.”