Daily missiles and drone attacks against Ukraine have traumatized the country’s children. Amid very difficult circumstances, the Association of Christian Camps and Conference Centers, known as CCI-Ukraine, is working hard to provide camp activities where youngsters can receive care, refuge and teaching about God’s love.
Pavlo Bakum is the director of the interdenominational ministry, which is a member of Christian Camping International. In exclusive comments from his mission base in Ukraine, Bakum explains how the Christian ministry is seeing positive results for the kingdom of God, despite the turmoil of living in a war zone.
Pavlo Bakum apologizes for taking time to respond to questions, explaining that he is suffering from fatigue. The daily bombing of Kyiv, where he lives, means he usually only gets three hours of sleep per night, meaning he is utterly exhausted. The violence of missiles exploding and drone attacks against the city have drained his energy levels and affected his mental health. “I don’t have enough internal resources to respond quickly,” he says.
Even so, there is a profound motivation galvanizing him to get to work every morning: helping the children in Ukraine discover God’s love, despite the horrors of the war. They have survived explosions, wailing sirens, the mobilization of parents into military forces and dramatically relocating from homes because of the hostilities.
However, Bakum says he sees that Jesus Christ still has a plan for these young people, and that he and his colleagues have a mandate to help them grow spiritually by knowing and following the Lord.
The Christian camps organized by CCI-Ukraine are held throughout the country’s regions, but details cannot be disclosed for security reasons. Generally, most are located in areas considered safer from the ongoing conflict, including both rural and urban areas. However, some camps are based closer to the battle front lines where youngsters still live, such as Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, and Sumy regions.
They are mainly day camps in church facilities where parents are welcome to attend, and Bakum is glad to see many children come along on a regular basis.
“Our vision is to help children and teenagers find hope and peace in Christ, especially during such challenging times of war,” says Bakum. “We aim to provide not only emotional support but also a spiritual foundation to help them navigate the difficulties of war and grow as responsible citizens and people of faith. We also see Christian camps as a great tool for connecting churches with the new generation that is growing up.”
Volunteers for the camps come from local churches who work alongside specialists briefed to organize the various programs and care activities for the children. Depending on any camp size, this ranges from 10 to 50 volunteers helping between 30 to 150 children per camp. Some of these young people are from disadvantaged families, internally displaced or children of military personnel.
The obvious main challenge is safety as Russia continues to bombard Ukraine. “We have to constantly adapt to changes in the security situation since the camps are being held during wartime,” says Bakum. “Logistical challenges are also significant, as many men have been taken to the army.
“Additionally, many children who come to the camps suffer from psychological trauma due to the war, so we need additional resources to support them.”
Originally, the camps were started by Kingdom Ventures Inc. from Canada in 1996, before the furore of the current conflict. As a result, the camp facilities were never designed for wartime conditions and so comprise only basic shelters, such as two walls or a basement. Bakum explains that the camps face a problem of constructing specialized war shelter facilities.
Despite these challenges, CCI-Ukraine is seeing many Ukrainian children discovering Christ for themselves and growing in their relationship with the Lord, he says.
“They not only hear the gospel but also experience real support, love, and care,” adds Bakum. “Some children who came to the camps without faith return home with a sense of hope and spiritual strength.
“It is a great blessing for us to see how their lives are changing.”
The goal of the camp workers at the present time is to “restore the childhood stolen from these children by air raid alarms, missile strikes, and drone attacks,” says Bakun emphatically.
Bakum pleads with the wider evangelical community to pray for the children discovering God’s love in the camps, in the midst of war.
“We would be grateful for prayers for the safety of all camp participants, for wisdom for the organizers, and for the Lord to strengthen the faith of the children attending the camps.
“We also ask for prayers for peace in Ukraine, for the spiritual revival of the nation, and for our efforts in spreading the Gospel during this difficult time.”
Correction Nov. 18, 2024: An earlier version incorrectly stated the camps started in 2006. In fact, they started in 1996.
