Wikipedia defines this word as "... a ceremony marking the transition of the individual to a new stage of development within a specific social group..."  Different peoples and tribes have their initiation traditions and conduct various ceremonies so that children of a specific age may be considered as adults.  First and foremost this is "... a break, in some cases rather rough, with the world of childhood, the maternal and femine world.  It is breaking away from the life without responsibility, the life of naivete and ignorance."

The test we came up with did not have the goal of transforming juveniles into young adults, but rather to give them the chance to experience conditions beyond the ordinary and present them with opportunity to give a sober, objective assessment of their own maturity.  That is what the expectation was for the catamaran expedition on the Vorskla river, which lasted from the 21st to the 23rd of July, 2011. 

There were no significant problems during the preparations for the expedition.  We thank God for that!  It is surprising to see how God works!  At first, a few months before the expedition, we had the thought of a trip on the river.  There was no firm idea of why or how to travel.  As time passed the idea of the expedition and its purpose began to take shape.  Later some money became available.  Many thanks to the Grain of Wheat International Fund for covering the lion's share of the expenses, also to Salvation Church and to the people who donated food to greatly reduce the cost of the trip.

Thirty two people participated, which presented some challenges in itself.  Expeditions like this are usually limited to 10 to 15 people, but the organizers refused to "throw anyone overboard".  And furthermore, the supporting team of young adults was a big help both traveling on the river and organizing the landings at rest and overnighting points, and also with spiritual support through sharing lessons on growing in maturity.  They always worked without complaint and without regard for heat or tiredness.  Thanks to their participation the youth had a chance to get better acquainted with the young adults of the church and ease their transition from Sunday School to the young adult group. 

The youth on the trip were not all graduates of the Sunday School.  Half of the participants were not even from the church.  Together with the rest of us they read the Bible and learned about Christ.  They observed the relationships between the believing participants, listened to our prayers and the prayers of their peers from the church.  We pray that God may give them faith, and not only them, but also those Sunday School graduates who graduated with knowledge, but not true faith in God. 

The participants were divided among seven catamarans.  Two of the catamarans were 6-seaters, and the other 5 were 4-seaters.  Provisions were divided evenly on the decks of the catamarans, and once we had received the parting words and blessing from the Deacon in charge of youth ministry, Vladimir Golyuk, we all picked up our paddles and cast off. 

The first day was training in rowing.  The catamarans did not want to travel in a straight line.  Our flotilla zig-zagged from one river bank to the other like a boisterous snake.  There were exclamations like "Row on the right - brake on the left!  Row harder!" disrupting the enchanted stillness of the river and relieving the lonliness of the occasional fisherman on the bank.  (By the way, I went back to that stretch of river threedays after we had finished our expedition and tried to fish - and the fish still weren't biting...)

On the way, in the town of Bulanovo we greeted brothers and sisters from Born Again Church who gave us cold water to drink, refilled our empty bottles and fed us some tasty borsht!  Many thanks to them!  The weather was hot, and in spite of being able to cool off in the river, the drinking water disappeared fast.  Praise God that we did not run out of food and water on the expedition - there was even some left over!

We decided to make camp the first night a little down-river from Bulanovo.  We tried to leave pitching tents, digging toilets and gathering firewood as much as possible the the initiates - what better way to show "grownup-ness" than to take care of these things for yourself?  In order to fulfill these responsibilities, we had to pull some of the workers away from swimming and fishing - and not always gently!  They will just have to forgive us - we love them, otherwise we would not have gone to all this trouble!

Setting up camp and having dinner went fine - for the mosquitos.  Hordes, untold hordes, of bloodthirsty insects, starving for fresh blood, buzzing happily, attacked us around 9:00 pm, resulting in a change in our schedule.  The evening bonfire and fellowship were delayed until dawn's first light. 

The rowing lessons of the previous day had not been in vain.  The second day went smoother.  We started to notice the beauty of the landscape around us, we heard the birds, we thanked the Creator!  The Vorskla river is beautiful and full of variety!  If on the first day the river flowed rapidly around many shoals, past clean sandy beaches and clusters of driftwood between which we carefully navigated, now the river was deeper and quieter...  The banks were wooded - overgrown like an arch over the river.  Sometimes it seemed as if we weren't in Ukraine at all, but in the wilds of the Amazon, and from under a fallen tree a crocodile might appear.  But, praise God, we don't have any of those, and our rivers are peaceful! 

We made camp the second night past the village of Stari Sanzhari.  By this point it wasn't just hearsay - we knew by personal experience about the aggressive disposition of the mosquitos that had multiplied in incredible numbers thanks to the rain.  As a result we worked as quickly as possible to get the tents set up for the night.  We made it!  We tried to enjoy the evening bonfire.  We sat, but not very long...

Morning.  Get up.  Prayer.  Breakfast.  Fellowship aroung God's Word.  Swapped catamarans.  Took down the tents and loaded our things.  After patching the catamarans and bandaging sore hands we started on the final stretch!  We were spurred on by the fact that many of our travelers needed to be at a wedding that was due to start at 6:00 pm.  By that time we needed not only to travel 8 miles on the river, but also drive back to Poltava, get home, and get into our good clothes!  In spite of the hurry, we still managed to fool around on the way back, playing out mock battles in our multi-colored rubber vessles.  By the way, we made it to the wedding - almost.  We were incredibly tired.  We remember the wedding - we think. 

In all we travelled more than 25 miles on the river.  Thanks to all who prayed for us and supported us in so many ways!  In spite of the threatening weather forecast, we did not encounter any thunderstorms.  We only had little sprinkle in the night to freshen our sleep!  Everyone returned alive and tired, but healthy!  Time will tell how the "new young adults" saw and evaluated themselves.  If they evaluate themselves correctly and come to the right conclusions, we will see progress.  I must say that today, before writing this article, I repentedbefore God for the things I left unsaid and undone.  I made some mistakes.  It is important not to forget thelessons I received. 

In conclusion I will add that the maturity of a person is not determined by height, nor width of shoulders, nor even by the amount of grey hair.  Isn't one of the traits of maturity taking responsibility for what you shoulddo, without regard for the inevitable difficulty?  Think about it, and may God bless you in this! 

Andrey Churkin

Here are some opinions from the participants

This was really cool!  I have wanted to go on a trip like this for a long time - I was really impatient waiting for the time of the trip.  And I have to say, it wasn't a disappointment.  Three days outdoors, away from civilization, surrounded by natural beauty, a fun-loving bunch of people...  Thanks to all of this I had a really great time.  I will definitely go again if there is an opportunity.  From the analytical point of view a trip like this is a serious undertaking.  Rowing is not easy.  But thanks to the difficulties we can show our true character.  For this reason I now see many of the guys from the team in a new light.  And praise God, I was left with a pleasant impression of these "real people".  As the leader of the youth ministry at our church, this information was very important.  Thanks to all of the organizers and participants for the blessing!

Vladimir Golovash (Youth Leader church. "Salvation")

The trip started in an unusual way.  When we saw the catamarans we were all surprised.  We had expected something different.  After we got into the catamarans we understood that the four crew members would row the catamaran and would have to become a family, otherwise we would not make progress.  We took shifts steering the catamaran of three hours each.  The first camp was a surprise - no one had expected rain...  The next morning some of us woke up wet, which they were not happy about, but God miraculously blessed everyone with patience, and we got ready and continued our trip.  Toward the end of the second day people started to get tired and strength started to run out.  A discussion arose concerning one of the crews, which really applied to all of us.  We decided we needed to support one another even as we were struggling with bodily exhaustion.  This was the time when everyone needed to show their strength of will.  We were optimistic on the start of the third day.  Everyone was looking forward to getting back home and we found new strength which kept us going for the rest of the day.  The hardest part was the last few bends in the river because we really wanted to get home, but we were running out of strength.  In spite of all of the difficulties we were very satisfied: first, we had reached the goal we had set, second, everyone saw what they were physically capable of, and third, we built strong relationships - it is in exactly that type of situation that you get to know the people around you.  In conclusion, the trip was physically difficult, but great from the spiritual and moral point of view.

Zhenya Nedorichko

This is my first camping trip of this kind, and I am thankful to everyone who worked to make the trip successful.  I didn't expect that we would have to row all the time.  I get very tired, but now I understand that it strengthened me both physically and spiritually.  Only through constant prayer was I able to summon the strength to continue.  God certainly showed the power of prayer.  I really enjoyed it, and I really felt the support of others and of God through everything that happened.  I certainly appreciate the time we spent in fellowship throughout the trip.  I have many happy memories and feelings,,,  If I have the chance I will gladly go on another trip like this - but not for a year, of course ...

Kate Ovsyi

With every event in my life I try to find something to learn from it.  There were too many "somethings" on our extreme trip.  I experienced enough to last a century.  Do you know what to save when you wake up at 4 in the morning in a tent that's sinking?  The cookies!  How do you open a can of condensed milk when your knife is on the other catamaran?  You still have the paddle!  How do you fight invincible pirates who are already wet from head to toe?  With grenades of river mud.  What do you do if you are daydreaming and fall into the water?  You yell, "Save the paddle!"  What can you burn after carefully preparing breakfast if you are too sleepy?  Your friend's things.  Still have questions?  Then we will paddle over!

Luda Rubtsova