The sixth evangelism festival held by young people of the Poltava region was held from July 27 to August 21 in the the town of Priyatin. Nearly 130 youth from various corners of our region pitched their tents on the picturesque island of Malsaskiy. The purpose has always been the same: to evangelize and provide assistance to the residents of the town. This year the motto was “With Prayer for Ukraine”, and considering the tragic events taking place in the east, we decided to place our main focus on the families who had members who had suffered in the Anti-Terrorist Operation.

 

In addition to the wonderful opportunity to serve through manual labor the campers had an amazing time, full of learning, personal growth and making new friends. It all started with our wall, actually just a picture of a wall, but very symbolic, where each camper drew a brick when they arrived. And thus, putting down neither sword nor trowel, like the watchful builders in the book of Nehemiah, each learned their part in the work to be done.

Every day, before starting to pull weeds, painting window frames or cleaning up trash we had to especially prepare ourselves. A morning run on forest trails didn’t serve just to prevent us from sleeping through breakfast, but also to come together with fresh thoughts as we held our morning meeting. There we addressed fresh topics every day through testimonies, skits and devotionals. Topics ranged from patriotism to prayer, faith and service.

We reflected on serious matters, both one-on-one with God, and in teams, and then we had fun together. There were traditional competitions before supper, games for the whole camp, and even a waterball championship. The days ended around the campfire with songs accompanied by guitar and answers to interesting discussion questions. Then comes taps when everyone is full of anticipation for the next day when there will be new opportunities for service and relaxation.

Every evening at 8 Masalskiy island was almost deserted. That’s the time when the festival moved to the central square of Priyatin - independence square. There, among the curious residents, it was great to see those we had been serving during the day. On the last evening, along with prayers and songs, there were more than a hundred lighted candles. Everyone turned to God in prayer for our country, for the town of Priyatin, and for all of its residents. May God bless Ukraine with peace and turning to Him - and all of us in service with faithfulness and zeal.

Vlada Ryabukha

Video clip about the festival by L'tava

The photo album is available here