From June 26 to the 30, the congregation of Novohradkivka village hosted the first Ukrainian speaking camp in 22 seasons of its existence. We are very grateful to all volunteers and workers for their efforts and creativity to make our children happy.
This year, the “Gloria” camp had an interesting theme. The idea of a detective agency that untangles biblical cases and their secret meanings hinted at the intriguing title, “Bible Investigator.” Each of the participants tried on the role of a detective and developed a large number of skills. Attention to details was needed during the Bible sessions, coordinated teamwork was formed during sports, and creative thinking was built on interesting crafts.
On the first day, we helped our client by working on a crop disappearance case. How great is it, that the Bible has a similar story? It was the parable of the sower (Luke 8:4-15). By having a Biblical reference to look at our participants learned to turn to God and His Word, when searching for answers to their questions. It really worked out, as we collected all of the evidence and successfully solved every case!
Throughout the week, we helped many people whose cases resembled the parable of the talents and the good Samaritan, the parable of the lost coin and the sheep, and the parable of the prodigal son.
If you are familiar with these biblical stories, you know for sure that they have a secret meaning. These hidden meanings taught us to perceive God’s Word with an open heart, to develop and multiply our talents, to treat everyone as our neighbors, to remember our sinfulness and the Lord’s boundless love for every one of us!
We hope that many of our participants and volunteers have something to remember this camp by. So look forward to our next one as, with God’s help, something interesting is coming!
Anna-Maria Gross