Odessa Football Camp - Live Like a Champion!

With a team of 3 Global Challenge participants, OM staff, and volunteers from local churches in Rivne and Odessa (18 total), we prepared for the opening program of camp. On Saturday, we had a “Get to Know Us” family evening in a village outside Odessa named Vizirka, where we introduced our team, met the children and their parents, and enjoyed a puppet show performed by a local Christian professional puppet theater. On Sunday, the team shared testimonies and songs at one of the local churches planted by the OM Odessa team.

On Monday, the first day of camp, we were awakened at 3 AM by a very close, long-lasting thunderstorm. Although we were sleeping in puddles in our tents (free waterbeds!), everyone awoke with a good attitude, eager to begin the camp. We left for the camp that morning in the rain and clouds, but no sooner did we arrive in the village than the weather broke and no rain fell until after we had everything packed back into our team's van and were starting to depart for our home base that evening. The rest of the week we had clear, sunny skies and energy-sapping heat, but God gave us strength to lead the camp and provided a tent for shade and plenty of clean water to drink.

We had heard that this village was a spiritually dark stronghold, so we fasted and prayed prior to the camp. In answer to many prayers, God opened the hearts of the children and villagers and we had a higher attendance than anticipated, with new children who did not attend the earlier camp (possibly since ours was a football camp). We had a total of about 20 girls and 20 guys throughout the week, about 5-16 years old. Perhaps surprisingly, the girls were more faithful than the guys to come regularly and we had at least 14-18 girls attend each day.

The children from this village were so hungry for love and affection. Most come from broken homes and very difficult family situations. When we arrived on the field, they swarmed us and hugged us and hung on us like little monkeys, not wanting to let go. Each day we had the privilege of loving them and spending quality time with them. Several of the children even “adopted” different ones of us as their mama or papa for the week. The needs of the children here were very tangible…

On the last day of camp, we had a special day and ended with a huge “campers vs. trainers” crazy football game! Then, we summarized what we had taught them during the week and presented them with prizes and Picture Bibles. They were delighted to receive the bibles, which had been donated by a widow in the US and asked for extras to give to their friends.

We saw how much God worked in the lives and hearts of the children to really change them by the end of the camp. Many of the children gave their lives to Jesus. The next day, several of the children shared testimonies of how the camp was ending, but their life was just beginning, their new life with God. One little girl, Sabina, said that she had been scared by something in the middle of the night, but then she remembered that God was with her, so what did she have to be afraid of? She said that since she had asked Jesus to forgive her sins and gave him her life that she knew that God was with her and that he was her defender like we had talked about when we acted out the bible story of Daniel & the Lion's Den during the camp. She is just one of many who gave their hearts and lives to the Lord and have begun a new life with Him. Please pray that these children who have given their lives to the Lord will be protected and strengthened, that they will grow in their new faith, and that they will truly live for God in the coming years. This village has many problems and it is not going to be easy for them to live their faith without support and prayer.

Praise God for His answers to prayers and for His work through us in this camp! :-) Of all the camps we have participated in, this one was where we saw the children most changed, most open, and most accepting of the love God showed through us. We pray that we can go back to this village next year to do another camp and to see how God has continued to work in this village through our OM Ukraine team in Odessa.