Amika Illyna, one of the leaders of the Day Centre ministry, unexpectedly found herself in charge of the church camps at Blagodatne and Korobivka this summer, as a combination of illness, work commitments and military call-ups left others unable to take on the responsibility.

Despite initially feeling a little overwhelmed, Amika trusted God to show her what to do, and was able to say at the end that all the camps had been a great blessing.

Yura Fedoryuk, a co-founder of Camp MAXIMUM and now a pastor in Zolotonosha, was born into a non-Christian family. But after a dramatic change in his parents’ lives after they came to faith, God also turned Yura’s life around. Here he shares the significance of times at camp in his life as a disciple of Jesus.

“I have two special moments in my life when I had a personal meeting with God. The first was one summer, during our church adventure camp. I noticed that the team of leaders were different from people I saw at school and in my normal life. They were not only talking about God's love, but they really showed us that love. And especially to me, because I was that boy who was very active, running everywhere and never sitting still; but they never shouted at me, they just showed me God’s love, and I really felt it.

UCM first started running summer camps for children and teenagers back in 1997, and these quickly became a significant area of ministry for us. They continue to be an annual highlight for our churches, and many have expanded their programmes to include similar activities in the Easter and Christmas holidays as well.