"Thus far the Lord has helped us" 1 Sam. 7:12
We are grateful to our Lord for the opportunity to use the Camp Sputnik to host refugees for the past two years.
In January 2016 the Lord led a group of people to set aside time at noon every day to pray for Camp Sputnik. One of the prayer requests was for a safe delivery of two thousand tons of humanitarian aid from America to Ukraine. The coordination of this aid was headquartered in St. Louis with the assistance of: De Smett Jesuit School, Steven P. Burr, Ballwin Baptist Church, Free Church, West County Journey and with the participation of other individuals, among them being bother Eric Franklin.
With the new Ukrainian government, the laws in Ukraine had changed which affected the camp, but with the help of our brother in Christ, Frank Agovino, we were able to put together documents to make us compliant with the new legislation. Frank studied the new changes and was able to prepare all the documents needed to bring the camp documentation compliant, due to the current hostile environment of the area.
In the summer session of 2016, Camp Sputnik resumed its work as a children's camp once again. From July 1st to August 7th the camp hosted more than 339 children. The Lord carried out His plan and used the talents and capabilities of people from all kinds of backgrounds, teaching the staff to work together as “one body of Christ”.
The daily program, for the kids included arts and crafts projects and sports activities. All the activities followed a daily bible verse and was prepared by Christy and Lynn Nance. The program for the kids was prepared but the camp was not ready to host children because of several major renovation and repair work needs. We were grateful that there were people who believed in the necessity of serving the children and worked very hard for 25 days straight to do all the needed repair work. Praise the Lord for the close-knit structure of educators who have devoted themselves to the service in the summer of 2016.
We want to thank the staff of the camp as well as the Zagumennov family, the Church in the city of Artemovsk (pastor Alexander Kobzar) and many others.
Special Thanks to those whom the Lord has prompted to contribute financially to carry out the possibility of this service in a difficult time for Ukraine as well as if it was a donation to fund a children’s stay who was unable to pay. Thank you for your long-term financial contribution and dedication to the service of the Camp Sputnik, especially Mark and Linda Haugen.
We are grateful for God’s guidance and provision in laying out His plans on the hearts of His children who were able to hear His voice and respond in obedience by doing what they could to help the children of Ukraine to have a blessed time at Camp Sputnik during the Summer of 2016; enjoying recreation, fellowship with friends, communion with the Lord as well as bible studies staying daily in His word.