A Russian missile landed near a children's summer camp at a Ukrainian church, with blast waves causing the walls and windows of the church to shake and over 100 children to take shelter in a small basement, trembling in fear for their lives. "We were shocked, and it was scary for many of the children," Sergey Vivchar, a lay pastor at the Ark Church in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, told The Christian Post of the explosions they felt on June 24, the first day of camp, as children were playing outside. "Then there was another explosion, then a second one, and then a third and a fourth one." The fourth explosion, he said, occurred very close to the Ark Church. For their safety, the children sheltered in the church's basement for about 40 minutes, which is usually only large enough to accommodate 50 children for Sunday School. Around 50 children went home with their parents while the others remained at camp. "In the basement, we sat on the cold floor, pressed between walls and fear. The children were trembling. One hugged his younger brother, another leaned against the wall with his hands over his ears, as if that could shut out the horror outside," the lay pastor recalled. "Some quietly whispered, 'Mom, where are you?', while others just stared into space, frozen."

Vivchar said the explosion happened around 11 a.m. The blast came from a Russian ballistic missile that landed only a few miles away from where the children were playing. 

Time seemed to stand still in the basement, Vivchar said, remembering how he could feel the pain and fear in the air. The walls and windows of the church shook from the nearby explosions, and many of the children cried or trembled in terror. 

One of the 13-year-old camp participants, Vlad, whom Vivchar described as a "strong boy," wept as he held Vivchar's hand during the explosions. The lay pastor comforted Vlad and the other children with prayers and hugs.

Several children cried and asked to call their parents, but this was not feasible. As Vivchar explained, the Ukrainian government has to turn off the Global System for Mobile Communications to block the navigation of the rockets, and the inability to call their parents only made the children cry harder.

"There were no loud games, no laughter, no summer. There were children who had already endured more than any child's heart should ever have to bear," Vivchar remembered. 

"And no photo can truly show what we saw in their eyes. But we must speak about it. We must remember, pray, and never get used to it," he added. "Because right next to us is a whole generation, children of war, growing up with tears in their eyes." 

For the last three years, the Ark Church has offered a children's summer camp program to provide a semblance of normalcy for children growing up during the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The fighting has raged on since Russian military forces carried out a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. 

"We try to do everything to renew their childhood," Vivchar said of the camp's goals.  

While the children experience the pain of their present reality daily, the church camp seeks to alleviate the trauma through games and Bible studies, aiming to help the children deepen their relationship with God and turn to Him in times of need.

"These children have a lot of pain, they have a lot of problems inside," Vivchar said. "We cannot give them back the childhood they lost, but we can give them a moment of peace, or a hug, a safe space."

After 40 minutes of sheltering in the basement, Vivchar urged the children to go outside and breathe the fresh air.

Vivchar discussed the explosions with the children who stayed at camp for the rest of the day, reminding them that Jesus loves them. 

The next day, Vivchar was surprised when the 50 children who had left with their parents returned to the summer camp, and some even brought their friends with them. While the church carried on with sharing the joy of the Lord, Vivchar warned that the war has taken a toll on Ukrainian children. 

"Many of them struggle with fear or show signs of PTSD," he said.

He revealed that Vlad, a young teen who wants others to view him as strong, struggles with wanting to cry all of the time due to the war. One of the 12-year-old girls at the summer camp has also developed a fear of the dark, according to Vivchar. 

The girl's mother initially thought her daughter's newfound fear of the dark was related to the changes girls go through during their preteen and early teen years. But Vivchar disclosed that the 12-year-old girl shared that she fears the dark because of all the bombings and explosions related to the war. 

Other children live in fear because one of their parents or relatives is fighting in the war, and many have experienced the pain of losing a loved one, according to Vivchar.

Over the last three years, the church camp has experienced continued growth since the war broke out.

In 2023, around 160 children participated in the camp, and around 180 children participated the following year. This year, the summer camp had over 200 children between the ages of 7 and 14 participating when the explosions disrupted the first day of camp.

News Source : https://www.christianpost.com/news/russian-missile-disrupts-ukrainian-church-summer-camp.html