Ukraine’s ‘War Generation’ Looks to Summer Camps for Happier Memories

U.S. mission agency supports evangelical churches hosting 80,000-plus children at Christian camps across former Soviet Union

Infinity Concepts, via Christian Newswire • June 10, 2026

LOVES PARK, Ill., June 10, 2026 /Christian Newswire/ — As the summer camp season gets underway in the U.S., thousands of children in Ukraine are getting their first chance to enjoy camp — even though they’re in an active war zone.

With support from Illinois-based Slavic Gospel Association (SGA), more than 80,000 children across Ukraine and the former Soviet Union will have the opportunity to attend local church-run camps — many of them for the first time.

“We have a generation of kids now who have grown up knowing nothing but air raid sirens and explosions,” said Valentin, a pastor in Ukraine’s Odessa region.

“Summer camp is their escape, their refuge.”

CREATING HAPPIER MEMORIES AMID WAR: In Ukraine, children like five-year-old Melania and her three-year-old brother, Zakhariy, (pictured) have known nothing but missiles, drones, and fear. Christian summer camps supported by Illinois-based Slavic Gospel Association will share the Gospel this summer with more than 80,000 children — and create special memories.

Five-year-old Melania is hoping to go to camp for the first time. She was 19-months-old when the war began and has just graduated from kindergarten.

Like thousands of Ukrainian children, in her short life Melania has known only missiles and drones — and the devastation and fear they bring.

Even at her kindergarten graduation, sirens blared — and explosions rocked the neighborhood.

“All the children were very frightened,” said her mother, Anna.

Anna’s husband, Serhii, is serving on the frontline.

“We live between waiting, hope, and prayers for his safety,” she said.

Summer Camp ‘True Gift’

Summer camp would be “a true gift” for Melania — a chance for her to “forget about sirens and air raids,” Anna said.

“As a mother, my greatest wish is for my children to grow up under peaceful skies.”

Eric Mock, SGA’s senior vice president of ministry operations who just returned from a trip to Ukraine, said children there “desperately need to create happy childhood memories.”

Many children attending the camps are from fatherless homes. Some have lost their fathers in the war; others have been abandoned. Some are orphans with no family at all.

“All the camps that we support are run by evangelical churches,” he said. “Every child hears the Gospel. Every child feels the love of God.”

Melania, meanwhile, looks forward to summer camp and starting first grade.

Her mother prays that Melania and her three-year-old brother, Zakhariy, will one day have the opportunity to travel and go to the seaside.

“More than anything,” she said, “I hope they’ll never have to know war again.”

References

Founded in 1934, Slavic Gospel Association (SGA, www.sga.org) helps “forgotten” orphans, widows and families in Ukraine, Russia, the former Soviet countries of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Russian-speaking immigrants in Israel – caring for their physical needs and sharing the life-transforming Gospel. SGA supports an extensive grassroots network of local evangelical missionary pastors and churches in cities and rural villages across this vast region.

Disclaimer: This article is a press release written by Infinity Concepts and distributed by Christian Newswire on June 10, 2026. This release is being republished with the consent of Christian Newswire’s legal policy, “…redistribution, retransmission, republication or commercial exploitation of the contents of news releases is allowed. Text and photos found in the news releases may be used by any publisher, blog, church bulletin, etc. at no charge.” All views expressed in the release are those of the original author and not necessarily those of Thrive Christian Press and The Believer’s Byline.