From Heartbreak to Hope: Young People Look Forward To Summer Camp
Daniel’s Story
I recently visited Daniel Bondarchuk, 18, and his family. They are part of the MP sponsorship program and reside in a small, one-bedroom apartment with their parents and two siblings in Kyiv. His mother and father, Vadim and Katerina, both found Christ as young adults amid drug addiction. They never looked back.
Daniel, a young Christian man, is the oldest, followed by his sister, Dana, in 9th grade, and his brother, David, a 4th grader. Tragedy struck their neighborhood, however, when Russian missiles destroyed apartment buildings during the early morning hours of April 24th. This attack prompted a post from President Trump on Truth Social the next day: “Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying.”
The AP reported at the time: “Russia struck Kyiv with an hours-long barrage of missiles and drones. At least 12 people were killed and 90 were injured in the deadliest assault on the city since last July.”
Send A Teen To CampWhat the president didn’t mention, however, was that no soldiers died in that deadly attack. Unfortunately, our sponsored families are not immune to the daily realities of this war. Daniel, who attended our summer camp, had a good friend from his soccer team buried in the rubble.
“I told my mom I had to go,” Daniel said. “His name was Daniel too, like mine, and we spent the whole day together. I texted him at about 11 pm about going to a thrift store the next day. After that, I went to sleep and woke up to the sound of the explosion. Our windows blew open, but they didn’t break. Everyone was screaming, and my friend called to say that Daniel’s building was hit.”
“I got up and called Daniel, but there was no answer,” he said quietly.
“Shaheed (Russian) drones flew over our house. I didn’t want Daniel to go, but I couldn’t stop him,” his mother Katerina cried. “It was so scary.”
“I left with a few other friends, and we ran to the site about one mile away. I called my pastor and asked him to pray for us and a miracle. We stayed at the site and moved bricks and pulled dead bodies out of the rubble. It was dark; around 2 am, there was smoke, and we assisted the firefighters. After about 16 hours, we went home. There was no miracle. Daniel and his sister both died along with the parents.”
“I want people to know what happened. I want them to know about my friend Daniel,” he said.
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Valentina asked us to pray for them. “My youngest son David has night terrors,” she said. “He gets afraid at night and cannot sleep. He often wears his headphones and thinks about his soccer team while listening to music. He is a good student but won’t talk about it.” She softly wiped away her tears. “We don’t have a basement. We can’t go anywhere if a drone or rocket strikes. I know the Lord wants us to help people, but we want this to end.”
Summer Camps Matter More Than Ever
Seventy campers will attend each of the three camps. It costs $200 pp for each camper, for 8 days of camp.
Every Friday night, our office in Kyiv transforms into a teen club, filling it with dozens of youths and squeezing them into every available space. Yana Glushko, our Teen Ministries director, transformed the office interior, knowing that young people are searching for answers. The teen ministry is an extension of summer camp. The kids hope to be invited to one of the three camps. For 8 days, they can escape the trauma of war.
“Our young people who come to the summer camps need discipleship and healing. This year, we have plenty of space but not enough funds to sponsor all the kids who want to attend. After three years of war, I think our summer camps and teen ministry are more important than ever,” Yana explained.