For the past four summers, young Next Generation Christians in the Northern Caucasus region have traveled to Grozny, Chechnya to hold an evangelistic summer day camp for Chechen children.

There have been summers where the sounds of exploding bombs were a backdrop to teaching and singing, and armed security guards patrolled camps.

“Nowadays it’s calm in Chechnya. Still our pilgrims feel a bit uneasy,” reports Gennady Terkun, Russian Ministries’ ministry director in Vladikavkaz, Russia.

While fighting in Chechnya has eased, many children are still affected by the war. Marina, a young Christian leader from Vladikavkaz, asked the children to draw pictures of their homes and families. One girl turned in a blank sheet of paper, with the caption: “This is my house.”

Moved to tears, Marina was even more motivated to share with the campers the hope that Jesus gives, and to help them understand the peace of God.

Victor traveled from Chisinau, Moldova to help with the children’s camp in Grozny. “I’m very thankful to the Lord for the chance to join the team that was bound for Grozny,” says Victor. “My attitude to this country has changed. The news reports on Chechnya are often one-sided, but the campers helped change my attitudes about them and their country!”

As a father, Victor was touched when the young campers would rest their heads on his shoulder, and show other signs of affection. “We were able to show these children that the world is not as cruel as they might think it, and they were able to show me that I shouldn’t judge a whole country because of one tragic event, or horrible things done by a small group of terrorists.” (Victor was referring to the Beslan school tragedy that took place in 2004.)

Even when the campers figured out that their camp leaders were Christians, not Muslims, the children kept returning to camp. “We played with them and talked with them a lot,” recalls Victor, “and they shared with us their impressions of camp, their worries as well as their Chechen traditions.”

Your online gift to Russian Ministries’ evangelistic summer camps helps build these bridges to Muslim families today.

It has been four years since young Next Generation Christians from Mari-El, Russia held their first evangelistic summer camp for orphans in the region. In that time, these national Christians have watched children become teenagers, and have had the joy of seeing these young people grow and mature.

“Today about a dozen teenagers attend various evangelical churches, go to Sunday schools, and even help us set up and run camp-related events,” reports Eugene Dushakov, the summer camp coordinator.

Throughout the year, Eugene and other Next Generation Christians continue to build relationships with their campers. “We’ll visit their school and show Christian movies,” explains Eugene, “or sometimes we’ll take them to town just to walk and talk with them about the crucial things in life.”

Eugene recalls the first time he met Vasya four years ago. “When I first met him, he literally could not put together a simple sentence without using foul language.”

The boarding school staff had all but given up on the boy, and no one believed that he would ever change. But Eugene and other young Christian leaders stayed in contact with Vasya, and eventually they won his trust and became good friends.

“Today, to our great joy, we have witnessed some real changes in Vasya. He wants to achieve something in life, and not just go along with the crowd. Because of Vasya, the teachers and the staff of the boarding school are convinced that our summer programs and children’s ministry are effective,” relates Eugene.

“I want to thank you once again, dear brothers and sisters, for your help in making this camp a reality.”

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It’s a simple equation that has eternal investments.

Alexander’s journey from despair to hope began two years ago at Russian Ministries’ evangelistic summer camp in Moldova. The week before he arrived at camp, 15-year-old Alexander had contemplated suicide. He had stood by helplessly when his older brother, a drug addict, leaped to his death from the roof of a multi-story building. Alexander blamed himself for his brother’s death, and lived with a heavy burden of guilt and shame.

At home, his alcoholic father did nothing to ease Alexander’s guilt, and his mother visited fortune-tellers who declared the family cursed, and predicted that Alexander would also take his own life.

Alexander was ready to end his life, but God intervened when some Christian young people from a local evangelical church invited Alexander to summer camp.

At camp, Alexander discovered God’s love and grace. Now filled with joy, instead of despair, Alexander returned home, became involved in the church—and every day brought more changes in his life.

Last summer, Alexander returned to camp with 11 of his friends, where they heard about Jesus for the first time. Stas, one of Alexander’s friends trusted Jesus and is following Him. The two boys are pictured at right.

A secure online gift to summer camps will help more teenagers like Alexander and his friend discover God’s love.