One school break, Damir played a game with his classmates. He gave each of them a folded up piece of paper. When they all unfolded them, they realised they were each holding a small piece of the whole puzzle. “I explained that each of us are loved and we’re all equally important to God”, he said. “I told them that I’d discovered this life-changing truth and it changed my life.”

Born into deep poverty, Damir worked long hours picking apples, weeding, or doing other jobs as a young child. When he was 15, he worked at a poultry farm to earn enough money to buy himself shoes and clothes for school. Seeing how difficult their struggles had become, Damir and his mother started to receive help from Mission Without Borders which had a wonderful impact on his life. But what he loves talking about most is summer camp.

“It was 10 days of happiness... There was good food, my own, clean bed all to myself, lots of new friends to keep in touch with. I remember all the sports and games we played, especially the ones where my team was a winner. Even the “Cleanest Room” contest was lots of fun. We were playing outside so much we never cleaned our room properly before the inspection. It was so funny how we tried to quickly hide things to make the room look better but of course it didn’t work!” 

It costs £11 per child for one day of Summer Camp, and after the pandemic afffected so many lives last year, we want to help more children like Damir this year.

At one of the camps, Damir told us how much he was affected by one of the Camp Volunteers who shared her personal testimony. “She talked about the many trials she had gone through and many of them were similar to mine but she didn’t give up and God gave her victory.”

After this he was really encouraged to hear how God had worked in her life, and began his journey to realising how much God loved him and he needed Jesus.

This year Damir wants to volunteer at summer camp in Moldova:

“I definitely want to be there and give the children, the attention, care, love and fun experiences that I enjoyed when I went.”

After the hard year so many of these children and young people have had, Mission Without Borders longs to be a lifeline to children facing anxiety, isolation and fear. You can be a vital partner in making camps happen for children like Damir. It could be the start they need in making lasting friendships, learning life skills that will help them in everyday life and encountering the truth of God’s word. 

Running the many camps in the six different countries is a big operation for the Mission with venue hire, purchasing nutritious food, sports and teaching equipment as well as volunteer training being just a few of the essentials. We can only do this through help – we are entirely reliant on you and churches around the country to cover these costs.

A gift of £11 would cover all the costs of one day’s camp for one child. We would like to invite you to consider a gift to cover one or more days to pay for a vulnerable child to attend camp.

And if you were able to make a very special gift of £77 this could cover the costs of a full week for one child to attend camp.

If you would like to learn about Elvira, a young girl who looks forward to going to Summer Camp for the first time, click below to find out more.

Any funds raised over and above our target will be used where most urgently needed to benefit children and families in Eastern Europe supported by MWB.