From the 21st to the 28th of July 2019 the St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Bible children summer camp was organized by the Patriarchal Parishes in Canada and took place on the shores of Pigeon Lake in the Province of Alberta.

This year the summer camp was planned and prepared by the Very Reverend Father Igor Kisil, Very Reverend Evgeniy Protsenko, Kim Cochrane, Larissa Batyzhina and Marina Lavrinenko under benediction of His Grace Matthew, Bishop of Sourozh, the Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in Canada.

Every day of the camp started and ended with the prayers in the domestic Saint Michael, the Archangel temple. All young believers, divided in several groups, had chance, in their turn, to read the prayers.

The catechistic-educational theme of this camp was: “The Glorious Resurrection of Christ – Holy Pascha and the Twelve Great Feast”. This topic was discussed and clarified for the children of two age groups in the Bible classes taught by the Very Reverend Fathers Igor Kisil, Evgeniy Protsenko and Alexios Surayev and by two Deacons Father Andrei Boldireff and Father John Grigáitis.

Our camp was blessed by the assistance of several kitchen volunteers, including: Alexandra Dirda (chef), Natalia Ilina, Irina Koulikova, Evgeniia Arkhiptceva, Sofia Lavrinenko, Deanne Lopushinsky, Larissa Batyzhina, Matushka Natalia Kisi, Margarita Rudometkina and Elena Kushnir, who provided us with wonderful meals and snacks; enthusiastic camp counsellors – Father Evgeniy Protsenko, Misha Protsenko, Matushka Iryna Grygoryeva, Marina Lavrinenko, Polina Kuznetsova, Vanessa Wietrzuk and Kate Roman and other assistants like Roman Lopushinsky, Victor Batyzhin, Ivan Udod, Crystal Wass, Alexander Kozlovskiy, Olga Raybova, Timofiy Kokoruza, and Vitaly Arkhipov.

During the camp, a considerable amount of time was dedicated to the art and craft classes, in which the young Christians were making special souvenirs and to choir practice where the children had a chance to practice different troparions of the Twelve Great Feast and liturgical singing. The sport program and competitions for the children was a must but also a great fun, as well as the daily cleaning of all buildings and the territory of the camp.

According to the tradition, every evening ended by singing songs and playing games around the campfire on the shore of the lake. All the crafts, sporting activities and games for the children were prepared and organized very well by talented young people including: Kim Cochrane, Marina Lavrinenko, matushka Iryna Grygoryeva and Father Evgeniy Protsenko.

On Friday, July 26, after supper the big farewell party took place. The seven groups of children, guided by their counselors, staged and performed short, but spiritually edifying plays, devoted to the “The Glorious Resurrection of Christ – Holy Pascha and the Twelve Great Feast”.

During the week, three Divine Liturgies were served by the Very Reverend Father Igor Kisil and Very Reverend Father Evgeniy Protsenko, Camp Priests and Directors, in the domestic Saint Michael the Archangel Church. The children during the services were singing, reading the Epistles, and helping in the Altar. After confession, all campers, staff and many parents received Holy Communion.

There were 37 kids in the camp this year – all from the families that have recently immigrated to Canada, – and there were 12 volunteers working at the camp – all from the congregations of the Patriarchal Parishes in Canada and from the nearby Parishes of St. John of Shanghai and Sun Francisco and All Saints Church of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in Calgary and St. George parish in Red Deer.

We would like to express our special thanks to the staff, kitchen helpers, teachers, counselors, those individuals who organized the crafts and sporting activities, and to those people who donated money, food and time and came out to help and make our camp successful.

Also, a special gratitude is going to St. Barbara’s Ladies Aid, Orthodox Fellowship Club of St. Barbara’s Cathedral, Orthodox 9 Parishes and St. Mary’s Church in Nisku for their generous financial support of our Bible Camp. A Big Thank you to Charlene Zoltenko for helping us to get liability insurance for our camp, and to all those parents who helped us with cleaning on the last day of our camping.

Last, but not least, we would like to extend my personal gratitude to Larissa Batyzhia, Kim Cochrane, Father Evgeniy Protsenko, Marina Lavrinenko and Alexandra Dirda for organizing our Bible Summer Camp and their huge assistance and support.

Without all of these people mentioned above, our Children’s Bible Camp would not have taken place and would not have had such success. THANK YOU ALL!!!

Also, we welcome more volunteers for the 2020 Orthodox Bible Camp. We look forward to seeing you there.

V. Rev Igor Kisil and
V. Rev Evgeniy Protsenko,
Camp Priests and Directors of St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Bible Children Summer Camp

Please find our photo gallery below!