In the beautiful season of summer as school finished up, children were looking forward to the camp “Renewal” which our Orthodox Church organizes yearly. As opposed to other years, the camp took place not in the Monastery of Zvërnec but rather in the Monastery of Saint Vlash near Durrës. It was for boys aged 11-14. The camp lasted from June 26th until July 6th and about 130 children from all over the country participated. The program was well organized and the children got the chance to relax, have fun, make new friends, and to learn and develop more fully their experience in the Orthodox Christian faith.
The camp theme was “Blessings,” taken from the passage of our Lord Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. Every day began with church services as well as talks on spiritual matters given by catechists who were group leaders, or by clergy members.
The camp program began with morning prayers followed by breakfast, then a trip to the sea, lunch, break time, and then sports and other entertaining activities. Every day at 7:00 there was a spiritual discussion and the children had many questions about our faith. The camp held many blessings, such as the baptism of twenty-eight children who became new members of the church.
Another special blessing for the children was a meeting with Archbishop Anastasios, who personally takes care of children in creating good conditions for them. During lunch with the archbishop they presented a program of Christian songs and recitations and thanked him for all he does for the Albanian Church.
For his part he promised the children that in the future, as now, the Church will always be near the children, encouraging them to be active in the liturgical life of the Church and in all the activities organized by the Church in order to know and learn more about Christ and to live in accord with His commandments. On July 6th, the last day of camp, all the children left with the best impressions.
Translated by Robert Pelushi & Georgia Gilman
