Kompas Park Needs Your Help!

May 20, 2020

Kompas Park Needs Your Help!

Kompas Park on Sabbatical?

Visitors say that Kompas Park summer camp is a slice of heaven on earth! Its fields, assembly hall, dining room, beach area and bunk rooms hold precious memories for campers and volunteers alike. For campers, it is a place of excitement, love, acceptance, safety and spiritual growth. For volunteers, it is a place of bonding, joyful exhaustion, stepping out of comfort zones and experiencing God in another culture. For 13 years, KP has been a welcoming home for an international community of Christians who come to Ukraine to serve kids and adults from many different backgrounds. Those who have had the opportunity to pray, laugh, sweat, cry, worship, and serve at Kompas Park truly know how special it is. 

Unfortunately, due to the risks of COVID-19, this summer, the gates of Kompas Park will be closed. We believe this is the best decision for the health & safety of campers and volunteers. 2020 will be a Sabbatical Summer for Kompas Park, and we believe this is God’s plan.

What does this mean for Kompas Park? 

As saddened as we are about not being able to host camps this summer, the news of cancelled camps hits the facility and staff the hardest. Kompas Park receives most funds for the entire year from 10 weeks of summer camps. Since these camps have all been cancelled, KP has been hit hard financially. The leadership of Kompas Park has already had to make hard decisions to cope with this loss, including laying off some of our year-round workers. KP is in dire need of financial support to pay the remaining staff, keep Kompas Park running through the year, and prepare for next summer. 

Kompas Park Camps

Combatting the “mission-trip high” 

There is a tendency for volunteers who go on short-term mission trips (like serving at KP for a week or two) to have an amazing, uplifting experience but then quickly forget about the mission once settled back into “normal life”. This is often called “mission-trip high”. While on the trips, many volunteers make promises of ongoing prayer and financial support, only to quickly forget about the ongoing ministry and the people on the ground who carry out the work year after year. Many of us have fallen into this! 

Hope Now USA believes it is important to combat this “mission-trip high” since it is usually the most harmful to the missionaries and organizations we leave behind (ex: Kompas Park). In fact, a few years ago, we changed our model of short-term mission trips in order to protect our ministry partners in Ukraine from feeling the fall-out of this “high”. Along with doing more pre and post-trip training and debriefing, we began including extra financial support for each trip. We wanted to ensure that when our volunteer teams left Kompas Park after each week of camp, KP was in a better financial standing than when we came. We feel responsible to not only support Kompas Park while at camp, but also to provide financial support for the entire year. 

Practically speaking, what it looks like is this: when each mission trip volunteer raises funds every summer, they fundraise for their own airfare and accommodation at Kompas Park; but they also raise support for Kompas Park itself. We believe this is an essential part of being a financial blessing rather than a burden on the facility and its staff. This year, because camps are cancelled, KP will not be receiving that money. This loss of support is why Kompas Park is in serious financial trouble. 

Kompas Park Camps running

Supporting – even when the Ukrainian border is closed

Now is the time for action – for all who love Kompas Park to show support, especially now, when we cannot be there in person. We ask you to pray for Kompas Park. Pray for guidance and wisdom for the Ukrainian Board of Kompas Park and our director, Svitlana Kravchenko. But we also ask that you prayerfully give financially to Kompas Park. Even a little donation will go a long way to support its mission and keep the year-round staff employed. 

The leadership and staff at Kompas Park hope to use this Sabbatical Summer to do some necessary repairs and small renovations on the property. One project is to build an onsite laundry room, which will vastly cut down on the time it takes to wash all bedding & towels! No more hauling the laundry back and forth to Cherkasy every week!

Even though we cannot physically help with these repairs and renovations, we can still support this work financially. From now until Father’s Day on June 21, we are aiming to raise $10,000 for Kompas Park, a place where many campers first hear about the love of their Heavenly Father. While this amount is not nearly as much as Kompas Park normally receives each summer, it will be a step forward to relieve their immediate financial burden and it will allow KP to continue to prepare for next year’s camps. To contribute to this campaign, please visit https://hopenowusa.org/pages/camps and select “Summer Sabbatical”.

Kompas Park has touched the lives of so many, and it is time for us all to step up and show our love and support in this time of need. Will you join us? 

If you have questions about what Kompas Park’s Sabbatical Summer means for your mission trip to Ukraine or a volunteer you have supported financially, please email us at cyndee@hopenowusa.org. God bless you! 




Also in News

Happy Independence Day, Ukraine!
Happy Independence Day, Ukraine!

August 24, 2023

Today, August 24, is Ukrainian Independence Day! This national holiday honors the indomitable spirit of the Ukrainian people and remembers all who’ve given their lives for their country — including those still fighting now. On this day in 1991, Ukraine gained its independence and joined the world stage as a sovereign nation. This year’s Independence Day holds particular significance as the country continues its struggle against the ongoing Russian invasion. Here is the true story of one family who just arrived in America on Sunday, and how they have been spending the past 546 days of the war.

Read More

Last School Bell in Ukraine has Rung
Last School Bell in Ukraine has Rung

June 09, 2023

The Last Bell has been rung in Ukraine, and school is officially out for summer! That famous Alice Cooper song is not well known in the orphanage, but nonetheless, children all across the country of Ukraine, those that are now displaced in Europe and in the USA, and indeed those students who switched to online learning in the face of war, are celebrating that school is out for summer! Last week, our kids celebrated Last Bell, complete with 11th grade Graduation and our dedicated team made sure they had an audience! They brought flowers, chocolates, ice creams and most importantly themselves. I hated having to miss Last Bell and celebrating with the children and teachers. I traditionally give an end of year speech, and this year (as last year) Inna had to read my speech at the closing ceremony, in my stead. Here’s what I wrote, and here are some of the gorgeous photos taken that day…

Read More

Memorial Day is Everyday in Ukraine
Memorial Day is Everyday in Ukraine

May 26, 2023

Memorial Day is a day to remember and honor all military personnel who died in the service of our country, particularly those who died in battle or as a result of wounds sustained in battle, according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs. This Monday, Americans all across our country will have the opportunity to do just that.
 
Meanwhile, just in the past year, Ukraine has suffered 124,500-131,000 total casualties, including 15,500-17,500 killed in action and 109,000-113,500 wounded in action, according to the document entitled "Russia/Ukraine - Assessed Combat Sustainability and Attrition."  And not just on Monday, but on every day in Ukraine, people just like us remember and honor the loved ones who have died these past 457 days defending their country.  With your help, Hope Now does whatever we can to help protect Ukrainian lives – civilians and soldiers alike.

Read More

Guidestar Platinum Seal Amazon Smile