This year from the 13th
to the 23rd of July our St Lazar Youth Camp (Svetolazarev Omladenski
Kamp – SPOK) was held in the trackless Kučaj mountains, beside the Demizhlok stream, within easy
reach of a glorious natural wonder, the Lazar canyon, and nearby Novi Stjenik
Monastery. As SPOK is still in its
infancy and this is only its second year of existence and second session, we
can consider that these were its first steps towards maturity.
This year, the increasing difficulties of financial
organization and complete meeting of a set of camp norms proved that SPOK early
in its existence is taking on the shape of a serious, well-organized Orthodox
youth camp which is already competitive with similar camps throughout the world. It should be emphasized that SPOK is essentially
free of charge, that is, child and youth participation in SPOK does not have a
fixed monetary compensation as in the case of other such camps whatever their
location. Thus, the SPOK session would
have been impossible without the significant and self-sacrificial support of
its main sponsor – Novi Stjenik Monastery.
Along with the monastery there were other SPOK benefactors, the most
significant of which were Granica Dairy of Mladenovac, sister Milica from
Sremska Mitrovica, and the Gehring family from America. Nonetheless, despite the entire effort and
sacrifice of the SPOK sponsors, its financial support was not sufficient, and
thus the SPOK commitee was obliged to limit the capacity of the camp to 15
participants and 4 volunteers. The
greatest problem stems from the lack of good quality tents which, because of
the extreme conditions of staying in the mountains, must be either three-season
or two-season, that is, intended for staying in nature not only during the
summer but also during spring and fall, for mountain nights in the summer can
be just as cold and damp as spring or fall. If one adds to this rainy
weather, life for the children in the
mountains is nearly unimaginable, and even dangerous for the health if they are
without adequate equipment, the most important piece of which is a good
tent. We take this opportunity to ask the
friends and benefactors of SPOK not to buy tents from stores, the internet, or
market without first agreeing upon it with the SPOK expert staff. We would also ask them not to send old,
battered, and uninspected tents, as the majority of them are unusable in the
mountainous conditions of SPOK. The
expert staff of SPOK acquires carefully inspected, adequate tents in alpinist
stores, which are of course on the expensive side, but as we are frequent
customers, we receive significant discounts.
For SPOK’s future, and with it the enlarging of the camp’s participant
capacity, financial help is needed for the purchase of new tents.
This
year the participants in SPOK, or Lazarites, as we at the camp call them, were
mainly of younger age, which gave the camp a particularly bouyant
atmosphere. It would be very desirable,
however, for SPOK to have a greater number of teenagers next year. SPOK needs teenagers just as much (if not more) as younger children. We call upon parents to suggest participation
in SPOK to their older children.
Although in some spheres, the activities at the camp differ according to
age, nonetheless, communal life at the camp demands self-sacrifice and care on
the part of the older children for the younger, who should in turn respect their
elders. It is also very useful that
teenagers’ effort, integrity and discipline, which are nourished with care at the
camp, be an example of self-sacrifice to the younger children, for in that way
they cultivate a spirit of order and unity, of which our Christian youth of
today are especially in need, surrounded as they are by the reign of disorder,
depraved anti-examples of self-sacrifice, general disrespect, and the selfish
individualism of the contemporary world.
Unlike last year, when various guests from America,
Russia and Germany took part in the camp, all the children this year came from
various regions of Serbia, except for one boy from America. There were first-time campers as well as
veteran Lazarites from last year. New,
unforgettable friendships were formed.
One new feature of this year’s SPOK session was Lazarite Dimitry from
Nish, who contributed to the daily ceremony of raising and lowering the flag
mornings and evenings with his playing of the Serbian national anthem
“O God of Justice” on his trumpet. The
usual classes of catechism and the history of Serbian heroes were conducted by
Popadija Jefimija. Every evening around the campfire the
Lazarites’ highly-anticipated singing of patriotic and pious songs (which
everyone had memorized by the third night) took place. In the evening they also played
charades. The camp priest, Fr. Stephan,
conducted spiritual gatherings around the campfire with all of the Lazarites,
with much explanation, lively
conversation, mutual questions and answers about everyday life and various
dilemmas or problems which the children and teenagers face at their age.
On 4/17 July, the feast of
the Holy Royal Martyrs of Russia - Tsar-Martyr Nicholas, Tsaritsa-Martyr
Alexandra and their children the Tsarevich Alexey and Grand Duchesses Olga,
Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia - who were killed by the God-hating communists, a
forest-catacomb Divine Liturgy was served in the large camp tent. At the Divine Liturgy, all the Lazarites
received Holy Communion after having confessed to the camp spiritual father Priest
Stephan the previous day. Another new
feature of SPOK this year were daily calisthenics in the field - various
exercises such as running, push-ups, sit-ups and squats which the children
performed to the whistle of Brother Theodore - after the morning prayers and
raising of the flag. The main attraction
was alpine ropes for human crossing stretched high over the Demizhlok
creek. All of the Lazarites successfully
tried out this far from simple discipline, which not only requires physical
strength but also courage. Of course,
the SPOK program also included the already-traditional Airsoft marksmanship
activities with the SPOK arsenal of replicas, enviable even for an Airsoft
club. The Lazarites held in their hands
and shot with replicas of the Russian AK-47 (better known as the Kalashnikov),
American M4, and Swedish SIG556. The
three best Airsoft shooters of SPOK 2014 were Noah from America, Vasily from
Vrdnik and Dimitry from Novi Sad. In the
nearby forest the Lazarites also separated into four groups and tried making
shelters from branches, ferns, cord, and tent tarps. This time they also did not leave out marches
of more than ten kilometers, and that across no easy terrain. The peak of it all was the boys’ march with
backpacks and one Spartan night spent (with only a sleeping mat and bag)
outside the camp completely in the wilderness in one cave of the Lazar
canyon.
The
ten days of SPOK 2014 passed in the blink of an eye, bursting with various camp
activities, useful education, unforgettable socializing, fun, games, and very
interesting adventures. The SPOK mission
was accomplished. Within the space of
ten days, SPOK, like a strong gust of wind, blew into the sails of the
Lazarites, giving them a spiritual, moral, and patriotic boost, which, God
willing, will long and powerfully steer them on the course of Svetosavlje ideals, cutting through the
confusing waves of the sea of life until next year. With this camp, we are obliged to help our
youth preserve their St. Sava and St. Lazar identity. Our youth needs help in resisting militant
secularism and liberalism, the de-nationalization of conscience and de-Christianizing of the soul.
The renewal and survival of the Serbian people depends on this labor
with our youth.
May
God and the Holy Serbian Great-Martyr Prince Lazar help SPOK
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