A Transformational Project
3 February 2026
Cooking at Camp
4 March 2026An SU Holiday with a difference
An SU Holiday with a difference
The sun is shining, and a team of leaders eagerly await ten families arriving from across Scotland—Dumfries to Aberdeen, Inverness to South Queensferry. This was the second camp for Ukrainian families currently living in Scotland, with many returning from the previous year.
Most of the team had worked together at the previous holidays, and it was delightful to see families arriving and greeting one another and team members. For me, everyone was new, and it was incredible to see the enthusiasm with which young people discovered that friends they had made previously were back again. One new family arrived to discover that their daughter’s best friend was also at the camp—they had no idea she was coming. God had that all in hand!
The young people eagerly chatted together in Ukrainian/Russian and from the first mealtime there was a more than full table of teenage boys who just simply enjoyed being together. One explained that they understood each other, shared the same language and, most importantly, understood each other’s jokes.
The programme was relaxed, but included a full range of Lendrick Muir outdoor activities. Sign-up sheets were full every time and our Assistant Team Leader did a marvellous job of allocating family groupings and individuals to activities. Alongside the activities were crafts and the dining room was often full of children painting or crafting and adults using sewing machines to make amazing tote bags.
All were aware that this was a Christian camp. One family we knew attended church in Glasgow, but we didn’t know where others were at spiritually. It was a lovely surprise that everyone came to our morning and evening times of reflection.
Morning by morning, a team member was interviewed by Simeon Ewing (co-Team Leader and Ukrainian speaker), and in this time shared something of their testimony. In the evenings, we looked at encounters with Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel, with monologues performed in Ukrainian by team members Tima and Tamara Stupak or one of our guests. Some of us had great conversations with our guests, and it was beautiful to see whole families asking for prayer from Grigori Stupak (the Director of SU Ukraine), who joined us for the week.
Others highlights included a delicious Ukrainian meal cooked by our guests and a Scottish evening complete with an address to the haggis, a Highland dancer, '500 Miles' performed by pretend Proclaimers and much Scottish dancing.
One of our guests sent this message, 'From the bottom of my heart I want to thank the
entire team for the wonderful time you gave us and our children at the family camp. You truly made our summer. These are memories that we, and our children, will carry with us for a lifetime.
'The idea of inviting the same group back was brilliant—it allowed families and children to grow even closer to one another. It was fascinating to see how much everyone has changed and grown over the time and how the experience has brought us all together. The children played so effortlessly and joyfully.
Jackie Ringan
Director of Development and Holidays
'The Scottish evening was truly something special—it left such warm memories in our hearts. Thank you so much for creating these moments and for all the care and effort from the whole team. We are incredibly grateful.'
