Correspondent photo / Kathryn Adams Kathryn Adams, left, and husband Russell, stand in Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia, during a recent mission trip to Christian Camp Gideon. The United Methodist ministers, who live in Canfield, have taken dozens of mission trips to the former Soviet Union.

In my 40-year career as a United Methodist minister, followed by two years of retirement, I’ve had the privilege of leading and even participating in 27 volunteer-in-mission trips to the former Soviet Union.

Recently, I added my 28th voyage, heading to Christian Camp Gideon in Estonia.

Along with other Baltic states, including Lithuania and Latvia, Estonia was part of the Soviet Union for 50 years before the fall of communism in 1991.

Christian Camp Gideon formerly was Pioneer Camp, which during the Soviet era was where older children and youth learned about communism and atheism.

After communism fell, the camp was purchased by the Asbury United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and given to the Estonia Methodist Church. The communist and atheist Pioneer Camp was redeemed and transformed into Christian Camp Gideon, which offers a variety of camp experiences over the summer.

Methodist Pastor Artur Pold has been director of the camp, in addition to pastoring the Methodist church in nearby Johvi, for more than 30 years.

Our trip to Christian Camp Gideon in Estonia was filled with joyful and unexpected experiences. It was a joy to participate in English camp and help 70 youth learn to speak better English and come to know Jesus.

It was unexpected to see how Camp Gideon is rescuing neighbors from a nearby war-torn country who have nowhere else to go.

Camp Gideon has become a haven for Ukrainian refugees who temporarily or permanently need to escape their country under siege by Russia.

While they were there, more than 40 Ukrainians helped either in the kitchen or with housekeeping, while some helped with English camp. Some have been at camp since it opened in early June, and they are grateful to Pastor Artur for allowing them to come. He is working with them to find places they can go when the camp closes.

All the stories are different.

Olena Tiselska is a single parent of three who came to Christian Camp Gideon because her town of Melitopol in southeast Ukraine is now occupied by the Russian army.

She said, “I know a lot of men who are defending Ukraine, most of them were killed. Death is normal, a part of life.”

She cannot see her family, who remained in Melitopol, because it is now Russian-occupied territory. Her home now has Russians living in it.

“Because I ran away, I cannot go back — if I tried, I would be arrested,” Tiselska said.

She and her young children were lucky to find an apartment not far from Camp Gideon.

Tiselska works two jobs, helps with the various camps that are offered over the summer, and teaches Sunday school at Pastor Artur’s church in nearby Johvi.

She misses her home, and her greatest hope is for the war to end.

“If Estonia doesn’t extend my travel documents, I will have to go back to Ukraine and live somewhere other than my home,” she said.

Svetlana and Sergei Vasilenko came from Kyiv, Ukraine, to Estonia in 2023. They chaperoned 50 children from Ukraine who attended Christian Camp Gideon for two weeks while Svetlana and Sergei served as team leaders in the camp.

On the very day that Sergei was laid off from his job in Ukraine, Svetlana was diagnosed with breast cancer. A friend of theirs contacted Pastor Artur and was told they could come to Christian Camp Gideon to live while they looked for an apartment.

Also, Svetlana was able to get chemotherapy while in Estonia.

“We got an apartment and moved, one month later Estonia offered free health insurance to Ukrainians; I discovered I could get treatment at no cost. Following a three-month treatment of chemotherapy, I then had surgery. At my last doctor’s appointment, I was declared cancer-free,” Svetlana said.

She would have been unable to receive this medical care in Ukraine as it was too expensive.

Svetlana and Sergei’s adult daughter already had one child, and she and her husband were expecting another when the Russians began attacking Ukraine.

A church helped get her daughter into Germany where their grandchild was born.

“Our son-in-law remains in Ukraine, living in the warehouse where he works (a motorcycle shop). He has never seen his new baby who is now 2 years old,” Svetlana said.

Friends at camp bought them airline tickets so that they could travel to Germany to visit their daughter and two grandchildren.

“We both know men who have served in the Ukrainian army, some were killed, some have lost a limb. We have a friend whose son served and is now missing in action,” Svetlana said.

Sergei is 61 years old, which is the reason they were able to leave Ukraine. Svetlana is allowed to return to Kyiv and would like to visit her parents who are there, but she doesn’t want to because the country is dangerous even though their home is in a safe place.

“Early on I did return two times to check on my family and our house. If I had the opportunity to bring my parents and son-in-law to Estonia, I would never go back,” Svetlana said.

Sergei is getting training to drive a bus in Estonia and Svetlana is hoping to get a job. They have spent all summer living and helping at Christian Camp Gideon. For a year, Sergei volunteered to deliver donated food to Ukrainian refugees living in Estonia.

“My hope for the future and my biggest dream is that my son-in-law can live with his family in Germany. However, the reality is that it is almost impossible,” Svetlana said.

Svetlana also teaches Sunday School at the Methodist Church in Johvi.

I lead a nonprofit organization called Project Orphan Outreach.

Many individuals and churches support this ministry financially, which supports orphanages and other humanitarian causes in countries that were formerly a part of the Soviet Union.

A fundraising drive helps fund each trip, and after I return supporters receive a follow-up report on what I, along with my husband Russ, accomplish.

On this most recent trip, I took $7,000 to Estonia.

Money was given to Camp Gideon for needed renovations. A donation was made to two orphanages that also sent several of their children to sports camp and English camp at Christian Camp Gideon. Money was also spent buying clothes, shoes and school supplies for Olena’s three children.

This ministry reaches around the world and offers healing to bruised and hurt people.

A bishop once told Helen Keller, which she recalls in her autobiography “The Story of My Life:” “There’s one universal religion, and that’s love. Remember that the good possibilities outweigh evil,” and that’s the hope of the Ukrainian people.

The Rev. Kathryn Adams, originally from Cleveland, and the Rev. Russ Adams, originally from Warren, live in Canfield. In her 40-year ministry, 18 were spent as the Protestant Campus Ministry at Youngstown State University. Russ spent 28 years as pastor of the Western Reserve United Methodist Church in Canfield. Kathryn Adams is a correspondent for The Vindicator and Tribune Chronicle newspapers. She also serves as a docent at the Butler Institute of American Art and is planning another volunteer-in-mission trip to Christian Camp Gideon in Estonia for the summer of 2025.