For the eleventh time, on August 3-14, the annual Big Family Summer Camp for orphans took place in Armenia, sponsored by the Eastern Prelacy. This year’s camp program, held in the beautiful natural settings of Dilijan, was implemented in 2 groups, with the participation of 108 children and 18 individuals working with them. The initiative has been spearheaded since its inception by Archpriest Fr. Aram Stepanian, Pastor Emeritus of St. Stephen’s Church (New Britain, Connecticut).
The participants of the first group were 54 children aged from 11 to 12 from different regions of Armenia. All of them participated in the camp program for the first time; many were the children of heroes killed during the 44-day war. Many of them first heard about God, prayer, church, and other related topics during the camp program.
The second group of children aged from 13 to 14 were again 54 children who participated in the camp program for the second or third time. During the Christian lessons, Der Hayr talked to them about topics he had not addressed in the previous years.
In addition to those lessons, the children every day had evening talk time during which they discussed different topics on national and Christian values. They also had art and craft time, played sports and brain games, on top of which they organized artistic and singing performances.