ABILENE, Texas — A soccer field in Poland became a place of connection and community for Ukrainian refugee children as students from Abilene Christian University’s LYNAY program used the sport to serve children impacted by war.
ACU students participated in a six-day soccer camp from July 6–11 in Poland through a partnership between the LYNAY program and Love Does, a nonprofit organization focused on human rights, education, and supporting communities in need around the world.
A soccer field in Poland became a place of connection and community for Ukrainian refugee children (Ellie Kallus/Abilene Christian University).
Dr. Jason Morris, Dean of the Honors College at ACU and Co-Director of the LYNAY program, explained that LYNAY focuses on developing servant leaders through service opportunities both locally and internationally.
“The LYNAY program at ACU is a servant leadership-based program, where ACU students meet weekly. They’re also engaged in community service in Abilene. We’re thrilled about the opportunities that students have to serve locally through the LYNAY program,” Morris said. “Almost four years ago, we launched an opportunity for a subgroup of those students to serve internationally.”
ACU students participated in a six-day soccer camp from July 6–11 in Poland (Ellie Kallus/Abilene Christian University).
Morris explained that the soccer camp was designed as a way to serve children whose lives have been disrupted by the war in Ukraine.
“When the war started in Ukraine, we met with some partners who were already working there. We met with the Love Does organization, which tends to go to areas hit by conflict around the world,” he said. “We created a partnership with Love Does and found a way to serve Ukrainian students.”
Abilene Christian University’s LYNAY program used the sport to serve children impacted by war (Ellie Kallus/Abilene Christian University)
Many of the children who took part in the camp fled Ukraine with their mothers while their fathers stayed behind amid the war.
For ACU student Jakob Enriquez, the most meaningful part of the experience came through the relationships that he formed. He recalled one participant named Alex, who used Google Translate to communicate his emotions before saying goodbye.
“He just gave me a hug and gave a bunch of other people hugs,” Enriquez said. “He was pretty sad, but I formed a really good relationship with him.”