LAST UPDATE: 15:00
Archbishop Elpidophoros of America visited Camp Saint Paul (D.A.D Summer Camping Ministry) on July 13, 2021.
Campers and Staff of Camp Saint Paul (D.A.D Summer Camping Ministry) welcomed Archbishop Elpidophoros of America with applause and great enthusiasm.
In the videos posted below the children stand next to the Archbishop of America and applaud enthusiastically for his visit, while he looks very happy to be among them.
The Archbishop of America then went to the specially designed space to speak to the children.
“We have been looking forward to this day for a long time. Since you were elected, when we spoke on Twitter, we have been waiting for you to visit us”, said, addressing Archbishop Elpidophoros, Fr. Elias Villis, “soul” of the camp for 15 years.
“There is a photo, where we are here with 45 children. We started with this camp open for a week. Now, 15 years later, we have reached 800 applications and we are operating for up to five weeks”, continued Fr. Elias.
As mentioned in a post by “National Herald”, Archbishop Elpidophoros expressed his appreciation for the work being done and he seemed to find, from the first moment, a special “code of communication” with the children.
He especially emphasized the fact that they are given the opportunity to realize in practice that “there are thousands of other children out there”, to socialize, to learn to live with others, and, of course, to make friendships, which may prove to be relationships of a lifetime.
“For our parents and siblings, there is only us. But in such a camp, we realize that there are thousands of other children, just as important and who love them the same. Thus, we understand how important other people are to us,” said, among other things, Archbishop Elpidophoros.
“This is the second camp I visit, as I also visited the ‘Fanari’ camp in Chicago. I am very happy that both of these camps are doing an excellent job for the youth and that they are actually investing, spiritually and morally, in the future of the Greek Diaspora. The camps work perfectly, their staff is excellent. Most of them volunteer their ministry and service and that honors them even more,” said the Archbishop of America.
