A two-day Children’s Summer Camp was organized by the Kohima Youth Association of St. Francis de Sales Parish (SFS) Kohima Town, and conducted on Sunday, July 19 at St. John’s School, Merhülietsa.

The camp was held on the theme “Ultimate Spiritual Athlete 2026” with the goal of helping children discover what it means to “run the race of faith with courage, discipline and love” through two exciting days of faith, friendship, learning and fun.

On Sunday, a Holy Mass celebrated by Rev Fr Mathew Mhabemo, Parish Priest SFS.

In his sermon, Fr Mathew connected faith with the FIFA World Cup Final that was to be played on Sunday night.

“Who are your heroes?” he asked the children present at the camp, to which many children shouted famous footballers like Messi and Ronaldo.

Pointing to an art display of children in football jerseys seated around Jesus, he said, “We admire these famous footballers and sportswomen and men. Look at them, they are listening to Jesus because Jesus is the Hero of the sports heroes.”

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The priest reminded the children that God created each of them in His image and planted “good seeds” in the form of talents, intellect and creativity. However, he cautioned that the devil also sows “bad seeds” or weeds, and urged children to remain obedient to parents, teachers and elders to protect the good gifts God has given them.

The two-day camp included a wide range of activities designed to blend faith with fun: fun games, Bible stories, worship, team building, drawing competition, zumba, choir competition, dance battle, skit competition, camp’s got talent and prize distribution.

The camp concluded on a high note, with children encouraged to live out the values of faith, friendship and discipline in their daily lives.