10 years “For our friends”: a round date, with the aroma of fires, forests, meadows and rivers, the freshness of a hiking morning, with the bright glow of sunsettranslated

In 2026, the project of the Orthodox Mercy Service of the Yekaterinburg Diocese for children and teenagers “For Our Friends” celebrates its 10th anniversary. The moral and patriotic expedition has grown into a deep and versatile project, a real socio-cultural space in which children grow up and from which they go into big life.

The project has 52 expeditions behind it. Summer - on islands, lakes, rivers and in the mountains. Autumn and spring - at the bases of regional parishes and in the Ural forests. Winter - in snowdrifts, on ski slopes and near a hot fire. Thousands of kilometers across the Urals. Under the guidance of instructors and teachers, children get to know their native land, learn new things, make friends and support each other in difficulties, and in live communication absorb the main values ​​of their people - the Orthodox faith, active love, meaningfulness of life.

Over 10 years, more than 2,000 children went through the project.  Two students and two teachers became participants in a special military operation.

–  For the anniversary evening, which took place in the last days of August in the large and cozy hall of the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary at VIZ, many friends of the project gathered: priests, mentors and teachers of our project, including...