PYV Summer Camp 2019 – Day Five (New Year’s Eve) - Updated

2019 PYV Summer Camp

Today has been a fantastic, frightening, and very full day. The first post was written at 1.40am and I was tired. Now it’s time for the update.

The power wasn’t on when we got up, so it was looking like an acoustic day. We use a lot of tech gear in our sessions, so the music team were considering what songs they could play and, more importantly, what songs we might be able to sing without words on a screen. It also looked like it would be a cereal only breakfast, but the generator fired up just as breakfast was starting and received a strong round of applause from everyone. This meant the toaster worked which was satisfying for many campers.

The morning study group was great once again and the cooler weather made it even better, although it meant those groups who had been meeting outdoors needed to find a place inside as the drizzle was blowing around outside. In our study today we talked about ‘Knowing Jesus on a Cross’. It’s important to understand that the crucifixion of Jesus wasn’t an unfortunate turn of events but rather a key part of a much longer plan of salvation.

Our worship session worked well and as we had power at this stage, we were able to revert to the original plan. Andy spoke about Knowing Jesus as King and focused our thoughts on the question of ‘What should I study?’. The guidance Andy shared on this topic is helpful for many aspects of life too. Here’s a summary

·         Remember you are not the king

·         Be honest to Jesus about your heart – Ps 139:23-24

·         Read the King’s word – James 4:13-15

·         Pray to the King for wisdom – James 1:5

·         Make a decision

·         Trust the King

·         Stop worrying and be thankful

The example of Eric Liddell and his service to Jesus was a great encouragement. His desire was, in his words, to “Give glory to my master, Jesus Christ”. Someone who spent time in a prison camp with him wrote about Liddell –

“His humble life combined muscular Christianity with radiant godliness.” 

We also heard a testimony from Suzy Vines, the PYV Administration Officer.


The day became frightening when we got a message about how bad things are at Mallacoota. We have campers here with family members involved in the SUFM Beach Mission, and they were rightly worried. So before our afternoon activities session, we sat together and prayed. It was good to hear the campers praying with each other. We were very pleased to get a message later in the day that things were looking better. God is good.

The afternoon activities included a variety of stations at different places around the camp. Everyone had a go at a tug-of-war; ultimate frisbee; memory game; and more.

The prayer meeting today was well attended with a growing number of campers attending.

As usual, we got dressed into our costumes for the Board Games theme ready for our camp photo. There were a few dominoes, dice, Guess Who faces and a surprising number of Cluedo characters. The photo looks great.

After dinner we knew that the end of the year was nearly upon us and wondered what the activities for the night would be. When one of our leaders was carried in having been ‘murdered’ we learned that we would be involved in a fun game of real life Cluedo. At this point I want to give a huge shout out to Ben McLeod and Isaac Johnson who organised this. It was a creative and fun way to embrace the last night of camp and the board game theme.

Being presented with a prize for Best Costume 

by Rev Green and Col Mustard

Guess what happened next. That’s right, the Late Show that didn’t happen last night was on now. And finally the interview we’ve been waiting for all week took place. However, I’m not sure they needed to show the video of me slipping over on the water slide.

The Late Show Interview

Then we enjoyed a variety of activities before the end of year countdown. We gathered in the dining room, we worshiped and prayed into the new year.

Then we cleaned up and now I’m going to sleep.

Celebrating New Year's Eve

Beginning the year in Worship

PYV Summer Camp 2019 – Day Six (New Year’s Day)

All of life is worship and it's good to worship together

January 1 2020. It’s the final day of what has been a tremendous camp. Because it was a late night last night, the leader’s meeting and breakfast started later today. While that sounds like we all had a chance to sleep in a bit, we had to have everything out of our rooms before breakfast so it wasn’t much of an extra sleep.

I saw this verse of scripture on the door of one of the male dorms. It seemed appropriate today

If a man loudly blesses his neighbour early in the morning,
it will be taken as a curse.
Proverbs 27:14

Our study groups had their last opportunity to sit together this morning. The friendships that have been formed in these groups are friendships we hope will last for many years. More importantly we hope all they have learned and discussed will guide them to a deeper and stronger trust in Jesus and a clearer understanding of God’s will. The leaders of the groups have been faithful in helping your children understand the scriptures and how they apply to the lives of teenagers.

Have you talked with your children about their study groups?

After a shortened morning tea we walked up the stairs to our session room for our final worship session. We heard a short talk from Andy May to conclude his series where he has simply reminded us that God’s will for us is to know Jesus. We watched a recording of an interview with Sil Ruddle, who was the captain of the Australian Women’s Volleyball Team and involved in the Olympics in Sydney in 2000. She is now serving Jesus in Western Africa. She talked about determining God’s will for her life that led her to Africa and there were a few amazing statements. This was the stand out comment for me:

I went to SIM (Mission Agency) and said, “These are my skills. Is there an opportunity for God to use me and these skills?”

These skills were much more than volleyball. She had learned much about leadership while playing sport, but had also completed an engineering degree and had been working in water management for a few years. She had skills to offer.

Have you talked with your children about the talks at camp? Ask them about ‘maker; manger; cross; king’ and see what they can remember.

We also heard an encouraging testimony from Erwin Yii, one of our leaders. It is always an encouragement to hear about the difference Jesus makes in people’s lives whether it’s a testimony about coming to faith, or a testimony about growing in grace. Erwin has encouraged us all today.

Once again our lunch was fantastic with a choice of chicken or lamb on wraps, and then all the good things to put on top. The meals at camp have been great and listening to the conversations happening across the room over six days has been very encouraging. The campers did good work when it was their turn to set tables or to pack up dishes and wipe down tables.

From there we had our final time together to say ‘thank you’ to everybody who has been busy in leading different areas of camp. Our executive team led by Caleb Schulz; our speaker Andy May; the first aid team; pastoral care team; study and activity leaders; the tech team; and our musicians. (Apologies if I’ve forgotten anyone.) We also heard a bit more about YouthMETRO, and prayed for the group who have finished Year 12 and are graduating from PYV Camps.

This is a great group of young adults. Let's see what God has in store for them. 

I was flattered that some time was spent to say goodbye to me. My thanks to all who were involved in putting this together.

Then we had to pack up quickly and leave the camp as another group were ready to start their camp later that afternoon.

This camp has been eventful in unexpected ways with power outages and very hot weather. This probably helps to make it a very memorable camp too.

This camp is also my final camp as the PCV Youth Ministries Director. I am grateful to God for the opportunity that has been mine to be involved in the camps and to help point young people to Jesus. I trust that the seeds of faith that have been sown will continue to bear fruit for many, many years to come.

Ben getting everyone's attention.

The Executive Team did a great job before camp. And at camp. 

My last PYV Leader's meeting. 

PYV Summer Camp 2019 – Day Five (New Year’s Eve)

Today has been a fantastic, frightening, and very full day. As I write this it is 1.40am and I’m pretty tired, so it will be brief.

The power wasn’t on when we got up, so it was looking like an acoustic day. The generator fired up just as breakfast was starting and received a strong round of applause from everyone.

The morning study group was great once again and the cooler weather made it even better.

Our worship session worked well – but I’ll get to that later.

The day became frightening when we got a message about how bad things are at Mallacoota. We have campers here with family members involved in the SUFM Beach Mission, and they were rightly worried. It was good to hear the campers praying together. We were very pleased to get a message later in the day that things were looking better. God is good.

The activities were great and included a fun game of real life Cluedo.

Then we enjoyed a variety of activities before the end of year countdown. Then we worshiped and prayed into the new year.

Then we cleaned up and now I’m going to sleep.

You’ll get more news in the next day or two.

And pictures.

PYV Summer Camp 2019 – Day 4

I’ve been asked to comment more on the food we’ve been eating. Well, lunch on day 3 was fantastic! Fish and chips and salad. Lunch today was also brilliant – baked potatoes with extra bits. Dinner tonight was chicken on rice. I’m not always a fan of chicken but tonight was well worth the eating. The staff in the kitchen have been fantastic and tonight they did more than just help with the food.

After our leader’s meeting and breakfast we divided again into our study groups to focus on John 1 – the Word. It was good to be reminded in our group that we have to be careful in our studies to remember that what we read in verse one is important to keep in mind when we get to verse 18.

I spent a bit of time with the YouthMETRO crew this morning listening to their discussion on The Church. It is so exciting to know that young adults are being trained in good theology and in evangelism. It is also good to see them practicing what they have learned in evangelism with a number of campers during the afternoon.

In today’s session, Andy spoke to us about where we are to live. This is a choice that people at camp are being confronted with as they prepare to leave home for university or work. Our focus was the crucifixion of Christ.

As the weather was soooo hot today it was wisely decided to swap our schedules around. Today we had our second round of workshops. I will post some photos of these later, but can’t right now. The comments we have received from campers have been very positive about all the workshops.

After the workshops we had a chance to use the local waterslide. It was a lot of fun on a hot day to sit in the water and slide down the hill. I succumbed to the cheering of the crowd and had a go myself. It wasn’t my most gracious moment, and if I can stop that footage from being shown it will be good for me.

A bit of free time was again used for board games and basketball and conversation.

After dinner we had a Q&A session. This is something we always do because we believe it’s important to allow teenagers to ask the questions they have. However, it’s always confronting because questions come up that we’re not expecting and then have to think carefully about.

During this session, the power was cutting in and out and eventually died out altogether. Fortunately there is a generator on site. Unfortunately the generator isn’t working in spite of a tremendous effort from the camp team. So there is now power here at Forest Edge. In good news, the cool change has arrived and we are feeling much better.

Sadly, this meant the Late Show was cancelled, so my big interview still hasn’t happened. There’s only one night left! Will it happen tomorrow? We’ll find out.

A highlight of tonight was the way the campers made use of the time. With no power, one of the lads started playing music with his phone and Bluetooth speaker, and it wasn’t long before most of the campers were on the deck dancing the Nutbush, singing “Country Road” and dancing and singing to other songs. I didn’t know most of them but it was clear the campers certainly did.

So, it’s been a hot and an eventful day.

Also, tonight might be the last time I get to climb up sunshine mountain at a PYV Summer Camp. Good memories.

I don’t have any photos tonight. We still don’t have any power and I’m preserving the little bit of battery left on my phone. Maybe tomorrow.

Brian.

PYV Summer Camp 2019 – Day Three

December 29 2019.

Sunday.

Today has been a day set apart for worship, the study of God’s word, and fellowship. We began with the leaders meeting and then into breakfast. Most people had breakfast today, but there’s always one or two who prefer to sleep in rather than eat. We all make our own choices.

The study groups today spent time considering the wedding at Cana and the implications for each of us. It has been good for the groups to look at a passage of Scripture like this (John 2:1-11) and recognise the generosity of Jesus at this wedding celebration, as well as the role of the servants in this story. When we link this to Isaiah 25:6-9 and the future promise of these verses, the story of the wedding is very relevant to us.

Our morning worship session today didn’t have any special guests which meant we could spend more time in singing and in listening to Andy’s preaching. Once again, it was worth listening to. We opened our Bibles to John 1 where those magnificent phrases that describe ‘the Word’ are written. Andy highlighted that the Word

• Was with God
• Was God
• Was there in the beginning
• Made everything
• Is the source of all life.

Not only that, the Word is personal – “The word became flesh and made his dwelling amongst us”

God’s will for us is that we should know Jesus.

Our time in the afternoon was taken up with five workshops. Campers had the option of choosing one of the five to attend. As ever, it’s interesting to see which workshops will be the most popular and today it was the workshop about Quiet Times with Andrew and Suzy Vines that drew the biggest crowd. Louise Goswell and I conducted a workshop on ‘friendship in the digital age’ covering things like social media use, sexting, and cyber bullying. We will repeat these again tomorrow, so I hope to be able to write something about the other topics then.

Free time gave people the opportunity to sit in the comfort of an air-conditioned dining room and play board games, or to play other games inside the stadium. I don’t know if any were bold (silly) enough to play outside as it was very hot here today. Others spent time praying together in our daily prayer meeting.

The evening session was a whole lot of fun. First, campers had the opportunity to catch aliens and rabbits. Clearly some of the aliens weren’t very good at hiding as they were found quickly, although one of them did take quite a while to get captured. He was better at evading the crowds. Once they were all found, we divided into two larger groups for the inevitable game of Capture the Flag. The sun had gone behind the hills and a cooler breeze was beginning to blow while we were doing this. It was wonderful.

Victory

Some youth take this game very seriously. This is evident in the care they take with forming a strategy, but it is most clear as they run full pelt down a hill to get to the flag, while others run at them to stop them. It was good to watch – and watching is all I want to do.

The Late Show tonight included the showing of videos that were made last night. It’s a while since we have done something like this at a Summer Camp, and I think video editing software has greatly improved since then. These short videos were absolutely outstanding. We probably won’t be able to put them on YouTube for copyright reasons, so trust me that they were great.

And I finally got to the couch for an interview. But just as we were about to start our convener came up to tell Shady that we were running late and needed to finish now.

We’ll see what happens tomorrow night.

Monday is expected to be a very hot day. We’ll do all that we can to keep everyone safe, including swapping our planned activities for Tuesday when it’s cooler.

Thanks for reading all this.

Brian.

Charging the Flag

Is Sherif conducting a choir?

The Settlers

"Hey Ure. Give us a wave."

PYV Summer Camp 2019 – Day Two

Always ready to help one another

Saturday December 28 2019. Today wasn’t as hot as we expected it to be, and for that we are grateful. It might be because the air conditioners work too well here, or the cloud cover that hung around all morning. Either way, we’ll enjoy it while we can.

Today is our first full day at camp, so a lot has happened. We began with the Leader’s Meeting at 7.30pm – which seems a sensible time for such a meeting. Here we prayed for the camp and received instructions for all the various events happening through the day.

Breakfast was another great meal, but the dining room is almost full when we all get together. This means the meals can take a bit longer than we first expect, which gives us more time to talk around the tables. Following breakfast we separated into our study groups. Here is one of the most important times of camp where we sit together in small groups and discuss what we heard in the talk the day before and see how it all applies to our lives. As we were looking at Paul’s conversion experience and the great change that happened in his life, there was plenty to discuss for our own lives.

From there we went into our quiet times. This year we have given everyone a separate booklet to use at camp which they can then bring home and continue to use there for the next month. We pray that this will help to establish a good habit of daily prayer – something which is undoubtedly good for teenagers, and something which is easier for them when they know their parents are praying too.

Colin and Alison say 'YES' to Jesus. 

In our morning worship session today we had a few special guests. First it was a delight to meet our moderator Colin Morrow with his wife Alison. One of the campers commented that he has never been to a camp where a moderator has visited and he was very pleased to hear what Colin had to say about his own conversion, the work he and Alison are now doing, and the call to follow Jesus. Alison
shared with us that 40 years ago she attended her first Summer Camp, and the precious memories of that camp. She then recited a poem her mother wrote for that camp and it was worth hearing it today.

Then we met our new Youth Ministries Director Andrew Edmonds. He was able to talk with campers about his ministry experience, his family, and his desire to serve Jesus in serving youth. I was pleased to be able to pray for Andrew and Colin & Alison as they continue in their faithful work. Over lunch they had the opportunity to talk to a few of our campers and leaders as well.

Andrew is getting pumped and excited about PYV

Today Andy continued to tell us about ‘Finding God’s Will for Your Life’ and the big question to be answered today was “Who should I marry?” We know that this is a question people ask as they reach an age where marriage becomes an option. We know the difficulty and fear with which some people face this question. Today, if they were listening, Andy was able to give excellent guidance and clarity on this issue. This was done in the context of looking at the account of Jesus at the wedding in Cana when they ran out of wine. I’ll leave it to you to ask your children how Andy helped them know who they should marry.

(If they can’t tell you, then send me a note and I’ll give you his list. It’s a good list.)

After lunch we were outside enjoying the campsite as the activity groups went on a scavenger hunt. I’m not altogether sure what they were all looking for as I was manning the low ropes course. Someone did ask about the registration plate on my motorbike, so I think that might have something to do with it. The ropes course was fun to watch, particularly when teams worked out some of the tricks of the course that helped them get through it quickly.

While some enjoyed free time and the chance to play board games or basketball, others were involved in two other activities. Some were at the daily prayer meeting this afternoon where we considered who God is and all he has done for us. Psalm 103 is tremendous for focusing our thoughts here. Others were with Dave Assender having some training in using the Audio Visual gear we use at camps.

If you’ve been to a camp, you’ll know that we depend on the tech stuff working, and for that to happen we need to have people who know how to set it up and how to work all the switches and levers etc. So it was great to see a group crowding around the sound desk learning what this involves.

After dinner, the activity groups had another challenge, a more artistic challenge. Each group selected one of twelve songs from which they had to make a one minute video. With twelve groups doing this, it’s probably good we didn’t have more than a minute, or it would be a very long judging session. I am looking forward to seeing some of the finished products.

Then we finished with supper and the Late Show with Shady and Di. I was prepared again for my interview but missed out after an interview with Aradie and then a game went over time. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow. A highlight tonight was the legend that is Matthew Burns being our cabaret singer for the game. Campers needed to guess the missing line from a song and Matthew volunteered to sing these songs. He was fantastic.

Our first full day has come to an end. If you read this before you go to church in the morning, can you please bring our camp to your church community to be praying for us? Please be praying for safety in hot weather, for God to open hearts and minds, and for lives to be transformed.

God is at work here.

PYV Summer Camp 2019 – Day One

December 27 2019. It’s not the hottest day that we’ll have, but it’s still pretty warm here at Forest Edge Camp. The cool air of the evening is around us as I write this and I’m hoping that the rooms have cooled enough to allow people to have a good sleep.

Registrations opened at 3.00pm and there was a good crowd of people ready to sign in right on time. With campers, parents, leaders and a few younger siblings together it looked and sounded like there was a lot of excitement in the air. We have a few campers attending their first camp, and not just the young campers either. This is a cause for excitement too. There’s also a few attending their final camp as they have finished Year 12 now. More on that in days to come.

Caleb working the crowd

After a time to set up and play a few games, the introduction session gave us all a chance to meet the leadership team at camp, to be reminded of campsite and PYV rules, and to be introduced to the speaker and theme of camp. We also met the group of YouthMETRO trainees who begin their intensive week of study today.


Time was set aside for people to meet together in their dorm groups before dinner. Over recent years we have found this time to be incredibly valuable to get to know each other early in the camp. It’s hard to get to know people when the first time you meet them is in the dark while you’re trying to set up your bed. We also know how important the leaders are in the dorms. As I write this, many of those leaders will have prayed with the campers in their dorm and will continue to do that through the camp. Perhaps you can say a prayer with them around 10.30pm.

Dinner was fantastic, as it always is at Forest Edge, and then it was into our first worship and teaching session. I learned a new song (How long, O Lord) as we sang together, but the highlight of the session for me was Andy May’s first talk on Finding God’s Will. He helped us all to see that God’s will for us first and foremost is to know Jesus. It sounds a bit simple when I summarise it like that, but maybe it really is that simple. Anyway, when your children get home, talk with them about what they learned from Philippians 3 on the first night of camp.

Winners are grinners

The Late Show with Shady and Di gave us a fun conclusion to the evening. There was an interview with Caleb, a vote on whether it’s normal to eat chips first or hamburger first, and a ‘Price is Right’ competition. I was disappointed when they announced they were going to interview me, but then ran out of time. Maybe tomorrow.

We are off to a great start at camp. Pray for open hearts and open minds. Pray that God will glorify himself. Pray for endurance on hot days. And please continue to pray for Andy and all that he has to say.

YouthMETRO Trainees and Leaders