PYV Summer Camp 2015 - Day Five

Our faithful and brave leaders

Day Five (Thursday Dec 31)

The leaders gathered together again this morning, although I think it’s getting harder to be here ready to start at 7.00am! Today we referred to 1 Corinthians 15:9-10. In this chapter Paul notes that he is what he is “by the grace of God” and so it is for us. All that we are is by the grace of God. A good reminder for us at the start of the day.

Our prayer meetings through the day have been well attended. It has been exciting to see some of our youngest campers meeting with others and praying together before we have breakfast.

Because we have some incredible activities planned for tonight, we had our worship session straight after breakfast. Our video today featured Paul from Canterbury church and a team who work with him providing meals and a safe place to eat together for homeless people. It has been inspiring to watch this series of videos and realise that there are people in our denomination who are living out their faith in wonderful and practical ways. May there be more and more.

Andrew’s message to us today came from James 5:1-6 and confronted our attitudes to materialism. And the video message we started with was confronting. We know that there isn’t a fair and equal distribution of wealth in this world, but to realise just how much wealth of the world is held and controlled by a small percentage of people is  . . . well, frightening! Andrew helped us to look at what the Bible has to teach us about materialism and the impact it can have in the world. “Poverty in our world is wide. Selfishness in our world is deep.” So, the challenge for us is to let go of our ambition for luxury and instead strive for justice and equality.

“Poverty in our world is wide. Selfishness in our world is deep.”

After morning tea we divided again into our study groups to discuss what we had heard in the talk and how it can apply to our lives. For this we looked at 2 Corinthians 8:9-15, a passage which has much to say about having a good attitude toward money. And here we are confronted by an attitude and an action. “What practical things do we need to do in our lives so that our “willingness” translates into “action”? Here’s my answer:

Determine what I can give. Determine where I can give. 

Our final dinner for 2015

Fairy Tales in 3D

Today is hot. Very hot. So the opportunity for a water fight on the oval was taken up with a lot of enthusiasm. I want to say a huge “thank you” to those who prevented a bucket of water being poured over my head. I might have enjoyed it, but I did have my phone in my hand at the time. My intended assailant did end up very wet. Which made me smile.

Every PYV camp has a theme. And on the last night at each camp most everybody dresses up in a costume matching that theme. For Summer Camp 2015, the theme has been “Fairy tales”. There has been some good work done by campers and families on costumes for tonight’s dinner and photo. There was a few dwarves, a lot of Red Riding Hoods, some little pigs, and if you looked carefully, you would also find the Big Bad Wolf wandering around. A special mention must be made to Thor and the work on his hammer. It looked fantastic! (Whether or not “Thor” or “Lord of the Rings” are fairy tales is open to debate.)

Just some of the talent

After dinner, we had our first “Open Mic Night”. And if I thought that there was some talent shown in the pirate ships yesterday, and in the costumes people dressed in, that was just a shadow compared to the talent on display tonight. We had some guests to play for us after the open mic night. “Babel’s End”, a trio of men who attend Cranbourne Presbyterian Church, play hard and play loud, and use their talents – which are significant – to glorify God. A huge thanks to the two of the trio who travelled up to Rawson just for this. 

Babel's End

A late evening of different activities gave us all the chance to enjoy being outside as the weather mercifully cooled down. Living the old Fairy Tale theme meant we could make armour, enjoy some jousting (pool noodles), fencing (textas and old t-shirts), eating apples hanging from a string, and throwing food at people in stocks. I think some people enjoyed this activity a bit too much.

Happy New Year!!!

From 10.30pm the music cranked up and those who wanted to dance the year to an end crowded into a sweaty room while the rest of us enjoyed playing quieter games, or just being together. At midnight there was a great cheer and a welcome into the new year.

And then comes what is, for me, the greatest start to a new year. We sing. Not the songs that people have been dancing to for the last 90 minutes. That won't help us into the new year.  Instead we sing the songs of praise, we sing with enthusiasm, we sing to a God who is beyond ages - the God of our salvation. Then we split into our study groups and pray together.

Praying our way into 2016.

New Years Eve at Summer Camp is a very long day. And it is a great day.

All glory to God!

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