PYV East Camp 2016 - Day Three

It's still cold in Rawson. Especially in the morning.

Today is our last day at camp, and that means we need to give some time to packing and cleaning up. I want all my readers to know just how well the campers and leaders do this. Whether it's packing your own bags and getting them out of the dorms picking up rubbish from other rooms; moving furniture back where it needs to be; or just helping where they can, this is an excellent team of people. Thank you all for doing your bit.

Remember what I said yesterday about cooked breakfasts? Today we had pancakes. So I changed my mind. I think I made the right decision there. They were good.

In our morning session we opened up the question box and had four of our leaders seeking to answer the questions that were on the minds of some of the campers. We never have enough time to give a lengthy answer, so some people might still have a question to ask. If that is someone in your church or your family, let me know and we will answer what we can. Today we had questions about life (What do I do if I'm at camp but would rather go home?); Bible (Are there any myths in the Bible?); Theology (Is there a heaven?) and Faith (What can I do to make sure I'm living a Christian life? I may have re-worded that last one.) Good questions to ask.

And there was a question about dating. Want to know what the question was? Or the answer I gave? Ask someone who came to camp. I expect they will remember.

Preparing for Worship

Stephen's message today took us to John 11 - the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead. What an encouraging message we heard today as we considered the power of one who is in charge of life and death; of one who destroys the power of death; of one in whom we can find life. Death doesn't always mean death.

Morning tea was enjoyed before moving into our study groups - this time in some different locations as the campsite is preparing for the next group to come in this afternoon.

For those who were at Summer Camp, I am very happy to report a marked improvement in the lunches. It has been very good, and a conversation with the new managers helps me to believe that this will continue. After lunch it was good to be able to say "Thank You" to all those who have worked hard in the lead up to camp, as well as during the camp itself. A huge thank you to Nichola who has been working on East Camp for months as well as doing her Uni work.

So East Camp 2016 has come to an end. It has been cold but the sun has been shining to make it a perfect weekend for a camp in winter.

Thanks for coming along everyone. We look forward to seeing you again in 2017!

PS. We will have the talks up online soon. Please keep an eye on pyv.org.au or on the PYV Facebook page. 

PYV East Camp 2016 - Day Two

Is it just me, or does today feel like a really long and wonderful day? Our day at East Camp began with a good sized crowd meeting together to pray. It was great to hear different voices as people prayed, and also good to have Zack share his testimony. Thanks Zack. I am always encouraged to learn how people came to know Jesus properly.

From there we joined everyone else for a yummy cooked breakfast. I'm not a big fan of a cooked breakfast, but clearly I am in the minority! Everyone else seemed very happy to enjoy it today. Perhaps I need to change my mind.

Our worship session today included a chat about the PYV planned mission trip to Malawi in 2017. We were reminded of the PYV mission trip to India in 2012 and the great encouragement that was to the whole team as well as the people they went to visit there. We hope that the trip to Malawi to support Orbus will be just as encouraging. You can learn a bit more about that by visiting pyv.org.au or by clicking here.

Stephen Jones preached from John 15 and confronted us with the a statistic that every minute there are 500,000 Facebook posts! And the vast majority of them are pointless. (I'm glad you enjoyed your coffee, but I'm left wondering, is that all you do with your time?) Of course, most of the important stuff we would talk about with our best friends is not the stuff we put on Facebook. And that is one of the weaknesses of social media - we can lose the ability to talk about deep things with anyone. (That wasn't Stephen's point though. That's my comment.)

Jesus shows us what it is to be the best of friends - he lays down his life for us. Importantly, he doesn't do that because we are good enough. We're not. Instead Jesus does this because He is good enough. Brilliant.

Morning tea led into the study groups and once again campers and leaders had the chance to talk through some questions and learn a bit more about the friendship of Jesus and what it is to be obedient to him. Some good thoughts for the campers to take into their own devotional time.

From there the day seemed to get really busy. And creative. Lunch was good and then into an afternoon of physical activities. I was with Phil at the Commando Course where our trainee astronauts were making sure they were physically fit enough for the rigors of the journey. I wasn't convinced that we would get through everyone in the allotted time, and as much as I hate to admit it, I was wrong. So wrong.

Easier than it looks!

We had people storming through the course, and there is nothing like competition to get teenage boys determined to beat each other. The time kept getting shorter and shorter. Well done boys, and the girls did a powerful job too. There were other activities with a space theme too, one of which may have included eating some baby food. I'm glad I missed that one.

Then we gave everyone the opportunity to use their creative skills by making rockets or robots. They were brilliant! Some were large, many were small, and a few in between, but everyone was busy building something. There might be some photos of some later in the week on our Facebook page.

As usual we dressed up for our last night at camp, and the space theme meant we had the chance to show off our favourite space shows. Doctor Who; Star Wars; and Firefly were well represented, as well as a couple of Buzz Lightyears as well. There were even those who went for a legitimate astronaut / NASA look. Some good costumes there. It should be a good photo.

The dining room looked very space-like with lights, decorations, and smoke - which we had put there; nothing was burning in the kitchen. And after tea, everyone had the chance to run around on the oval for the big game. Fortunately, the snow had all melted, so it was much dryer and safer than it might have been. I think the rubber ducks were rescued, but I'm not sure. I didn't get to watch the game as I was with some others getting a campfire going.

After the duck rescue, we were joined by a number of campers ready to sit by a fire, toast some marshmallows, talk a bit and even sing a bit once the guitars turned up. A nice place to sit for supper before going to bed.

It has been a long day, and sadly tomorrow we will say farewell to each other. But not before we have the chance to once again worship, listen to excellent preaching, and discuss what we have heard. I'll say more about that at the end of the day.

PYV East Camp 2016 - Day One

PYV used to have a Winter Camp. I don't remember it ever having snow.

It's very different to Summer Camp

But this year at East Camp we did! It was very cold today, and the snow on the ground when we arrived tells me it was colder here over the last few days. Will we get to see any fresh snow on Sunday? We'll have to wait and see.

Once we had everybody here, their bags in their rooms, and a chance to catch up with friends, we had our first worship session together. Once again we are blessed to have such excellent musicians helping us in our singing. A huge thanks to this team, and to the tech team who have to work really hard at the start of any camp to get things working.

Our first worship session at East Camp 2016

Rev Stephen Jones from Melton Presbyterian Church is our speaker for East Camp this year, and like the other regional camps in 2016, he is preaching from John's Gospel. Today we were reminded of how Jesus wasn't afraid to break the rules of culture to talk with someone, and rather than using this to motivate us to do the same, Stephen helped us to see that we are like the woman at  the well - we need Jesus. It was a good message.

Some afternoon tea lead into a time of activity, and with our theme being "Space Age", it was a classic battle of Aliens Vs Humans. I wasn't all together sure who won round one, but round two was to come later in the day.

Dinner was fantastic. The crew at Rawson Village know how to make a simple pasta meal be very satisfying to a large group of people on a cold night. Lots of happy faces in the dining room, and the volume of conversation suggested people were enjoying the chance to chat together too.

Study groups are always a key element to a PYV Camp. Here we give the campers an opportunity to sit together and talk through some questions based on the talk that has been given. Tonight the groups looked again at the account of the Samaritan woman meeting Jesus. You can find it in John 4 if you would like to follow along. One camper told me he enjoyed the discussion on 'worship in spirit and in truth', that we can have the truth - the form - of worship right yet still miss the spirit. I found it a helpful and relevant insight.

Outdoor fun in the afteroon

Then it was time for round two of Aliens Vs Humans. Campers chased each other, stole balloons, tagged others, and did all they could do defeat their enemy. I think the humans won, but I got a bit lost in it all. If you have a camper here, ask them when they get home. They might be able to tell you who won.

After some free time and supper it's time to go to bed. It isn't really very late, but it feels it. (Of course that might just be me, but everyone went to their dorms without complaining.)

Tomorrow will bring it's own delights. Will there be snow??