PYV 2016 North Camp - Day Three

Crazy Hats - North Camp 2016

On the PYV regional camps, the final day always seems to come around very quickly. Waking up today to see clear blue skies and the sweet sound of no cars meant it was shaping up to be a great day. The early morning leader’s meeting, a prayer gathering, and then breakfast led us to the agonising part of camp – cleaning out our dorms. It is always my hope when this is done that everybody takes home all of their possessions and there will be no lost property for us to deal with.

Our morning session again included a time to answer questions that youth had placed into the question hat. Which reminds me, did I say that our camp theme is “Crazy Hats”? Last night before dinner we had a camp photo with everyone in their crazy hats. Some people have gone to a great effort to either find or create a crazy hat. They may not all be practical, but they were fun to see. Anyway, that’s why we had questions in the question hat.

 

In our session we have sung, we have prayed, and we have had another ‘Chats with Gresham’. Today we heard from two young men who know each other very well, but still were kind enough not to tell any embarrassing stories about each other. Brothers can be nice.

The singing at this camp has been terrific. We introduced some songs which were new for some of us but which were picked up very quickly. Hopefully we will have them listed on the PYV website or Facebook page soon. Perhaps your church might like to learn them as well. The talks from camp should be there soon too.

Adam spoke this morning on the miracle of Lazarus being raised from the dead. Just imagine what it must have been like at the moment Jesus said “Open the grave”. What would be going through your mind as you heard those words? Would you think about the smell? Or the sight? Or would you be wondering how mad Jesus must have been to have said something like this. But then imagine what it would have been like to actually see Lazarus walk out of that tomb! Isn’t it interesting then that for John as he wrote the gospel, the main thing wasn’t the miracle but the sign – what the miracle was pointing to. Nothing, not even death, can stop Jesus. John 20:30-31 is a key statement in the gospel of John. If you’re reading the gospel, read this first.

Morning tea was followed by the final study group session. This study was on the greatest of miracles recorded in the gospels – the resurrection of Jesus. The teenagers who have been at this camp have been confronted again and again by the miracles of Jesus and what they point to. They have been given excellent reasons to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. If you have a teenager attending this camp, please talk with them about this.

After lunch we cleaned up and as I write this, most of the campers have gone. We just have a few leaders here who will be taking these campers home soon.

So, all too quickly, our time has ended and we will all soon be on the highway heading home.

Thanks for praying for us. Thanks for supporting PYV with your prayer and by sending your children to camp. We hope they have found it worthwhile. 

PYV 2016 North Camp - Day Two

It’s wet today. Real wet. As we woke this morning to the sound of rain falling on the roof, some of us were thinking about the changes we would need to make to the plans for today. But not all things need to be changed. We will still eat in the same room, and worship indoors, and our study groups can shuffle around to find dry spaces.

After the early morning leaders’ meeting and a well-attended prayer meeting, we sat around the tables ready for breakfast. It was a breakfast that would cheer the hungriest of hobbits – although we only had one breakfast.

Today we have two worship sessions. Our first session began with answering some questions that youth have asked. This is, I believe, a very important element of ministry to youth. Young people have many questions about faith and we need to give them space to ask those questions, and we need to give them a reasonable answer. PYV will always seek to do this. Some questions are commonly asked but this makes them no less important to those who are asking.

Adam spoke from John 5 pointing us to the true story of a man who had been sitting waiting to be healed for so long. While he was unable to help himself, Jesus healed him so he could walk again. But this wasn’t the end of the story, nor is it the most important part of the story, for Jesus points out to this man that there is something greater. I was struck by this comment,

“What is this man’s greatest need? To have his legs healed, or to have his heart healed?”

Flipper Relay

Over morning tea I joined with a group of boys to play a game called “Jungle Speed”. Wow! I was completely left behind as these boys flipped cards over and quickly grabbed the pole in the middle of the table while I was still trying to work out what was going on. It was a whole lot of fun though.

Study groups today looked at the account of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with a very small meal. As we learn about these signs and what they teach us about Jesus, it helps to read these stories to learn, or be reminded, of all that Jesus is and all that Jesus does.

One of the spiritual disciplines is reading and studying the Bible each day. PYV is keen to help our young people to do this, so at each of our camps we set time aside for this. But we recognise that this is also something that will be foreign to many young people, so I am very pleased to look around and see leaders sitting with campers taking them through the quiet time page in their books. We hope that this will be something that the campers will take up when they return home. If you have some children at this camp, please ask them about this and give them every encouragement to continue this when they get home.

Because of the weather we did need to make a couple of changes to our planned activities, but not completely. Fortunately there was no rain, so some of the activities could be outside. Frisbee golf was fun, a flipper relay, and a couple of other games were on after lunch with the activity groups working together as a team in the competitions. The final scores were quite close which I take to mean that it was a fun afternoon for everyone.

Frisbee Golf

At this camp we are having four worship sessions, and this afternoon we had our second one for the day. I don’t think there are too many teenagers in the PCV who can say they attend two worship services on a Sunday, but they did today. In this session Adam took us through John chapter 9 – the healing of a man born blind. What a truly amazing miracle this is but, once again, the focus is not on the miracle but on the sign – this is pointing to something more than just a healing.

Dinner was amazing, and I should record my thanks to the team of cooks for making a special no-tomato lasagne. This is a good camp to be at for those of us with weird dietary requirements.

The evening activity was a night game of Pacman on the oval. I won’t describe it in detail, but just say that if you remember the game and imagine campers and leaders chasing each other and looking for fruit tokens, you might get the idea. From there the evening has finished with a campfire, games around the table, supper, and most importantly, many spiritual discussions taking place. My heart is warmed as I witness this happening.

The sky has now cleared, and the moon is shining brightly. Perhaps tomorrow will be a lovely day.

PYV North Camp 2016 - Day One

For some of us, mostly leaders, it was an early morning start as we made our way to Camp Curumbene in Corop. The drive itself is quite pleasant, but it was aiming to be here by 9.00am that made it a bit more difficult. 

As campers arrived, they were shown to their dorms then, while some of us talked with parents, the youth got involved in some basketball, or soccer, or enjoyed the chance to catch up with friends. Reconnecting face to face is better than just on social media. 

Yes I can!

An intro session before lunch meant we could have all the introductions and camp rules right at the start of the camp. There are new owners here and they gave us a very encouraging welcome. It’s good to be at Curumbene again. Lunch was fantastic, again, and looking at the pile of food that was brought in, we are expecting the food to continue to reach the high standard it did last year. A huge thanks to the crew from Rochester Church for their service. 

Young people need to get outside and run around. To begin the activities of camp we spent time outside on a beautiful day enjoying the space and enjoying some simple camp games. Some of them were camp games we are all familiar with – like the ‘numbers’ game – but there was a new one for me. ‘Ghost’. Imagine standing on the oval with your eyes closed listening hard to see if there was a camper (ghost) sneaking up on you. Who knew 40 teenagers could be so quiet?!?!?

Chats with Gresham

Our first worship session introduced a song that would be new to many, gave people an opportunity to listen to a testimony, and then Adam Humphries gave his first message. Through the camp we are working through seven signs that the gospel of John records that helps us to believe in Jesus. This afternoon we heard Adam speak about the incident in John 2 were Jesus turns water into wine. Adam was able to help us see that this is not a great party trick that Jesus did for a friend. Rather, this was Jesus making a statement about who he was and what he was going to do. I have been greatly encouraged by what I have heard this afternoon.

One of the study groups

Dinner was amazing (thanks team) and then we broke into our study groups to look at another sign – the healing of a sick boy. You can read about this in John chapter 4. 

As I write this, our first day is not over, but is coming to a close. Study groups are ending now and the familiar sound of table tennis and other games and general chatter is being heard. Attending a youth camp truly is a great experience. 

Thanks for praying for us.