PYV West Camp 2017 - Day 4

The final morning of any camp always has the added need to pack up your belongings. But with the leader’s meeting at 7.00am that packing will need to wait until after breakfast for me.

These meetings have been opened with a devotion from our pastoral care team, and it has been good to start the day with a Bible reading and some encouragement from what has been read. I want to give a huge thanks to our pastoral team who were great and proactive encouragers to leaders and campers through the camp. Our camp parents, Stuart & Belle McKerrow, have been enthusiastic attendees at every West Camp (I think) and their long presence here makes a difference. Brad Haughey and Lori Pereira as our leader’s chaplains were fantastic. It wasn’t unusual to see either of them talking with or praying with one of our leadership team right through the camp.

At this meeting we were all pleased to hear of two girls who had been converted at camp. Praise God for what He is doing amongst the young people of our churches. Please be praying for these girls and for those who will be discipling them.

Some of our leaders needed to leave camp early this morning to get back to University. I am thankful that these good people gave up the time that they could to commit to a very full weekend before a long drive to Uni on Monday morning. (Wouldn’t it have been nice if the universities and schools all had a holiday week together?) We still had enough leaders to keep everyone safe – and I should also acknowledge those leaders who used annual leave to ensure they could be here right through the camp.

Our final worship session included another book review, this time on ‘The Heavenly Man’. We normally have a book stall on our camps, and would always encourage people to be reading good books. What have you read this year?

We opened the scriptures to Romans 8 and my preaching today was “Freedom from Condemnation”. If you read Romans 8:1-17 you will see a wonderful comparison made between the impact of the law of sin & death, and the law of the Spirit. In making a list of both, it would just make good sense to follow the law of the Spirit and life rather than the law of sin and death. I also urged the young campers to grasp the wonder and freedom of this and live teenage lives committed to Christ. Even in an age like this, where sin is as attractive and easy as ever, teenagers CAN live to the glory of God.

We also had the chance to answer some questions. Some were more difficult than others! It’s good to know that our teenagers are wrestling with some aspects of Biblical teaching and what it means for them. We also hope that in doing so, they do not lose sight of the bigger themes of Scripture – God’s sovereignty and salvation in Jesus.

Our final study again used the COMA format and gave youth the opportunity to read through this passage and write down some statements or themes that stood out for them. I have enjoyed listening to my study group reveal the things that they found interesting. It wasn’t always a common theme in the group, but everyone had something to share. Having made those observations, it is then important to take the next steps and consider what this passage means, and then to consider how it applies to us in the here and now.

Our final lunch together was a simple meal of ‘make your own sandwiches’, which is in my mind, one of the best things for a final meal together. Even better if there is a meal that means no dishes to wash! I want to mention our cooks for West Camp 17. Vern & Jo Wheaton travelled from the far west to serve us at camp. With a couple of helpers, they prepared, cooked and served some magnificent meals. The standard of meat at this camp was sensational, and the fact that it was cooked so well helped. If you would like to know more about Vern & Jo and what they are doing have a look at their website - wheatonsstore.com.au/ You could be enjoying some of this delicious produce at your place too.

During lunch we were able to express our thanks to Vern & Jo, and then I was also given some rather dubious gifts as a thank you for preaching. Thank you, Toby, for thinking of me in this way.

And then it was over. Everything was packed into the trailer and into the cars. Campers and leaders climbed into cars and vans and drove away. I took the chance to visit a dear friend in Stawell and some family in Ballarat, so it was a long drive home, but importantly it was a good drive. No issues with the trailer on this camp!!

Thank you for praying for us. God is good. Jesus saves.

PYV West Camp 2017 - Day 3

At 5.30am today, while most were sleeping, a windstorm blew through Halls Gap with a mighty force. Those of us with a window open found it hard to get back to sleep after this! But on a positive note, it was a good way to ensure we could be ready for the Leader’s meeting at 7.00am.

I am very thankful for this great group of leaders who have given up more than just a weekend to be at West Camp. As I write this, I can see many of these leaders speaking one to one with a member of their study groups. It is conversations like these that have proven to be so vital in our spiritual growth in the past. We trust that it will continue to be so here.

I had no good reason to be concerned about the attendance at the Prayer Meeting this morning. It was a good crowd of campers and leaders who were led by our camp dad, Stuart McKerrow, to pray in the way that Jesus taught his disciples. You probably know it as the Lord’s Prayer. Today we had it introduced as the Model Prayer. I like this title. 

In our worship time today we were privileged to hear the testimony from one of our new leaders, Rob Periera from Geelong West church. Unlike many of the campers here, Rob did not grow up in a Christian home. In fact it wasn’t until he was in his thirties that someone shared the gospel of Jesus with him. What an impact that witness had. Rob was opened to who Jesus is and all that Jesus has done for him and is now a wonderfully changed man.

Do the teenagers in your congregation get to hear testimonies from adults in your church? Do hey get to hear the conversion stories that your people have? Please let the children and the teenagers hear such stories. It is a great encouragement to them in their own faith.

We opened the Bible to Romans 6 and read the whole chapter before I began to preach. Following the theme from Romans that the Gospel brings us freedom, today focused on Freedom from Sin. It is a mind blowing concept that we are declared to be free from sin even while we struggle and battle with it. I love what is written in Romans 6:11, “Count yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” What a difference it makes in our approach to sin when we consider ourselves in this way.

The planned afternoon activities were moved indoors today as the weather is very cold and very wet. VERY! This meant that some of the games that involved running perhaps weren’t as long as they might have been, but on a positive note it also meant that when a helium balloon broke free of its weight it didn’t disappear into the clouds. My favourite game was “Hungry, Hungry Hippos”. Well done to everyone who had a go at this and could do it without hurting themselves. 

Our camp photo and costume dress-up is always an important event at our camps. This year at west camp people were challenged to dress up as something beginning with the same letter as your name. So Kellie was a kite; Rob was a rabbit; Daniel was a dentist; Sam was a sleeping bag (lame); and Toby was a Truckie. It was a good costume idea that gave plenty of room for people’s imaginations to go wild.

 

An outstanding roast dinner was served to the campers by the leaders – which meant there was a lot of washing up for the leaders to do too!! And it was worth it all.

Good one Jack.

Another round of workshops followed dinner with Toby leading a session on world religions, Sam and Lori presenting the gospel workshop again and I led a workshop to a small crew on pornography. That it was such a small group in this workshop might mean that it is not such a big issue for youth in this region. I’d like to think that anyway.

Normally we would light the campfire on the last night of camp. But it is still wet and still windy, so we’re staying indoors. And if you were here with me, you would be seeing groups of young people sitting around tables playing various games. You would see groups of two or three sitting and talking together. You would see leaders having conversations with campers about their faith. You would be greatly encouraged.

Tomorrow is our final day. We will leave here with the promise of freedom from condemnation. We will leave here with new and with deeper friendships.

Thanks for praying for us. 

PYV West Camp 2017

PYV West Camp 2017 - Day 2

Isn’t it good to enjoy a night of deep sleep at a camp? I know the answer is ‘yes’, but that wasn’t my experience last night. Can’t blame campers or leaders of kookaburras. I guess it was just one of those nights.

We began the day with the usual Leader’s Meeting. I really enjoy the chance to sit with the camp leaders at the start of the day, to pray together, to hear about what’s planned for the day, and any final announcements that need to be made. This is a good group of leaders, with a number of the team on their first or second camp. Please continue praying for them and do so with thankfulness. I am.

From there a group met together to pray before breakfast. Again, it is a delight to meet with a group of teenagers and leaders who want to pray for what’s happening at camp and beyond. Will there be as many at the prayer meeting tomorrow morning? We’ll find out.

Our devotions at this camp, like our group studies, are based on the COMA method of reading the Bible. This acronym stands for Context, Observation, Meaning, & Application. It is our hope that this wonderful group of people can learn a model of reading the Bible they can take away with them and apply it in their own Bible reading. If you have someone at camp, ask them about it when they get home. Why not take it on yourself? 

Some achievements should be celebrated

 The worship session this morning included a mix of songs both old and new, a review of the book “The Case for Faith” by Lee Strobel, and the first of our vox pop videos. It is a great way to start the session by reminding ourselves of what has happened the day before. The Bible was opened and we read from Romans 3:21-31 to remind us of the sacrifice of Jesus and the significance of that. “Propitiation” is a word that teenagers don’t use much now – in fact it’s a word you probably don’t use either – but today they learned what it means and why it is an important concept as we speak about the death of Jesus. 

The gospel brings freedom from God’s anger.

Because the weather for tomorrow is looking like it’s going to be wet and cold, we swapped our planned activities, which means that today we had people hiking up to Boronia Peak, or a short drive to MacKenzie Falls, or a stroll into Halls Gap for ice-cream and other good things. Being in the Grampians makes these kind of activities worth doing.

It is good to be out in the hills enjoying the glory of God’s great creation.

After a magnificent dinner tonight we had a first set of workshops. Tonight the options were

• ·         Pleasures we can’t have
• ·         Help! My friend is depressed.
• ·         Being a Christian in a hostile world.
• ·         What is the Gospel?

If you have someone at camp, please ask them about the workshops they have attended and what they learned there.  

To finish the day – and what a day it has been – there was a game of Capture the Flag across the campsite. Glowsticks and balloons are important parts of this game. When that was done we had supper and various kinds of card games happening inside. Who knew you could have a game happening on such a long table?

That's a lot of people in one game