Teenagers continue to amaze me in a variety of ways. Today I
was amazed at just how much some people can eat for breakfast. I don’t normally
eat breakfast, so watching teenagers eat three bowls full of cereal and then
porridge and then fruit, is astonishing!
While the campers are in their study groups, the pastoral
care team meet together to pray. During this time we are able to pray for the
study leaders and the campers in their groups, sometimes praying in response to
specific requests from those leaders. Because this camp has the days beginning
with the study groups, it also means we are able to pray for God’s Spirit to
move in our worship session coming up after morning tea. Today, this was a
significant prayer.
Our camps are always evangelistic. We want teenagers to come
to faith in Jesus Christ, and so at each camp we have a sermon that is strongly
calling people to follow Jesus, and today was that day. At the end of the service
everyone was given a response card to fill in to let their study leader know if
they are a Christian, if they would like to be a Christian, or if they have any
questions. I don’t know how the teenagers filled in their cards, but I did see
what was happening at the end of our worship.
Toby spoke today about the arrest and trial of Jesus, which
was an act of great injustice. Toby painted the picture of Jesus being put on
trial in a kangaroo court, and the religious leaders finding something they
could pin on Jesus. But when they went to Pilate, they accused Jesus of
something else! The injustice of this trial was made even clearer when Barabbas
was set free even though he was absolutely guilty of the things that Jesus was
falsely accused of. A terrible injustice indeed. But it was the injustice we
all need.
I have no doubt that God’s Spirit was indeed moving among us
this morning in our worship. This is evident for me in the silence that
followed our worship, in the groups of two and three sitting and praying
together or weeping together. As someone who gets to attend a lot of camps,
this is one of the things that keeps me encouraged. God is changing the lives
of teenagers. Hallelujah!
We not only have the PYV Summer Camp happening here, we also
have the YouthMETRO Summer Camp intensive happening. There are fourteen people
spending the camp together learning some theology with Matt Deroon and evangelism
with Nate Barbieri. Today I spent some time in their room as Matt was teaching
them about the Church. I’m pleased to know that there are young people being
trained as leaders in our denomination. I’m also pleased to know that having
been through the evangelism training, these young leaders are sharing the
gospel with the teenagers here at camp. Through this, some have come to faith.
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| YouthMETRO learning about the Church |
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| Portraits of the Church |
After lunch, we had another session of activities. With good
weather around us, we were able to be both outside and inside for various
games. Everyone had an opportunity to take part in all the activities. I was
looking after the Basketball game, and it’s fair to say we have some people here
who do pretty well at basketball. Not too many, but a few. Other activities
included water balloons, dancing, slip and slide, and a weird equestrian event
with a broomstick.
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| Fun in the sun (and water and detergent) |
Following on from the response cards, some of the leaders
have begun having conversations with the campers. I’ve probably said it before,
but it always encourages me when I see these conversations taking place at
camps. Please be praying for our leaders and campers for God to work through
these conversations.
Tonight we have spent over 90 minutes in a Question and Answer
session. Teenagers always have plenty of questions, and it’s really important
that they have the opportunity to ask them and to find answers. It was a good
panel of experienced people answering the questions about Bible translations, what happened to Jesus between his death and resurrection, sexting, self-identity, and other things.
After a short supper we had our final version of The Late
Late Late Late Show with Bec and Matt. Now, my wife Anne is here at camp
providing morning tea and supper for everyone. You need to know that so this
next comment makes sense. During the late show, things were read out that campers
had written and placed in the late show box. One of these said,
“At camp I like to keep a look out for couples at meal times.
Is it just me or is Brian spending a lot of time with the morning tea lady?”
This was one of the funniest things ever said at a camp
show. It may lose something in translation, but Anne’s stomach was hurting from
laughing so hard.
Now it’s time to go to bed. Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, and that
means it’s going to be a very long day for us all. We’ll see if I can get
another blog post ready so you know what has happened.
Enjoy your day. We are certainly enjoying ours.
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| Between activities |
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| Making good use of water after the game |
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| We sing in worship |
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| We open the Bible in worship |
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| Singing more songs |
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| The Late Late Late Late Show |
