There is a strange relationship between teenagers and sleep.
With daylight savings ending early this morning it meant we had an extra hour
of sleep. But there were still a number of campers straggling into breakfast
this morning, and a few who would have liked more sleep. (I was one of the
latter group.)
Breakfast provided a lot of options for us. There was
cereal, toast, and porridge and it was all good. The catering team have been amazing
(especially with the scones at morning tea) and if anyone comes home
complaining that they didn’t have enough to eat, I don’t think they’re being
completely honest.
From breakfast we went into the morning session. Today we
continued the theme of “The Gospel – what it is and what it isn’t” and Russ was
able to help us see where the gospel – the good news – leads to. Yesterday we
were in Genesis 3. Today we were in Mark 15 and 16 where we read about the
trial and death of Jesus. The comment that stood out for me in comparing these
two sections of scripture was regarding an exchange that is made in both of
these. In Genesis, a terrible exchange is made when people exchange God the
creator for the creation and so become infected with sin. In Mark 15 we see a
great exchange happening when our sin is placed on Jesus and we are given
freedom.
But you might ask how do we see this second exchange? Jesus
wasn’t the only one to die by crucifixion that day, after all. So we move into
Mark 16 where we see the account of Jesus being alive again. This is what
separates the death of Jesus from all other deaths. This is what separates
Jesus from all other founders of different faiths.
At the end of his sermon, campers were given a card to fill
in where we ask them about their faith and their understanding of the gospel of
Jesus. This is essential, and proves tremendously helpful as leaders begin to
talk about these issues with the campers in their study groups.
The weather is glorious in Halls Gap. Not too hot, and not
cold, so it was a good afternoon to be heading out into the area. One group
enjoyed a 6km walk to Boronia Peak. We’ve taken groups here before as it is a
good hike from the camp site that ends with a great view. Another group drove
to various spots in the area to enjoy the sights from a lookout, and then to
the beauty of a waterfall. Those of us who enjoy things a little more sedate
enjoyed a stroll into the township for an ice-cream. The shop proved very
popular and the queue was out the door for most of the afternoon.
When we all returned it was the annual city vs country soccer
game. I don’t know who scored the most goals and the only goal I did see was
scored by Country so maybe they won, but it looked like everyone was having fun
playing together. The dust did pick up a bit and made it hard to keep your eyes
open, which was a shame as it is truly a beautiful place to play sport.
The camp theme we’ve been enjoying is “Safari”. So our teams
have names like “Cheetahs”, “Elephants”, “Rhinos”, etc. I’m always impressed by
the imaginative ways that teenagers and our leaders are able to put these
themes into creative costumes for our end of camp photo. While there was a
disturbing number of onesies at this camp, there was still some clever and
simple costumes. There were a lot of photos taken with the whole group, and
then when we came into the dining room, the separate study groups had their own
photo taken.
A big shout out to those who worked hard to decorate the dining
room for our dinner tonight.
After dinner I sat at the campfire for the evening. Here I
enjoyed some good conversations with campers and leaders as well as
distributing marshmallows for those who wanted one or two . . . or four . . .
or maybe a few more too. Other campers were busy with games in different
sections of the campsite. During this time many leaders were having chats about
faith with campers. I can’t tell you how encouraging it is to see this happen.
A two night camp always feels like a very short camp, and
tomorrow we will finish after lunch. This means we have one more worship
session, one more study group, one more devotional time and two more meals. May
God work in the hearts of the young people here.
Thanks for praying for us today. God has been good to us.
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| He looked bigger in real life. |
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| Dust on the oval |
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| Worship in singing |
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