PYV North Camp 2019 - Day 3

Our day 2 ended with a pretty competitive amazing race in our North-Pole-themed costumes and a campfire - always a great way to finish the last night of a camp!

Day 3 was an encouraging start to the day for the leaders, where we could show our appreciation for all the efforts and preparation that everyone put in to do their roles on camp. Serving in teams on camps is always a reminder that we are one big body of Christ, each with our own roles but each working together and complementing each other to serve God and his people. 

We had a great last session on Romans 5 - Clint preached on how we are now able to have peace with God. He unpacked the practical realities of what that looks like, one including a firm assurance of our salvation. It was great to overhear some of the campers chatting about what they learnt about Jesus on this camp - for some, a reminder that our works cannot save us, for others, a reality dawning of Jesus' sacrifice providing us peace with God.

We are so thankful for camp and the opportunities that campers have to hear the gospel of God preached so clearly. We pray that God would keep growing in the hearts of all who came to camp!

 

East Camp 2019 – Day Three

Some of us had an interrupted night’s sleep with a couple of sick boys at camp. Nothing to worry about though. I’m sure it’s not  . . . . . .(sshh. Don't say it.)

Being the final morning of camp, the rooms were busy with the activity of packing up sleeping bags, clothes and towels. Fortunately, there is plenty of room under cover in case it rains, and we’re not sure if it will rain again or not.

Our morning session included another testimony. Listening to the testimonies of three leaders through the camp has been an absolute highlight for me. Your children have heard people talk about the struggles of being a Christian and a teenager, though more to the point, they’ve heard about the struggle of pretending to be a Christian on Sunday’s and revealing their true heart at school. What a difference Jesus has made to their lives.

Which leads me to wonder, do young people hear the testimonies of faith in your church? Do they hear from people who can speak of a transformed life? Or of people who can testify to God’s faithfulness over many years? Let them hear your testimony, and encourage others to tell their story too. It will be a help.

Dave’s talk today was on “The Power Within The Gospel” and we spent this time in the book of Romans. The opening verses reveal to us the power of the man – Jesus who is both human and divine. The power of the message is seen in Romans 1:16-17 where we see that we fall terribly short of the standard God sets, but that he takes the initiative to save us. Then Dave spoke about the power of the mind. Romans 12 begins with some challenging comments and in discussing these, Dave has encouraged us all to stop living for ourselves and instead to join the resistance against the pattern of the world.

Towards the end of the session a panel answered some good questions that campers have asked over the camp. If you’ve read my posts before you’ll know that I think it is vital to give space for teenagers to ask questions, and I’m very happy that we continue to do this at PYV camps. Do you do this at home? At church?

Right now the study groups are meeting for the final time. Soon they will break up and people will find a place to sit to enjoy some private quiet time – a chance to sit and read Psalm 146 for themselves and see how it applies to their lives. Then we will have a final meal and a wrap-up session before all the parents start arriving to take their children home.

Thank you for praying for the PYV Camps this weekend. Your prayers have been answered with people coming to faith, people finding more assurance, and people finding others they can share their struggles with. 

Please keep praying for the teenagers in our church. 

PYV East Camp 2019 – Day Two

Its been a great day at East Camp, although it’s also fair to say that the activities in the middle of the

day involved some difficult walking. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The day began with the leaders meeting and then a prayer meeting. I’ll always say how encouraging I find these gatherings. Firstly I enjoy meeting together with the leaders early in the day. It is such an encouragement to this old bloke to see a group of young adults (and a few even younger) who have given up whatever else they might have been doing for three days to be here where they can serve the campers. I am grateful for them. Secondly, I love to see a group of young people get together to pray in the morning. If it’s good to do this at home, it’s even better to do at camp.

Breakfast was more than good – our team in the kitchen are spoiling us today with a cooked breakfast, and the food got better as the day went on. Lunch we had soup, bread, and lamb rolls. And a roast dinner tonight! Absolutely brilliant. The kitchen team really are the unsung heroes of camps like these.

Our pre-session study group get-together seems to be working wonderfully well. The feedback so far seems to be that it is helping the teenagers to be better prepared and better focussed on the sermon as they hear things they’ve already discussed. This then leads into some better discussions when the groups meet after the talks.

Today’s talk led us to consider the person behind the Gospel. Dave pointed out that when we talk about ‘the gospel’ we make it sound like a thing. But it’s more than a thing – the gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ. The gospel is a person.

After lunch we went into our long afternoon activities session. There are two things you should know about the activities at East Camp. The first is that they are based around the theme of ‘mission impossible’, and each group is seeking to find the clues and solve the puzzles to lead them to the answer they need. This took us to various points around the campsite with a good walk in between each point.

The second thing to know is what the campsite is like. I didn’t come to East Camp last year, so when people talked about how steep the hills were, I thought they might have been exaggerating.

They weren’t!

And the walk from the final clue back to the main camp was . . . well, let’s just say it’s a while since I’ve walked up a hill that steep and that long. (But I made it)

Our costumes were put on before the camp photo and, not surprisingly, there was a lot of black jackets, black pants, and sunglasses. There were other ‘secret agents’, and some that were a little more creative. I have grown to love the costume photos from camps, and to see the creativity amongst many of our young people.

After a long and wonderful dinner, we were back to some more sleuthing to solve the final puzzles that would lead a team to “the files”. Congratulations to all the teams for getting so involved, and to T.A.N.G.O. for winning the chase.

Tomorrow is our final day. And I am sure it will be a good day. I hope your children will have a lot to talk about when they get home. 

(Sorry there's no photos on this post.)