PYV East Camp 2018 - Day One

This post written by Daniel Turcato, Convener at East Camp 2018

In 2018, East Camp is at Camp Rumbug (not a great name but the campsite setting is stunning) near Foster in Gippsland. Our theme for camp is Gold and the studies and talks are about God’s wisdom as it is found in Proverbs. It has been amazing on day one to see the links between our theme and our topic. The Bible uses gold or treasure as both a symbol of wisdom and as a contrast.  We have seen how God’s wisdom is a great treasure but that it is also worth far more than physical gold and is available to everyone.

After all leaders and kids had arrived and were registered, day one began with an introductory session, where we introduced the executive team and other key leaders, talked about the camp rules and encouraged the kids to get excited about finding real treasure that lasts for eternity!

Then after a delicious lunch we started our activities. We are in seven teams all represented by a different jewel and colour so naturally each team had to decorate a team flag with their jewel in the middle. Following that the teams competed in some epic tug of war (always a winner) for points that will add to their tally across the weekend.

Our first full session was focused on how a right fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and that wisdom is not just knowing what is right, but doing what is right. That it is not just knowledge but knowing God’s ways and living them out. Our studies followed on from this and were full of lively discussions. Some more lively than others but everyone seemed engaged.

To finish off the day we had some enthusiastic team games involving balloons and stomping (and loud bangs and cheering)! We also had some memory games where the teams had to remember some specific sequences and be the quickest team in order to score points.

Our remaining talks over the next two days are about being wise (God’s way) with money and words.  Can’t wait!

 

PYV Camps this weekend - Sept 22-24 2018

This weekend will be a busy and exciting one for PYV with two camps and a training intensive weekend. 

East Camp will be happening at Camp Rumbug (Foster) with Rev Nick Arundell speaking. Daniel and his leadership team have been working together to ensure the camp is a great one and that campers have the opportunities to get to know each other well.

 

North Camp will be happening at Camp Curumbene (Corop) with Rev Andrew Vines speaking. Shady and his leadership team have also been busy preparing for this camp, also working to ensure the campers will have opportunities to get to know each other. 

Both camps have “Proverbs” as the chosen Biblical passage to focus on, and as I have attended the training days for both camps, I have been encouraged to hear the way that both Nick and Andrew present the gospel from these wonderful chapters. 

While we hope that the campers will get to know each other well, (and the leaders too) our great desire is that Jesus will be seen and understood as Saviour and Lord. Would you please pray for this over the weekend? Please add this to your prayers at church on Sunday, and so allow others to join in that prayer. 

 

I also mentioned a training intensive. PYV is launching a new training initiative and the pilot program happens at North Camp this weekend. Ten people from five regional churches will join us at camp and spend three days with the Youth Ministries Director (that’s me) learning more of what it means to have an effective local church youth ministry. I would ask you to be praying for this

initiative too.

Thank you friends for your ongoing support and interest in the work of PYV. We believe that God is continuing to call people to him, and to then equip them for some form of ministry in life. We believe that God is using PYV to do this. All glory to God.

PYV West Camp 2018 – Day Four (Final day)

What a beautiful morning.

I know you’re wondering how many people were ready for breakfast at 8.00 this morning. Well . . . the truth is . . . I don’t know. I was late to breakfast.

But I have an excuse. You see, on the final day of most camps, we need to get all our stuff out of the dorms by 9.00am and I was just trying to get ahead of things. I can let you know that by the time I did get to the dining room, it looked like everyone else was there. After breakfast, everyone was sent back to their rooms to make sure that they were packed and ready before our worship session.

In our worship today we had the chance to hear a testimony from Rebekah Daffy. She was honest about some life issues, and encouraging in her confidence in God. It is good to hear testimonies at our camps, and I believe it is something that our teenagers need to hear more. Are the teenagers in your church hearing the testimonies of others in your church? If not, why not?

Jared’s preaching today was from Proverbs 3:1-12, a passage which contains some very familiar statements. Today we learned the secret to wisdom. “The Secret”.

And the secret of wisdom is to know God. Not just knowing that God exists, but knowing God personally – to have a relationship with God. This relationship is characterised by a love for God, trusting God, and importantly submitting to God. There were some great comments in the sermon, and these stood out for me:

You can’t learn wisdom without humility.

When we say, “I don’t like what God says about something” we are leaning on our own understanding.

If you have someone from home or church attending this camp, please talk with them about what they have learned. I can assure you that they have heard some very good things, and I hope they have learned something as well.

PYV camps don’t happen without a lot of work from a lot of people. Jesse and Naomi Crabb worked as conveners and built an outstanding team of leaders around them. We had experienced leaders, and quite a few new leaders at the camp, and they have made a solid impression on our campers. They’ve certainly impressed me too.

The recordings of the talks, and photos and videos will be on www.pyv.org.au in the next week (hopefully). Keep an eye out for them.

West Camp 2019 will be at Norval again, but next year will be a weekend camp starting on Saturday April 6, which is the first weekend of the school holidays. Don’t miss it. 

(Thanks to our music team. You were great.)