About 34 people attended Youth
Bible Camp 2004 at Ruapehu Christian Camp, Kakahi. This is what
they had to say:
"Camp
has really helped me with my walk! Sabbath was really nice!"
"This
was a really good spiritual feed. It helped me heaps."
"Have
been very much helped with a lot to think about and practice"
"The
activities were real FUN! & I learned heaps too! I enyoyed
them all."
"Food
was delicious!"
"I
really liked it how they [leaders/staff] always participated
and were there to talk to us all."
"It
was really nice encouraging those old folk"
"Yes
there should Definitly be another camp!!!!"
"Next
year? Too Right!! Long as I got time off work, I'll come! Anywhere!"
Bible Classes
Christian Berdahl and Sean Murphy from
California, USA shared important messages of our personal relationship
to Jesus during the camp and the activities focused on practical
life skills.
Christian and Sean gave each
camper a copy of the book "The Passion of Love" which
is the last chapters of the Desire of ages. The morning and evening
worships were focused on this book. We looked at the lives of
Peter and Judas and the longsuffering of Jesus. Then the excitement
of the resurrection of Jesus and His power over the grave and
the fear of the priests.
The
Bible classes each day were inspiring and comforting even though
the hard bench seats weren't. First Christian and Sean shared
their testimonies which are quite different and yet similar.
Christian came from a non-christian home and a difficult childhood,
while Sean was bought up a Christian from the age of 10. Yet
both had to learn to find Jesus for themselves. They went on
to share about the balance we must have as Christians and the
Narrow Way we must follow but Jesus has gone before. Then looking
at other practical aspects of the Christian walk such as forgiveness
and following Jesus' example they shed hope and encouragement
to each one to 'Search and Try' their own ways and turn again
to the Lord.
Sabbath
On the Sabbath we went to the Church
in Taumarunui and exploded the numbers there. When the youth
got up front to do their items they left most of the pews empty.
Still the morning was one to be remembered. Sean shared a message
first then Christian also challenged us all in our walk with
the Lord.
After church, we went to Cherry
Grove where the Ongarue and Wanganui Rivers meet. We had our
haystack, picnic lunch there and enjoyed the sun.
We
then went to two old-folks rest-homes to share a selection of
songs we had been practicing during the camp. Some campers formed
special groups to do items as well as every one singing together.
The folks certainaly did enjoy the time we took to be with them.
And when we shook their hands afterwards, they were beaming from
ear to ear!
That evening Christian presented
his concert "A Vision of Heaven" as a public presentation
in town. It was really appreciated by the locals as well as the
youth. After the camp, Christian gave each attendant a copy of
the concert on CD and personally signed them.
Activities
The activities were good fun and had
practical application too. On the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
we worked on making a large, rustic style swing seat and had
a chance to use various tools including a wood turning lathe,
arc welder, dropsaw, sewing machine, and various other power
and hand tools. We also had a sheet of 29 different practical
standards to complete. These were signed off as we completed
the criteria for each one. It was lots of fun as every one was
busy around the camp ground all doing various things like setting
a formal table place, arranging flowers, making asparagus rolls,
sewing buttons on, ironing shirts, memorising, following instructions,
spelling correctly, cutting kindling wood, changing a car wheel,
wrapping parcels, welding, sewing, lathing, sawing, hammering,
screwing. Many young folk got to have a go using equipment they
might never otherwise had the chance to use.
On
the Sunday morning there was a mental challenge. Groups were
given 12 straws, a sheet of paper, some tape and an egg. They
had to come up with a design which would allow the egg to drop
from a two story window to the ground without breaking! The teams
set about conversing on physics for a while, then discussing
varied theories on cradling, spring landing, buffers, air resistance,
etc.
After hearing each team explain
why their design would protect the fragile cargo, the down-to-earth
evidence proved that most designs needed some remodeling and
a few needed a total rethink. One made it to the concrete with
only a slight crack, the rest were partially or totally written
off.
Later
on Sunday there was a hunt where three teams went in search of
various hidden Bible texts which had cryptic clues to the next
location. Apart from a few frustrations and 'extra well hidden
clues' (thanks to the team ahead!) the day was lots of fun and
there were many challenges met by each team. There were also
a few suprises along the way.
It started at the camp ground
and finally finished at Owhango, about 7kms away, fortunately
the use of vehicles sped the process up a lot.
Inbetween
Each day we had plenty of excersize
with morning and evening walks and games, as well as time on
the large, squeeky swing, confidence course and trampoline. These
times afforded excellent opportunities for talking to each other
and the leaders or speakers about personal life challenges.
After evening worship each
night we enjoyed a drink and short social time together before
heading off to bed at 9:30 with lights out (and theoretically
mouths shut) at 10:00.
The
completed swingseat was a real favorite, many people enjoyed
sitting in it during meals and breaks. Then there was the typical
pile-on test which it stood up to well. It made the youth feel
rewarded to announce to new commers that they had — together
as a team — built the seat from basic materials. The proceeds
from the sale of the seat will go towards a project decided by
the campers. It seems the general consensus is to put the funds
toward youth camps.
Wednesday
and Thursday nights, we broke into teams and after lighting a
fire we cooked our own evening meal in the light of our fires
and a few torches. Food tastes so much better when you have put
effort into it yourself — even if the spud in the stew
isn't quite cooked or the patties in the burgers are burnt on
the outside and raw in the middle! Making popcorn in an old tin,
over an open fire when it's dark was lots of fun. Even though
one third burnt and one third jumped out, the other third tasted
pretty good.
On Friday evening we all went
down to a disused tramway cutting which was illuminated with
thousands of pretty glow-worms. This was a pleasant surprise
for the campers and all enjoyed watching the beauty of nature
as well as taking the time to stop and join the lone cricket
and tiny worms in their praise of God.
Through-out the camp, campers
had the benefit of mixing with other Christian young people.
They gained new friendships and learnt from each other's experiences.
Prayerfully these friendships will go on into eternity and the
lessons learnt will benefit their lives here and in the future!
Photos
Click on any of the
images above to enlarge. Click
here for more photos.
Notes for Campers!
• If you want
more Passion of Love books to share with friends, be in contact
with us. We have a bulk shipping in at very reasonable prices.
Why not do your part to share the story of the love of Jesus
to you!
• We also have more copies
of Christian's CD, A Vision of Heaven.
• Recordings of most of
the meetings are available. See the link below to select which
messages you want.
• Any campers that did
not get their certificates for their Practical Standards can
mail their sheets to Autumn Leaves, PO Box 654, Rangiora. If
you have at least half of the criteria for any of the five certificates
signed you can get that certificate which will be marked accordingly.
• Since the camp we have
received two large donations towards the extra expenses (your
camp fees only covered the accomodation and meals). This is really
appreciated and should inspire the youth that older folk are
interested and have faith in them and are keen to see them have
access to events like these youth camps.
Recordings of Meetings
Re-live and be re-inspired
by the messages shared by Christian and Sean during the camp.
Click
here for a listing
of meetings available from the camp.
Why not share a message that
your appreciated with friends who were not able to attend or
who you want to witness to!
One message per tape
or CD. $4.00 per message or $3.50 each for more than 10 recordings
Let us know if you
would like Tapes or CDs
For further information contact us.
