October 2011 Report

Once again the build-up to camp was not without the usual drama & excitement of any roller coaster ride as we watched God bring together the leaders, helpers & children that made up October camp 2011. 

We had 33 children in total, 9 youth leaders and 7 adult helpers. We started off with a great leader’s weekend, gelling as a team, setting things up & generally getting ready for the campers to arrive.  The adults & leaders came from Tauranga, Auckland & the local area and it was exciting to see each of them catch the vision for camp & give themselves whole-heartedly to the mission at hand. 

Out theme this camp was “Red & Yellow, Black & White, ALL are precious in His sight,” and we focused on different aspects of our uniqueness and loving & accepting our neighbours as we love/accept ourselves.  The cabins were turned into 4 different countries that represented the four colours & we decorated the hall with the flags & colours too.  The children really got into the spirit of it & camp definitely felt like one big happy family.

Scott Doddrell from Auckland was our speaker at chapel times and did a great job of getting the message across.  We had at least 2 girls respond, and others wanting to talk & ask questions.  We gave away at least 12-15 Bibles (thank you to a generous sponsor) and we know that seed has been sown.  There were many children at camp who never heard of a Bible, and some who knew nothing of its message.  We count it a real privilege to share with these children & that their parents entrust them to us for a week (to complete strangers!)

We did have about 3 days of rain at camp which caused us to change the program a bit, having to miss out the Bush Walk & a few other things, but all in all the program went well & the kids really loved it.  We did unfortunately have a rather severe broken arm on the last day, but quick medical attention was at hand (thanks St John!) and he was hospitalised for the night. 

We have since had lots of great feedback from parents and other parties with children wanting to book in for the summer camp, singing the songs at home and raving about the food & the great time they had. 

For the full set of photos go here