Monday-Friday, June 30-July 4, Pursue Youth Camp (Minden, Queensland)
First of all, thank you for your patience as our week in camp is done and we are now in Sydney ministering and found a brief window of free time to let you know how the week went. Although a little tired as our bodies were transitioning to the Australian winter season (low 40’s in the morning and warming up to around 65 degrees), the team served well and Pastor and Mrs. Marshall were pleased on how the week went. Kelina gives us our camp week wrap up…
G’day mates, it is Kelina here with the update for the entire week! Sunday night we arrived at Pursue Youth Camp in Minden, Queenland. When we got there, we settled in our cabins and started camp preparations. Monday morning, we had a delicious breakfast made by Mrs. Marshall (btw the food was incredible and delicious all week long) after breakfast we had a leaders meeting which was led by Pastor Nate. The campers started arriving later that day (approx. 40 in total), they settled in, and then we had our welcome meeting. Jaina and I had the opportunity to be leaders of some of the older girls as they were such a blessing to have. The theme for this year’s Pursue Youth Camp was “Identity.” Our cabin girls came into the week shy and not really open, but after the first couple of nights, they started opening up to us. It was great because we were nervous on how they would treat us since we are from America.
During our introduction to them, Jaina mentioned that she wanted the girls to learn verses and one of our campers said she couldn’t because she does not have a good memory–but God had other plans that she didn’t know about! One morning after giving devotions, I recommended just learning the verse from our devotions. A little later that day, Jaina found a shorter verse and both girls said it with that camper realizing that she could do it too–Praise the Lord that she did she said 31 out of 35 of the memory verses. Something that stood out to me was Thursday night when she said “I like memorizing scripture because I need to know God’s Word”–it was just a blessing to hear a young person say that and actually mean it.
It was great being able to see our other team members be counselors as well, the joy they had, their compassion for the campers, the tears they shed, and the lessons they gave were a testimony to the campers and to me as well. The morning messages were taught by Pastor Joe Marshall as he spoke on who Jesus IS: being the Light, being the Door, and abiding in Christ. My favorite morning message was about being a light. It is so easy being a light when you are in church or at Bible college; but often times I find it challenging to be a light when I am going to the store, visiting family, or even at the airport. That message was the refresher that I needed to remind me that no matter where I go or who I am around to be a light to this dark and dying world.
Pastor Nate Zerance spoke during the night services as I greatly enjoyed each of his messages. My favorite one was on Tuesday night when he spoke on one’s identity in Christ. Your identity is more than what you look like on the outside–it’s not about your ethnicity, your home life, and the language you speak. Ultimately, it’s about your soul. Pastor Nate said “your self- identification does not matter, God sees your life differently.” God sees beyond your past and through your pain and failures. The games were lead by Alex (one of our team leaders) and Dan (an intern at Pursue) as they did an amazing job from tug of war to leaders chasing campers at 9pm to the campers getting in our luggage van and the other team pulling them up a hill. We also enjoyed the mental challenge of the camp escape room too, but probably the highlight game were the color wars at the end of the week. Because we were out in the country a bit, it was neat looking at the night sky and seeing the Milky Way and bright stars as well as an occasional kangaroo grazing in the paddock.
This week has been such an encouragement as I know there were a few campers who got saved and others who had spiritual warfare battles and overcame them. It was great as leaders to see other people their age serving the Lord and everyone getting along despite what country they are from! We have just landed safely in Sydney, Australia! Praising the Lord for a great week and a safe flight. Love from, Kelina!
