South Qld Children’s Camp

October 13, 2013

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It was a grand week of fun, fellowship, fires and fantastic food. There were twenty-six youngsters between 5 and 17 years of age from Brisbane and the Gold and Sunshine Coasts, all competing to make the most of the wide variety of activities arranged. Starting after lunch on Saturday, September 21, the camp continued through to Thursday night. After an evening of choruses and items by the children, Pr Darcy, who visited for the afternoon and evening, cooked sausages on the barbeque for everyone and opened up the ministry time for an ‘Ask the Oracle’ night. We have some deep thinking children coming in the footsteps of our older generations.

As the Queensland Rally was approaching and the children were to perform a play at the rally, the theme for the camp was ‘Turn The Power On’, with four teams called Lightning, Thunder, Cyclone and Earthquake, all relating to the power of the creation. As usual, on the Saturday afternoon the first activity for the kids was to design and make their own badges in their team colour; then they decided on the main characters to perform in the play, which the kids in the Brisbane assembly wrote themselves.

Meandering below the camp site, which is Scouts’ property, is the murky Brisbane River. It is ideally situated, however, offering us a sheltered reach of water in which to ply the canoes available. The kids were also able to spend some time swimming and the flat river bank also provided a great place for a few games, particularly when the adults ambushed the unsuspecting kids with water pistols while they were all competing in a game with water shooters.

Throughout the week the variety of competition included archery, giant egg ladder, alligator, peanut butter river, bulldozer, volleyball, handcuffs, and a tyre lift where each team had to lift a tyre, with eight ropes 5 metres long attached, up and over a metre high pole. Nancy Wilkins, who organizes and runs a range of relay games, had a wonderful variety of team competitions for the kids to test their skills. In their free time the kids were able to play card and board games. Each day usually ended with separate games for the Joeys, those under 10, and for the Owls, 10 and over.

Of course, the kids had a daily ‘fix’ of doing a variety of craft prepared by camp matriarch Rosemary Harris, the oldest ‘kid’ at camp for years. These always feed the creative part of the children’s psyche. The kids love the craft AND the food, with the menu organised by Rosemary each year for the last 25 years.

The range of activities and competitions brought out the best in the kids with a passion to excel. There were several kids seeking for the Holy Spirit each morning, and on the final night Andrea Drewery received the Spirit. She went home that night but returned to the extension camp for kids 12 years and above on the Sunday morning with her family, and was baptized by her dad in the river. This event made the final day one to remember and rounded off a wonderful week of unity and friendship. We look forward to next year with, hopefully, increased numbers again.