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At the beginning of March, English Service had its first ever church camp. It was quite an amazing experience. God did so many great things. Months before we had booked the site for 45 people even though we only had about 25 regulars on Sunday. It was a booking of faith, of hope in what our God can do.
Romans 5:5 says that hope in him does not disappoint us. It didn’t this time. Although we still only had about 30 regulars on Sunday, God arranged for 55 people to come away with us on that weekend, many of whom were new to our church.

Things did not start off well. A lot of people had never been to Merroo before and got lost on the way up. It was after 9pm by the time the evening program started. We were only starting to make new friends slowly. People were still coming in on Saturday morning. We had a talk on how we worship God with the whole of our lives (Romans 12:1-2).

I think the first break through was the Saturday morning workshop after morning tea. It was closely based on the old situational ethics game called Scruples. (You might be able to get a used set on eBay). We started to get to know each other. After lunch more than half of us went canoeing which ended up with Matt going for a swim and taking a couple of others with him.

Another talk on Saturday night on how we worship through sacrifices (Leviticus chapters 1-7). Then it was The Talent Night. Those who have been to camps in ABC congregations know this very well. But for most of us it was a completely new idea. Acting? Singing? We don’t know how to do these things. But we did it anyway. Laughing at each other – who could forget King Osman? Or the Little Tea Pots? – and laughing at ourselves. And we kept on laughing and chatting till 2am? 3am? Never stopped?

Sunday service with Holy Communion. The message was about worshipping generously (2 Corinthians 9:6-15). Not just with money but in every way, particularly in the way we treat others and witness for Jesus. The Holy Communion reminded us of how generous God was to us.

By then, the end was in sight. Our second workshop was a plan for after the camp. Specifically socials we wanted to organise to see each other again, to invite others to join what we had discovered in God and between ourselves. Camp sickness had already begun. (Camp sickness: like home sickness, only we’re missing camp). Camp sickness is one sign of a really good camp.

There’s only one real cure for camp sickness. That’s heaven. But we’ve got a very close second: all of us together as God’s church. Let’s keep on supporting each other all the time.

Cassie's Testimony

Merroo is a nice camp site, surrounding by green grass, mountains, water and animals eating and resting…, it is a very fresh looking area. And God has given us a nice weather through out the weekend to enjoy. All these nature beauty is sending a message to us from God: I made these for you, do you like it? Especially the nice breath – it really feels like a kiss from God.

Beside these nice things, the message is really good. It was designed deliberately for believers and unbelievers, explaining the problems of the world and the solutions based on the Bible, it was really down to earth and reflects realities of our lives.

A lot of people have puts lots of effort and energy in preparing this activity. Some of them are already very busy handling their own life. But they still tried their best to organize things for this camp. I also saw people talking with unbelievers and showing God’s love to them, even though they themselves could not sleep very well because of many pressures…

All these remind me of my own experience – how I became a Christian. It was not some “super level” theory that attracted my attention to Christianity, it was His divine love showed to me through different people - that woke something up deep down in my heart – “maybe someone does care…”

Church is a hospital for sinners, not a place for “holy people”. We all are more or less damaged, have our own sinful patterns or some wrong ideas about God. That is why we need to relearn the truth in the Bible, uphold God’s word, give our lives to Him, so that we could be transformed into more Christ like, setting good examples in society, and people outside church could see the truth, love and power of Jesus.

May we really love and encourage each other in our Christian walk and continue share good news to people around us.