Around 100 young people and leaders gathered at Kaitoke for the CCCNZ Lower North Island Easter Camp.
Youth groups from The Anchor (Porirua), Kingston Community Church (Palmerston North), Church on Vogel (Palmerston North), Feilding Bible Chapel, and Onslow Community Church (Wellington) came together for a weekend of fun and faith.
Feilding Bible Chapel Youth and Young Adults Ministry Leader Mikaela Hosking says it was awesome to see connections forming between different church groups:
“Seeing friendships being made (and grown) across different youth groups was a highlight of Easter Camp.
“Speaker Andrew Sinclair (Kingston Community Church) spoke some great messages from the Word—showing us Jesus as a King, Humble Servant, Saviour, and Risen Lord.”
During one of the small group sessions, each group read through a full passage together, then wrote haiku poems (a three-line poem conveying a single moment where the poet suddenly sees or realises something, with 5 syllables in the first line, 7 syllables in the second line, and 5 syllables in the last line). They then had the opportunity to share these with the wider group. “Our youth really got into writing haiku poems based on John 19,” says Mikaela.
“They also told us how much they enjoyed spending a whole weekend surrounded by other Christians, growing closer to God together, and finding answers to questions.”
The weekend included worship, swimming, a barn dance, sports, karaoke, archery tag, a quiz, and good food.
“We’re grateful for all the leaders from each church who worked together to make this camp happen. A special shout-out to Pete Rhodes-Robinson from Onslow Community Church, who was the key organiser.”
