Koinonia

TROWEL & SWORD

Koinonia

n P. Muilwyk

There was a beach. There was a cloud hanging over the beach. There was singing. There was a LOT of hugging. There were uncooked onions. There were overcooked sausages. There was a man who knew a bit about Koinonia. And there were 80 youth from NSW churches who were ready to learn.

On the 11th-13th February NSW held its State Senior Youth Camp at the Wollongong Surf Leisure Resort. The theme was Koinonia, and speaker Matt Keller soon revealed that this was the Greek word for fellowship. So what happens on a weekend revolved around fellowship?

Praise Happened… Led by our dedicated band, we were able to enjoy singing words of appreciation to our Awesome God.

Teaching Happened… We had three great talks about fellowship and learnt about fellowship within the Trinity, how all three Members glorify each other; about fellowship between us and God, how we are like a bunged-up car with a new engine – we don’t look like much, but we are made in God’s image; and about fellowship with each other, and how we owe fellowship (sharing your LIFE) to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Matt challenged us to consider how much God’s fellowship with us cost Him, and if we had yet experienced this joy of giving.

Workshops Happened… We had the pleasure of hearing three ‘experts’ teach us about what they knew best. Tim Cornford inspired the musically talented to make sure that they served God and the church with their gifts. Stacie Hannam showed us how we can best help our friends who are struggling with depression. And Richard Schoenmaker gave us a glimpse of what God has to say about mentoring.

Hugs Happened… To carry on the theme of fellowship, we had two stunning ‘HUG’ signs which were worn by almost everyone at some point on the weekend. Some found getting rid of the sign quite a challenge as it involved getting up-close-and-personal with their fellow (often-smelly) campers!

Food Happened… We enjoyed the delights of catered food – great range, hot meals, big servings, no cleaning up! Sigh - it was great! Until Sunday lunch. But nothing beats burnt sausages with uncooked onions if you can douse it with a good gallon of tomato sauce! Yum scrum!

Relaxation Happened… On an uncharacteristically overcast Wollongong day, the dedicated slipped on their cossies for a bit of a dip with the dolphins, while others enjoyed a game of volleyball, footy or a nice chat on the beach.

Jabulani Happened… On Saturday night we went tribal. Led by African-wannabe Chris McKenzie, we stomped our feet like Africans, wrung out the washing like Indonesians, waved our arms like people from PNG, and stood proud and motionless like good ‘ol Aussie Reformies… all to the tune of ‘Jabulani Africa’. Still don’t understand? It’s probably better that you don’t - it wasn’t pretty!

Capture the Glow-stick Happened… We continued our Saturday night adventure with a big game of capture the flag on the beach – glow stick style. It was a game of carefully deliberated strategising, of tactics and risky manoeuvres. There was a clear winner from the beginning, but that didn’t stop the tackling, the brute strength, nor the face-plants.

Friendships Happened… State Youth Camps are always a great opportunity to catch-up with all those familiar faces, but it was fantastic to see some new (not-Dutch!!) faces, and to see the way that they were welcomed by everyone.

At the start of the camp we were forced to open up and reveal our private inner-workings in a questionnaire which asked us EVERYTHING from our favourite letter of the alphabet to the talents that we wish that we had. These questionnaires were then randomly distributed, and over the remainder of the weekend we were encouraged to find our person, talk to them, pray for them & encourage them. This was a fun way of getting to know people & to practise fellowshipping with each other.

State Senior Youth Camp was a bit of a prelude to 2006 Convention. If we can learn so much, and have so much fun in ONE weekend, just imagine what eight whole days might hold! So go register now at www.youth.crca.org.au

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