By Mark Grace, CCCNZ Ambassador
When I think of the Easter Camps, conferences, and events, I’m filled with gratitude for all the volunteer time and effort that made each one possible. Due to space and time constraints, I couldn’t include every story, but here are a few snapshots.
Lower North Island Easter Camp
Visiting the Lower North Island CCCNZ Easter Camp at Kaitoke Outdoor Education Centre was a blast. Youth from Feilding Bible Chapel, Kingston Community Church, Church on Ingestre, Onslow Community Church, Church on Vogel and City on a Hill in Wellington attended.
I was grateful to hear compelling gospel messages from Craig Barrow. It was encouraging to hear from own teenager how much she enjoyed the mix of activities.
Craig writes:
“Easter weekend in Wellington saw around 100 youth from various CCCNZ churches come together for a wild weekend of karaoke, sports competitions, highly competitive quiz sessions, the most fantastic barn dance in recent history—and lot of great worship and preaching and small group discussions.”
Combined Church Assemblies of Ngāti Hauā
I loved spending a morning at the Combined Assemblies of Ngāti Hauā Annual Easter Conference in the Waikato on Saturday. A delight to hear Norm Silcock open the Bible and talk through the return of Jesus from various Scriptures. A good reminder to my heart that the Christ who died and rose again is returning.
Queenstown Easter Camp
The Queenstown Easter Camp has been connecting churches for 100 years, which is longer than the present home, Lakeland Park Christian Camp, has existed!
Left photo: Youth singing grace at lunch after a late night swim in Lake Wakatipu the day before.
South Island Regional Enabler Tim Hodge visited the camp on Saturday and writes:
“It's so encouraging seeing this vibrant camp. It's predominantly for teenagers, but some whole families attend, giving it a lovely intergenerational feel.
“Working through the book of Jonah, along with lots of activities in the beauty of Queenstown, were people from several churches across Otago, Southland and Canterbury, including Rosedale Bible Chapel, Edendale Christian Fellowship, Riverside Chapel, Caversham Community Church, Cornerstone International Bible Church, Queenstown Bible Chapel and Bryndwr Chapel.”
Tuvalu Brethren Assembly Easter Camp
For the second year, the Tuvalu Brethren Assembly in Henderson celebrated an Easter church camp at Moirs Point Christian Camp. 95 campers of different ages met up in Mangawhai for a mix of fun activities, fellowship, worship, and learning.
Robert Siakimotu (Onehunga Bible Chapel) spoke on the topic “For such a time as this”, focusing on Esther 4:14 and Romans 5:6. Meanwhile, the Good News Club (kids' church) explored the New Testament through the Walk Thru the Bible course. Elder Iosefa Manulele says,
“The Lord was gracious and gave us good weather during our time at the camp, which allowed the kids to really enjoy the outdoor activities”.
From left to right: Teakaaka, Meauke, Teagai, and Pelosi, jamming after one of the evening sessions.
Iosefa concludes by saying,
“A big thank you to our other elders Satalaka Puti, Meauke Finauga, and Teagai Apelu (our full-time worker) and the planning committee for all the effort put in to make this camp a success…
from everyone's silent prayers to all the behind-the-scenes contributions towards this camp. And above all the honour and the glory to God alone, who was and who is to come”.
The Easter Story at Heretaunga Community Church
After months of preparation and a cast of about 40, The Easter Story ran for five nights at Heretaunga Community Church in Upper Hutt. A full drama production of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The producer, directors, actors and scriptwriters were all in-house, along with the set design/build and costume making. Some external help was needed for lighting and sound.
Service and Operations Leader Stephen Shirley writes:
"The capacity of 200 was filled each night, with so many coming from outside the church. No one had to be turned away. A big effort was put into ensuring everyone invited their non-churched friends and family. All who attended were invited to put their hope and trust in Jesus and to attend an ongoing Christianity course."
