About The Topic - Finding God's Will For Your Life

What does God want me to study?  Who does God want me to marry?  Where does God want me to live?  What is God's will for my life?  What if I am outside of God's will for my life?  These questions can often trouble us when we think about God's will and how we should make decisions in our life.  The Bible has a simple answer to these big questions that we ask - and it's all about Jesus.  Come on Summer Camp this year and find out God's will for your life.

Workshop topics

Identity & Faith

We want to have a workshop on this topic from the fact that for so many teenagers today their lives are pulled in so many directions. Whether that be through their friends, success, relationships or whatever the world might promise. All these things promise fulfillment and a lot of teenagers end up falling into the trap of finding their identity in them. The aim would be to show teenagers that their true identity needs to be rooted in Jesus for he is the solid rock which can be relied on. Also the workshop would show what having an identity in Jesus looks like and how to live that out in today’s society.

 

Faith and Mental Health

We know that mental health or mental sickness is plaguing Australians today and especially this is true for teenagers. This workshop would seek to cover what mental health/mental sickness is and then also seek to show how being a Christian helps us deal with such things. So guidance for those struggling with mental health and also guidance for those seeking to help their friends and/or family struggling with mental health

 

Quiet Times Don't Have To Be Hard

Quiet times are such an important part of spiritual discipline and we want teenagers to get into the habit of doing them and giving them guidance in how it can be done. Because reading the bible and praying on our own can sometimes be challenging, we might develop bad habits where we stop doing them or do them inconsistently. We want to give teenager's guidance in how it can be done and frameworks to help them do it. Especially as we have a designated quiet time period at camp so it would be good to help them in that also.

 

The Gospel is Simple

We know that standing up/sharing Jesus with our friends or family or any other context can be quite daunting and we might not know what to say. This workshop would seek to explain what the gospel is, especially for any non-Christians who come, and why it is important to share him with others. The workshop would then seek to provide a method or framework to how to share Jesus eg. Roman road, two ways to live, 5 fingers etc.  

 

Friendship in the Digital Age

We know that two of the biggest issue areas in the life of teens today are sexting (sexual based messaging) and cyber bullying. This workshop will allow the teens to have open discussions about these topics, and their prevalence. We seek to provide wisdom to the teens for thinking through how the gospel shines a light on these areas, and to provide practical guidance relevant to their daily lives. The workshop will touch on pornography law as relates to sexting. The session will not be graphic, and is intended to create opportunity for teens to connect their lived or observed experience with new alternative solutions through a gospel-lens. If there is sufficient time, the session may also touch on broader digital friendship issues - however the identity workshop is intended to cover the other significant digital issues as 'the ideal life'.   

Check out Brian's Summer Camp 18/19 reflections here:

https://ministryandyouth.blogspot.com/2019/01/pyv-2018-summer-camp-final-word.html

 

 

By Nathan Smith (Drouin Presbyterian Church)

Summer Camp 16/17, for me, was one of the best things PYV has put on in my time going to camps. Although I have never had a bad speaker or discouraging leader in my time with PYV, this topped the list.

The numbers were down a little with not so many older campers which for me, changed the camp not having as many friends around. But that didn’t matter in the end; the activities this year gave a great challenge for a large skill range. Whether you could run 2km in 5 minutes, paint a detailed picture of a Shrek and Donkey, or remember the year each Disney cartoon was released, you could participate in the activities in one way, shape or form, and enjoy them. When you weren’t running around like a headless chicken, the leaders were there to play, talk and keep you company. Their effort in studies and activities also were outstanding making for a non-stop, exciting time.

The camp was a whole lot of fun, to say the absolute least, but there’s one thing that made the camp. Each day, campers, leaders and all met in the Sessions room to praise God and listen to His word. The music team, led by Kevin, played some really moving, modern, praise and worship songs that really connected with the age bracket attending and led into some encouraging events. Jared Keath (minister of Frankston Presbyterian Church) presented a talk each and every day from Exodus to just over 150 campers and numerous leaders; a pretty tough gig to be honest. But, man, did he do it well.

Jared mainly looked at the life of Moses, but the way he compared that and made it relevant to us today is astounding. The connections were a great encouragement and challenge at the same time. The main points we learnt/were reminded of were the God is faithful and in control, that He’s King, Judge and Saviour all at the same time, and His overflowing holiness. Along with this, I personally had the greatest encouragement on the fourth day where Jared read of the Israelites leaving God when they were tested. And the way he related that to us was so encouraging; God works through tough situations to 1. see the heart of the person and 2. work for the good of those who love Him. For me, that was extremely relevant and a great encouragement. If you want to hear more about this and the other talks, you can check them out on the PYV Website (https://www.pyv.org.au/multimedia/audio).

I’ve talked for a bit long but to wrap up briefly, camp this time around has been oh so very well done. Encouraging, challenging, relationship-building, great fun, character-building and faith-strengthening (most of which are [hyphenated] words I made up). Before I sign off, I’d like to say a huge thank you to Jared for some spectacular talks, Sherif for organising some great studies, to Callum for the entertaining activities, Bec for the fun sessions, the First-Aiders for all your time and effort, Chaplains for support, Radio show hosts and other leaders too. And second lastly, Brian for all the effort and direction you give in these camps. And finally, Kirsten for putting so much into this year’s (and last’s) camp and giving it the best possible opportunity to influence and bring young youth into a relationship with God.

 

By Brian Harvey (Youth Ministries Director)

For six days from Dec 27 2016 to Jan 1 2017, nearly 130 campers along with a terrific team of leaders gathered at Rawson Village in Gippsland for the 2016 PYV Summer Camp. Over these days we spent time together as a large group, time as smaller groups, and even time alone. And it was all done to the glory of God.
Rev Jared Keath preached six times from the book of Exodus. Through these sermons he helped us to see not only how God was active in the time of Moses in Egypt, but that God is still very much active today in our towns and in our lives. We were able to see through the first 13 chapters of Exodus that God is a God who is holy, who is faithful, who makes himself known, and much more. Jared helpfully led us to see that what we read here points forward to Jesus. How blessed we are to have preachers of this calibre in our churches, helping us to understand the Old Testament in light of all that Jesus has done.
The campers were divided into smaller groups to reflect on what they had heard in the sermons. There were good discussions taking place in these small groups, and I am thankful for the chance to have been a part of those discussions. If you have some from your church who were at the camp, please talk with them about what they heard and discussed in these groups. I hope they will be able to share with you some of the good things they talked about.
Campers were also divided up into smaller activity groups. Where the study groups were age-based, the activity groups were divided evenly so all groups had younger and older, shorter and taller campers involved. Through the camp there were a number of activities everybody was involved in. Each of these activities scored points for their team and when there is chocolate for a prize, you don't want to waste the chance to win.
Campers and leaders also had time each day to sit quietly and read through a passage of scripture and reflect on it. Some questions were offered to everyone to consider as they read through that passage. It is our undying hope that teenagers will use this model when they get home and be able to read through the Bible consistently and give thought to what they are reading.
The weather wasn't always in our favour, and so a few activities needed to be changed. Our leadership team at camp were amazing and were able to put some other plans into place to create a time that was still fun even if we needed to be inside.
PYV acknowledges the amazing work of Kirsten Bryant as convener for the camp, and we also thank the team she put together. It has been a great week, but much of that is because of the work that Kirsten and her executive team put in before camp.
We have prayed for safety, and we believe God has answered that prayer. We prayed that God would move hearts, and we believe that God has answered that prayer. One girl has come to faith in Jesus. Please pray for her as she returns to a family that don't share her faith. May God support her in remarkable ways.
Rev Toby McIntosh, supported by Nathan Barbieri, were also there leading the YouthMETRO training. This intensive week included an introduction to theology and evangelism training. It was wonderful to see these trainees out amongst the other campers sharing their faith. Not only is this a safe place for them to practice, it is also a time that God moves hearts. It was through the clear language of these trainees that the girl mentioned above came to faith.
Thank you for your constant interest and support for PYV. As always, please keep an eye on our website or our Facebook page to keep up to date with what is happening through PYV. There's always something on the go. www.pyv.org.au