Secondary Camp: A life changing experience

The annual Secondary camp continues to be a life changing experience for NCS students: a time of strengthening bonds, deepening faith and personal development. Here is what some students said of the 2016 camp…

Cole Oakes (Year 11) Camp was, as it always is, an enjoyable time full of learning through physical experience, deep discussions, and top notch banter. Each year camp finds a way to be a new enlightening experience. Senior camp has really tightened the bond between Year 11 and 12 which is vital in the HSC. Talent night never ceases to bewilder me with its outrageous and diverse collection of “unknown” talent, as well as Mr Whitehouse’s true brutal personality. New friendships are formed with people you already know. You get to experience sleep deprivation and a new found fear of kookaburras. Mr Vidler’s midnight snack booth offered multiple opportunities to discuss the day and unwind with card games, good food, and caffeine. Camp is the perfect place to help expand Christian values and open up about your beliefs and getting your most burning questions somewhat answered. The speakers are always upbeat and engaging. This year’s speaker was Andy who really gave us all some challenging thoughts on Christianity as well as answering very difficult questions from the audience but never strayed away from embarrassing life stories. The greatest part of the camp of course is the stories, tales, and myths that it births, for example: Will in a bag, grass skiing, Mrs Hetherington falling in a creek, the broken toilet, the hooked nosed echidna, the broken tug of war and jelly wrestling.

Daniel Curline (Year 7 SRC) Secondary camp was my favourite camp I have been to. It is because you get to do a lot of things that you wouldn’t be allowed to do in Primary camps. For example, we did many things like pool rafting, going on water slides, mangroves, bush cooking, abseiling and low ropes. My favourite activity was the water slide. Also I really liked the Youthworks leaders because they were nice, caring and fun to be with. Lisa Burge (Year 8 SRC) Secondary camp is great fun for ages 12 all the way up to 18 with activities for everyone. The staff are kind and always putting your needs first. They teach you about God and each year we have a speaker. This year’s was Andy Stevenson. He talked about some really great stuff from Romans 8 in ways directed at teens so we could really understand. Although everyone had different favourite things each and every individual enjoyed camp. With every year, comes a different theme. This year’s was “Transformed by Grace” which taught us how to respect and listen to each other. Overall I loved it and know many others did as well.

Elizabeth Curline (Year 9 SRC) Secondary camp was amazing. I could definitely say it has been the best one yet. There was a buzz of excitement from the crowd as we got off the bus. Year 9s were split into two groups for the activities. The activities were really great and challenged everyone at some point. For the activities, we went prussiking (climbing up ropes), sailing, fishing, navigation walk, the Amazing race and we went on the water slides. Each morning and evening after breakfast and dinner, we walked to Rathane (where the Seniors slept) and listened to Andy give talks on Romans 8. It was about being transformed by grace. Andy did very well in explaining Romans 8 and was a very good encouragement to everyone. The food was very good and filling. There was food for everyone, even those with special diets. After the talks at night, we had talent night. It was a big highlight for me as it was fun watching people show their talent. The second night we had games night and it was really fun as it also involved everyone. Overall camp 2016 was an amazing camp and I can’t wait for next year’s camp!