Teen Camp 2006...

...the full story!

This was Tim Jackson’s 3rd time at Teen Camp. Here’s what he though of Teen Camp 2006:

So here it was, August 19th 2006 and around 80 young people and some not so young people descend on Seaview House Kilkeel for a week of fun, fellowship and food.

Saturday night and the normal ice breaker games kicked off the camp proved a good time to get to meet new people in the teams (or was this just a ploy to try and tire out the campers so that the leader’s got one good night’s sleep through the week?) After much hard fought battles in the games we went for supper and then to our first praise time of the week, where introductions were attempted, but if we are all honest names didn’t really sink in. That night we started off our series of epilogues on the names of Christ, an enlightening series that went through the meaning of the different names, and taught us much more of the character of God. Then off to the dorms for meeting those who would be our roommates for the week.

Sunday morning and after a Quiet Time and breakfast, we started off our look at the book of 1st Thessalonians ch4, where we looked at living to please God. This proved a real challenge throughout the week, with topics covered including, death, the second coming, sexual immorality, all relevant topics in our world today. After a morning stroll to the beach, and Sunday lunch (which is worth going to camp for in itself) we had our afternoon activity of a whistle stop. Our minds were really worked hard as we tried to work our way through all the quizzes, some more so than others. That night we had a visit from Attracta Hanna, a CEF worker in Dublin, where Attracta told us her testimony and what God had called her to do amongst the boys and girls in Dublin.

Monday saw the toughest day of the week, and after our morning meeting, and packing of bags, we headed off to Davy Crutchley’s back garden, Slieve Binnian. After eating our packed lunch, some of us brave souls made our way up the mountain, trying our best not to fall, roll or any other way of conquering the mountain. On the way down some of the more athletic boys did race down, with Stephen Irvine spending more time falling over than running. If was to prove too much of a challenge, a trip to the Blue Puddle…I mean Blue Lough…was available for those not so energetic. Back to the house and for those with energy left some football with Raymond Speer’s wonderful run from his own net resulting in the ball going out to sea!

Tuesday saw the much anticipated sports day, where sports and water meet. In other words there’s very little sport and a lot of people covered in water and fairy liquid. The warm showers where much appreciated that afternoon. Tuesday also saw the dorm competition hot up, with the dorm inspectors taking it to new height, videoing the tidy or not so tidy rooms, where we could hear and see all that they thought. All the usual criteria had to be met – tidiness, nooks and crannies, originality and ambience being key factors.

Wednesday saw a trip to the Silent Valley where we had an activity based treasure hunt was on the cards. The hill from the damn was well rolled with most groups having the fun of rolling down the hill, and a certain leader was left feeling a little ill at the bottom. Wednesday night also saw us take part in a missionary experience when we had to use our combined skills as we pretended to be missionaries in difficult conditions.

Thursday saw a highly competitive afternoon where everyone fought it out on the pool table, the badminton court, the table tennis table and the Connect 4 board?!? Or if you got out early a fun trip into the many shops in Kilkeel?!?

Friday and the penultimate day, and a damp one at that. After the morning meeting and lunch, we made our annual trip to Newcastle. First stop was the open air outreach where we can sing choruses, do visualised talks and give out tracts. Unfortunately due to the weather we were unable to spend much time doing this. Next stop for many was Mauds, for some warming up with a nice cup of coffee. Later that night we had the highly amusing Camp Concert, with many people making fools of themselves, especially those who attempted to sing “You’ll never walk alone”. Later again we had a moving testimony time during the praise time, where Gods presence was really felt as people shared how God had been working in their lives. After that we had our campfire on the beach, then up to the little hours for those last minute chats.

Saturday morning and after a round up of the week all the tearful goodbyes started, and Teen Camp was over for another year. A brilliant week with so many memories and challenges from God’s Word. I can only recommend it to anyone even slightly interested.