Hosting a Youth Camp two weeks before Christmas might seem crazy, but in a year where many events were cancelled for young people, this was just what they needed.

Last week 22 high school youth and leaders set off for the Let It Be Camp in Little River on Banks Peninsula. 

Why go camping just before Christmas? Crazy right?

It may have seemed crazy, but it was the first chance after exams for young people to gather, fellowship, and enjoy some downtime. For many of our youth they had navigated a year when so many things were either “cancelled” on not even planned to be held.

The Let It Be Camp was open to high school youth from St. Barnabas, St. Timothy’s and St. Christopher’s. 

Six youth from St. Barnabas signed up!

We arrived on Tuesday night, set up camp and enjoyed a BBQ tea before heading to Birdlings Flat. After a great talk about Simon Peter, we split up to soak up the scenery, and boy did God provide - painting the most amazing sunset above and all around us. It's hard not to be in awe of our creator when he provides something that beautiful. 

As it turned out, this was the calm before the storm.

Wednesday dawned and with it came the rain. Umbrellas and gumboots were the way to go, but they were few and far between. The keen and intrepid among us set out to scale Mt. Herbert but the heavy rain and zero visibility made the decision to return to camp an easy one. 

Those back at camp enjoyed an art workshop and then we all got well engrossed in some epic board games.

By the evening, the rain fell with even more vigour so we made the decision to exit our tents, as we were not keen to sit up all night checking on the river levels close by. 

Our youth rose to the occasion and used all available initiative. Gear was stored in the covered trailer and van and the lads camped in the gathering space - large black rubbish bags proved incredibly useful!

That evening we shared in a very moving Eucharist at St. Andrew’s Church, just along the road. The rain continued to poor down on us, along with God’s blessings, as we were encouraged and inspired by Reverend Mike, from St. Christopher’s, who braved the weather and the roads and joined us for the evening. 

His testimony was inspirational - ask some of our young people why Mike became a Christian. It's an incredible story!

On Thursday we woke to more rain, but we were determined to make the most of this time away. 

Rory Best came out to camp and shared with us all. He spoke about how it felt to not be welcome and then we engaged in some wonderful worship and prayer time which gave us the opportunity to reflect on his message.

By the afternoon, those of us who had brought a wetsuit headed to Pigeon Bay for a mass jump off from the wharf and a swim out to the pontoon. We weren't going to let the rain ruin our fun! 

On Thursday evening, Josiah lead a moving St. Ignatius prayer time for us all, followed by Night Prayer.

As we packed up camp on Friday morning, the rain continued, but everyone pitched in and we were packed up in no time.  A massive thanks to the guys who packed up so much gear. What amazing young people we have.

On our way home, we stopped at Birdlings Flat for lunch and to search for special stones to help us reflect on the camp.

As we pulled into the St. Christopher's carpark, the sun finally decided to make an appearance.

Thank you God for showing us that no matter the weather, you still bless us with unforgettable experiences and encounters with you.