FAITH-BASED ADVENTURE N
atalie Duchesne and Anna Squires are our North Island and South Island Camp Facilitators. Here they reflect on Scripture Union camps and the way they have worked with young people across Aotearoa, New Zealand. Last year, when we entered this new season of life in a global pandemic, many predictions were being made. When considering camping ministry, we perceived it as going in one of two extremes – either people would become reclusive, reflecting the new norm being in lockdown, or they would react strongly against being cooped up and become more proactive to prioritise community. Thankfully, the latter eventuated, and teenagers and leaders alike have prioritised seeking connection in faithbased, adventurous contexts like the ones we offer. Something we really value about Scripture Union as a movement is its ability to adapt and meet the needs we’re seeing in our young people. The last year has proven busy in meeting demand, ensuring we’re listening intently to what God’s desire for flourishing
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community could look like, and accounting for the fragile nature of people in this season. Mental health is always on our radar as we seek to make a camp a safe space for those in our midst. In fact, we are consistently thinking tangibly about what a safe camp looks like physically, spiritually, emotionally … holistically. This means consciously considering how to ensure inclusive environments for the diversity of the people who attend and lead on our camps. We’re also ensuring we have the infrastructure in place for all the new initiatives we’re involved in, such as environmental camps (Sustain in Raglan) and weekend tramps for girls (Wild Wāhine in Coromandel Forest Park) as well as the growing demand for our pre-existing camps. In part, this looks like increasingly feeding into those who run and lead on our camps and we’ve increased the amount of training events and connection points to account for this. It’s humbling to be surrounded by such dedicated leaders. We can forget how unique these people are – our leaders are characteristically adventurous, passionate,
