THE ADVENTURE Your Scripture Union Magazine
Sept 2011 ISSN 1176-5143
INSIDE: Our values: Relational Pray Day 2011 Camp stories
Our VISION: Seeing children and young people transformed by jesus
“Break Open Your Words, Let The Light Shine Out” Psalm 119:130 The Message
Editorial September 2011 Meaningful relationships are essential to the way Scripture Union does things. It’s one of the reasons why we haven’t gone for attracting huge numbers to camps and clubs. The importance of being relational is always stressed and valued in our leadership training. The seed for this is simply that God loves people and we think we should too. Examples of superficial relationships abound, and part of being countercultural is investing in deeper relationships as the starting place for sharing faith. We want faith to be discovered in the context of caring relationships. By being concerned about the pastoral care and development of our staff and volunteers, who are part of the Scripture Union family worldwide, we have set the bar high. Every person is made in the image of God. Our activities seek to address the spiritual, physical, emotional, and social elements of being human, without prejudice to race or age. I want to share with you two stories of people who were an important part of the Scripture Union family. It is with sadness that we farewell two long-time Canterbury supporters this issue. Both were regular attendees at our Canterbury prayer group. We have been so blessed by their prayers and support for our ministry over many years. We’ve included their stories to honour them and to illustrate what a lasting legacy the value of being relational can create. Wayne Fraser National Director
A life of self-less service Peter Joseph Thompson, 2 March 1939 – 20 June 2011 Peter is described as a ‘fine Christian gentleman.’ One of his many interests was overseas travel, and he passed away soon after returning from a trip to Turkey. After taking early retirement from the BNZ, he continued to quietly volunteer for a large number of community groups including Presbyterian Support, Boys Brigade, Rangiora Tramping Club, rugby and tennis teams and his local parish. He leaves behind Rewi and Judith, his brother and sister-in-law, and their children and grandchildren. He left a generous bequest to Scripture Union, which will be prayerfully used to support new ministry to children and young people. A significant portion will invested to provide ongoing support for our ministries far into the future. What a legacy he has left the young people of New Zealand; that they may have the opportunity to discover and follow Jesus, and hopefully grow up with the same values that Peter obviously held dear.
Beloved teacher Bryan Temple Smith, 1 Aug 1920 - 15 July 2011 Bryan had a lifetime of involvement with Scripture Union. Chris Currie provided these reflections: “Well before my time, he was very involved with camps and this was mentioned at his memorial service. I first met him on the Council, where his perspectives as Principal of Melville High School and later as a retired Principal were greatly appreciated. My most vivid memory of him in action was at an SU Council meeting when a name change of Crusaders to Inter-School Christian Fellowship (ISCF) was being discussed. As I remember it, there was a significant reluctance on the part of some to make the change. After a while, BT, as he was known, stood up and in his quietly eloquent way, gave us a 10 minute history of the behaviour of the original Crusaders, demolishing step by step any romantic notions. Any opposition to the change of name vanished. The motion that it be ISCF was carried, unanimously.” Bryan is survived by his wife, Jean, five children, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He will be greatly missed.
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PRAY DAY 2011 was an amazing time with people praying for their local schools right across the country. They prayed in groups and as individuals, they prayed in churches and community settings. h Rodney met at Warkworth On Pray Day, 20 people from Nort ning tea and devotions, where mor with Presbyterian. We started that your presence extends God’s our speaker shared:”Remember .” Then, five people shared grace to the people in that classroom and SUPAkidz programmes ls about the Chaplaincy, Bible-in-Schoo acted most of the schools, cont ly ious prev in their schools. We had g the Principals about Pray Day and updating our information, tellin ests. The information from schools asking if they had any prayer requ among five prayer stations. ed was put on cards which were shar including their Christian area our in We covered all 14 schools programmes. We ended up with a fun quiz and a reminder to use the “Pray for Schools” cards. We are looking forward to PRAY DAY 2012.
Raewyn Rowney, Wellington Children and Families Worker
Ann Cates, Warkworth
small office for their packed We had 12 people cram into our We prayed generally for our school lunch and a time of prayer. ifically for the Bible in spec e Southland schools and then quit guests teach. There was a h lunc our of e Schools classes that som l churches to stay connected real sense of the need for the loca involved in schools. We with their communities by being many schools to Christian so praised God for the openness of been built over time. We has that programmes and the trust e his light into schools, the pray that God will continue to shin to those who joined us and hub of our community. Thank you wship in prayer. fello encouraged us greatly with their
ctor Nigel Winder, Southern Regional Dire
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40 people gathered fro m churches all over Up per Hutt to pray together on Friday evening. 5 churches joined togeth er to organise the eve ning. Almost every Upper Hu tt school was visited to ask for specific prayers. The se prayers were displa yed on 25 prayer stations. The openness of the sch ools was overwhelming with ma ny principals giving ext ensive prayer requests. This was hum bling because we realise d that we limit God with our exp ectations of the role tha t schools want churches to play. Attend ees were overwhelmed by the unity as Christians gathered to pray and share the ir real desire to reach out to the com munity and to raise up children in their schools to reach their peers. We would like to revisit the schools to see if pra yers have been answe red and to give ongoing prayer suppor t.
Scripture Union
with interactive Barnabas Church St at r ye fo e th ,a We set up ing Graffiti Wall luding a Thanksgiv inc ns ey tio th sta e er pray e names of thos here people wrot (w e da tre an n e), tio tre lva e Sa gged it to th be saved and pe h ut yo were praying to led ub of tro newspaper articles table with local d for supporters an pm r open from 1-4 onse sp re t ea We had the foye gr We had a me in and pray. anyone else to co e. in during that tim local with many coming dent leaders from stu r had many of ou d an ns tio sta From 4-5pm, we er e pray in, go through th high schools come er. ay pr and rporate worship then join us for co Ministry Worker
lson Youth Rebekah Smith, Ne
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WINTER YOUTH CAMPS Karapiro Adventure Winter
Ruapehu Adventure Camp
I like to define an adventure as being committing to something risky with the aim of achieving something beneficial.
Walking away from Crusader Lodge after this, my most enjoyable week of the entire year, I’m still lost for words on the impact it has had on so many campers’ lives.
In the context of the Karapiro Adventure camp, while we do undertake adventurous activities such as kayaking or abseiling, the two activities where I see the biggest adventure happening is not in these traditional areas.
Time works differently in camp; relationships with God and with one another grow much faster, and now as I look back on camp as a whole, I am blown away by how much ground we achieved in a week.
The first is the studies. The risk is opening up a perceived “big, boring, old” book with a group of teenagers. The benefit though was seen as a number responded by getting excited about this book and wanting to read it more. And for one, coming to know the Author.
Small study groups paved the way for some challenging, but insightful and inspirational discussion, whilst reminding us that “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:20).
The other area was the visit to a local rest home. From “scary” old people to having to drag the campers away from new found elderly friends. All in 1 hour! Both activities seemingly not that adventurous or appealing initially, but as we carefully guided the campers into them, huge benefits are achieved. Stuart Briscoe (American Pastor) sums up for me what adventure is really about: “We are guiding people into a discovering and a doing of the divine will.” That’s adventure! Peter Bichan Karapiro Adventure Winter Team Leader
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We used the sport of skiing/snowboarding as a bridge between the sometimes insular world of Christianity and the often unwelcoming world of reality, to not only equip our young generation for the strength and empowerment to serve God in society, but to serve as a constant reminder of God’s presence; that we can always be reminded of his awesomeness, his love, and his support. Gareth Haddon Ruapheu Adventure Team Leader
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Angel Tree SUPAkidz Camp Camper and leader alike agreed the camp was fantastic. As a new initiative in partnership with Prison Fellowship, none of us knew what to expect. It was amazing how God used networks and relationships that had built up over years as well as brand new ones to bring us all together. As we worked through our Secret Agent theme, great fun was had by all. We experienced codes, adventured into the snow on a superb bush walk with a gigantic snowball fight, cooked, played awesome night games, watched an inspiring movie, ventured to the river and painted rock designs and were entertained by Puzzle the clown. As secret agents, we investigated the authenticity of Jesus. Thank you to the Joe Aspell Trust for supporting this camp. It is fantastic that half of the campers have SUPAkidz clubs in their areas that they can attend. Those campers already exploring faith through local churches or clubs have returned from camp much more assured that there is a God that loves them in their situation. They are keen to bring their friends to hear this and to experience camps in the future. Our challenge will be how we can help bring this about as many of these families are financially stretched. A huge thank you to all who helped make this camp happen! Andrew Ramsbottom, Raewyn Rowney & Janet Walburn Camp Leaders
Come on a Scripture Union Winter Youth Camp and you’ll never want to forget it. Make lasting friendships. Do awesome activities: Snowboard, Ski, Camp, Tramp, Explore, Rock Climb, Kayak. Have the chance to learn about God and how he can be part of your life.
SUPAkidz camps are for primary aged kids (Year 4 – 6)! They are well run with trained leaders and great programmes. They include games, art and craft activities, swimming and heaps of fun.
REGISTER SOON, FILLING FAST Check it out and register online at:
www.scriptureunion.org.nz
Spring camps (Oct holidays) THE ‘GRUBBY ANGELS’ SOUTHERN ROADIE 8 – 15 October 2011 Road trip to help Christchurch
Bus from Inver’s & Dunedin to Chch Yr 11-13 Co-ed
$250 (incl bus trip)
KARAPIRO ADVENTURE SPRING 9 – 14 October 2011 Kayak, Rockclimb, Camp out
Adventure Lodge, Lake Karapiro Year 8-10 Co-ed
$200
SNOW BLAST 9 - 15 October 2011 Ski, Board, Rockclimb, Explore
Crusader Lodge, Mt Ruapehu Year 9-11 Co-ed
$265 + Activity costs*
PONUI XTREME 10 - 15 October 2011 Sports, Explore, Cook-outs
Ponui Island, Hauraki Gulf Year 10-13 Co-ed
$185
SUPAkidz Camp: TEAM UP 10 - 13 October 2011
Edenview Campsite Edendale, Southland Year 4-6 co-ed
$145
SUPAkidz Camp: TEAM UP 17 - 21 October 2011
Camp Morley, South Auckland Year 4-6 co-ed
$175
*Activity Costs - skiing typically costs $60/day, snowboarding $70/day.
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NEWS “Uncle” John Stott John Stott influenced countless people around the world in their discipleship of Jesus. His recent death has been recognized in dozens of nations and marks the end of an era in leadership across the evangelical community. If you haven’t already, you may like to read an overview of his life and influences by going to www.johnstottmemorial.org In this account, you will read of how a Scripture Union schools worker led John Stott to Christ and how John went on to lead many Scripture Union camps.
Hire Our Lodge on Mt Ruapehu Scripture Union’s Crusader Lodge located in the Whakapapa Village is available for hire. This is an ideal location for church and youth group camps/retreats or as a base for skiing.
Please see our website
www.scriptureunion.org.nz for details on any of these news items
Canterbury Winter Escape From the 2-4 of September, Ben Necklen, our new South Island Camps Facilitator, will be leading a team to take a group of year 9-11 youth on a ‘Canterbury Winter Escape’. This camp is aimed at young people living in areas of Christchurch affected by the Canterbury quakes. The camp will include skiing/snowboarding, rock climbing and plenty of fun! A big thanks to supporters who have helped make this camp affordable for the campers!
Changes at Wellington Office •
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Long-serving Resources for Life Coordinator, Carmen van Wyk, left recently for the sunny sands of Cairns. Our receptionist, Lee-ann Nero, is stepping in to fill her place, so you can rest assured friendly chats on how our resources can help your ministry will continue as per usual. Accounts Assistant, Marilou Del Rosario, is moving to Auckland this month after three years of dedicated service. Our National Fundraising Manager, Alice Harper, is now on maternity leave with her baby due this month.
Development Fund This Fund gives supporters the opportunity to make at call or term investments with Scripture Union. These funds are overseen by the Scripture Union Board and are reinvested with registered banks or other high quality institutions. The difference between the interest earned by the Development Fund and the interest paid to you helps Scripture Union to fund its ministries.
Building Bridges with
It’s Your Move! “We do talk in class about the transition to school, but what you do captures their imagination and grabs them by learning through fun and interaction. Can we book you in again for next year?”
YR8 School Teacher It’s Your Move! books and programme are there to reassure children making the big move to secondary school, reminding them that God is always with them. It’s Your Move! serves as a tool to help churches build links with their local schools. Relationships can start with a church (or group of churches) buying and giving out the books at their local full primary/ intermediate schools, opening doors to further connections and growing friendship. In addition to sponsoring the books, churches can also (with the help, training and support of Scripture Union), lead It’s Your Move! assemblies, lessons, or presentations in the last term for students moving to secondary school next year. Individual books are $2.99 or you can buy a pack of 10 for only $20. Find out more about how you can order the book or learn how you can use the programme in your local school.
www.scriptureunion.org.nz Email: schoolsministry@scriptureunion.org.nz Phone: 0508 MYSCHOOL (0508 697 246)
Online: You can make a secure online donation at
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Light for the path Guest Writer: Wayne Fraser National Director
I’ve been rereading a small book by Tim Keller1 who suggests that the prodigal son story is actually about two sons, who are both lost. The elder son who stubbornly refuses to join the festivity caught my attention. After slaving on the farm, never far from home for years, he feels his father owes him something. I hear him saying; “all this work, all of my plodding obedience, what has it been for?” It is really as shocking as the younger son’s pigsty scene. The elder son has somehow set himself up as his own saviour and lord. He can run the farm, who needs dad? “I’ve worked hard enough; you owe me a fattened calf!” Remember Jesus’ audience, Pharisees and teachers. He is talking to them, and he is talking to me, and maybe you. How easy it is for people who have been on the Christian journey for a while to cultivate an elder son syndrome. To become so good at being Christian, that we practically have no need of God. This was the challenge for me. Not only am I literally an elder brother, but I can sometimes slip into the skin of a lost older son. This parable is also about the grace and mercy and unlimited forgiveness of a loving father. Reread this story and rediscover what that means for us today as we live in relationship with our God and one another. 1. The Prodigal God; Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith. Tim Keller, Hodder & Stoughton, 2009
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