Wow! What a blessing, is all we can say. The Lord really blessed in a special way this year.

Many commented that there was just a precious atmosphere amongst staff, youth leaders and participants. The spirit of unity, and togetherness was beautiful as we strived to encourage one another in our Christian walk, and produce music to honour our king.

We were all impacted by this year's testimonies. Such precious testimonies and transformed lives! Here is a snippet of an email we received the day after camp finished, from a parent (redacted for privacy):

____ [ arrived ] home safely, but added to their safe return is a complete change in my child. ___ is on fire for the Lord and ready to share a camp testimony with everyone...... ___ is going through Revelation with us :)! The ministry you and your team are devoting yourselves to is indeed a life saving, life changing experience that teenagers/youth need at the 'rebellious' years of their life. I am writing to thank you all for awakening a love for the Lord in my child. Something that unfortunately a child will not always take from their mother. The joy I have in my heart literally spilled out as tears of joy listening to the stories ___ has and the realisation that ___ life was most certainly spared for this time. ___ is most definitely hungering for more!!! It's the spiritual journey that unfortunately _____ or ______ doesn't offer him.

...now ___ is wanting to be baptised...

“

Praise God!

New this year

Due to more efficient audio and video production techniques, and an awesome team we were able to ease off some of the pressure and stress during the second week, making for a more enjoyable experience for all.

The filming went especially smoothly this year under the coordination of Joel Ridgeway, and with an extra camera and assistance from Henry Ponco (author of beyondpatmos.org). We filmed in some beautiful private gardens, and national parks in the northern beaches, plus a special campfire video filmed at Crosslands.

And one of the biggest blessings of all... No sickness! Aside from a handful of individuals, the majority of camp spent the whole two weeks together with no trace of sickness. Such an answer to many of our prayers, combined with the diligent efforts of the Camp Nurses.

The campfire messages this year inspired many of us to re-pledge and commit our lives to stand out from the current of immorality and evil in this world, and stand firm for Christ.

Crosslands was a beautiful venue, and afforded new opportunities for filming and concerts, while being in a nice quiet location surrounded by nature.

Three concerts

This year we squeezed two concerts into one Sabbath afternoon during the first week. One at Stanmore and the other at Wahroonga Seventh-day Adventist Church. A collection was taken up at Wahroonga, and more than $1,400 was raised toward an indigenous college which Wahroonga is assisting.

The third concert was held at Avondale Memorial Seventh-day Adventist Church. A further offering at Memorial raised more than $2,500 towards an overseas evangelistic effort sponsored by the local church.

All the concerts were well-attended with an estimated 700 people attending at least one of the concerts.

Lessons learnt

But above all, this camp has taught us to trust and depend fully in God. Here's why.

Last year we were confident. It was Music Camp's fourth year of consistent growth. We knew what we were doing, and we could do it well. Then the unexpected. That nasty bacterial bug which made us sicker than we could remember being for years! 

So, this year, we approached camp with much more prayer, less self-confidence and more dependance on God. Even though we have had experience and success in the past, we want to place camp fully in the hands of God, recognising that He alone gives true success. The result was beautiful.