Hayley's Reflections on Directing a Warriuka School Camp

Well, what can I say? Regent Year 7 camp this year was a blast!!! We had an amazing bunch of students to work with, fun staff and a great Warriuka team. I think this camp would definitely be a highlight of the year for me. As this was the first camp I’d directed I had been praying especially hard that God would really bless this camp and equip me with the skills I’d need for this new role. As always God was SO faithful and he was obviously at work throughout the week & answered these prayers and more. So what did we do? Here’s a little taster………

We did a range of activities with the students from beach Olympics, a ‘rafting survivor challenge’, ‘Adventure journey’, the Cape Naturalist lighthouse walk and tour of the lighthouse and a visit to Calgardup cave. (unfortunately Giants was closed) It was fantastic to see the groups working really well together, facing any challenges that came along and trusting each other.

The evening’s were pretty jam packed too with a Bush dance on the first night which was very energetic with dances such as ‘The birdie song’, the Macarena, Limbo, plus some more typical bush dance tunes. The second night we played ‘Foxholes’ where the students dig trenches on the beach to hide in and then have to get from a starting line to the finish point by hiding in the trenches and being sneaky. My personal favourite had to be the camp concert though- it was hilarious!!!!!! In Australian Idol fashion we had a panel of judges which consisted of the two teachers and myself. For some reason I had to be the mean judge. (obviously there was a lot of acting needed for me to do this well, as it’s really not in my nature) There were a wide selection of acts to suit all tastes. I think ‘Kyle burping’ had to be the most bizarre, yet funny performance of the night. Although, the ‘Human Table’ would also go down as a highlight. Carly and Dave also got to have a hair make-over- I think the girls did a good job- what do you think???? (Photo to come)

Warriuka time was also well received. We discussed a range of topics which included relating the ‘Footprints in the Sand’ poem to real life, we talked about how every member of the team is important and has different gifts to offer using Corinthians 12 as an example. Life as a journey was the theme for the third night and we discussed how sometimes life can be hard, even as a Christian, and how we can deal with life when it’s tough, such as pray about it, discuss it with others and read the bible. I was really encouraged with our group’s mature attitude and on the last night we encouraged them to “shine like stars in a wicked & depraved generation”(Phil 2)

A real tribute to our efforts was the fact that one of the girls said to her mum on the Friday night she got home from camp “Mum I’m homesick for camp”. We were also privileged enough to be invited to the Year 7 graduation and it was great to hear that for a lot of the students camp was one of the highlights of their year.

For me this camp was a great way to end up my internship at Warriuka. It meant that I could put into practice all the things I’ve learnt this year but also that I could try out a new role. I enjoyed directing although it did provide a few unexpected challenges, such as one of the students hurting her arm and having to have it checked out, but on the whole it was a really fantastic camp to direct. The students were a pleasure to spend time with, the staff were friendly and supportive and I had a fab Warriuka team whom I knew I could rely on. And obviously we have an AWESOME God, who is faithful who answered our prayers and worked in and through us. My hope and prayer is that the students would continue to build on their relationships with him and that they would be encouraged to keep going and growing in faith.
- HaylesX