Rise Up Camp - See our Young People Thrive
Rise Up Camp is an annual AYM camp seeking to foster community and to dig deeper into faith post-Easter.
For many rangatahi (and their leaders!) it is a highlight of their year. Camp began on the evening of Friday the 26th and, after a whirlwind of worship, games, workshops, seminars, disappointing football results, great speakers, icy swims and countless games of basketball, ended at lunchtime on Sunday the 28th.
A key element of Rise Up’s kaupapa is the workshops in which rangatahi are invited to step into leadership. This year we had a youth band leading worship on Saturday night as well as youth MCs and an absolutely stellar dance performance. I was lucky enough to be involved with the youth worship band, and it was incredible to witness the growth in confidence, trust and friendship in real time.
We also had four main sessions over the course of camp where we explored the theme of Jesus in the wilderness and what it meant for us to “enter the wilderness” and also what it might look like to go on a “kingdom adventure”. Youth were encouraged to hear that their adventure can start right now and were challenged about the areas in their own schools and neighbourhoods that needed an infusion of the “culture of the kingdom of heaven”.
One particularly moving moment was the sight of over 50 youth laying their phones at the front of the room as a declaration to spend more time truly listening to God. As adults, we ought to feel encouraged and challenged by this declaration too. A life of phone-fueled distraction is an intergenerational reality, and it was inspiring to see the younger generation owning this problem and turning back to God in response.
Perhaps there is a wero (challenge) here for churches with high-school-aged rangatahi. When given the space and trust to step out of their comfort zones, we get to see our young people thrive. When permitted to truly ask God where he is taking them, many young people were able to see clearly where God's love is needed around them. It is up to us to trust our rangatahi not just with contribution, but with leadership and space to have their ideas and prayers truly heard.
My home church and youth group at the moment is St Michael's in Kelburn. A tradition of ours is to share a high-light, low-light and God-light. At the end of Rise Up Camp, before driving home, we invited the youth to reflect on the same three questions. The breadth of highlights and God-lights was wide; none of our young people could narrow it down to just one. However, the low-lights were unanimous — camp was too short! There is no doubt that we’ll be back next year for more. Thank you AYM!
Thanks to Simon Langham for writing this piece and Camille Sutherland for sharing her photos.
