Aberdaron Junior Camp ran this year from 4-11 August and we were blessed to have over 40 children in attendance. Throughout the week we were blessed with good weather that enabled us to get out and enjoy the surrounding countryside and beach on several occasions. Aberdaron provides a unique place where children and youth can gather around in a safe environment with Christian counsellors and staff and both learn about Jesus in a non-threatening way and also to make new friends and deepen old relationships that have built up over the years. For some campers the friends they make at Junior Camp will hold all the way up to adulthood and watching that take place year after year is a great blessing.
Junior Camp was run expertly once again by Melissa Nicholson who was assisted by Denise Bain. They in turn had some excellent staff under them with both the activity staff and the counsellors being vital to the successful running of the camp. At Junior Camp the campers are divided into tents and each tent has a counsellor and these counsellors spend a lot of time, effort and energy throughout the week looking after their tent and making sure that the children are safe and joining in with the activities and having fun. Assisting the counsellors in looking after the campers are the house parents and this year we had Basil and Christine Powell from Huddersfield who did an excellent job. Throughout the week the activities team, led out by Symon Burgher kept the children busy with activities.
Each morning and evening we were blessed by the worships given by Pastor Clifford Herman, from Plymouth who attended with his whole family and who helped in various capacities. Throughout the week we enjoyed rock climbing on the climbing wall, group games, beach games, rides on the jet ski in the bay, hikes up Anelog and to Fisherman's Cove, a day trip to the Haven holiday park and a banquet on Thursday night that followed a nautical theme.
Many of the campers are already looking forward to returning next year and no doubt some have begun a tradition of attending camps each year that will continue for the next 10 or 20 years!
Junior Camp finishes at 10 am on the Sunday morning and by 4 pm that same day the next camp begins with the arrival of a coach laden with teenagers, tired from spending hours on a coach and eager to get some food and locate their tents. This year we had over 50 campers from all over the North England Conference (NEC) with a few from further afield as well. The camp this year was led out by Jonathan Lawrence and Olivia Campbell as the Camp Master and Assistant Camp Master respectively and they did an excellent job in ensuring that the camp ran smoothly throughout the week.
Our worships were given by Adam Hazel who flew in from Norway for the week where he is serving as a boy's dean at one of our Adventist academies. He was originally from Wolverhampton and so no stranger to Aberdaron. He did an excellent job in delivering deep, profound and yet simple messages. It was great to see a young person from the NEC who has gone overseas for training and experience come back to give to the next generation.
Throughout the week we were blessed with an excellent activities team who provided a wide range of events. We were able to enjoy bike rides in the surrounding countryside, football, 'camp ball', jet-skiing, kayaking, rock climbing, knitting, arts and crafts, go-karting and a fun banquet on the Thursday night. Throughout the week we enjoyed good tasty vegetarian meals made by the catering team which was led by Cheryl Banton.
