High School Camp

The High School Camp is one of the ministries of TBC whose fruits are enjoyed by other sister churches. It is truly a unique ministry that should be nurtured, since it not only impacts many congregations but it reaches out to teenagers a group that is at a very critical time of their lives. We must redouble our efforts to evangelise as many of these young people seeing how hard the world is working to win them over especially during the holiday seasons.

We are glad to have been able to serve in this year’s Camp in spite of many challenges that faced its organisation. We had to contend with last minute planning since we had no clear communication whether the Camp will be held or not. The change of the school calendar also affected our planning, as we had to change the dates in order to ensure the attendance of candidates. This forced the dates to be pushed to December where logistics tend to be harder.

In spite of all these challenges we had a successful Camp as I will seek to outline in this report. We attribute this to God’s grace and the hard work of the many who worked as facilitators and speakers. The cooperation and help of TBC Donholm elders as well as the Pastors of other churches cannot be overlooked since without them nothing would take off.

This report will not only serve as a record and assessment of the camp, but a reference for the organisation and execution of future Camps. May we continue to pray that the word preached in the Camp may bear fruit unto the Salvation of many. 161212-nairobi-greenfields-tbc-high-school-campers

  1. 1.     Topic, Program  and Speakers
  • The theme for this year’s Camp was the ‘Distinctive doctrines of Trinity Baptist Church’. The topic was chosen since the Camp was organised in short notice and we therefore needed a topic that was helpful but which most of the speakers were familiar with.  It was also appropriate since it covers fundamental truths that most of the churches represented hold in common while those that don’t needed to learn them. We also went through the book of James in the morning devotions with Eric Aluvisia.
  •  The Camp had had 5 speakers who covered 7 topics i.e. Huston Malande, Joe Thwagi, John Thiauri, Kevin Mugweru, Dominic Kabaria. We are thankful that the Lord enabled all the speakers to cover the topic assigned to them on time with no lateness reported this year.
  • The program for this year’s Camp included new session where we had a ‘Ladies and Men’s talk’ instead of workshops. This was included in the program since the previous Campers asked for it as a means to discuss spiritual matters that are unique to ladies.
  1. 2.     Games and interactions
  • The area of Games is key to the Camp program since the Campers get to release some energy and it also facilitates interaction. The Games were well organised and fitting for the age of the group. There were no injuries in the active game something that we are thankful for.
  1. 3.     Attendance
  • The camp had 33 participants during the five days where all of them were boarders. The attendance is much lower compared to the 52 last year. This can be attributed to the fact that many churches like Korr, Pokot and Mariakani didn’t send any participant although they were invited. This is mainly due to the fact that we did not give fares. We had new churches participating like Buhalarile which brought a significant number.
  1. 4.     Meals and Boarding
  • The boarding facilities were sufficient for the participants. Edna and Cynthia acted as Matrons for the ladies which was a great help.
  • All the meals were served at the right time and there were no delays.
  • We had a water shortage problem on Monday where we had no water for bathing. But thankfully some quick thinking from Tito led to us using the water in the Baptism for that purpose.
  1. 5.     Facilitators
  • The camp had a total of 8 people who acted as facilitators. These men and women worked very hard to make the camp a success. Some worked beyond the call of duty which was commendable.
  • The facilitators are: Cynthia Asingwa, Diba Isak, Eric Aluvisia, Edna Nthoki, Madraka Dabalen, Kevin Mugweru, Magret Kajuma, Jackie Wangeci, Tito Walubengo.

REVIEW MEETING BY THE FACILITATORS 

Teaching and Devotions

Aluvisia stated that he enjoyed leading in the morning devotions although it was his first time to do so. He however suggests that smaller chunks of a passage be dealt with instead of whole chapter which was done this Camp. He also didn’t have enough time to prepare well and he advised that the devotions leaders be given adequate information early.

John Thiauri found the group to be attentive and interactive. The tie for the sessions was sufficient. He however recommends that the sessions be made more interactive and engaging by use of things like fill in materials. He also suggested the use of name tags in order to identify and interact well with participants.

Accommodation

Edna and Cynthia were ‘happy’ to have been with the ladies during the Camp. Blankets were not enough and they suggested that we buy others or require students to carry their own. The meeting was informed by the Coordinator that they were asked to carry them but this was largely ignored. It was suggested that certain things like cleaning of the rooms and beddings be done before the arrival of the students and before departure by the students.

Diba and Madaraka helped with the men and there were no issues reported.

Games

Jackie and Aluvisia were in charge. This year’s group participated well in the games and there were no issues of rough play. It’s was hard to come up with Games for such a group especially since the time for planning was short. The use of multicolour arm bands was very helpful in organising them for group games.

Finance

Maggie was in charge of this department. She informed the meeting that the Camp was within budget, that all the money spent was accounted and that we actually made some savings. She attributed this saving to the wholesale buying of foodstuffs. She said that she found the organisation to be good.

The Coordinator thanked all those who helped in this year’s Camp before closing in a word of prayer.

Dominic Ndung’u