Senior Camp Reunion 2026 was held at White Park Bay Youth Hostel from 13th-15th February. With 87 campers, plus leaders and cooks, it was sure to be a time of great fellowship. The speaker this year was Rev. David McCullough who gave us three great talks on how we are to be ‘mission-minded’.
Our first talk looked at how mission starts in God’s own heart – His goodness overflowing toward people, shown beautifully in John 4. Jesus travels through Samaria, even though most Jews avoided it, not by accident but rather because he cared for the Samarian people. At the well, Jesus met a Samaritan woman whom others would have ignored. With compassion, He speaks to her, breaks through barriers and offers her “living water.” He came to save her and to bring her into God’s Kingdom.
Through this talk we learned that Christ went immediately as there was urgency to mission. He didn’t leave this to another time but went right away. Further to this, we also learnt that mission work is a challenging but fruitful task, even though we may never see the harvest.
Following the talk on Friday night, we had a short time of discussion, followed by supper which the cooks had made. As per usual they outdid themselves! Later, we had a chaotic game of ‘Biddy Up’, in which teams bid to the max, e.g. max push-ups. When everyone had reached their max bid, the top two bids had to go to the front and prove it! Failure to do so resulted in point deductions, while completing the task gained points. Let’s just say there were a lot of points lost, with only a few of the ten teams ending with a positive points total!
Saturday morning brought our next talk, God’s mandate for mission, where we looked at the Great Commission. We learned much from this talk, including the more we spend time studying Christ’s life, the more we will love him and be mission-minded, and that if God has plans to use us in mission, he will. We cannot reject this reality which is truly beautiful! Christ will transform us. Becoming a Christian isn’t just a tickbox exercise, but a lifelong journey for his disciples. Finally, this talk ended with the comfort of knowing that Christ is always with us, as we fulfil his mission.
In the afternoon we went to the Jet Centre to play bowling and enjoy some free time. Later, we made our way to Dervock RPC for dinner, followed by the final talk where we looked at the main method of mission, from different passages in Acts. This talk enlightened us as to how Christ founds mission minded churches and that he is pleased to use ‘blunt tools’ (us) to do his will. We were challenged to ensure that we are making it easy for those who have never been to church before to feel welcomed.
Our evening Winter Olympic themed activities involved numerous challenges including skiing, curling, luge and many more. Fittingly at the very same time as we were participating, it started to snow outside! We finished with Dutch pancakes for supper and a very intense 20-a-side game of volleyball!
On the Sabbath Day, we attended Ballylaggan RPC, where the congregation warmly welcomed and fed us abundantly after the service. Thank you to Ballylaggan congregation and to the camp cooks for keeping us so well fed throughout the weekend. Another thank you must go to the team of leaders, who have put a great deal of time and effort into making camp reunion the best it could be for all. Thanks to Rev. David McCullough for bringing three well-thought-out and challenging talks and for showing his passion for mission.
Pray that God would use this weekend of camp to expand his Kingdom, that many would have come to know him either for the first time or more deeply and have a newfound desire to honour and serve him daily.
This article first appeared in the Covenanter Witness, and it is reprinted here by permission.
