Body Builders' Houseparty 2023 - updated
Counties Evangelist, Gordon Curley and his wife Penny led an inter-Church youth event for 8-to-15 years on 1 May Bank Holiday in Bournemouth. Dorset. UK
The idea of the weekend was to give young Christians fellowship and teaching but also to encourage and build them up in their faith.
41 young people and leaders attended and had a fantastic weekend of fellowship and fun as they learned more about growing in their faith, learning more about Jesus, and the Bible - they also had plenty of fun along the way.
Gordon says: “The sun shone, the activities were varied and fun, and the attention during the teaching sessions was excellent”.
Jamie Broadey, another leader at the weekend said:
“One camper asked: ‘Do Christians swear? We had a good discussion about this. He had started saying: 'Oh chicken!!' instead of swearing at the camp.
I enjoyed the leaders’ quiet time each morning. We had a good discussion about places where Christians are persecuted for their faith and reflected on the Amazon Prime film, ‘Silent’.
The food was amazing, and we had to fight off numerous offers for 3rd and 4th helpings.
The Bible teaching was both simple and deep, focusing on: Believing, Belonging, and Behaving. Also, Gordon reminded me that the biblical Greek and Hebrew writing did not have punctuation, so it was good to refresh myself in a technical area even when at a kids’ camp!
Many of the kids had also been last year, so it was great to see them growing up, and encountering the Gospel in an immersive family environment again.
I know that the kids really look forward to this and create amazing memories here.
Here are some of the reactions to the weekend from the young people who attended:
“The weekend has helped me as a camper. But it still encourages and teaches me now I’m a leader and I get to contribute to the youngsters’ walk with God too!! What could be better? “
Faith’s second year: “Minibus rides with my friends singing and dancing and worshipping all together were the best!!!!”
Lacie’s second year: “I can’t decide whether the food, the swimming or the singing was best!!!! Loved it all!”
Lexi: “I loved the singing on the bus!!! Everyone joined in, it was so much fun!!! It was SOOO loud!”
Hattie: “I absolutely loved the chicken casserole and the swimming but especially the chicken casserole!”
Sophia: “I loved seeing Moose fall off the inflatable course in the pool!!!! The swimming was really fun!”
Ava: “I loved the worship songs, they meant a lot to me.”