Lutheran Winter Youth Camp
Julia Mamabolo, ELC, Pretoria
After a long drive, the camp (14th-18th June 2024) began with a warm welcome of a delicious bowl of soup courtesy of Elke, Frank, and Pastor Christian. An exciting game of UNO set the tone for the camp as we immediately felt at home. Saturday started with breakfast and devotion by Pastor Thomas, whereby we were taught the 4th article of the Augsburg Confession about justification by grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith. This was such a great reminder that we cannot buy nor earn our righteousness as it is a gift given unto us by grace, for Christ’s sake, and through faith.
The reminder and assurance of God’s gift of forgiveness was only the beginning of exploring the Word of God and God’s gifts for us. The big question of ‘’why do we go to church?’’ was asked. We all brainstormed what makes a good church, highlighting good music, good attires, fellowship, praise and worship, the Word of God, Holy Sacraments among others. We further explored the topic in different groups as we tried to answer the question. It was so important to be reminded that we go to church for the Word of God and that all the other things are extras. This is a reminder that for as long as the Word of God exists within the church, that is enough. Questions arose from the group with concern over the struggles and politics that can arise in the church. However, just as God created a place to bless the Israelites, we were assured that God created the church, and he blesses us within the church. God further gave us the commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy. More than anything, God wants us to come to church so that he can give us his Word (communicate with us) and give us the gift of forgiveness.
We further explored the gift of forgiveness and that we cannot know God’s forgiveness without seeing ourselves as sinners. We can only know God’s forgiveness by acknowledging that we are sinful by nature and that we cannot redeem ourselves. However, God gives us the gift of forgiveness through his son Jesus Christ. He loves us so much that he ordained pastors to deliver the forgiveness of our sins to us through absolution and the Lord’s Supper.
On Sunday, we had a beautiful church service and lunch at the Salem congregation Uelzen, whereafter we had the privilege of further exploring stewardship. As a young person, I have to admit that we often define success as the result of following God’s Word, but we were reminded that it does not follow the business model. Our purpose is to be faithful to God’s Word and allow his will to be done without expecting ourselves to be successful in this world. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to create faith through the word. This was a great encouragement for us to share and spread the gospel.
More than the great teachings, and the choir sessions, the fellowship with other youth members was so refreshing. The camp provided us with a great platform to build new friendships and nurture existing ones. We bonded over the different discussions, breakouts in songs, singing by the fire, the different types of games, and of course, hiking. Hiking to the fort was quite an experience. Although I am not entirely sure I’d do it again, the views were worth it.
I gained a lot from the camp, which further fuelled my desire to learn more about God’s Word, including the fact that the Holy Spirit helps us to grasp God’s Word, know Jesus, and deliver God’s gifts to us. I was also reminded that we are granted a new identity in Christ through baptism.
Overall, the camp was amazing! Not only were we thoroughly fed food, but we were also fed the Word of God. I do not only speak for myself when I say, I cannot wait for next year’s camp! The world is noisy enough; having a space in which to reside within God’s Word has been a gift and a privilege. Thank you to Pastor Martin and Pastor Christian for leading the camp, and to everyone who was involved in making it a success.
