by Josh Gibbon
God moved powerfully amongst young people and leaders alike at this year’s UPRISING camp, with passionate student-led extended worship and prayer sessions breaking out.
On 11 April, 41 young people from Years 6-12, 10 junior leaders (recently graduated high school), and 15 adult leaders gathered at The Tops for four days of pursuing Jesus in deeper discipleship and spiritual formation.
The theme this year was ‘WE SAY YES LORD!’, launching out of Isaiah 26:8:
Youth leaders from across our state network who volunteered their week to lead young people were moved by the passion and zeal of these students to worship and know God more deeply, saying ‘Yes’ to His invitation to pursue Him first in their lives.
Young people took any chance they could to worship, pray and read the Scriptures together, even outside of scheduled sessions, with some gathering in hallways to continue worshipping in their free time.
One evening, students broke into spontaneous prayer for their schools around the room. This snowballed into a worship time that continued even after worship leaders had packed up their gear, as students picked up instruments and led worship themselves.
Leader Jessie Skelly said he was amazed at students’ passion for reading the Bible together. “One night, I felt led to invite students to an early-morning devotion the next day to read the Bible,” he said.
With such a great uptake around this, leaders continue to run an online Zoom Bible study post-camp, exploring Romans chapter-by-chapter with campers.
Ruth Lewis-Jones, who led the state youth team in running UPRISING in collaboration with The Tops Program Team, said campers and leaders were amazed by how God was moving amongst them. She said, “They just wanted to say yes to Him with their whole hearts.”
Tina Phillips, from Northside Turramurra, reflected on how this culture carried into outdoor activities, as she witnessed such strong affirmation and support amongst the students. She said those who usually shied away from at-height activities found break-through on challenges such as ‘Leap of Faith’ – an activity involving climbing a seven-metre pole and leaping out to grab a suspended ring, belayed by your group.
UPRISING is an opportunity for young people (high school years 6-12) to deepen their faith in Jesus through a formational journey grounded in their identity as God’s beloved. If you would like to explore how young people from your church can participate in this discipleship camp next year, get in touch with us at: hello@ccnswact.org.au
Read more stories from churches of Christ in NSW & ACT HERE
