News from Scotland

Here we are back from another fun-filled and inspiring CE Camp, the first to have taken place in Shapinsay for over a quarter of a century, I believe. With last year’s theme tying in with the football World Cup and next year’s the Olympics, we thought we could go with a nautical theme inspired by the visit of the Tall Ships to Orkney this summer.

Special thanks are due to our spectacular seafarers from Stromness Baptist Church who came up with the teams – HMS Endurance, HMS Warrior, HMS Fearless and HMS Victory – and led three of the crews through all our activities.

With Shapinsay not having a swimming pool, we wondered how to organise a day that would provide as much fun and tire out the camping crew members enough to give the willing helpers a night’s sleep. Orkney Active’s range of inflatable equipment did the trick, with sumo wrestling suits, gladiator challenge and a 30-foot assault course/fun run providing hours of entertainment for bystanders and contenders alike. An awesome day of Olympics organised by Mark Berry and a beach day full of inspired sculpture and sand creations ensured an entertaining few days for us all. 

Our evenings were full of fun too, with Andy Brown’s inspiring talks leaving us in no doubt about the significance of what God has done and the importance of responding to Him. Testimony time was, as usual, one of the best bits of camp and it was a delight to hear the way that God works in the lives of our friends. It was particularly special to have new campers from Stromness, Finstown, Kirkwall, Westray, Eday, the Hope and Shapinsay and a treat to hear from a lady of 90 who told us about camps she enjoyed eighty years or so ago.

As much as we’re grateful for the spiritual feeding provided by Andy, we couldn’t have survived camp without the physical sustenance provided by Chief Cook and Chief Dishwasher Sinclair, so a huge thank you to them and to everybody else who supported and provided for us at camp in any way.

We thoroughly appreciate all your prayers, from near and far, so sincere thanks again.