Earlier this year in March, approximately 270 energized young people descended on Stephanopark Conference Centre, in Vanderbijlpark, South Africa, for the second annual ‘Camp Africa’ held by Brunstad Christian Church South Africa. The participants came from nine African and two European countries, namely: Cameroon, Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, France and Norway.
The spiritual well-being of the youth was the main focus of the Camp and at the first meeting, Harald Kronstad, one of the guest speakers from Norway, opened with a powerful message, quoting from the New Testament book of Ephesians 5:14-21.
He also said: “It is time for Africa, it is time for us… we have to open ourselves to the Spirit of God, then tremendous things will happen in our lives.”
The recreational program of the Camp was action packed. It kicked off with a team building challenge where physical strength, courage, co-operation, precision and determination were tested to the limits, as teams competed to achieve their goal. On the second day of the camp an impressive array of interest group activities, from music, dance, master chef and DIY to climbing, cycling, motor sports and more, were on offer for the youth to participate in. A variety of sports tournaments, such as football, volleyball and athletics were held on the last day of the Camp and the enthusiastic, patriotic supporters went wild cheering for their teams!
Even after such active days, the evening meetings were well attended, no one wanting to miss out on the edifying, enlightening and helpful messages from the guest speakers.
Many of the young people expressed their appreciation and thankfulness for the opportunity to meet and form bonds with Christians from different countries in Africa and Europe, and to experience the work God is doing in Africa.
A gala dinner marked the end of ‘Camp Africa 2019’ with edifying items of music and song preformed by the participants. There was also an interesting panel discussion with Harald Kronstad and Tielman Slabbert. The evening culminated with an international choir singing a stirring and unifying spiritual song.