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    A Week in August: 70 Years Changing Lives at a School Christian Camp
    A Week in August: 70 Years Changing Lives at a School Christian Camp
    A Week in August: 70 Years Changing Lives at a School Christian Camp
    Ebook142 pages1 hour

    A Week in August: 70 Years Changing Lives at a School Christian Camp

    By David Hawker

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    About this ebook

    There’s a real sense of posterity and pride in A Week in August. Author David Hawker reflects on an institution established in 1951, in which he played an active role for decades and revisits later in life. The comparison between generations is a strong platform from which Hawker comments on changing times and attitudes. This perspective makes his ideas, and by association the goals of the camp itself, even more meaningful and vital - particularly in an age of spiritual ennui. By remembering this valuable fellowship in print, the camp enters the realms of posterity with a bright hope for the future. Remembered with fondness and the ever-present notion in that everything we experience can teach us something, this is a valuable work for future and past generations both.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWords by Design
    Release dateDec 1, 2018
    ISBN9781909075757
    A Week in August: 70 Years Changing Lives at a School Christian Camp

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      Book preview

      A Week in August - David Hawker

      Prologue

      Sixty years after my first camp, I returned to see how Camp, an ever-present event in the life of the school, was going. For sure, the tents were better than our Bell tents, the minibuses were an improvement on our bikes, and the food was better. Camp basics, the toilets, the hard ground, the weather, the evening meetings were just as they had ever been. The Christian Union had been running summer camps since 1951. Young people had a great holiday, away from the trappings of home, giving them time to think. Meetings in the marquee in the evenings shared the Christian message and the youngsters were encouraged to consider the claim Jesus Christ had on their lives. Through the years, many responded, and in turn changed the lives of others.

      We live in an increasingly post-Christian, some would say pre-Christian, era. There is moral and spiritual collapse, inevitable when society turns away from our Christian heritage. Secular Humanism is the order of the day. How many young people today know the Ten Commandments, have heard of David and Goliath, or recited the Lord’s Prayer? At camp this year were youngsters who didn’t believe Jesus ever existed, though by the end they concluded He might have done! Yet they came! Will they come next year and move on further in their understanding? The Bible Society in 2017 stated, The Bible is viewed by many people as insignificant and irrelevant. Nine out of ten people have no regular engagement with the Bible. This is in contrast with much of the world beyond Europe. We live in a hostile environment in which to share the Christian message. Yet through the Christian Union camps, backed by weekly meetings and annual house parties for juniors and seniors, youngsters have found faith and for over 60 years have gone into the world with the Christian message and made a difference. In this book, we tell the story not only of camps, but of people whose lives have been transformed – a source of challenge and encouragement.

      As a medical student, I seriously considered changing course to prepare to become a teacher. I had seen the brilliant results of a Christian teacher working in his school. Of course, I hadn’t considered the hard graft of lesson preparation, exam marking and much more. Every person has to come through school. It is where the basic elements of knowledge are imparted. Despite this present age being even toxic to the Christian message, yet with wisdom and patience, it may well be possible to share the faith which Christians believe enriches and transforms both education and individuals. For a Christian with a vision, being part of opening the eyes of young people to the challenges of a life of faith, there can be few greater ministries. No one says it will be easy. Indeed, it will cost much.

      Is this ‘fruitfulness’ we have witnessed for over 60 years a one-off? Can it be repeated elsewhere? We do thank God that He has done something very special, with very ordinary young people. Yet there are examples in this story which can be applied elsewhere, a story to inspire and stimulate.

      1.Long term ministry. From 1958 through to retirement in 1993 (and still present until 2005), one teacher held the reins. In 1980, another came alongside, one who had first been a boy at camp. He learned the ropes and later took over. For both, this was the only school in which they taught. There is a pressure to change jobs regularly for professional advancement. Part of the cost of effective Christian ministry to young people may involve surrendering or curtailing personal ambition for the wellbeing of youngsters. This was their life ministry. They were committed to building young people in their faith.

      2.They gave the youngsters responsibility. The CU committee planned weekly meetings, house parties and part of camp. There was quiet oversight, but the responsibility of day-to-day organisation was the responsibility of students. They led meetings, arranged and met speakers. Inevitably they grew in faith and practical skills. The students owned it, with wise minimally invasive oversight.

      3.Get young people away from their comfort zone of X boxes, smart phones, TV etc. Give them fun, space to breathe, time to think, and tell them the Good News, with a chance to respond. Lives can be turned upside down, as mine was.

      4.At camp, and house parties, former pupils, often college students, came back as leaders, and were offered the chance to give their first talk, thus encouraging them in their faith. Before safeguarding became a legal issue, sixth formers and those at university would be officers in the tents with the youngsters, ready for late night chats.

      5.New, contemporary versions of the bible have always been used, together with modern Christian music and worship with well-illustrated talks.

      There is a real battle for the hearts and minds of young people today, one in which Christians must engage. In the Old Testament, the writer of the book ‘Ecclesiastes’ had tried everything: wine, women and song, and concluded all were meaningless, empty, and encouraged young people to Remember your Creator in the days of your Youth, before evil days come.

      North Devon, August 1970 as seen by David Hawker

      We had camped previously at Mortehoe, a small village close to the three mile expanse of Woolacombe Sands, a great surfing beach. The first time we camped here we had travelled on the Atlantic Coast Express train which stopped specially at Surbiton to pick up the main party, on a through train, to Mortehoe station, 600ft above sea level. Our kit, including borrowed tents, Elsan toilets, picks and shovels, had all been sent ahead in a goods van, which we had loaded at Kingston Station, and it was awaiting us in a tiny siding at Mortehoe. By 1970, however, Dr Beeching had caused this wonderful line to be closed, so the boys were shipped by coach from Barnstaple.

      Woolacombe Sands

      This was my fifteenth camp with the Christian Union at Kingston Grammar School, and my last before starting mission hospital work in Nepal. We were about 65 campers, and camp lasted 10 days. Though canvas and catering had gradually improved through the years, it remained fairly basic. Camp programme was well tried and tested. A senior boy was in charge of five or six younger lads, and this tent structure was very important. By now, we had given up on daily tent inspections, but it was necessary to maintain some semblance of order. Wet weather required training on basics; keeping groundsheets in, loosening guy ropes, digging trenches. We weren’t softies. No lying in, the days were structured but relaxed, yet different from other camps. Sure, we wanted it to be a really good holiday, but we wanted to introduce the youngsters to Jesus Christ, whom the leaders had all come to know, were now learning more about, and wanting to share their experience. Many of us had experienced a new life and faith. I had gone to my first camp in 1956 with no idea what the Christian faith was all about, and had a life transforming experience.

      For the 1970 camp, I travelled from Edinburgh, where I was training in anaesthetics. I had been married to Beryl for a year, and she came with me – the first lady at camp! We brought with us Charles Windsor to help cook, and Paul Maybury, the first non-KGS boy, son of our vicar friend in Leith. In those days, we could travel by Motorail from Stirling to Newton Abbot. At school, seniors had been encouraging boys to fill in their forms. David Shannon had worked hard to get 14-year-old Paul Butler to camp. He was on family holiday, so his parents brought him up from Cornwall a day late to camp. To such lengths would people go, hoping to share the good news of Jesus.

      Camp day began with breakfast, followed by a short tent ‘quiet time’, a brief Bible reading and prayer in each tent before the day proper began. Free time for games, going to the village or town, or a swimming party maybe using minibuses. Always plenty going on. We encouraged them, probably ineffectively, to send a postcard home, very different today! Then a short siesta after lunch before a full afternoon. After the evening meal, a big game was organised: crocker (a football hit by a baseball bat, then run madly!) Similarly with a rugby ball – crugger! And, of course, football. Podex, where a fairly hard ball was whacked with a baseball bat, was now declared off limits as too dangerous. Occasionally, with modified rules to reduce the risk of death, a wide game was held. This involved a quasi-military stalking of one half of the camp by the other half. When they met up………..! During this big bash, the tent officers, quartermaster and senior officers, Commie (Commandant) Adjy (Adjutant) and Stadjy (Assistant Adjutant) met together to review the day; what was

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