THE first camp of its kind in Toowoomba diocese for young Catholics in their early teens was held at Leslie Dam, near Warwick, on June 21-22.
Toowoomba’s Youth and Young Adult Ministries office, in co-operation with a NET Ministries travelling team and the Toowoomba Young Adults group, held the Out of the Box Camp for children aged 13-15.
Diocesan Youth Ministry co-ordinator James Bryant said the camp was the first of its kind for this age group in the diocese.
‘We have already run many quite successful young adult programs, but we want to start reaching our young people at an earlier age so that they are more comfortable with these types of events by the time they reach the young adult stage,’ he said.
‘This was also a great opportunity to allow our youth to build a network of friendships with other Catholic youth from around our region and to give our young adults an opportunity to hone their leadership skills and to build friendships with the youth.’
The weekend focused on the theme of self-image and young people’s relationship with a loving God.
James said they wanted to encourage the teenagers to ‘Step out of the Box’ the world often put them in and to strive to see who God created them to be.
He said although numbers were small due to a clash with exam times, enthusiasm was not lacking.
‘It was a real shame that we did not realise earlier that this event fell in the schools exam block.
Bernie Walters from the youth office said they would be more careful with the timing of the next event.
‘We know that there were a lot more young people who would have loved to have come but could not make it,’ Bernie said.
‘Despite the fact that there were only 17 participants and young leaders there was a great atmosphere of fun and friendship,’ she said.
James said feedback from the camp had been ‘really positive’.
‘Many of the young people said they had a great time and will be bringing their friends to the next event.
‘We can’t wait,’ he said.
