We're all going on a summer holiday

I've just returned from 10 days holiday in Brisbane; specifically the bayside suburb of Margate, in the Morton Bay area. 70 Christians from around Australia (and 3 from New Zealand) attended the annual Club Solo national camp. Club Solo is a national ministry of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Australia serving Christian single adults of all ages and denominations. Its purpose is to meet the social, spiritual, and recreational needs of singles who are divorced, widowed or have never been married. It is not a match making group, which most of those on the camp respected.

I had three reasons for going. Firstly, I wanted a holiday, but didn't want to go away by myself. For my own sanity, I needed to go away as part of a group. Secondly, I wanted to see more of Queensland. Lastly, and most importantly of all, I wanted to hear some good Christian teaching and to recharge spiritually. For me, I feel that my relationship with God deepened during 2006, but it was also difficult at times.

Camp attendees enjoyed visits to such sights as North Stradbroke Island, Glasshouse Mountains, Australia Zoo, Maroochydore, Caloundra, Noosa, Montville, Maleny, the port and city of Brisbane, and Eumundi. This was topped off by an evening cruise on the Brisbane River. Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast are spectacular. Most evenings were spent playing board games, which are a great ice breaker when you're trying to get to know people. After playing the At the Movies board game, based on David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz's TV show of the same name, I discovered that I have an encyclopedic knowledge of movies, which says a lot about how I probably spend too much of my spare time. Perhaps if I devoted more time to other areas of my life, I wouldn't need to be a on a singles' camp. Never mind...

The overall theme of the nightly teaching sessions was living a passionate Christian life. Single Christians can easily fall into the trap of thinking that life has passed them by. We were challenged to earnestly seek after God, rejecting mediocrity. The challenge is to seek after God and live the life that He wants for us, and also to make a difference in the lives of those around us, wherever in the world we may find ourselves using whatever resources He places at our disposal. Even if you know these things already, it doesn't hurt to be challenged or reminded of them again. As I expected, I was the youngest one there. I probably won't attend the next camp in 2008, but having said that, I don't regret going. For the reasons mentioned above, it was just what I needed at this time.