Estavayer-le-Lac, August 17, 2015. [CD-EUDNews]. Although the International Camporee of the Inter-European Region of the Seventh-day Adventist church is now history, many fresh memories linger in our minds of the good times shared during the week of August 3 to 9, 2015, in Estavayer-le -Lac, at La Corbière , on the shore of Lake Neuchatel.
Beyond the exciting program, some aspects deserve to be highlighted.
Here are a few.
Surprised by Grace – the theme song
Music is an important part of a scout camp, and the theme song is one of the most important ones, because it would bring back the atmosphere of the whole Camporee.
The Camporee theme song is often the result of a contest where different proposals are evaluated by a committee, mainly established by the delegation of Youth leaders. For this Camporee, Luis Moreira, one of the Portuguese youth leaders, was chosen because the lyrics and music he wrote were in tune with the purpose of the program.
One Saturday afternoon, after his wife encouraged him to enter the contest, Luis opened his Bible in the book of Jonah, and he started to read. “I wished to try to write something without using my words” said Luis Moreira. “I tried to feel Jonah's experience, above all his encounter with God. I wanted to avoid using my own ideas, and I let the Bible talk through me.”
The main purpose composing the song was to write something simple, with a rhythm that may help to express joy, happiness, and what the song can say in order to be Surprised by Grace. “Opening Jonah's book you can find the words of the lyrics” affirmed Moreira, and he concluded: "my intention was for our Pathfinders to discover once more that Jesus is the life, whatever you do you cannot hide from Him, and when you discover His grace you discover the greatest joy.”
Surprised by Grace
Music and Lyrics by Luís Moreira
I hear the voice deep in my heart, I feel the wind upon the sea...
A mighty tempest that is coming, raging against the shore. I turn away but I can’t hide, I close my eyes but I can see, there is no hiding place to run away from the presence of the Lord. So arise and sing. Call out to our God. He’s alive, Jesus is alive. Far beyond my sin, He can touch my heart, and deliver me…
Surprised by grace Ohromen milostí, Überrascht von Gnade, Sorprendido por la Gracia de Dios, Surpreendido pela Graça ... that came from God.
I now surrender to Your will
, I give my life, give all I am. So You can turn my heart of stone into a brand new heart of flesh. I call Your name throughout the crowd, You make me new when I cry out filling my life with hope and joy, a thousand reasons to praise Your name... Your holy name.
Surprised by grace Iznenadan ot Blagodat(ta), Surprins de Har, Sorpresi dalla Grazia di Dio, Surpris par la Grâce
... that came from God. So arise and sing. Call out to our God. He’s alive, Jesus is alive. Far beyond my sin, He can touch my heart, and deliver me... Jesus is alive.
The hosts, a nice surprise
The moderation of the Camporee program in the big marquee was led by two teens: Julia and Tom. They soon became the favourite characters of the event, conquering the admiration of the Pathfinders with their great attitude.
“I love people when they scream because they're happy” said Julia who, every time she came on stage she would scream and start a contagious laugh. “I like the joy and I feel comfortable because everybody is very kind to me.”
When Julia was contacted to be one of the moderators, her answer was a strong no! “There was no chance that anyone could change my mind, I was sure: no, it is no!” But Julia's father was there, and talked her into it. “Finally he convinced me,” she said. Julia believes that the way the Pathfinders screamed in the marquee was simply a way to show their joy and she wished that “they may continue to be so joyful, the attitude and feelings they show is cool, I like it!”
At the beginning Tom didn't understand what a moderator does at a Camporee before more than 2000 scouts. “I spoke with my family and they convinced me pretty soon” said Tom, confirming that his family trusted in his capability to deal with the big crowd.
Tom is different from Julia, because he doesn't scream. “This doesn't bother me, I react differently.” Talking from the stage is not easy, with all the people looking at you, but Tom affirmed that even if there is confusion, “I feel that they listen, more than to an adult talking.”
His wish for these Pathfinders is to continue to be happy and create the atmosphere.
Julia and Tom introduced the meeting every day, in the morning and in the evening. Their impact with these special attendees was natural and engaging. They helped make everyone totally comfortable. Surely they will persist in their example.
Security is our duty
Security at Camporee is a must. During this International Camporee, Security was one of the most important concerns. A team of 20 volunteers kept busy 24 hours/day adequately located throughout the campus.
“I had written a file with all the security requirements and now we tried to put it all in place, to regulate all the movement in and around the camp, and to control the entrance as well as the whole security” said Thomas Meyer, the security team leader.
There was no need for serious security intervention, affirmed Meyer, only minor issues.
It was important to establish a helpful relationship with the local Police and Fire Department. A team of both of them came at the beginning of the Camporee to give instructions, particularly on road security and fire. “We worked very closely together with the Fire Department. They made water available to extinguish any kind of fire” affirmed Meyer. The staff of firemen looked over the whole camp area and provided the necessary infrastructure to get the water everywhere.
One of the most difficult aspect of this service was the many “exceptions” to apply to the rules that are hard to put into practice. “If we could know who is authorized and who is not, who is in charge for special aspects, etc. we had to struggle a lot with this” said Meyer.
To the question if the youth respected the security, Meyer responded: “It was no problem with the youth; the leaders and the other volunteers were more difficult.”
By the way, a fence was built all around the camp, with only one well supervised gate. But being believers, “we were also sure that a special protection was secured by God, who was the centre of all messages given to everyone attending this 12th International Camporee” said Corrado Cozzi, Communication Director at the Inter-European Region.
First aid
It is a sensitive area (part), for which we want to emphasize the value of having been extremely effective. The medical staff was active night and day, everyone received appropriate treatment according to the discomfort experienced.
The contact with the nearest hospital was more than positive. The assistance offered by the hospital’s structure allowed a quick recovery to those who unfortunately had to “visit” the structure.
In all, about 10 doctors and nurses took turns and provided medical assistance during the Camporee. All of them were totally available for children and not only for them.
Camporee – facts and figures
The organization of an International event as the Camporee is really demanding. Here are some example of the dimension of event representing the whole week for about 2300 participants.
The food.
We used up about 3,000 kg of bread; 3,400 liters of milk; 8,000 kg of legumes and vegetables; 7,300 kg of fruits; 420 kg of pasta; 1,000 kg of potatoes; 3,500 servings of salad; 4,600 servings of ice-cream.
The meals were prepared daily by 80 volunteer cooks offering more than 5,600 hours of labour.
The garbage.
Every day volunteers gathered litter to be incinerated for a total of 16 compressed cubic meters; 17 cubic meters of organic; 20 cubic meters of paperboard;
Water and electric supplies
In the camp there were 89 toilets and a total of 1,900 rolls of toilet paper were used. There were 80 showers (please confirm with Patrick). We used about 49,000 liters of water only for the toilets and showers, and about 21,000 for cooking.
Volunteers
Some 120 volunteers were involved in supporting services connected with the operation of the Camporee. This meant an average of 20 days of work, or 15,000 hours of volunteer work. Without the support of the volunteers, the Camporee would have been really different.
Participants and placement
There were 2,300 persons present including pathfinders, volunteers, leaders, facilitators, etc., fitting about 650 tents. One marquee seating 3,000. More than 80,000 square meters of campus.
More than 20 countries were represented.
General Budget
The budget of the Camporee was about 450,000 CHF.
We stop here, but the list may be longer. It was a challenge, but fully rewarded by the satisfaction of all participants.
