Crossword 2009 ended off an exciting year for Youth ministry in KZN.  The buy-in from the churches was incredible and the enthusiasm from the leaders made the camp a real success.  Crossword is a relatively new idea to KZN but already a well known and loved end of year highlight.  Already teens across the province are asking their leaders about forms for December 2010!

We were richly rewarded for the work put in as the Camp attracted just over 70 teens, with churches from Howick, Pietermaritzburg, Hilton, Hillcrest, Queensborough, Mid-Illovo (Lilly of the Valley), Umhlanga, Glenwood and the south coast all representing a great mix of teens from various backgrounds and cultures.  The vibe on camp was really awesome with everyone loving the fact they could hang out and enjoy each other’s company for a few days while we got some solid teaching from God’s Word.  Nigel Richardson was our camp director and was thrilled by the turn out and the way the camp was run.

Our theme for Crossword was “Dead and Alive” as we investigated what the Bible taught us about the Cross, and the Resurrection and what it all means for us today.  This year we used six different speakers who each did one talk.  Three of the guys gave talks on the cross while the others gave talks on the resurrection.  All six speakers were KZN locals highlighting the fruit of the Entrust training course and the excellent work many churches are doing through their various apprenticeship programs.  Nigel Richardson, Sandile Mthethwa, Kyle Groger, Sinen Majola, Ant Carr and Ryan van der Avoort all spoke clearly and powerfully about the Christian hope.  The three talks on the cross showed us the importance of the cross, how all people are in fact dead in the eyes of God.  And the only way for us to be brought back to life, was for Jesus to go to the cross so that through his death for us so we can return to God in full friendship and fellowship.  The talks on the resurrection helped us to understand its meaning for us now and for the future as it gives us the hope, not only restored bodies and souls, but also of a restored world.  Many of the teens were blown away by how far God was willing to go in order to fix our great problem of sin and fix our world even though we don’t deserve it.

The rest of the program consisted of awesome fun with a water balloon obstacle course, soccer, touch rugby, beading (for the ladies and some guys!), and a ton of other fun activities.  One of the main highlights was a guest beat box artist Gratitude Majola, also known as Drumkit, so named because he can create a drum kit using nothing but his voice.  The teens loved it and he blew us away with his performance and as a Christian was a great example for a lot of the teens.

All of this means we looking forward to Crossword 2010 where we hope and pray Jesus is glorified in the lives of many teens!