Last year saw a gathering of 50 youth and 14 leaders from four different Presbyterian churches across the mid-north coast of NSW come together for the first ever Mid-North Coast PY Camp. The leaders involved were just excited to have made the camp happen at all – they were breaking new ground in their churches collaborating on a youth camp. Now in 2026, they have repeated the process, and doubled the length of the camp. The camp was extended one night to two nights, as part of the goal to keep the camp going and build momentum for future years.
It’s hard for a single church in the mid north coast to run a youth camp. Logistics, finances, scale are all against you. A critical mass is needed to make a camp work. None of these churches had the numbers needed on their own, but when combined, they were able to run a camp that not only gave youth the chance to hear about Jesus, and also helped them meet and connect with other Christians their own age from other places.
Many of the same youth from 2025 returned this year. Connections and friendships had been formed last year, and the youth were able to pick up where they left off, and continue to build deeper friendships.
Reuben Carey, Pastoral Assistant at Nambucca River Presbyterian Churches, shared that a personal highlight for him from this year was seeing youth sing praise wholeheartedly to God. “It gives you a glimpse into where they are at with their faith and it is really encouraging,” he shares.
The short timeframe of the camp last year meant there wasn’t space in the program to incorporate things like small discussion groups after the bible teaching sessions. This year, they were able to introduce that. “That was a really positive change, and praise God, there were some great discussions and questions being asked,” Reuben shares.
The groups were age based, gender mixed and focused on application questions related to the talks they had just heard. The talks this year were focused on prayer, with Matthew Harris from Epping Presbyterian Church in Sydney coming up to speak on the topic. “It’s such a fundamental part of the Christian life, talking to God and being shaped by prayer,” Reuben explains.
At the end of camp, the youth filled out a survey, giving feedback and sharing what had impacted them. Most of them indicated that the talks had helped them grow spiritually over the weekend. The leaders also reported that the groups were having robust discussions about what prayer looked like for them practically in their daily lives and what they had been challenged or encouraged to try.
It was encouraging for youth to see other Christians their age, and be inspired by the example of those who were taking living for Christ seriously. Even the leaders were encouraged. “One youth leader was telling me about one youth who was praying before they went into school each day, or before they performed music or spoke as part of the assembly. It was great to hear how young people are praying already and encourage them to keep doing that,” Reuben shares.
A key part of any mid north coast camp is games on the beach and time spent on the sand. Sam Wheeler-Smith, the kids and youth pastor at Harbourside Presbyterian Church in Coffs Harbour, took point on running lots of games and fun activities. The small groups the campers were in for discussion group time were also their teams for games, helping the bonding process speed along a bit. The camp schedule made the most of the beach and sun during the day, and at night inside games like ‘minute to win it’ were a hit. Then in free time, soccer, card games and board games were all popular choices.
Now back in the week to week rhythm of church and youth ministry, Reuben can see how some youth have been growing all year, and that the Mid-North Coast PY Camp was a key part of that growth journey. “There are all kinds of seeds being sown, and God brings the growth,” he reflects.
Planning a camp across four churches could have become quite difficult, logistically. A few key leaders had a planning Zoom in April to lock down key logistics like booking the campsite and organising cooks. Then through a later Zoom meeting, the entire leadership team met and planned out the timetable of the weekend, the games, the small groups and all the other details. “Two meetings, and lots and lots of emails in between,” Reuben says.
Throughout the planning process they stayed in touch with Dave Phillips, PYNSW General Manager, to ask questions, troubleshoot problems and deal with the administration side of running a camp that is both fun and safe. This year PYNSW was also able to help out with managing the financial administration of camp. Freeing up the leaders from these logistical tasks meant they had the time, space and energy to think deeply about how they would invest spiritually into the youth in the time they had with them.
As they look ahead to the future of the Mid-North Coast PY Camp, the pressing need is to raise up more leaders and train them in planning and running camps like these. “We’re working on a date for 2027,” Reuben says. “We’re looking at different locations, because we’ve almost outgrown the one we were in. But the goal is to keep seeing those relationships develop into friendships that last a long time beyond youth and school.”