“This is what it is all about!”

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Participants at the recent Father-daughter camp at Pioneers

A reflection from one of our staff members at QCCC Tamborine on why we do what we do.

Hi everyone

Just have to share something quickly on the weekend….it impacted me big time! As you know, the pressure was on for us to get the Pioneers site finished, and we were completely worn out by Friday night leading into Saturday.

My Mum and her friend came to visit for Sunday Lunch and so I took them for a stroll around the camps on the Sunday morning, with the 3 groups on site.  We got to Pioneers and got chatting with Andrew and Darren from Fathering Adventures, in the hall.  I went outside to control our dog, who was with us, and a little girl from the Fathering Adventures camp, came to us to pat him. Continue reading →

Barber Shop Quartet Storm Front to hit QCCC Mapleton

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Storm Front in action

The Sunshine Coast Hinterland will host 2010 Barber Shop Quartet World Champions, Storm Front, at a free community convert to be held at Kirkwood Hall on the Queensland Conference and Camping Centres Mapleton campus on Tuesday 4th October from 7.30pm.

QCCC Mapleton is hosting a workshop retreat for Barbershop Quartets in partnership with the Australian Association of Men’s Barbershop Singers (AAMBS) Harmony College.  The concert is a free community event and will feature performances from several outstanding Australian quartets with the highlight of the night will be a performance from American quartet Storm Front.

Storm Front are the 2010 Barbershop Harmony Society Gold Medal International Quartet Champions.  Combining comedy, entertainment, and great singing, Storm Front is Lead Jim Clark, Tenor Jeff Selano, Baritone Darin Drown, and Bass Syd Libsack. They captured their Gold in Philadelphia, becoming the 2010 Barbershop Harmony Society International Quartet Champions.

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Introducing Pioneers @ Tamborine

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Sunset at QCCC Pioneers

Extensive renovations on QCCC Tamborine’s newest facility are close to completion.  The QCCC Tamborine Pioneers campsite is an exciting new option for niche groups to consider on Tamborine Mountain.

QCCC Pioneers has several points of difference.  Firstly the rooms are significantly smaller than the average campsite, with the campsite containing 16 modern rooms sleeping only three people in each room (for a total capacity of 48 people).  This is likely to prove popular for adult groups who want fewer people to a room and also has significant potential for couples’ retreats.

Pioneers has also been established to be a site to cater to groups on a budget.  All QCCC sites are fully catered, but basic catering options will be available at QCCC Pioneers with fully-catered weekend packages starting at $84 per person for a two night, catered getaway. 

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Oh Canada

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26 ANZers in the Rockies

In July our Director of Camping participated on a Study Tour of Canadian campsites, just as their big Summer programs were kicking off.  Here are some of his reflections on camping in Canada:

So I’ve spent most of the past two weeks touring Canada, looking at some of their camping ministries just as they hit the full stride of their Summer camping season. We’ve so far visited more than twenty sites across three Provinces, Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta.

The Canadian preparation for the Summer is impressive. Admittedly it’s a nine week window where the average campsite has to make hay while the sun shines (literally). Most sites bring their camp leadership in for at least a week before the camps get underway, a week of intentional input, relationship building and preparation for what lies ahead. Continue reading →

Aaron Parry plays QCCC Tamborine

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Aaron Parry QCCC TamborineQueensland Conference and Camping Centres are proud to partner with and promote Aaron Parry and his message in music to teenage groups. A member of staff at QCCC Tamborine, Aaron is able to perform for guest groups at Tamborine, making available his talent to connect with the heart of his generation.

At 17 years of age, Aaron Parry is a rare ambassador inspiring his generation. Aaron’s compelling story of high school bullying, suicide attempts and the rescue of heaven draws his audience towards a message of HOPE.

Throughout the year Aaron performs and shares at high school events, youth groups, public events or recovery facilities for youth. Experiences on the road and practice in serving the visions of others make it easy for Aaron to bring exactly what’s needed at any event. His servant heart and passion, affords dedication and professionalism.

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EXLR8 your Leadership Camp at QCCC

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Leadership Camps Queensland Schools High Schools
Team initiatives are an essential part of the EXLR8 Leadership experience

The EXLR8 Leadership Development Program is an innovative and highly sought after Leadership Development program in Queensland schools. Queensland Conference and Camping Centres are proud to partner with EXLR8 to make their programs and format accessible to schools in South East Queensland.

Exlr8  is more than a tick and flick approach to leadership development that presents the technicalities of becoming a leader, or employing a seminar based methodology that simply acknowledges and espouses the processes and procedures of how leadership works, exlr8 focuses on developing the priority and principles of leadership within a student leader. 

Utilising an intrinsic action/reflection approach is purposely designed to help students develop character based decision making capacity through helping them reconstruct their personal story and growing in their understanding of who they are as people and helping them to understand how they influence others around them.

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Reserve Graders

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Recently I heard a talk by someone celebrating the faithfulness of an orphan mission in Central Africa, totally reliant on donations and therefore operating “on faith”. The talk was of the numerous close calls, near misses, miraculous intervention and “God always coming through and rewarding the faith of the place”.

And it’s a fantastic story. I am in awe of people living on the edge like that, their bravery, their faithfulness and their ability to live completely reliant on God.

But I did wonder that for every stunning story like that, how many other similar outfits out there that embark on a similar path and struggle for years or fall over? What thought do we give to the hundreds of faithful people who enter ministry with a full heart, wonderful intention, but end up burned out, broke or worse? Was it their faith that was lacking? I doubt we can judge but I suspect not.

On a few occasions I have been in the presence of earned celebrity. And when that has happened I have often been struck by the star-power, or the extremity of talent that these people ooze. I’m talking of entertainment celebrities and the wattage of their star-power, a celebrity that drips with extreme charisma.

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Like a Judas

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Lady Gaga Judas video ChristianityLast night at Mapleton we were hosting a high school group from the local area.  You can always tell when a high school group is in, rather than the dominant weekday clientele of primary schools.  The volume levels are a bit higher, the tone of half the voices is lower and the movies in the hall go later and are louder.  But strolling around the campus you’re also reminded of the awkwardness of adolescence, that half world between childhood and adult where we slowly feel our way towards independence.

All of a sudden parents and teachers aren’t the sole, or even most important guiding voice.  The opinion of your peer circle grows in importance and so does the influence of popular culture.  And at the moment there’s few artists with a hold on the teens like Lady Gaga.  And last night she fired the next shot from the breech of her latest album – a single entitled Judas.  She’s been pumping it for ages on Facebook, complete with scarlet cross, just in case you were in any doubt of its religious connotations. 

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