TANDARA TIMES. September 2015

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1 September 2015 Welcome to another edition of Tandara Times. Tandara has been blessed by the generosity of many Lutherans attending our recent Work Camp held here in late August. Jobs achieved and completed were, firewood collection and cutting at Nigel Pfitzner s property, painting, spring cleaning, gardening, curtain making, shed extensions and general maintenance. An enjoyable weekend was had by all, with even some time to play 500 at night. Thank you to all who gave their time. God has richly blessed us with your special gifts and talents. I would also like to thank Andrew Huf for his dedication to Tandara as Kerry and our children enjoy some newly finished renovations to our residence. Andrew you have been a great servant to Tandara over my time here and we give thanks to God for your talents. Tandara also hosted a weekend in conjunction with some committed men from the LMV in August. The theme for this weekend was Men Led by God. It was a great success with over 30 attending this weekend which included high ropes, archery and a study series led by Pastor Mathew Ker. The studies were based on who we trust and what idols get between us and God and what roles does God call us into to serve others around us in our daily lives. On the Saturday evening Lt. Col Brendan Dowling was the guest speaker who inspired many, on his work in the defence force and how we need to balance family, work, faith and community in our lives. Another addition to Tandara over the last months has been the completion of our Stations of the Cross faith walk, with the installation of the final station - the tomb to remind us of Gods sacrifice for all of us. Finally it is with sadness we farewell James and Judi Doecke on the 9th of September. James and Judi have been a part of the Tandara team since January this year and their services will be missed here at camp, the wisdom and skills that they brought to Tandara have been valuable. May God Bless you both as you prepare for a new phase in your lives and your future plans. Blessings, Darren (Manager) Christian Life Week (Green): 21st - 25th September 2015 Christian Life Week (Yellow): 28th Sept - 2nd October 2015 Women s Whisper s Camp: 16th - 18th October 2015 Tandara Monthly Worship: 4th Sunday of Month at 4pm Connections: 1st Sunday of Month at 4pm All who come to Tandara for various types of camps. Tandara staff that they continue to remain focused on keeping God at the centre of life here. James and Josh as they pray and start to think about where God is wanting them to be next year. Darren as he and the committee work through staff requirements and operations for 2016 For any young people considering an internship here in PO Box 50 HALLS GAP VIC 3381 Phone: Fax: manager@camptandara.com editor@camptandara.com Website:

2 TANDARA CHURCH SERVICES: The fourth Sunday of each month we have been having a church service here for the staff and anyone from the community who would like to join us. Depending on camp commitments not all the staff get the opportunity to worship at the neighbouring congregations. We miss not being able to worship with other church families so Pastor Chris Raatz has been leading a service here most months. There s often just our staff and we sometimes feel a bit alone and would love some support and worship buddies from our nearby church members and community. We have occasionally had visitors come and join us which has been a lovely time of fellowship. If you don t mind worshipping twice or would rather have a sleep in please come and join us. We would love to share worship, coffee and a chat with you. Please check in your local bulletin or contact us ( ) because on the odd occasion service has been cancelled due to other commitments for Pastor Chris/Tandara or a change of circumstances. CONNECTIONS: We continue to host Connections here on the first Sunday of the month. It has been a successful time with us being able to welcome and connect with a few members of the Halls Gap community. They have become regulars and look forward to the day arriving when they can share a meal and enjoy a chat, which has become something they are comfortable with. We have also had visitors with us who have been holidaying with some staff members. We would love to have any of you join us even if it s just for a one off visit. Through having Connections we are endeavouring to just be Christ-like in our care and love for the people in our community. CHRISTIAN RECONCILIATION TRAINING: The Tandara staff plus three members from the Stawell Ararat Parish met at Tandara from the 16th to 18th June to take part in the LCA Christian Reconciliation workshop facilitated by Pastor Paul Kerber (Assistant to the Bishop - Christian Reconciliation). During these days we delved into the scriptures to get the biblical view and instruction on reconciliation and peacemaking. The group was also very enthusiastic with their discussion and role playing. We all found the training to be extremely interesting and helpful, to be used in areas of ministry and personal life. GRASSROOTS TRAINING WORKSHOPS: From the 13th - 16th July most of our staff and three visitors attended the Toolkit for Ministry and Building Healthy Relationships workshops facilitated by Emma Graetz (Grassroots Training). For some of the attendees the workshops were part of the Certificate IV Christian Ministry and Theology and for the others is was for professional development or general interest. They were both very practical workshops which gave us plenty of tools to take away with us to help us with our ministry planning and time management. It also gave us ways to communicate positively with each other either within a team environment or personally.

3 After eight months the time has come for both Judi and I to move on from life at Tandara. We leave with many mixed emotions as it has been a time of many challenges as well as wonderful times. So as we finish here on the 9th September we take with us many fond memories of life at Tandara. James: I have been so blessed to have been given the opportunity to have worked and journeyed with the two interns (James and Josh). Mentoring for me is not a time of telling them what to do or not to do but a time to walk alongside of them. To listen to their joys, sorrows, dreams heartaches and the list goes on. On many occasions I have learnt from them too. I have said to the interns that both Judi and I look forward to hearing from them and observing their continued journey in life and where life takes them. My style as an ideas/change agent type person has at times been both challenging and overwhelming for Darren. This has resulted in many long, honest and interesting conversations. I have been working with Darren and the Camps Council to look at different options of operational structures. As Tandara moves into the future they will need to continue to develop, adapt and change to meet client needs. The council now has this information and the opportunity to network with various people and organisations. This will help them to look objectively at future employment, operational and ministry structures without my input. This will give Tandara, Camps Council and Victorian/Tas District the opportunity to have ownership of these and move into the next phase of its journey. It will also give Darren a chance to catch his breath! Darren (and Kerry) have done a great job over the last four and a half years. If we/you support, mentor, encourage, challenge and pray for them we will hopefully have them in camping for many years to come. There will be many challenges but I am sure with God s help and direction Tandara can and will move into the future as a camp to be revered. Judi: I have had a wonderful experience in my time here. I ve had the opportunity to be Tandara Mum to James and Josh. We have shared many interesting and heart type conversations, had quite a few laughs, a few mending jobs, browsing op shops for costumes and generally enjoyed just hanging out together. I ve been mentored well in kitchen work by Kerry and in housekeeping the camp way. I ve enjoyed the admin work I ve done with/for Darren and appreciate his honesty and instruction in some of the things we ve worked on together. We will both certainly miss our times with Darren and Kerry around the campfire enjoying conversation and a nice wine together as well as meals out with their family. Josh popping his head over the fence when he sees/smells the little backyard campfire going and a friendly hello across the camp yard from James. The smiles and cheery hello from the Linke kids across the driveway was always a nice start or end to a day. We have both been welcomed into the Tandara family and know that we will always have part of our hearts left behind. Blessings James and Judi To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. Ecc 3:1

4 CHRISTIAN LIFE WEEK (BLUE): CLW Blue was held earlier this year, here at Tandara from the 29 th of June to the 3 rd of July. Everything went off rather well, in my opinion, with everyone seemingly having a great time, with usual ups and downs experienced at youth events. We had a great turn out with about 60 campers, many enthusiastic leaders, including Nadia Bunge who was one of the Tandara Interns last year. We also had two sets of camp parents, and Pastor Levi Graham all attending, as well as a little extra help for Kerry in the kitchen. Everyone showed up Monday without hassle, with some campers having to walk to Tandara from the bus stop in town. Tuesday we had the campers up in the air with the high ropes activity running over two sessions. Low ropes and a few other activities were running as well to keep the remaining campers occupied. Messy games Tuesday night was messy and fun, as it should be with slime and flower and porridge, it was different from what I have experienced back some in SA, but was great fun none the less. Some campers fell victim to the messiness more than others. On Wednesday we had campers and leaders out and about with service activities, not only around Tandara but also in the Halls Gap community with things like kindling collection & bundling, wood stacking, and work at the botanical gardens. The theme for this year s CLWs is Back to the Future, which saw an array of interesting costumes for the dress up dinner Wednesday night. Without being limited to people from history, we saw many different costumes from The Doctor (from the BBC show Doctor Who), to book characters and spacemen. On Thursday there was the scavenger hunt, which saw the leaders dress up as someone from history whether it be Martin Luther or Elvis Presley or a multitude of others, then hide in Halls Gap, leaving only cryptic clues for groups of campers to find them. Thursday night was also the last night of CLW, so to finish off, we finished with the bonfire being lit and having a late night which was a time to relax and reflect on the week that passed suddenly. The studies were well written and fit the theme nicely, focusing on God s story, including the sub topics of creation and the fall (the past), the world redeemed (the present), and the world restored (the future). Friday was the reluctant end to a fantastic week, and for some this being their last camp as a camper. Hopefully they will continue to come in the future as leaders. We look forward to those who were on their first camp, coming again next year. Josh FAMILY CAMP: Family Camp was held here at Tandara from the 10th - 12th July with about 35 people attending on what was a very cold weekend. There was snow on Mt William so some of the campers took the opportunity to play in the snow on Saturday afternoon. (Photo - Josh with his mini snowman.) Pastor Richard (Schwedes) led the studies on The Grace Card. During the adult studies Josh and I ran activities for the kids which was a lot of fun for them. High ropes were also accessed and on Saturday night people took part in Family Feud. Overall I feel everyone enjoyed themselves for the weekend. James K

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