Categories: uncategorized
Date: 11 January 2006 12:50:05
Caravan parks in summer are amazing places. It seems that every year the same people head down to the same van park. Entire extended families go together, from little babies to grandparents. Everyone seems to know people that they see there each year. Kids hang out playing soccer. Teenagers get together to head off to the carnival every night. Beach cricket is held while dinner cooks, and then everyone goes for a walk or a bike ride. What ever time is left is spent sitting outside each other's caravan for hours at a time. And everyone hears everything. You can't hide. Your neighbours will hear your every conversation and argument.
All of caravan park life is about relationships. Hanging out, seeing the same people each year, entire families together. What a great place for a mission. A mission team would need families, teenagers, kids, babies, grandparents hanging out in their caravans around the van park. Soccer games, cricket games, trips to the carnival would be important. And sitting around talking would be very important. Chatting while waiting for a shower, or helping to hose down the boat would be important. In the van park we were in, understanding middle eastern culture would be important. Team members of middle eastern background would be helpful. An interesting aside, to me anyway, I found out from one of the campers, greet with two kisses, one on each cheek if you're Muslim. Greeting with three kisses is for the Orthodox.
I thought all this before I found the beach mission that had been running at the beach for 70+ years. A team of young people gives up two whole weeks of their time, plus planning time, to run two kids programs a day. There's a lot of work involved, and they do a great job. They do a pretty professional job in telling bible stories or themes in all kinds of different ways. One of the mums there was telling me how great all the leaders were towards her child. There were quite a few kids there. Some of the teenagers watching the Hare Krishna procession (see yesterday's entry) through the park were joining in with the songs, so I guess they'd been involved in previous years.
Following the Hare Krishna dancing through the van park, across the road to the church hall, where the beach mission program was, was not in my mind the most appropriate way to be running a mission for caravan park families.
Trav's team in Warrnambool is trying something new this year. They're aiming to meet local people, rather than van park people. They had 20 kids at their day long program. He's a brave man, changing a 50 year old tradition. All the best Trav. My rant from yesterday still stands - Please don't stick any lollies to people's face with spit.