Welcome Kids had a great time away at Walton Firs Activity Centre in Cobham last weekend … and I know some parents enjoyed the extra peace and quiet at home too 😃

60 kids from school years 3 to 6 attended the weekend. They were blessed by dry weather, which was a big answer to prayer at the end of a very wet April! The kids had a packed schedule from 8am to 9pm each day, staying in ‘sleeping pods’ in the forest overnight (see pic)

During the weekend they took part in a lot of fun activities including high ropes, crafts, buggy building, capture the flag, rounders, silent disco, a very popular tuck shop, a bonfire with toasted marshmallows & hot chocolate and lots more.

Some highlights included:

• Caving: hunting for “fossils” and things that were hidden in an underground cave structure
• Nightline: a blindfolded obstacle course completed as a team, learning to work together and help each other
• Challenge the leaders: leaders completed various challenges that usually involved getting extremely messy

The weekend had some excellent spiritual content too

There were three main teaching times which looked at:

• Getting to know God the Father (by looking at the story of the Prodigal Son)
• Getting to know Jesus (by looking at Jesus as The Good Shepherd)
• Getting to know the Holy Spirit (by looking at some Bible stories revealing what happens when people are empowered by the Holy Spirit)

Some of the Welcome Church Worship Team were at the weekend, leading times of praise and worship that engaged all the kids in singing, dancing, contributing and praying for one another. The year 6’s were able to spend time with some of the Welcome Youth leadership on Saturday evening, who came to join for the evening, in preparation for this age group moving up to Welcome Youth from September.

Some comments from the kids

• “I feel like the worship was really good and we got to know people more”
• “The activities were really fun and we got to spend some time getting to know each other”
• “The talks were really good because they explained parts of the Bible really well and I feel like they helped me get closer to God”
• ”The talks were really touching and helped me understand God’s love a bit better”

A Big Thank You

25 helpers were involved in putting the weekend on and I want to say a big “THANK YOU” to them all, most especially to the dream team of Harriet Code, Crispy and Darren Forsdyke who pulled it all together.

If you had a child at the weekend away, why not ask them about what they learnt and what they enjoyed? If you missed out this year, remember to put the dates for next year in your diary now (3rd to 5th May 2024), and make sure to book as soon as the event is advertised; it’s likely to sell out fast again.

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