Writeup | Picture Archive
The 2002 Birmingham Citadel SAY Holiday weekend was held near Croyde Bay where 32 young people spent a weekend of sunshine, team building activities and worship. This is probably the furthest we have ever travelled for a holiday weekend and after 180 miles of Friday night traffic, we finally arrived at the venue, St George’s House, in a village called Georgeham, near Croyde Bay. This is a huge old house which used to be a vicarage and is now run by a Christian charitable trust to provide activity based holidays for young people from schools and churches.
Bang on time, the fish and chip supper was ready just a few minutes after we arrived, so after finding our beds, we tucked into a much needed meal.
After settling in, we regrouped for evening prayers where the group was reminded that they must remember to love and care for each other. It was emphasised that they should pray for, and with each other to help build and strengthen friendships that they already have, and this was also an opportunity to make new friends with people that maybe they didn’t get to speak to often enough.
Then some went to bed, others stayed up and played pool and table football until the early hours. There was also a giant version of Jenga, this one was known as Wonga, which was loaned to us by South West DHQ. If played well, the height of the tower can reach 5 feet. Another game brought along which captured people’s attention was Boppit, which can be very addictive, but great fun.
Saturday morning was a fairly early start and after breakfast we drove to
Braunton Burrows nearby and played a mini version of the TV game show “Survivor”
where teams had to build shelters from driftwood found on the beach and take
part in tasks to see who would become the ultimate survivors.
It definitely suited some people better than others and one team walked away
with it, but they did have a member of the team with a mechanical engineering
degree. Apart from the shelters, teams had to perform a variety of tasks
including creating a motif for the team, designing tribal outfits and having
piggy back races. There was something for everyone, some people found it hard
going though. Back to Georgeham for lunch then we moved to another beach where
many braved the cold sea for a swim, followed by beach games of cricket,
rounders and football.
We were there until about 7pm: it was a fantastic day
weather wise and many didn’t want to leave the beach. After some rest and
cleaning up, we had a barbeque and combined it with a surprise 18th birthday
party for one of the lads who was 18 on the following Monday. To be honest, it
was hard to keep it a surprise as a card had been passed around the group for
signing, and a huge tent appeared in the front garden with pictures of the
birthday boy as a baby and child along with balloons and banners. He actually
had to be told that it was a party for him!!
Anyway there was too much food for us all and after a while we collared him again with a cake and sang “Happy Birthday” with a little embarrassment on the birthday boy’s part at having to blow out 18 candles, once because he had to and the second time for the camera..
Saturday night ended with an evening thought from Greig and Laura which concluded with a time of prayers. Everyone was invited to write a name or issue on a piece of paper and lay it around the base of a cross which had been placed in the centre of the room. This was a very special time.
Sunday morning started with a late breakfast, then back to the beach for more games before returning to base for a proper Sunday lunch. No Yorkshire pudding but homemade apple pies from Marion Farmer and Mavis O’Connor. Thanks, they were great!!
During the final worship session on Sunday afternoon, a number of extra prayer requests and the names of some of the SAY members not present on the weekend were added to the cross. The group were reminded about the Prodigal son, who left home and asked to consider if they are looking out for the lost ones from the Army or if they are just waiting for these people to come back, most of whom are probably waiting for US to invite them back. After that, a prayer relay started with each person taking away a prayer request from the cross to pray specifically for it. Once they had prayed for the person or situation on that piece of paper, they returned to collect another request until they were all gone. After all the requests were taken some of the young people prayed about the lost ones, for our SAY group, for the Citadel and for the great time we had shared over the weekend. It was great to be able to share in this way.
Once we had finished our worship time, we then had to set about cleaning the house ready for departure. The weekend had swept past so quickly, it hardly seemed a few hours since we had arrived. Then after tea, it was back on the minibuses to drive back to Birmingham. Everyone was very tired but it had been a great weekend and we have already booked up to go back next year.
Rob O’Connor
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