Canvas Chronicles

The Big Camp Chef Josh is having his last Big Camp as Chef, see his touching note below.

And BAENANA is also on their final run here at Big Camp, as Rachel will be perusing a career as a Paramedic. So your final chance is after Closing Sabbath tonight.

When asked how much BAENANA had raised for ADRA their reply was simply, A LOT. And we believe them from seeing the long lines of customers they server and the sheer volume of frozen bananas that are donated every year.

BAENANA has been here since 2017 every year except a few through COVID, and it will be very sorely missed.

https://sqbigcamp.com/divisions3/big-tent-2/

If you are sad Big Camp is coming to an end, you can keep listening to Big Camp messages through the app.

After Big Camp, the sermons that were livestreamed from the Big Tent will be collected and placed on the page below, so you can easily catch up on messages you missed or listen again to the powerful messages.

Tap here to watch the Big Tent messages

This year the total number of subscribers for the Big Camp SQ App sits at just over 2,500.

Far more Apple iPhone users than Android users have enabled push notifications.

However the first 100 people to read the newsletter this morning are split 50/50 Apple/Android

For those who used the app to call a buggy from Sunday night to Friday night, the average wait time was an exciting one minute and twelve seconds, with an absolute maximum of 12 minutes during very busy periods.

That is across the two hundred and twenty-one requests. If you didn’t use the app, and just waited for a buggy without dispatch instantly sending someone to your stop, we don’t have data on how long you had to wait, but buggies were still doing the circuit.

An average of about 1,600 people were using the app or website every day, peaking around 2,500 last sabbath. Overall, users accessed about 110,000 pages during this period.

These were the most popular pages:

I just want to say a thank you to everyone who shared the app and used it this year. May God bless you until we meet again.

Trust starts before anyone walks in. Most people meet your church online long before they meet anyone at the door. They search for a service time, check an address, or look for a youth group or a community lunch. What they find in those few seconds shapes whether they ever visit.

That’s why we at Adventist Media have been working on updating the Adventist.Place digital platform. Later this year, we’ll launch a fresh new look and, more importantly, we have refocused its purpose. Instead of just being a website builder, we are bringing people, services and digital tools together to support the work of mission in your local church.

What’s new

• Adventist.Place now brings five services together:
• Events. Get your events seen. What you publish appears on Adventist.RSVP, where anyone can search what’s happening by town, state or country.
• WebBuilder. Open your digital front door with a simple, well-designed church website.
• Groups. Help people find their people, from Bible study groups to community programs.
• Google Business. Be found where people search, with accurate details on Google.
• Profile images. Show people what to expect before they arrive.

The idea behind all of it is simple: update once, correct everywhere. Your church keeps one trusted record of service times, location, leaders and contacts, and Adventist.Place shares it wherever it’s needed. No more chasing an old phone number across five different websites, or a visitor turning up to a locked door because the times changed last year.

And if your church already has a website you love, that’s fine. You can link to it and still share your information across the network.

Empowering mission through media, locally

Big Camp 2026

I’m convinced  the most important media work happens in the local church, in the everyday decision of a volunteer to update a service time or share a community event.

So we’re building tools that empower mission through media at the local church. Not tools that need a tech team or a big budget, but tools a church clerk, communication leader or pastor can pick up and use with confidence. When the simple things are accurate and welcoming, every church becomes a more visible and more trusted part of its community.

"This means that if your church is looking for a ministry or trying to find out what you can do in the community, you can list the talents and skills of your people, have Adventist.Place collect all the census data and local needs information, and find a perfect fit for outreach that won't burn out your church members but will genuinely connect with the community. I'm really excited to see this part of Adventist.Place implemented" - Pr Ben Turner

Ready to serve

Our hope is that Adventist.Place is Ready to Serve your church, so together we can serve the people around us.

Every officially recognised Seventh-day Adventist entity and ministry already has a Place. If you help with communication at your church, have a chat with your pastor or church board about who looks after your account. Or visit adventist.place to log in, or request an invitation to your church’s Place.

Let’s make sure that when someone goes looking, they find a church that’s ready to welcome them. Jared Madden, Adventist Media

The Big Tent made an altar call last night, with the entire tent encouraging everyone deciding to “leave the frogs in their life” from the story of Moses, where Pharaoh decided to keep the plague for one more night before being rid of them. Roger Hernandez encouraged people to come forward and make a decision for Jesus. As each person came up the entire tent erupted in applause for their decision.

After they came up church members as opposed to only ministers were encouraged to come up and come along side them and pray together in support of their decisions. This seems to be a statement of the priesthood of all believers, and how God is just as accessible to every child of God as he is to the minister.

This week has been packed with fun, friendship, worship and plenty of unforgettable moments. Our teens headed out for ice skating, tenpin bowling, Dreamworld, the beach and our Goose Chase challenge, making memories and building friendships along the way.

One special part of Teen Tent this year has been our café. A few years ago, Pr Tusi made it his mission to make the café free for every young person so that no one would ever miss out because of cost. Kids could still make a donation if they wanted to, but accessibility was always at the heart of it. Although Pr Tusi became unwell, we have continued that legacy, and this year we were proud to officially name it the Pr Tusi Café. His heart for young people continues to be felt in such a practical and generous way.

Throughout the week, Pr Carlos from Western Australia opened the Word with us and challenged our teens to discover what it really means to live Limitless — not because of our own strength, but because of who God is and what He can do through us.

And last night, we had the incredible privilege of celebrating with Natasha Ormiston as she was baptised, publicly declaring her decision to follow Jesus. It was such a beautiful way to see what this week has really been about.

There have been plenty of laughs, activities, late nights and good food, but more importantly, we have watched young people connect, worship, ask questions, grow in faith and take steps closer to Jesus.

What a privilege it has been to spend this week with an incredible group of teens. Our prayer is that they leave Big Camp knowing that with Jesus, their story is still being written — and they are called to live Limitless.

When I talked to the teens through the week, they excitedly told me about these trading cards. They have to get them signed and then they get a prize at the end of the week if they collect the whole set.

The cards are a brilliant idea to encourage the teens to rise early and come to morning worship. They then get the cards signed by the Teen Tent staff member each day. It has been very successful in bringing them together for morning worship! Well done.

Eugene Estil’s ordination was followed by this response message. He detailed many miracles of God bringing him back and calling him to himself over and over again, along with how supportive his wife and family have been throughout his journey. But it almost didn’t happen. During his birth, the doctor approached his father with the words that no good father ever wants to hear. During the particularly difficult labour, his dad was presented with the impossible choice. ‘I can only save one, mother or child, which one do you want me to save.’ His father understandably responded by informing the doctor that he had better do his best to save them both, or bad things would happen to him! The Doctor, aided by an all powerful God, was able to save them both.

This Sabbath morning, the main gates will close at 8 a.m. Police will redirect all traffic, so entry will be from Hughes Rd East only.

Please note: no parking on the grass along Old Gympie Road or Hughes Rd East. The local council will have parking inspectors issuing fines throughout the day.

Where to park: Use the ovals at Northpine School (end of Hughes Rd). Clear directions will be signposted, and friendly buggies will be on hand to ferry you to your destination.

Thanks for helping us keep Sabbath parking safe and stress-free!

See the graphic below for areas where parking is not allowed.