When Lucy first arrived at a PY camp, she didn’t realise her life was about to change.
She hadn’t grown up in a Christian home, and faith wasn’t something she thought much about. But through the friendships she made, the talks she heard, and the love she experienced, she discovered something she never expected. A second chance at life, living in the light of Jesus.
An invitation
Lucy’s first encounter with PYNSW was through an invitation.
“One of my longest family friends, who I’ve known since she was six months old, invited me to a PY camp when I was in Year 7,” she recalls. “I didn’t even really know it was a Christian camp at first. Then about a week before, I got a packing list that said, ‘Bring a Bible.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, okay.’”
She wasn’t scared or put off by the idea of a Christian camp, but it wasn’t something she was seeking. What she was excited about was spending time with her friend.
“She lived six hours away from me in Albury, so I hardly ever saw her. The idea of spending a long weekend together sounded amazing.”
When Lucy arrived at camp, she was immediately drawn in.
“I met all these really cool people,” she says. “When I came home, I told my parents, ‘I need to go on the next one. I need to go back.’ And they were really happy to facilitate that.”
From that point on, Lucy has been to every Winter Camp and Summer Camp as well. She even completed the Lead for Life internship in 2019, setting her up for a life of serving in ministry.
But it was one particular night at Summer Camp 2017-18 that changed her life forever.
A moment
At every PY Summer Camp, there’s an evangelistic talk on the Saturday night where the speaker presents the gospel and calls for a response.
Lucy had heard these talks before. She had been attending PY camps for a few years by then. But this time, something was different.
“The talk was about Jesus being the gate and our shepherd,” Lucy recalls. “I still remember the speaker asking, ‘If you feel like you’ve wandered or strayed and you want to come back, make that decision now. Commit to it tonight.’”
Then, the speaker prayed.
“I felt the biggest physical shift in my body,” Lucy says, her voice filled with wonder even years later. “I had never felt anything like it before. And I haven’t felt anything quite like it since.”
As the speaker finished praying, he repeated his invitation:
If you felt something just then, stay behind and talk to a leader.
Lucy knew she had to stay.
“I was blown away,” she says. “I stayed behind and spoke to a leader, someone who is now one of my very good friends. I call her my ‘spirit mum.’”
Her name was Mandy Chapman, and she would become a key figure in Lucy’s faith journey.
Two faithful friends
After camp, Lucy faced a challenge: her family wasn’t Christian, and she had no way to get to church.
But Mandy, who lived in Wollongong, stepped in.
“She came and met my parents, picked me up every Sunday, and took me to church,” Lucy says. “She totally facilitated that side of my faith at the beginning.”
For a long time, Mandy was Lucy’s connection to Christian community. Even after moving away, Mandy continued discipling her.
“Every time she’s back, we catch up, read the Bible, and talk about life,” Lucy said. “She even prayed for me at my wedding, which was really special.”
Another key figure in Lucy’s journey was Ebony.
“She was just a really good and constant encouragement,” Lucy says. “Even before I became a Christian, she was intentionally speaking with me, checking in over social media, spurring me on.”
When Lucy was struggling with friendships at camp, Ebony stepped in.
“She was so nurturing,” Lucy says. “I was quite an anxious teenager, and she just looked after me for the whole duration of camp. And even though I didn’t grow up in a Christian home and didn’t know all the Christian lingo, she never made me feel like an outsider. She just welcomed me in.”
Why PYNSW was so transformative
When Lucy reflects on why PYNSW made such a difference in her faith, one thing stands out: intentionality.
“It is clear that one of the key priorities for PYNSW is to bring young people together across the state, especially those who feel isolated from church,” she says. “Everything about PYNSW is built on that… Community, connection, and bringing people into fellowship with each other and with God.”
One of the things she loved most was the structure of camp.
“I love that we spend an entire week deep-diving into one topic,” she says. “At church on a Sunday we get 20-40 minute sermons, and then we move on to something else. But at PY camps, you get a whole week of really intentional Bible teaching, and it helps everything sink in.”
Music was another big part of Lucy’s camp experience.
“I love music,” she says. “Anytime there’s worship anywhere, I’m like, ‘This is unreal.’”
Why she keeps coming back
Many people spend the week after Christmas relaxing. But Lucy? She spends it at PY Summer Camp every year.
Some might ask why.
“As a camper, it was the friendships,” she said. “So many people come from different places, and it’s a reunion—‘We can see each other again in a year!’”
But now, as a leader, her motivation is different.
“I know what the ministry of PY camps did for me, and I want to facilitate that for other kids,” she says. “There’s no amount of time I could invest that would ever repay what PYNSW did for me.”
To anyone considering coming to PY camps, whether as a camper, a leader, or a helper, Lucy has one simple message:
“Do it.”
She continues, “I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to anyone who regretted going to camp. You have nothing to lose and so much to gain.”
And for those who might feel hesitant, she offered a personal reflection:
“If I hadn’t taken a chance when I was 13, if I hadn’t gone, I don’t know where I’d be today. But I did. I found the most amazing community and in it I found the love of Jesus. And my life has never been the same.”
When asked what PYNSW has meant to her, this is what Lucy says:
“Through PYNSW, I got my second chance at life, living the right way. So it means everything.”