22. Holidays at El Rancho by James Curtis

Sometimes during the school holidays, Mum would send me and Dave to El Rancho Christian holiday camp in Waikanae. We enjoyed the activities on offer, including a “flying carpet”, which gave you a ride around a field on a rug pulled along by a tractor. There was a mud slide, air rifles, horse riding, a flying fox and a sweet shop. There really was a lot to do at these camps.
 

We were not so keen on the Bible bashing sessions, however. They tried to scare us, saying that if we and our parents did not become Christians, we would go to hell. We didn’t believe what they were saying and would take the piss a bit. In fact, we tried to push it as far as we could go, which probably annoyed them a lot. However, we did think it was cool when our cabin leader asked the Holy Spirit to come into each of us. We all felt something quite special that night.

Overall, going to those camps was a good experience. At least we began thinking about things. One of the youth leaders took a particular interest in Dave and Tom and came to visit us in Eastbourne a few times. He was rather intense, I think.