Dear The Living Room Church family,
Below is the original letter that I posted last week regarding the updated information about the situation with our Church Camp. This new update now includes further details about prices and other relevant information. So please read through and rejoice!
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On behalf of Elfrida and myself, we would like to inform you of our decision regarding Church Camp 2020.
As we continue to navigate through these unprecedented times we are relying on God’s guidance and wisdom to flow with His heart. With so many changes happening I am praying for all of us to keep our eyes on the One who is above it all. While many things ahead are unclear, we are moving forward with what God is revealing with each step.
We have been in contact with The Island Camp site over this time and Elfrida has been able to get further clarity with regards to our booking for this year. With ongoing restrictions it is clear to them and us that unfortunately this year’s camp has to be postponed until 2021. Thankfully the camp site is more than accomodating and willing for us to lock-in the same Melbourne Cup long-weekend for 2021, assuring us that we have priority. So we have agreed to re-book and I am pleased to inform you that camp is going ahead but just one year later than expected!
Due to this change, please consider the following options available to you:
1. You can request a full refund of any money that you have paid thus far. We are able to provide you with the exact amount according to our records. Please email Elfrida at redebeer4@gmail.com if this is your preferred option or to discuss it further.
2. You can carry through what you have already paid and use it to go towards next year’s camp. If you haven’t paid in full, you can continue to make payments towards the full amount but now you have a whole year to do it!
3. You can register from scratch at our website’s events page which can be found here: https://www.thelivingroom.church/events. The deadline for all registrations and payments is now Friday 3rd September 2021. Please be aware that numbers are limited, so be sure to register online with a deposit of $50 so that your spot is locked in.
4. If you’re not sure about coming, I ask you to please pray and consider registering anytime throughout the year. Now more than ever we need to unite and reconnect as a Church family and I am sure that spending a few days together in such a great location would greatly help in doing that. It would be disappointing for you to miss out.
5. You can also pay-it-forward by paying for someone else's registration fees. Every year we have people that are led by God to pay for someone’s camp fees and we are always open to seeing that happen.
NEW UPDATE (as of 22nd Sept 2020):
The Camp Site office has informed us that due to various reasons, they have had to increase their camp fees across every booking by approximately $50 per person. This increase covers the whole duration of camp and is no doubt reflective of what many businesess will be doing in 2021 to hopefully recover from the major short-fall of the 2020 lockdown.
So, our Leadership Team met a few days ago (on Zoom of course) to discuss how we could best minimize this additional cost. We are sensitive to the fact that for a larger family $50 per person can add up to quite a bit. We all agreed that as an expression of thanks to you and for your faithfullness during the 2020 pandemic, The Living Room Church will completely cover the additional cost and camp fees will remain at the 2020 amount. How good is that! We are pleased that we can take this step of faith and trust that we will meet the minimum amount of 120 attendees.
Now that we have about 11 months to save and pay for camp (deadline is 3rd Sept 2021), this will hopefully give us all ample time to ease the financial pressure and plan accordingly.
Finally, I am very thankful to Elfrida for putting in so much effort in lead up to this year’s camp. Her joyful service to God and to our Church family is greatly appreciated. I am also thankful for you, my Melton and Torquay Church family. Yes, 2020 has been a very challenging year and there is so much that we’ve missed. But as we look forward I am confident and excited about what lies ahead for The Living Room family. Let me assure you, we are coming back stronger than ever with fresh vision, renewed hope and a greater sense of the glorious beauty of Jesus’ Church.
Please join me in prayer as we seek God’s heart for the way forward and also for Camp 2021 to literally be the greatest Camp ever!
Much love and blessings to every single one of you,
Mark