“It’s nice to have a day especially for us.”

The day had finally come to focus on “tweens” – those who are in the age group between children and teenagers. It turned out to be an eventful day, with fun activities and edification adapted to the target group.


“It’s nice to have a day especially for us, since we aren’t old enough to go to the youth camp yet,” said Lassi (12) from Finland. Together with his friend Erik, he had travelled from Lahti to attend the summer conference, and both of them were happy with today’s activities.

Preparations months in advance

For several months, volunteers from BCC Bergen and Southern Germany have been at the forefront of planning the Tweens Days during the summer conferences. In Bergen, they brought together people of all ages in the local church, from youth to seniors, to create the perfect day for children aged between 11 and 12.

The day started with a kick off which to set the mood and introduce the participants to the day’s program, with dance items and a brand new tweens song.

The optional activities were new for this year, with participants being offered a whole day of activities they had chosen according to their interests.

After the kick off gathering, the participants dispersed to various activities on the grounds, including skating, climbing, MasterChef, wilderness, photo/video, painting, and more.

Erik and Lassi from Finland, who both enjoy cooking, took part in MasterChef and were particularly pleased to win the entire competition with their two dishes.

Erik (left) and Lassi (right) from Lahti were pleased to have won the whole MasterChef competition. Photo: private

Someone else who enjoyed the Tweens Day was Jenny from BCC Bergen. She participated in the water activities, and especially enjoyed water curling, the SUP board, and the water slide.

Now she was looking forward to tonight’s Intro gathering. She has seen several of the Intro programs before, and likes the everyday and simple language that the presenters use when they convey the Christian message.

“They say it in such a way that we understand it, because at regular meetings they sometimes use words that I don’t understand,” explains Jenny.

Intro Live in the plenary hall

“The most important thing about Intro is that it should be a real help for you where you are in life right now; a help to understand more and a help to believe,” said presenter Carine Stene from the stage.

At the evening’s gathering, the theme was “faith.” Here the children heard more about what it means to believe in Jesus, in a simple and understandable way.

The evening was opened with the song “Faith in Jesus fills us,” written by Sverre Riksfjord. Carine and her co-presenter Emil Larsen explained the message in the song by comparing faith to a key that makes what we read in the Bible come true in our own lives.

Sverre Riksfjord had also sent a personal greeting to the upcoming youth, motivating them to choose to believe in Jesus, even if they have not seen Him in person.

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29) was a central Bible verse throughout the evening. And at the end, the youngsters were encouraged to believe in God’s promises, and to have this as a guideline for life – because He only has thoughts of peace and hope for us.

After a rich evening, 170 tweens disappeared into the summer evening, together with mentors and friends. Carrying many new memories and impressions, they are hopefully ready to face the youth time ahead.

Intro Live, with “faith” as the theme, was hosted by Emil and Carine. Photo: BCC
A youth choir performed song items for the youngsters in the hall. Photo: BCC