Mission Experiences and Day Tours

Delegates will take a bus to the fabled Blackall Range (formerly Bunya Mountains) in the beautiful Sunshine Coast hinterland. These were home to the legendary Bunya Festival, the largest pre-colonial gathering of Aboriginal people on the mainland, a time of feasting, story-telling and community reconciliation. Partnered with Queensland Baptists’ camping ministry, the TribalLink Cultural Awareness Centre, led by Aboriginal Christians, is a place of national reconciliation pointing to a spiritual narrative.

Participants will be provided with an experiential approach to the pre-contact lifestyle of the local custodians, the Jinibara and Kabi Kabi People. The day will include a rainforest walk on Queensland Baptists’ 55-acre camp property, including a bush tucka trail and interpretation of local flora and fauna (including a world class butterfly display) before a bushfood inspired lunch. A corrobboree and story-telling experience will also take place in TribalLink’s Rainforest Arena, including a Q & A on Aboriginal customs and society, and how the TribalLink leaders integrate a Christian worldview and approach into the TribalLink program.

Please Note: This event has limited capacity and requires minimum numbers to proceed. Book early to avoid disappointment. Bookings close 7 June, 2025.

Your tour guide, QCCC’s Director of Camping Andrew Grant, will lead you through QCCC’s values-based approach to camp programming (based on Romans 12 and the Beatitudes) and QCCC’s Triple Mandate Ministry strategy. The tour will take place while it is operationally hosting a denominational youth camp and will include lunch and a tour of the innovative TribalLink Cultural Awareness Centre.

Camping Ministry has been an integral and integral part of worldwide Baptist witness. Australian statistics suggest 1 in 2 conversions or rededications take place at camp. In 2025, Queensland Baptists’ camping ministry, Queensland Conference and Camping Centres (QCCC), will be in its 99th year of ministry. It began as a ministry to returned World War I veterans on a steamboat in Moreton Bay.

In Australia, the focus of camp venues is less on summer or holiday camps (though these still take place), and more on partnership with schools – both Christian and secular. QCCC is Queensland’s largest provider of outdoor education programming across its four venues and expedition programs. This tour will take place in QCCC’s largest venue, the custom-built QCCC Mapleton venue, situated on a spectacular 55-acre rainforest in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

Please Note: This event has limited capacity and requires minimum numbers to proceed. Book early to avoid disappointment. Bookings close 7 June, 2025.

We will ponder the questions: “How can we live the good news in urban, multicultural Australia?” and “How in your unique cultural context can you authentically live the good news as a follower of Jesus?”

The tour will involve:

• An initial 20-minute walk, which will include the opportunity for you to meet and listen to local First Nations Christian leaders. (Bus will also be available for those who need it.)
• A visit to the ‘Waiter’s Union,’ an intentional Christian community committed to cultivating neighborliness and serving marginalized populations in Brisbane.
• Bus transport to a local Baptist church to meet with representatives from diaspora communities who have made their home amongst Australian Baptists. Hear rich stories from diaspora leaders about living the good news as local and global Baptists and enjoy some food from different cultures.
• Transport back to the Congress venue.

Through this immersive experience you will gain insights into how Australian Baptists are authentically seeking to live the good news of Christ, through building relationships, pursuing justice and engaging in mission across cultures in an Australian urban context. You will be encouraged and challenged to consider how you can cross the street, and the world, come alongside others and live the good news through word and deed.

Baptist Mission Australia is the intercultural mission arm of the Australian Baptist movement. We have more than 140 years’ experience in embodying the good news of Jesus – by word and deed – with people around the globe and in Australia. We are committed to incarnational, contextual integral mission approaches, seeking to share the hope of Jesus with people in their communities and cultures in ways that make sense. Our vision is to see vibrant faith communities following Jesus in their own distinctive ways and living out the ways of Jesus in their local communities.

Please Note: This event has limited capacity. Book early to avoid disappointment.