Ahh… Tahlee! Driving to camp, you just know it’s going to be a wonderfully blessed time.

Early in the New Year, about 140 saints gathered for a week just north of Newcastle in New South Wales.

Brothers and sisters came from all over NSW and ACT, along with intrepid travelers from further afield—Queensland, South Australia and even Western Australia.

We began the camp by relating our time ahead to the Feast of Tabernacles (Festival of Booths) from Leviticus 23.

This feast was held at the end of the summer harvest. Everyone paused for a week, from Sabbath to Sabbath, to reflect and rejoice.

The people left their ‘permanent’ houses and traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate God’s provision in the past year and to acknowledge their dependence on Him for the year ahead.

To remind present-day Israel how He provided for their ancestors during their 40-year journey through the wilderness, God instructed them to build small, temporary huts made from branches. These would be their homes for the week.

Life suddenly became simpler.

Each night, families would fall asleep beneath the vast night sky, wrapped in God’s glory and filled with stars.

This week of living the simple life was designed to change them.

Tahlee is quite like a modern-day Feast of Tabernacles—we leave our permanent homes and busy lives to spend a week with God’s people.

While living in some pretty basic accommodation, surrounded by the beauty of God’s creation, we rejoice in Him and His blessings in our lives.

It reminds us that the ‘permanent’ things in our daily lives—houses, jobs, bank accounts, cars—are not truly permanent. God is.

The cares of this life fade. Our souls are refreshed. We are changed.

Highlights from our week together included:

• Ministry and testimonies that were so clearly Holy Spirit-inspired, each one connecting with and building upon the next.
• A night dedicated to items (likely to become an annual event).
• Sam receiving the Holy Spirit and then being baptised in the middle of a storm—unforgettable.
• An idyllic summer evening, having dinner together while overlooking the water, with families fishing off the wharf—and the fish were even biting!
• Young people living their best life in the Lord—from impromptu late-night chorus sessions to their incredible group item.
• The prayer cabin, packed every day!
• Everyone—unified, contributing, rejoicing, and relaxing.

Tahlee truly is the best way to start the year.

Who knows what’s ahead in 2025?

For me, a quote from a beautiful song, written and performed by Sister Tamsyn Terry and her daughters, captures it best:

‘Thy will be done, and good things will come
to those who walk and are led by Him.

Trust in Jesus,
Knowing He is,
Knowing He will,
Knowing He has.’

See you at Tahlee 2026!