Communicator Issue 22 Autumn 2008

Autumn

Connecting the Christian Camping Community

Connect 08 Christian Supply Chain Effective Camp Programs The Last Word www.cciaus.org.au • 1800 009 890 • Newsletter Of Christian Camping International Australia • ISSUE 22

FIRST UP|02

Ken Pull en

First Up!

Galileo stated “Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so”.

•

Taking the average number of guests and applying this to 220 organisations indicates 1,474,000 guests per annum.

•

New groups making bookings are approx 23% [25%], repeat bookings thus average 77% [75%] (55% [50% ] from the last year, and 22% [25%] from previous years).

When surveys are conducted your responses count. It’s why the Australian Bureau of Statistics spends millions of your tax dollars, and pollsters charge huge fees, to measure your activities and opinions.

•

Prices for 2008 are increasing with 90% [65%] of centres raising prices most commonly in the 3 to 5% [3 to 4%] range.

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80% of centres saw a rise in their prices of 3 to 5% [2 to 3%] over the previous year.

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Only 54% of sites expect to increase un-catered prices in 2008.

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Approximately 50% [47%] of centres offer some form of program, 57% [66%] of these centres charge extra for the program elements and approx 57% [50%] of members offer discounts for adults accompanying school children.

CCI Australia conducts surveys on a regular basis and these are designed to assist you, and others in our ministry of Christian Camping, by providing trends and averages you can compare your ministry to.

A Pricing and Usage Survey was conducted in Nov/Dec 2007. This followed a comparable survey in 2005. You can download the full results and comparisons from http://www.cciaus.org.au/pdf/ priceusagesurvey08.pdf Here is a very brief summary: 85 Conference Centres or Camps undertook the Survey (about 34% of the total number in CCI/Aus). The survey contained a representative spread of large and small centres.

The majority of responses show a growth in; •

The number of Guests, Groups, and Guest Days over the past year, and

•

The number of Guests, Groups, and Guest Days compared to 5 years ago.

However the percentage of respondents experiencing growth in these areas over the past year was lower than in the 2005 survey (43% vs 59%). The percentage of respondents who noted growth compared to 5 years previously was higher than in the 2005 survey (78% vs 66%). This may imply a downward or cyclical trend in the short term.

These statistics and averages should be of use to you as you plan for your centre.

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Be encouraged if you are at or above averages in usage rates, and

•

You now have indicators to strive for if your centre operates at lower rates.

CCI Australia Serving and enabling Christian Ministries to provide unique temporary communities.

CCI Australia is a fellowship providing pastoral and practical support through its members. Its purpose is to promote Christian Camping as a means of presenting the Gospel and building up Christians in their faith.

Average Number of Guests: 6,700; Max 40,584; Min 33 [6,801 / 34,549 / 40]

Christian Camping International Australia

Average Number of Guest Days: 12,905; Max 81,169; Min 100 [10,941 / 77,735 / 54]

PO Box 5552, South Windsor NSW, 2756

Number of Days the Centre is in use: 201; Max 365; Min 44 [195 / 365 / 56]

(02) 4587 7155; Fax: 02 4587 7933

ABN 74 050 611 295 Ph: 1800 009 890 or E-mail: cciaus@cciaus.org.au Web: www.cciaus.org.au

Average Usage •

(Guest Days/Number of Beds) this past year averaged almost 24%, Max 52% and Min 4%. [in 2005 24% / 56% / 4%]

•

Extrapolation of these results to the 25,000 beds managed

by CCI Australia members results in 2,190,000 camper days across Australia [1,839,600 in 2005].

The attention of advertisers is drawn to the Trade Practices Act 1974 and the provision in the Act which apply to advertising. It is not possible for CCI Australia to ensure that all advertisements in this publication comply in all respects with the Act and the responsibility must therefore be on the person, company or advertising agency submitting the advertisement for publication. The views and opinions expressed by authors belong to those authors and are not necessarily the views and opinions of CCI Australia

CONNECT|03

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CONNECT|04

e k a e p s e h t m o r f d A wor The Darkroom Principle | duffy robBins My friend’s hobby is photography. He develops his pictures in his own dark room, doing his creative work in a basement hideaway whose major feature is darkness or dim light, dipping the undeveloped pictures into several different chemicals so that they will develop properly when exposed to light.

It was a few days after my first tour through his dark room that I began to gain a new appreciation of how God often works in life and ministry. I now call it “The Dark Room Principle”: It takes a dark place to bring out the light in a picture.

One of the most challenging elements of real life youth ministry is understanding that sometimes God’s most creative work is in places of difficulty and deep darkness. Maybe that’s why David wrote in Ps 19: “Day to day pours forth speech, night to night declares knowledge”. David was a man whose own process of development knew more than its share of darkness. But, it may have been those times of darkness that taught him the lessons he simply could not learn in the light.

Daylight brought lots of speech, but darkness brought knowledge. Don’t ever underestimate what God can develop in the dark rooms of life and ministry.

catching the vision | DAn Bolin I had great eyesight during the first 43 years of my life. I could see details from near and far and needed no help from eyeglasses.

Then one day while fishing, I realised that I could not see the end of the line I was attempting to thread through a small eyelet. In fact, I could barely see the eyelet.

For months I had needed help and didn’t know it. A trip to the eye doctor and a new pair of glasses provided me with a new perspective, new details and new ability.

As Christian camping leaders we may have been “fishing well” for many years. Our ministry may have been effective and productive without assistance. But things change. What worked well in the past may not connect with youth today. Excellent programs and systems that produced powerful results may not be creating the same impact they once did.

CCI could provide the check-up you need. The CCI Australia National Conference CONNECT08, July 28 to August 1, might bring the clarity and vision you need to refocus your Christian camping ministry for greater effectiveness.

CONNECT|05

ers Unpacking for young adults today | Tim Hein I look forward to connecting and discussing some fascinating and critical issues related to young adults today. Our culture at present is unlike anything the world has seen before. They are fascinating, and openly hungry for things which define them as people.

Last night I saw an interesting little movie, Juno.

Its tale follows a quirky young schoolgirl who discovers she is pregnant and begins to deal with the reality of her situation. Juno is quite a determined young girl, quite honest about her mixed up life and fragile identity. Quite interestingly, she is surrounded by a circle of complex adults who represent various subcultures and generations. They are all dealing with their issues too. Baby boomers, generation X and generation Y, yuppies and working class, sporties and artists, mainstream and alternative, punk and rock. The entire film firstly celebrates

the intricate details which separate us as people, but then dives into the fragile human things which resonate with everyone. Our lifestyles, tastes and personalities help define us – but do not shield us from the ways things really are.

At conference we are going to unpack some of the essential elements to understanding this generation, especially as they reach young adulthood, traditionally a missing age group for the church. To me, they are like cats – with their own story, own journey, own choices – and remember – you can’t herd cats! So what does it mean to build community with this generation?

What do we need to understand about their culture and quirks, so we might find that human connection?

I look forward to a substantial and joyful time with you there!

Stepping Out | David Willersdorf A while back I was reading Hebrews 11. It talks about faith. If you’re like me, you might expect faith to be like Harrison Ford stepping onto thin air in Indiana Jones III. He closes his eyes, takes a step and later realises that he is now walking on a carefully camouflaged solid rock bridge. He worked up some sort of feeling and acted on it.

In reality I’m finding that real faith is simply relying on God doing what He says He will do because He is who He says He is. The faith part is placing yourself in a position where either God will move, or you will fall flat on your face. It’s not as much stepping into the unknown – it’s stepping into what you know about God.

Back when I was reading Hebrews 11, I began a long journey to producing my next worship DVD and CD. At the time I sensed God say to ‘go for it.’ Since then there have been obstacles and victories. In some things I’ve fallen over, in others God has held me on my feet. I think the journey is doing me much more good than the completion of any album!

The only thing separating us from the people in Hebrews 11 is whether we jump out when we recognise God’s call. I can’t wait to hear God’s chuckle when we finally learn through faith how big and loving He is!

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PROGRAM|08

So how did it go?

Evaluating the effectiveness of our camp programs Put simply, you’d want to know that it was worthwhile. On top of the millions of dollars which are invested into campsites and facilities, there are months of work put into planning, marketing, organising, acquiring, preparing, budgeting and training. At the end of camp many leaders are exhausted from having given their all to care for their young charges.

You’d want to know it was worthwhile.

Now at one level, just hearing of a solitary life impacted by the love of God is certainly worth it – after all, we know it causes the hosts of heaven to celebrate (Luke 15:10)! Yet perhaps we would benefit from enquiring more closely into the effectiveness of our programs so that we can fine tune our allocation of resources.

While any human measure of spiritual effectiveness is fraught with difficulty, I was interested to recently discover a report prepared by Christian Research UK based on a survey of 1,400 young people who attended Christian camping programs. The research was sponsored by CCI UK and a number of leading Christian program providers in the UK.

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There was a significant increase in their understanding of, and belief in, Christian doctrine

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There was also a significant increase in their desire to and practice of reading the Bible regularly

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On the other hand, children who attended the term-time camps which typically had no structured Christian teaching (but rather relied on leaders to share their faith when suitable moments arose) showed no spiritual growth

e in “Increas to sire their de e of ctic and pra Bible” the reading

It involved students completing questionnaires both before and after their residential camps. (In the case of the holiday camp group, the “after” surveys were completed three months after the camp program finished.) This allowed the researchers to assess the impact of the program after life had returned to normal – and not just in the flush of “last-day-of-camp” euphoria. In addition, focus groups were held involving students who had been on holiday camp 10 months earlier.

So what did they learn? Was it all worthwhile?

Interestingly, the researchers discovered varying things, particularly affected by the structure and type of camp that the students attended.

The findings included the following: •

Children who attended the residential holiday camp programs which included structured Christian teaching showed a high spiritual impact

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Around 12% indicated that they became Christians

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oth types of camps saw significant increases B in the campers’ self-esteem. (Interestingly, this increase was greatest in the small group of camps which offered Christian teaching as part of a termtime program.)

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here were profound variations in what prompted T children to attend camp in the first place, and what stirred them to come back (if they did).

As I read the report, it prompted lots of questions.

Would we find similar results in Australia? How might we better target our advertising if we knew some of this information? How can we measure the effectiveness of our camping programs? Should CCI Australia be involved in conducting research of this nature on behalf of our members? If so, what do we want to assess?

I have no doubt that many CCI members have great stories to tell of lives impacted by the gospel of Jesus Christ. In many cases, the taste of Christian hospitality was so distinctively different it prompted questions. But I wonder whether we would benefit from more rigorous analysis of the effects of the programs we run. Hopefully, it would allow us to more wisely allocate resources in a way which honours God. If you are interested in further exploring these questions, please email me via <garyh@crusaders.edu.au>. If there are enough takers, we’ll start a blog. Gary Hill is CCI Australia’s Deputy Chair and Executive Director of the Crusader Union of Australia based in NSW and has a wealth of Christian Camping experience. http://www.crusaders.edu.au/

CSCBG|09

One of the key functions of the CCI Australia National Office is to promote Christian Conference Centres and Camps as we believe that the Christian camping ministry is one of the most successful in gaining commitments to

Christ

We have had several initiatives to assist in this promotion. Our membership would be aware of our website and Venuefinder, a service offered to organisations or persons seeking a camp or conference centre venue and providing a portal for their enquiry to be forwarded to all matching camps. There is also “Somewhere To Go”, our annual directory of all sites sent to some 16,800 schools, churches and theological colleges. These combined with our presence at several trade shows throughout the year represent the main promotions of CCI/ Aus sites.

We have also offered bulk buying, discounting and preferential purchasing as member benefits since 1986. This program has been appreciated and used by our membership but it was introspective and did not offer these benefits to the wider Christian community.

We believe that to increase the profile of Christian Conference Centres, Camps and Christian camping outside our own community we can expand the bulk buying service to incorporate our user groups of Christian Schools, Churches and Theological Colleges. As we extend the benefits already experienced by CCI/Aus members to other Christian organisations through the CSC Buying Group we expect to see their ministries benefit. What we will receive in return is an opportunity to market the witness, fruits and gifts of hospitality, accommodation and service available through Christian Conference Centres and Camps.

It is for this purpose that Christian Supply Chain Buying Group (CSC Buying Group) has come into existence.

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By offering the products and services to the wider Christian Community we will increase the demand and volume of such products and services. This will ensure that CSC Buying Group has the bargaining power to negotiate best possible prices and deals with service providers and manufacturers on behalf of our members – a benefit to you.

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This activity will also generate rebates for CSC Buying Group (which will be administered by CCI/Aus) and returned to the Christian Camping Ministry.

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This will also provide us with direct, valid and legal avenues for promotion and marketing of Christian Camping, CCI/Aus sites and activities to our user groups. Our existing publications, i.e. Communicator, Somewhere to Go and Mondays Mail as well as the specific CSC Buying Group communiqués, can then be better utilized to promote our services to these groups.

If you have an association with any of the potential new user groups like a Church, Christian school, business or college, you can assist them and CCI/Aus by introducing them to CSC Buying Group.

CSC Buying Group exists solely to assist our members in reducing the costs associated with ministry. Your support of this aspect of CCI Australia,s Ministry is essential to the success of this new initiative!

To join simply complete an application form available at www.cscbg.org.au

CHRISTMAS|10

CCI Functions over

Christmas CCI Australia Qld Christmas Lunch 2007- Ian Edgar

Christmas gettogether at Wirraway

A total of 29 CCI Australia Queensland members met for our annual Christmas Luncheon at QCCC Tamborine on the 6th of December. We were particularly pleased to have with us a new member campsite known as The Log Cabin.

After morning tea Kingsley brought us his usual timely message, followed by a time of sharing of our hobbies. It is surprising the creativeness of some of our members.

This was followed by a superb lunch put on by the QCCC Tamborine staff, with a time of fellowship and a look around the site. As usual a great day was had by all who attended.

NSWTwo members write.

Western Australia 2007 CCI Christmas Party 14 December

The WA CCI Christmas Party was held at Camp Logue Brooke near Harvey. There was an encouraging attendance with quite a few new faces. The opportunity to meet with people sharing common passions, interests and trials was terrific.

We had a presentation from Bakels, a food supplier, who showed the different premade ready to cook gourmet biscuits, muffins and treats. Of course the best part was being able to sample the goodies.

Our speaker was from Frontier Services a Uniting Church outreach program to the remote communities in the outback. He was extremely passionate about his ministry and it was interesting to see that this outreach does travel to the extreme parts of Australia.

Finally at the end of the day the Logue Brooke Manager offered a site viewing which was a great opportunity to see a different site and all its facilities and grounds.

“The CCI dinner was a great success. The food was something to write home about. The night’s entertainment was by The Salvation Army Staff Songsters.

Their voices were delightful and brought on a real sense of Christmas. The guest speaker shared a word truly from the heart. It was a great night of fellowship with people who share the same passion and interest in sharing Christ’s love.”

“I just wanted to convey my thanks for a very enjoyable and uplifting evening. The venue was superb, the food first class and the fellowship memorable.”

There was a sense of excitement as the CCI Australia South Australian Members arrived at Wirraway camp,set in the lovely rolling hills of Strathalbyn.

A group of 39 people gathered together to share fellowship and worship the One Jesus who, coming as a Baby without any fanfare, has given the world a hope and encouragement as we make our way though life.

Our hosts, Peter and Nina Arnott, welcomed members, including Ron and Joyce Werner from Camp Kedron Barmera.

Naturally, a Christmas gathering should include a time of carol singing and it was lovely to hear the children singing various carols that made it all worthwhile. Our chaplain Laurie Venables reminded the group about a pussycat who visited the Queen and only saw the mouse under the chair. We at Christmas should not only think of Father Christmas but of the King Jesus who was born approx 2000 years ago and at this time celebrate His birth.

Our chairman, David Flood, thanked Peter and Nina for their hospitality and kindness, making the occasion well worth the effort to get there.

Tasmania - One member writes

It was a great day! Good weather, good food, many friends from all over the island and a general air of ‘Christmas-ness’ as well! This was the CCI Australia Tasmanian Christmas BBQ combined with the end of year ‘break-up’ for the Mission Afloat crew! We were joined for this event by Les and Marj Batchelor, our Tassie Chaplains, staff from Blue Lagoon and Woodfield Lodge.

We swapped stories, farewelled staff and welcomed new ones, encouraged each other in word and in prayer. Allister spoke of the concept of placing a mark in the sand at the end of a busy year …

‘We’ve made it this far!’ and this thought resonated with staff from the other sites. At the end of a happy and relaxing afternoon we said goodbye and promised another BBQ for Christmas 2008!

LAST WORD|11

The Last Word

Ever is the War Cry Paul, after listing all the experience of life that could rob us of a victorious Christian experience, gives us that marvellous verse in Romans 8:37 “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

The New Living translation puts it “No, despite all these things,

it up with the SOURCE of the promise. The source is Jesus

overwhelming victory is ours, through Christ who loved us.” I

Christ Himself. Notice it is in the past tense ‘through Christ who

guess you have hung on to that verse as I have over many years

loved us.’ The victory has been secured for us by His own victory

now. Many times trusting when we haven’t been able to see or

over sin, death and the grave. A line of an old hymn says ‘for the

fathom the ‘why’ of it all.

CONQUERING SAVIOUR can break every chain and give us the

As we move into this New Year it is timely to remind ourselves

victory again and again.’ Hallelujah!

again of the SCOPE of this promise. Nothing that is before us is

As 2008 unfolds, already at a rapid pace and the need for us

beyond Him bringing us through it and being victorious over it. “In

personally to maintain a victorious Christian experience, have

ALL these things.” It doesn’t end there, for look at the SCALE of

another look at Romans 8:26 through to the end of the chapter.

the promise. The promise is that we will not just make it battered

It will encourage you in your daily walk with the Lord. Sincere

and bruised but we will come out of it ‘MORE than conquerors’ or

greetings!

as the other translation puts it ‘OVERWHELMING victory’ will be ours. Then just to make sure we have no illusion the verse wraps

Errol Woodbury

Chaplains Introducing the

Errol & Dot Woodbury

Kingsley & Pamela Alley

Laurie & Rohna Venables

Les & Marj Batchelor

NSW

QLD

WA, SA & NT

TAS

To contact your nearest chaplain call 1800 088 249

We are going to...

Australia

ZOO It’s all about YOU! It’s a big day out at the Crocodile Hunter’s Australia Zoo, where there is no other zoo like it. The friendly and experienced zoo keepers will expand your knowledge and passion, and the dropdead gorgeous animals can’t wait to get up close and personal with YOU! There is always something new to see or do, with a multi-million dollar expansion currently in progress.

With over one thousand native and exotic animals, a line up of interactive animal encounters, an action-packed 24-hour wildlife hospital and one amazingly adventurous Zoo crew, there is never a dull moment at Australia Zoo. If you’ve ever wanted to handfeed an Asian Elephant (for FREE!), cuddle a koala, walk alongside a cheeky cheetah, wrap a Burmese python around your shoulders

or waddle with a wombat, then Australia Zoo is your ultimate destination.

There is stacks of wildlife action every day and plenty of exciting wildlife shows. Get your adrenalin pumping when you watch a massive Saltwater Crocodile launch a strike in the 5000 seat Crocoseum and catch the thrilling free flight birds as they fly right over your head in this amazing stadium. Other daily shows include the cheeky Asian otters, the cuddly koalas, snakes, and we can’t forget the playful tigers who love to stalk their handlers and go for a swim in the magnificent Tiger Temple.

A part of CONNECT 08