Creating the right environment

From his very early life, James Ward has been involved with CRU ® . As a child, his parents were leaders and camp parents on CRU Camps at Lake Mac, his father was one of CRU’s first employees, and James and his sister spent weeks every summer on sailing camps alongside their parents.

“It was part of my upbringing,” James says.

But more than that, it was on a CRU Camp where James first gave his life to Jesus.

“I had the privilege of being part of a Christian home right from my earliest days… so it was the first time I had sat down and really understood that it was about me and the Lord Jesus Christ, as opposed to my family. There was a leadership team there [on camp] who really taught me it was about me, I needed to make those decisions.”

After becoming a Christian, James discovered a new passion for helping others hear about Jesus as well. “Almost immediately I said, ‘I've got to have responsibility now in telling others,’” James recalls. “That was the biggest change. I went from being passive, like this was happening around me, to working with my peers, my

friends, and later leading on camps. I suddenly realised it was my responsibility to… I wouldn't have used the word, but to evangelise. Not only did I need to grow in my personal life, but I needed to tell others.”

Thankfully, James was able to attend a CRU Group at his school, Barker, which continued to encourage and equip him in growing and sharing his faith.

Both the camp and school group environment were a crucial part of James developing a strong faith that he wanted to pass on to others, and after he left school he remained passionate about providing a helpful environment to others in which they, too, could start to follow Jesus.

Alongside his wife, Juliet, their children, and Peter and Rowena Bragg, James assisted in relocating CRU’s minibike camps to Attunga - a camp that continues today (now known as Easyriders and On Two Wheels).

“The reason motorbike camps were interesting to me was that the kids who came on camp tended to be a bit more rambunctious. To me, it was most rewarding. We were dealing with kids who were a bit more out there. And that was always exciting. We weren't dealing with the easy kids,” James remembers.

Despite the sometimes-challenging group of campers, James was thrilled by how powerfully God was at work in this special environment, with at least a few campers turning to Christ on every camp. “That was to do with the power of God’s hand on the camp,” James says. “It was amazing to see.”

Professionally, James is also passionate about creating environments that impact people. After a career in marketing for Johnson & Johnson, including some years working in the USA, James now works for NBRS Architecture, a Sydney-based firm.

“NBRS Architecture has 50 years of presence in the Sydney architecture community. It was started by a couple of Christian men, Noel Bell and Ridley Smith. They were a couple of talented architects who did a lot of work with the churches and schools of Sydney. So, St Andrew's House in Sydney was designed by NBRS, but also many churches,” James explains.

I think we have a huge responsibility as Christians to create great environments for young men and women to have ‘a pause’ in their life to experience Jesus Christ.

NBRS seeks to create life-changing environments through architecture, and still continues the Christian ethics and principles from its foundations over 50 years ago. James and the team are passionate about helping people to connect with one another and, in some cases, God.

James seeks to create this sort of environment within his workplace too, as he attempts to witness to his colleagues. “As a Christian worker, it’s your responsibility to create evangelistic moments,” James says. “And it helps when you have a group of people! We have a group of Christians here who all encourage each other to be a witness within the firm.”

James compares his current group of Christian colleagues to his CRU ® Group at Barker when he was young – it’s once again an environment where faith can grow and spread and be encouraged.

Though no longer leading on camps, James remains passionately committed to CRU, and is currently using his professional skills to chair the Lake Mac Redevelopment Taskforce and to serve on the CRU Board.

“I think what’s really exciting about it is that Lake Macquarie is such a formative place for so many people… It’s a very special place,” James says.

As CRU moves forward with a new brand and the new site soon to open, James is excited that CRU is unchangingly focused on creating an environment that helps the next generation know Jesus. He is glad to play a part in that mission – and beautifully articulates his views on why camps especially are so important for reaching young people:

“I think we have a huge responsibility as Christians to create great environments for young men and women to have ‘a pause’ in their life to experience Jesus Christ. The pauses in life, going away for a weekend or for a week, mean getting away from the crowd, and thinking. CRU Camp is a gift for kids. It gives them a pause from even their own family and their own school.”

“I think if I wasn't given the environment to have ‘the pause’ in life, I wouldn't have had a life. That's why it's my hope and prayer for kids I don't even know.”

Image source: NBRS Architecture, with architecture by Harry Seidler & Associates and sculpture by Robert Owen