CRU Ministry & Property Updates

We are thankful for the great work God is doing through CRU ® . Stay up to date with everything that is happening in our various ministries and properties.

“More than comfortable and a lot of options for activities, the gym a BIG plus.”

St John's Park Baptist Church, guest at CRU Galston Gorge

“Thanks so much for sowing into our students and taking the time to get to know them and build relationships with them. I love how you guys run camp - the care you have for our kids and the genuine desire you have for them to grow as people - both in themselves and in the Lord.”

Andrew, teacher at Medowie Christian School, on a CRU Educational Camp

“CRU is amazing. It has made such a difference in my life for many years. Thank you so much!”

CRU Group attendee, Barker College

HOLIDAY CAMPS

Praise God for the 3 new camps that ran in January: CRU Sports, CRU Frenzy (our first Canberra camp) and a rebirthed January Leadership Camp (JLC) – our new annual CRU Camps Junior Leadership Camp. Praise God that over 100 campers indicated a commitment to following Jesus from our summer camps. Pray that these young people will continue to grow in their faith and be supported by churches and school groups. We are saddened that, due to COVID-19, we were unable to provide the CRU Camps experience for campers in autumn or offer our services to parents, who value our support for them and their children. We look forward to being able to provide our camps to you again, before too long. We’re thankful for your ongoing partnership and support.

EDUCATIONAL CAMPS

Despite a COVID-19 interrupted Term 1, CRU Educational Camps still had the opportunity to run 25 school camps. Praise God that 2,121 campers came on camp and heard the gospel – we are incredibly thankful that, by God’s grace, we saw 46 students make a commitment to follow Jesus for the first time!

Ten new Summit Program trainees joined the Summit team in January. We praise God for bringing them to CRU, for sustaining them through a very busy initial training period, equipping them for ministry. Although our ministry context is different at the moment, we’re very thankful that they’re all still able to be serving God through CRU at this time.

We are incredibly thankful for our schools that, like us, see the value of camp and the positive impact it can have, so have sought to postpone camp to later in the year rather than cancel entirely in the midst of these difficult times. With so many camps being postponed, God willing and if safe to do so, we are preparing for our busiest 2 nd semester ever that will then lead into our biggest ever Term 1 in 2021.

GALSTON GORGE

As part of our energy efficiency and solar projects, we are in the process of replacing fluorescent lighting with LED technology. Please pray that the installation of the lights goes smoothly. Praise God that solar production has been exceeding expectations and we’ve been welcoming the sight of smaller energy bills. During the COVID-19 restrictions, we have been grateful for the way in which our staff have been willing to serve in different areas of operations and for the work carried out by the bookings team to manage cancellations and bolster bookings for future years. While many conversations have been challenging we have also had many messages of support and encouragement from groups. We are thankful to God for His provisions.

SCHOOLS MINISTRY

In January, the Schools Ministry team were delighted to have Bailey Dodds and Jason Todd join the team as Schools Ministry Workers, and Laura Harvey and Naomi Andrews join the team as Schools Ministry Associates. All four new members bring a range of skills and gifts to our team and we are looking forward to God using them to minister to students in schools and on camps. We are thankful that despite huge interruptions to schools and the removal of our school visitation program during this COVID-19 period, many CRU Groups are able to keep meeting online and whilst we can’t physically visit, we still have the opportunity to support teachers, chaplains and students with digital resources and other ways.

DAY CAMPS

Praise God for our Day Camp partners. We’ve been encouraged by the support they’ve shown to the ministry and their prayers for us through this challenging time for CRU. Please pray for our school and church partners as they themselves prepare to do ministry remotely where possible. We’ve recently developed a new ‘Lost and Found’ teaching resource based on Luke 15. It has been really exciting to see how children have responded to the message of God’s unconditional love for them. Pray that God will continue working through the Bible teaching we do on Day Camps in the future. Our recent camps in Sydney’s North West have all reached capacity. Praise God for the high demand we see for camps in this area and pray that God will continue to work to grow His kingdom in these local communities through Day Camps once we are able to run them again.

COVID-19 has left CRU with a $1.1 million shortfall and future camps are in jeopardy

Please DONATE NOW: cru.edu.au/cruviewcamps