3 From Gary’s Desk
4 Christ in My Corner — Jonah’s Story of Faith
7 2023 Annual Report
8 Meet Our Chair — David Braga
12 Summer CRU Holiday Camps 14 Solar Panels and COLA Update 15 A New Climbing Tower
16 Meet the New Summit Trainees
Cultivate replaces CRUView. Instead of a broad overview of CRU’s activities, Cultivate invites you into a deeper picture of CRU’s activities as we seek to share God’s love in Christ with a new generation.
We are inspired by Paul’s words in I Corinthians 3:5-9. He speaks of the growth of young believers as being like plants being cultivated in a field. Note that it is God’s field (v.9) but God does not farm it solo. Instead he assigns workers to different tasks (v. 5). Although he is the only one who causes growth (v. 7), other workers are described as his fellow workers (v.9). What an honour!
I am so thankful that you are a fellow-worker. Your involvement in supporting CRU through your prayers, gifts and expertise is cultivating young believers as God is changing hearts and lives. It’s a beautiful thing to see someone become more deeply rooted into God’s Word, and growing stronger in their faith, and producing fruit because of the Spirit’s work in them.
Please don’t stop praying! You’ll recall that Jesus told his disciples a parable to encourage them to pray and never give up (Luke 18:1). We often find that we pray for a while and then lose momentum. To help you keep praying for CRU’s ministry you will receive Cultivate twice each year and find in it a new look prayer diary, setting out key areas for you to pray for each week.
We are confident that the work of preparing soil, planting seeds, watering, providing nutrients and pruning will see a wonderful harvest because God is faithful. His Spirit is at work enabling us to work together in this, equipping us for the task, and opening hearts in response to the gospel of Jesus. It is a joy to work together in God’s field!
Gary Hill, Executive Director
At 15 years old, Jonah Korsten has big dreams of playing in the AFL. But beneath that ambitious drive is another, more important purpose — to follow Christ and live in a way that reflects his faith.
As the youngest of four boys, Jonah quickly learned how to look after himself. Driven and motivated by a desire to play AFL at the highest level, Jonah maintains a rigid schedule.
“I’m a big planner. I’ll plan my week, my month, my year — to make sure I stay focused and prioritise my goals. A typical week has school, then a lot of running, time in the gym, and meal prep.”
Jonah attended his first CRU Holiday Camp two years ago. While he doesn’t come from a Christian home, both his grandmother and mum had both been on CRU Camps when they were younger, and saw their value. While Jonah’s first camp didn’t quite go as planned, his second camp was life-changing.
“The first camp I went on was Sail Mania with my brother, Tighe, and all his mates. But after just one day the camp got called off due to COVID, so we didn’t really get into it too much. Thankfully, the next camp, a year later, was much better.
I can say with confidence that that camp was the best five days I’ve ever had. I met a bunch of new people, and loved every one of them and it was just so fun and so rejuvenating. I loved it so much — I can’t even put it into words.
My family is not Christian, and I didn’t go into camp for the faith aspect — and definitely didn’t pick that I’d become a Christian myself. But I was able to talk to the leaders like Leo, Dylan and Sarah, and they broke it down in a way that took away the whole social stigma. You can be led to believe that Christians are a certain type of people who do certain things and are a bit crazy. But the leaders took away that facade and made me realise what it actually means to follow Jesus and believe in something bigger than humans.
Realising and accepting this truth gave me a purpose and drive for something bigger than myself — I feel so much happier. I know it’s a big decision, but I’m thankful I have people around me that are assisting me on this journey — from the leaders on camp who have stayed in touch, to my parents who have been supportive as I take on this big change in life.”
Over the last year, Jesus has been working in Jonah as he continues to boldly live as a Christian.
“I think I was on a pretty bad path in terms of wanting all the fame and glory, but coming to Christ and turning to Him has definitely made me realise that it was selfish and a rocky road to be walking. Coming on a CRU Camp, and turning to Christ has changed that path. I’m not going to say that I’m happy every day, and that I live the best life possible. But now that I know the truth of the Bible and the values I should be living out, I know that is how I want to live in the future. I’m no longer living a selfish path.”
When we interviewed Jonah, he told us his intention to go to boarding school this year, to further pursue his AFL career. As much as Jonah was looking forward to the new experience, he was aware of the challenges ahead.
“In high school it is difficult, because you get made fun of for being a Christian. The school is great — they’ve got great youth leaders and counsellors you can talk to. There are tonnes of new people, it is a totally different environment, and I will have lots of setting up to do in terms of finding a youth group and church, which is going to be hard. And there aren’t many Christian kids, which can make it harder. But all that said, I’m sure with the big man’s help I’ll be able to pull it off.
As I said earlier, I’m a big planner. But knowing Christ means that it’s no longer a blind jump, or an endless walking around trying to figure it out. I used to get really stressed about the future, but knowing God’s got a plan, and that things are going to be sorted out, has really helped me and I can’t think of a better way to live. It is so nice that I get to wake up every morning and know He’s in my corner.”
“Now that I know the truth of the Bible and the values I should be living out, I know that is how I want to live in the future. I’m no longer living a selfish path.”
Five important facts from our Annual Report
118,000+
young people were reached with the gospel this year.
Our Schools Ministry team reached nearly 100,000 students with the gospel, in 251 schools across NSW, the ACT and WA. Combined with our CRU Holiday Camps and CRU Educational Camps, 118,174 young people heard the gospel through the ministry of CRU — praise God!
Nearly 1,000 young people indicated that they became a Christian or recommitted to following Christ.
The core purpose of our ministry is to tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord. It is our hope and prayer that sharing the gospel with young people will bring them into His kingdom and help grow their faith. Praise God that 960 young people indicated making a decision for Christ this year.
Nearly 60% of all camper nights at CRU sites were held at CRU Lake Mac.
Praise God that the new renovations to the site and the increased capacity were able to be fully utilised for the first time this year — with over 44,000 camper nights at Lake Mac.
Over 200,000 meals were served to 35,000 campers at CRU Lake Mac and CRU Galston Gorge.
Campers frequently mention food as one of their favourite parts of camp. This year we served a record number of nutritious and tasty meals — something that was only made possible by the tireless work of our wonderful kitchen staff at Galston and Lake Mac.
First full year of ministry largely unaffected by COVID.
We are so thankful that 2023 was the first full year of ministry largely unaffected by COVID. This meant increased ministry and increased income from camps, especially CRU Educational Camps and Guest Groups hiring CRU Lake Mac. This led to a surplus, in line with expectations, which was necessary to offset COVID losses and reduce borrowings. Praise God that we also saw a growth in opportunities across CRU West throughout 2023.
Scan here to view the full 2022-2023 annual report, or visit cru.edu.au/annual-report.
Perhaps you have heard of the Braga name around CRU? Well, the Braga lineage has been heavily involved and faithfully supporting CRU since the 1950s. In 2023, David Braga was elected as Chair of the CRU Board. Let’s get to know David and his heart for CRU.
I’m married to Karen. We’re into our 30th year, so next anniversary, I’m going to have to be ready for that! We’ve got three daughters — Emily, Sarah and Rachel.
If you had a free weekend, how would you choose to spend it?
I really switch off when we go to stay somewhere by the beach. I love doing landscape photography. Occasionally, I’ll get up early at 4am to take sunrise photos somewhere. I got the ‘sunrise bug’ from ending up on a Ken Duncan photography workshop one time. (It’d be really helpful if sunrise happened at 11am, but it doesn’t!) One of my daughters will even come along for the ride sometimes which is nice. It’s an amazing way of experiencing God’s creation.
I had the privilege of growing up in a Christian family, which then leaves you with that awkward position of when you’ve got to take ownership of the faith for yourself. It became clear for me when I went on CRU’s January Leadership Camp (JLC) during school. Everyone there was heavily involved in their CRU Group at school and I wasn’t. That made me think, oh wow, this actually has to mean something. You’ve got to take your faith seriously.
So, I spent the next year, Year 12, looking at whether the Christian faith had enough substance that I could trust it. I thought it’s either true or it’s not, and as you can see, I got to the end of that year and, by asking many questions that were important to me, I decided that this has substance and truth to it.
How did you first hear about CRU?
All four of my grandparents were involved in CRU since the 1950s, so I grew up knowing about CRU. My grandfather was a civil engineer and provided the original designs for the buildings that have become CRU Galston Gorge and CRU Lake Mac. He chaired the Senior Crusader Fellowship, and he was also Chair of CRU himself between 1957 and 1960. His wife Nora founded the CRU Women’s Fellowship.
My parents attended CRU Groups at school, led on camps and became teachers of the CRU Groups in the schools they were working at. They also helped with the working parties that my grandfather led to build CRU’s campsites. My daughters have attended CRU Groups at school, they’ve been on camps, and they’ve also led and directed camps.
I’m third generation in my family’s history with CRU; my daughters are fourth generation, so it’s a lovely story of God’s provision through families across generations.
This is something that I think is really special about CRU — the ability to speak from generation to generation. The way CRU brings the good news of Jesus to each generation through its camping ministry and schools ministry is powerful and it changes lives.
Every five or six years, we get a whole new school generation. So, that’s like another hundred thousand people who we have the opportunity to present the gospel to. It’s another generation of young Christians who have an opportunity for discipleship and growth. So, if we keep doing what we’re doing, we should have that sort of impact.
As an organisation, we hope to have continued the development of the CRU Lake Mac site. In our ministries, if we can keep developing CRU Day Camps, which has only been in existence for a short period of time, that’s a whole new set of people who can be reached. And CRU West — the ability to take the CRU model and continue to expand it into other parts of Australia, like Perth, is an incredibly powerful way to engage with the gospel.
Through those avenues, through more schools, different camping programmes, continuing the improvement of the sites that we’re blessed with, it’s all about reaching more people to bring them into God’s kingdom.
If you look at the big picture, with people attending church less, we need to be able to get the good news of Jesus into their lives. This keeps us all very motivated, but I think the way we engage with CRU can change over our lifetime. I’m not peer-aged for kids at school anymore, so I wouldn’t be the best camp leader, but now I have different skills that I have developed over my lifetime that I can bring to CRU. There’s a way for everyone to be a partner of this ministry, contributing as part of the vast CRU family.
“Our family reads Psalm 103 on every birthday, and dad has found written evidence of that being done as far back as the 1850s. That’s about 170 years!”
David at Saturday Night Meeting in 1989
This past summer over 1,100 campers attended one of 30 CRU Holiday Camps — which included activities like sailing, rock climbing, study sessions and much more! Most importantly, all of these camps included many opportunities to participate in Christian community and to hear about Jesus, and what He has done on the cross. We’re so thankful to everyone who supported this season of camps, and the 478 volunteers who generously gave up time during the holidays to help lead and run camps.
Over the past two years, generous supporters of CRU have funded the installation of solar panels at CRU Lake Mac, and a large covered outdoor learning area (COLA) at CRU Galston Gorge. These projects were important in allowing CRU to continue offering competitively priced camps and having the facilities to support a growth in the number of campers using our sites. Both projects are now fully installed and functioning!
After our electricity costs at CRU Lake Mac nearly doubled as prices rose across the country, we sought to install solar panels at our Lake Mac campsite. Initial installation began on the roof of the dining hall, and then continued on our cabins and staff office. In total, we installed 432 solar panels which will produce an average of 200 kW of power each day. This will save thousands of dollars every month in electricity costs.
The new covered outdoor learning area at CRU Galston Gorge was installed to completely shade and cover the outdoor basketball court. Not only does this installation provide protection from the sun, but it will also allow campers to use the court in wet weather situations. Prior to this installation, wet weather created difficulties when two guest groups were on site, as only the gym was large enough to run sizable group activities. Installing this COLA mitigates this problem by providing a large, covered area for games and activities to run, regardless of rain or intense sun. It also will provide an area for a large group or multiple small discussion groups to sit, even in inclement weather.
After months of planning and construction, the second abseiling and rock climbing tower with dual zipline is now open and operational at CRU Lake Mac!
Our Lake Mac Redevelopment Stage plans included the building of two climbing towers, as it was clear that increasing overall site capacity would require the development of new activities to accommodate larger group sizes. The first Lake Mac climbing tower was funded as part of Stage One and completed in 2020.
The second tower was financed by financed by a grant from the Australian Government as well as subsequent funding provided by the Thyne Reid Foundation and CRU donors. Construction of the second tower commenced in mid-2023 and was completed by the end of the year. Safety testing and training was then undertaken to ensure the new tower was ready for use on camps from Term 1 this year.
The 13-metre climbing tower is situated near the new archery course and oval, providing an incredible view over the campsite and across the lake. Similar to our first climbing tower, it features unique challenges for students to climb, including urban, speed climbing and vertical challenge walls for rock climbing.
The construction of our second tower created the opportunity for a brand new activity at CRU Lake Mac — a 147-metre dual zipline connecting the first climbing tower to the newly installed tower. As the first of its kind in the Hunter Region, the two climbing towers with connecting zipline bring a new and exciting experience to CRU Lake Mac, as campers are able to soar above the campsite as they look out across Lake Macquarie.
We’re so excited to see how this new tower and zipline will attract more young people to CRU Lake Mac, particularly on school camps and holiday camps, where they will hear the good news of Jesus.
This year we are so thankful to have 23 incredible Summit trainees joining our team!
From Sydney to Canberra to Perth, and with two internationals, this group has come from all over the country (and world!) to share the gospel with young people on camps.
We asked each of our new trainees a few questions about why they chose to join the Summit Program and how they’ve found their first month of training.
TAYLOR THOMSON
To learn how to run activities, grow in my faith and gain a deeper understanding of the Bible and Christianity.
NICHOLAS VAN
DER KLIP
I'm hoping to have a better sense of the gospel in a way that I can convey it to people of all ages and audiences.
STEFAN KRUGER
Just to grow more in my walk with God, but also to make more disciples and generally to have fun. Also to learn to live by myself.
LYDIA HUNTER
I'm just really looking forward to the outdoorness, all this physical activity and lots of talking with kids and different people. It'll be really fun. And I'm hoping to grow personally in my faith as well. I'll be talking about God every single day, which is more than I usually did in school.
ANDREW POWELL
I think in one sense I want to test myself in ministry, as it is something that I've wanted to go into for a few years now. That's kind of the main thing — seeing if I'm cut out for ministry, and even more specifically, if CRU is the place I actually do my ministry at!
BELLA CAMERON
Hoping to become more confident in talking to people and also talking to kids. I really enjoy hanging out with them and I want to be able to guide them in a way that they actually understand.
HEIDI PARKIN
I kind of came in not wanting to get something out of it, but wanting to give. I guess for me this is an opportunity to get into ministry, I enjoy this sort of thing so much.
My hope is that I can really refine how I spend my time and use it to glorify God, but also to gain a better understanding of how I can be showing the gospel and see if this is something I want to do long term. I think mainly it's learning how I can best answer questions and evangelise to people who aren't Christian.
Which new skills are you most keen to use or share?
THOMAS MCINTYRE
I'm keen to have honest discussions with campers, build friendships and have honest and open discussion about God and life.
TOM RICHMOND
I'm keen for discussion groups. That's something I’ve always enjoyed, but now I've got that extra bit of training that will be really cool to apply on camps!
The Climbing Tower! It was probably one of my favourites!
AMELIA MCINTOSH
I really enjoyed just learning everything this week — from safety procedures to how to share the gospel when canoeing. It just made me feel so prepared!
AMELIA PAULL
I'm just really excited to work the scriptures into the activities. They've given us these training techniques where you so smoothly transition the scripture into the activities to get the kids thinking. It's been so cool to learn.
KATE STOVOLD
I think assisting at rock climbing. I really enjoy doing rock climbing and I am quite scared of heights, but I feel like it is a good way to conquer your fears and support campers through that. Whether they're scared or whether they're really keen to go up and do it.
EMILY BELL
I think the water activities will be really good, especially sailing. I'm really excited for that. And stand up paddleboarding, canoeing, all of those ones!
What has been the best thing about Summit so far?
TIMOTHY SPARK
I think just meeting everyone. Everyone's really nice, and it's a great community just being able to hang out with everyone.
RONAN PARRY
One thing that really stood out is the testimonies. I loved hearing current staff member's testimonies, and that sort of prompted me to write mine and learn more.
VANESSA PIROM
Just in general, I'm really keen to go on camps, and just hang out with campers, to get to know them and chat to them — I'm really excited to connect with them!
I would say I've done a lot of good things. Stand up paddleboarding was really fun. We did terribly at it, it was a bit choppy in the water and stuff. But I really enjoyed just how fun it was with everyone. It was just a bit of a vibe and I really enjoyed that.
Just meeting everyone on the team. All the first years, growing relationships with them, and then meeting all the other team members has been really awesome because everyone's really nice!
I've really enjoyed the fellowship of being around other people. It's just been really encouraging that everyone's here for the same thing and we're all here for ministry and we’re just building each other up.
I think canoeing has been my favourite so far. Doing the capsizing activities was just so fun... and it's probably good to know how to rescue a capsized canoe!
Just growing in community with everyone, getting to meet a bunch of new people, and even though I’m the international person, being taken in as an Aussie and getting to hang out with everyone!
