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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.
Holiday Camps
• Praise God that a record number of campers (over 650!) enjoyed our autumn season of CRU Camps and heard the life-changing message of the gospel. Give thanks that four new camps were able to run after the disappointment of not being able to run last year due to COVID.
• Give thanks for the CRU Camps staff team. Jessica Shanks and Iain Aitchison finished up their time with us recently, and Stephanie Semler moved to Perth where she will continue to work for CRU West part time. Join us in thanking God for bringing Cristyn Sloan into the role of Volunteers’ Coordinator.
• It’s exciting to see Study Camps now running at CRU Lake Mac in autumn, winter, and spring seasons. Feedback continues to be overwhelmingly positive as the site’s reputation and impact grows.
Day Camps
• Thank God for Emily Jones and Emily Donald who have joined the Day Camps team as Camp Coordinators. Both Emilys bring a wealth of ministry experience and we’re excited to see how God will use them to continue to grow His kingdom through Day Camps.
• Pray for camps in the upcoming winter season. Most of our Day programs were cancelled last year due to COVID. Please pray that leaders and campers will return to camps after a year off.
• Praise God for our continued school partnership with Rouse Hill Anglican College. We were really excited to run the CRU Pulse Day Camp at the school in the autumn holidays after camp was cancelled last year due to COVID. Thank God for Robyn Gray and Wayne Conoulty, the chaplains at Rouse Hill.
Schools Ministry
• Give thanks to God for the Schools Ministry Associates: Naomi Andrews (2nd year), Laura Harvey (2nd year), and Nathan Smith (1st year), and the connections that they are making with senior school students in CRU Groups and on camps.
• Give thanks for the release of two new CRU lunchtime resources, A Big God Story – four studies on Jonah (infants and primary resource) and Big Questions (senior resource). Pray that these new studies will be useful in bringing students to Christ and growing students in their faith.
• The Schools Ministry team are looking forward to hosting the CRU Teachers' Conference in May. We are praying that it will be an inspiring day of training, encouragement and networking for teachers and chaplains.
Galston Gorge
• CRU has introduced an online bookings portal for groups using our sites and services. We are excited to see the system in place and pray that it will aid our groups in the organisation of their camp.
• Praise God that despite some nervousness demonstrated from a number of our clients, many groups continue to book and to run camps despite the challenges COVID has brought to our ministry. The first two terms of 2021 have been very busy with operations running smoothly under the new norms.
• This year, CRU Galston Gorge, along with CRU Educational Camps, engaged two new Property Ministry Assistants. Give thanks that they have helped ensure our operations and ministries run smoothly with their involvement in CRU Educational Camps, activity guiding, maintenance and COVID cleaning.
Lake Mac
• Give thanks for a number of new staff members who have joined the team recently. We now have a full-time Properties Assistant and an additional Housekeeper. This has been a huge blessing as the bookings at the campsite have been increasing greatly.
• Praise God that many more kids have been coming to camp and we have hit record numbers including our largest lunch for over 450 people in the one sitting. Please pray that the kitchen team will continue to cope with the larger camps, and that we find ways to increase efficiency without reducing the high standard of food we serve fresh each day.
• The 100-acre site across from the main campsite has allowed campers to experience ‘bivouac’ tent camping for the first time. We thank God that the campsite has been running smoothly and for the opportunity to implement new outdoor activities including bush cooking, campfires, orienteering and messy games.
Educational Camps
• Nineteen new Summit Program trainees joined the CRU Educational Camps Team in January. We praise God for bringing them to CRU, for sustaining them through an intense initial training period, and equipping them for ministry and how He has already been using them to grow His kingdom through a busy camps season.
• During Term 1 of 2021, CRU Educational Camps had the opportunity to run 39 school camps. With this number of camps praise God that over 3,500 campers came on camp and heard the gospel. We are incredibly thankful for the opportunity. As part of the CRU rebrand, we have stopped calling these ‘Summit camps’, and are instead using CRU Educational Camps to further connect our schools and students back to who we are as CRU.
• Praise God for the new Accredited Ministry Course that the Summit Program is offering our trainees – a Cert IV in Christian Ministry and Theology. Thank God for this awesome opportunity and pray that our trainees will be able to grow in their wisdom and understanding of our great God. As noted above, whilst we’ve stopped calling our camps ‘Summit camps’, we have retained ‘Summit’ as the name of our camping ministry traineeship.
CRU West
• Give thanks that for the first time, we have two camps running in winter, and two in spring. Please pray for the smooth planning and running of these camps.
• Praise God that 26 Christian groups are now running weekly around Perth and we're looking to add more as the year goes on.
• Our last Inter-CRUs have had over 60 students attend, including one school that made it a part of their CRU Group weekend away! Praise God that, at these inter-school events, students were encouraged by fellowshipping with Christian students from other schools.
