We’re so thankful to everyone who supported our Christmas Appeal last year. Generous donors raised more than $70,000 to help us upgrade our Galston Gorge dining hall.
Our dining hall is at the centre of our guests’ camp experience — a space where they gather multiple times a day and where conversations about faith naturally take place over meals. But our catering facilities in the servery area were increasingly stretched as we welcomed guests from all over Sydney and beyond, many with additional dietary needs. Our large camper numbers meant leaders and campers were struggling to hear each other in the dining hall due to the poor acoustics — which made it difficult to engage campers in faithfilled discussions.
But in God’s kindness through our generous supporters, these two issues have been addressed, as our dining hall upgrades have been completed — and we’re already seeing an impact. Leaders have told us how much easier it is to hold faith-based conversations during meals, and meals are far more easily managed by our staff team now that we have a designated servery and food storage area just for special diets.
These changes aren’t just practical; they allow campers to hear the gospel and to experience Christ’s love as we actively meet dietary needs. As one Holiday Camp leader shared, “the changes to the dining hall were incredible! I could actually hear the campers as they shared their stories, and I could tell them about Jesus without raising my voice.”
Changes like these make a real difference, and we couldn’t do it without our CRU community. Thank you to everyone who continues to support our work through prayer and financial giving.