How Mia got more than she bargained for!
“When I first started going to CRU camps, I tuned out during the Christian time” says 14-year-old Mia.
No doubt Mia is not alone. But there’s something special about CRU Camps that helps to awaken interest in even the most disinterested young person.
Growing up in a family that didn’t attend church, Mia didn’t know much about the Bible. She had made the decision to go on a Brightwaters CRU Camp purely for the wake boarding, knee boarding, water skiing, tubing and heaps of fun she could have with her friends.
However, after getting to know the leaders, Mia started listening to what it was they were saying about Jesus.
“I had always wondered why bad stuff happened to people” said Mia, and people on camp were talking about deep questions that don’t often get spoken about elsewhere. Her leaders were referring to the Bible as the source of truth in answers to life’s big questions and Mia started to take notice.
She says, “the leaders and the people who go on CRU Camps are all so encouraging and really helped me to think about God and what it is that I believe.”
It was also at this camp that Mia’s sister, Phoebe, gave her heart to the Lord. This made a big impression on Mia, but in her words, “I wasn’t going to believe just because she did!”
Instead, Mia spent the week peppering her leaders, Brynn and Halli, with questions and reading God’s Word for herself. She says, “the words of Isaiah 53:6 rang true for me and I knew I needed to make a decision one way or the other.”
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)
Then, on the last night of Brightwaters camp, a special evening was held at which leaders and Christian campers shared their testimonies. After giving a short talk, Jared, the camp speaker, invited all campers to join him in saying a prayer of confession if campers wanted to accept Jesus. Mia recounts, “Jared asked us to close our eyes, and if we wanted to become a Christian, to put up our hand. I prayed the prayer and raised my hand and experienced a peace and joy, knowing that God was now a central part of my life.”
It was a very special night as Mia’s friend Lauren also became a Christian that evening. Mia recounts, “we prayed and sang songs around the campfire together”.
Mia’s leader, Brynn, encouraged Mia to start attending a local youth group when she returned home and promised to support her through prayer.
Since camp, Mia has found staying on track with Jesus is not easy because “I don’t have Christian friends at school my age”. However, Mia says she has “started going to a youth group in Bondi and I have a Bible from CRU and read that quite a bit, and I pray every night.”
Mia is optimistic about the future as she knows that God is the source of all hope and she can rely on Him in everything. Her favourite Bible verse is Matthew 19:26 “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Mia hopes to lead on CRU Camps one day and help kids who, like her, came on camp for fun, but will leave with something more precious — faith!