Dynamic duo serving up safe spaces

Dynamic duo serving up safe spaces

Volunteer cooks, Eric and Mim Andrews, literally feed the ministry at GENTS camp, fueling up to 130 campers and leaders with wholesome meals across multiple days of deep learning and boisterous activity.

They recently reflected with us on how all the hard work inside the kitchen is worth it.

“There are not enough safe spaces in the world anymore,” says Mim. “The creation of things like the internet has separated us. We can either hide away or we can engage.”

At GENTS camp boys aren’t just engaged, they are welcomed, nurtured, and discipled by older leaders.

“The foundation of GENTS is to help boys grow up to be the type of men the world needs,” affirms Eric.

The truth is, that it takes many cooks to make this invaluable work happen. Thanks to you –our supporters – for continuing to partner with us to make vital safe spaces of discipleship and growth like GENTS camp available in our troubled world.

New Beginnings

When Eric, Mim and their family moved from Central West NSW to Adelaide, they had no idea what was ahead of them. They joined a church and met SU’s Hamilton McNicol.

“We were fairly new in that church and Hamilton found out Eric was a chef…it’s all Hamilton’s fault,” laughs Mim.

“He found out I was a chef and asked if I was interested in catering for GENTS camp. That was the 2021 GENTS camp. My wife and I agreed to do that and that was the start of our journey, really, with GENTS,” says Eric.

“And Scripture Union,” adds Mim.

(If you are noticing a pattern here, that these two finish each other’s sentences and thoughts, you wouldn’t be wrong. They are unabashed about the fact they work as a team: “a duo,” Mim calls them).

Changed Lives

Mim recalls a particular camper from her first GENTS camp who has stuck in her mind:

“On our first camp, there was a young boy and he obviously didn’t know Christ. He didn’t really want to be there and it showed in the way he expressed himself.

“By the end of camp, we’d seen a change already happening in his life. And that was just one boy!” says Mim.

“This year you wouldn’t have recognised him. He was a totally different young man.”

Safe spaces like GENTS camp are especially important to Mim because of her own life journey.

“My childhood was full to the brim of challenges. By the time I was 9 years old I’d been to 11 primary schools,” reflects Mim.

“I have regretted my childhood but at the same time I have not because it has made me the person I am today.”

When Mim was adopted when she was twelve by her very first foster parents, and introduced to God, she became a Christian. Over the years as her adopted parents continued to foster children, she became the older sister to many young people with hard stories.

Diagnosed with MS nine or ten years ago, Mim could no longer work. She does much of the prep work for the GENTS kitchen, beginning months ahead to get the best value and ingredients she can find, while Eric plays the more immediate role in the kitchen over the camp.

More Meals to Come

With two sons of their own, 14 and 12 years old, the couple plans to keep cooking at GENTS until their youngest is no longer able to attend.

As with all ministry work, the encouragement is more than one directional.

“We get so much back from the boys and the team. It goes both ways,” Eric says.

“Some of the boys will look us in the eyes and say, thank you so much. We appreciate the effort,” continues Mim.

“You deserve it,” she replies to them. “You deserve good food.”

There are so many ways to show God’s love to young people. Eric and Mim do it through their warm-hearted cooking ministry, but everyone can play a part, as they encourage us:

“People need to get behind Scripture union and support any way they can, prayer, financial support, whatever….It’s about what God can continue to do to be a recognised presence in today’s society,” says Mim.