MAD Camp: Raising up young leaders

How do we raise up the next generation of young Christian leaders?

It’s a question that is close to our hearts at SU Australia as we seek to equip and release young Christian volunteers who will go on to lead teams in communities across our nation to make a powerful and lasting difference. 

For MAD (Make A Difference) Camp directors Karen and Sunny, it’s a challenge they’ve taken to heart and are now running with as part of an exciting new initiative.  

After the growing success of MAD Camp in recent years, Karen and Sunny noticed that a core group of returning campers wanted to go deeper, but were ageing out of the camp program. 

So the MAD Camp team offered the graduating cohort a chance to attend an event beyond camp, where they would receive leadership training to not only prepare them to lead on MAD Camp but on other Christian ministries in their local churches and communities too.

Over two days in June at Donvale Christian College in Victoria, five young people – four past MAD Campers and an SU volunteer, attended the MAD Young Leaders Event. The team ran workshops and practical sessions on leadership, public speaking, planning skills, teamwork, collaboration, and conversational skills, all based directly on what the young leaders wanted to learn about.

“All of our young leaders engaged well, and pushed themselves out of their comfort zones to learn new skills,” says Sunny.

There was also plenty of downtime, which led to great opportunities for deep one-on-one conversations with the young leaders.

“The culture and community of MAD is the main draw that keeps them coming back and wanting to be involved in MAD events,” says Sunny.

After the event, four of the young people committed to leading on MAD Camp this year. 

“MAD Camp is special to them, and they want to pass that on to other young people.”

Thank you for all you do to empower and equip young Christians to step into leadership and impact our communities with God’s love, hope and good news. To learn more about our upcoming camps and missions, visit suvic.org.au/camps. To support this work, visit su.org.au/donate.