The cost that’s worth it

Going on camp as a volunteer leader means making room on your busy calendar, but it’s also time reclaimed and regained—time to bathe in the goodness of God’s creation, and to help young people find their way to him.

Skye has co-directed Zone 40, a camp for primary-aged children held annually in the beautiful countryside of Wild Wee Jasper, for the past several years. No small feat on top of being a busy working mum. But rather than being a burden, Skye describes the camp as a place to refocus spiritually and personally.

“Going out to Wee Jasper is . . . going away from the normality of life, and withdrawing for a time to think about God and to think about each other and our relationship with God . . . ” says Skye.

“It’s also a really special time to be doing that together . . . it’s a little taste of heaven . . . you actually see what it might be like to be so many different people gathered around God in heaven altogether. It is a special camp in that sense.”

Although Skye’s training is in teaching and children’s ministry, it was her own children going on the camp that led her to initially join as a volunteer.

“I love campfires, I love rivers, I love being outdoors, but also my kids started going to these camps . . . so I thought, ‘Well, why don’t I just go on with them and enjoy that too?’”

“So for me, it is a tiring week, it is a cost, but I always come away going, ‘Yes, that was worth it.’”

Volunteering has other benefits, Skye believes, including modelling behaviours she hopes her own children will benefit from.

“My youngest child had her last year on Zone 40 this year, and she brought three friends with her from school . . .

“Our kids learn from our modelling of what’s important, and they get on board and they invite their friends. So I think that’s super important, you know, as a parent, to be involved . . . ”
Among the many scenes of God’s grace Skye has witnessed over her years co-directing Zone 40, two stories in particular stood out this year. The first involved one of the girls in her small group.
Each morning at Zone 40 begins with a ‘God spot,’ a unique time for children to focus on God, including many colourful elements to help them engage, like drama, memory verses, and a now-famous buzzer quiz after the Bible talk.

Skye describes how this young girl began by not wanting to engage.

“On the first day . . . she stated that she wasn’t interested in doing God spot . . . but by the end of the week, she was really on board with it. She was praying every night, writing in a little journal, and giving good answers in the small group.”

She even requested her own Bible to take home.

“I think the process of just doing God spots together, and it being normal to chat about God . . . that really impacted her,” reflects Skye.

There was another camper with particular behavioural and sensory needs but found the community and love on camp to be a safe and embracing space.

“Just being away from home for the first time on a camp for that long was a really big unknown, but she went really well. She was talking about going to Wild Wee Jasper [SU Australia High School aged camp in the same location], which is the next step for them,” reflects Skye.

“I just thought that was a really awesome step into SU camping for her at the right time, and her realising that she can do it.”

If you’d like to find out more about volunteering and becoming a part of transforming lives under God, just like Skye did, please visit: https://su.org.au/volunteer/