You’re helping to raise Godly men

Seven Canberra boys from grades 9-12 got their first taste of SU Australia’s newly launched ministry, Grounded, during the July school holidays. 

While this first outing was a day trip to Namadgi National Park rather than a full four-day camp, Grounded director Randall is excited to see this new discipleship ministry develop and grow to impact young men in the ACT, and even the wider community. 

Born from a combination of his own personal journey, and a growing conviction to see Christian boys stepping into the calling God has placed on their lives, Randall, who has led and run many SU camps, first pitched the idea for Grounded in 2021. 

“There’s a current narrative that kids are getting nowadays that doesn’t put masculinity in a very good light. There’s a lot of confusion and sadly many boys are not being given a good vision of what manhood is meant to be. 

“We want to pursue this camp to give the boys a great time, but to build a future where we see good men in families, in church communities, in society and workplaces. Men who are outward looking, not inward looking and that have a relationship with Jesus,” says Randall. 

With this goal in mind, the idea was to run a new and distinct camp for boys who were already Christian that would involve fun, challenging and physical activities, while exploring topics ranging from manhood, the difference Jesus makes, relating to women, and tackling tough topics, such as grief, mental health and more. 

“We’ve got a carefully planned out program that repeats once every four years. So for those campers who come for all those camps, they’ll be getting plenty of great content via what we call ‘alongside teaching’ rather than your more traditional upfront teaching,” he says. 

While the first camp was due to start this year, registration numbers fell short. Randall and his volunteer leaders were keen to ensure that those who registered were still able to get a taste of Grounded this year. 

“We went up to a place called Billy Billy Rocks, which is a massive boulder complex and has a wonderful view from the top. So there’s lots of scrambling and a bit of caving to get to the other side, which was a lot of fun,” recalls Randall. 

After completing the hike, the leaders and campers gathered around a campfire and chatted about manhood, which led to a lively discussion, and a hunger among both the boys and the leaders to do more next time. 

For Jack*, one of the boys who joined the daytrip, the disappointment of missing out on the full camp experience quickly turned to excitement for what a future camp could look like. 

“I am most excited about the talks and the activities, and the relationships that will be built between campers. 

“I think a camp like this is really important because we get a chance to hear things from mature Christian men, which would help young men such as myself,” he says.

Please join us in praying for this new ministry and that the Grounded community will continue to grow so they can officially launch the first camp next year. 

*Name has been changed for privacy.