Camping

Camping Centers

Kadesh Barnea:
A campsite with large open grounds and situated in between the trees of the Hek Poort valley. A river runs through the property and a separate bush camp facility is being created. It is a great facility for family camps and school camps and has a large Thatched roof meeting area and numerous face brick chalets.

Stoney Ridge:
As SU's largest campsite this is a very versatile campsite which could be used for youth, church, family and school camps. It has a large playing field, swimming pool a large hall and few smaller meeting rooms. Stoney Ridge can accommodate many programming options.

Glenhaven:
The camp is situated on over 100 hectares of unspoilt property framed on one side by a mountainous backdrop and on the other with frontage on the Umzimkulu River.

Coaton Cottage Bain's Kloof
Coaton Cottage is a small rustic cottage in the Boland mountains and is suitable for small leadership camps. A strict limit of 20 people is set for this cottage. The beautiful Witte River can be accessed when camping at Coaton Cottage. A major development is planned in the short term future.

Carmel Valley
A delightful campsite situated in the Carmel Valley. The famous Vic Bay is a stone's throw away from this campsite.

The benefits of Camping are numerous,

• Camping creates a temporary community which provides a sense of security and an opportunity to go "below the waterline" in a young person's life.

• Camping provides the long periods of quality time to build relationships with young people.

• Camping is a tool which staff can use to fast track the leadership development of key volunteers. Because camp is such an intense ministry time, young leaders are able to grow quicker than through most other training methods.

• Today camp is a place where young people from all walks of life are exposed to different world views. Camping at a quality campsite facility with warm beds, hot water and electricity can be a life changing event in some young person's life, it is also a place to feel safe and secure and also see potential for a better standard of living.

• For those who 'have it all', camping in a very rustic setting can help people rediscover what is truly important in life

• The benefit of taking people out of their community and comfort zones cannot be underestimated as it allows people to stretch and grow.

• Schools use mainly a cognitive learning style of educating. Camping uses experiential learning techniques more. This enables a number of young people who struggle in school to see themselves in a different light, boosting their self esteem.

Although it is one of the most difficult and complex activities to organize, it requires the most effort and is the most emotionally draining, it produces the best results in terms of leading young people to the Lord and in growing the church's future leadership.

'Camping, camping that's the life for me!'

SU firmly believes that camping is one of the most effective tools to communicate the Good News of Jesus Christ to young and old alike. Camping effectively enables a group of people to form a temporary community which is vital to creating a safe environment for personal and group growth. Relationship building is the key ingredient to enhance this growth process and as comfort zones are often enlarged on camping experiences the protection created by meaningful relationships is essential to this growth.

Scripture Union has always believed and still does believe in earning the right to speak into the lives of young people. We believe that camping creates unique opportunities to build these relationships and also refreshing ways to communicate the Gospel to young people.

General Information:
Scripture Union has made use of camping for about 80 years in South Africa and we still see hundreds of young people committing their lives to God as a direct result of our camping ministry.

We have seen an increase in the quantity and quality of church camps in recent years and Scripture Union encourages the Christian community to continue this good work to help Christians grow in their spiritual lives and in their capacity to lead the church in the future.

We make our camping centres available to other Christian groups when we are not running camps of our own. Some of our camping centres offer programming for school groups and programming advice.

To find out which SU camps are being offered in your area contact your local Scripture Union office as these activities are most often coordinated from these offices.

Each SU camp requires leaders and SU provides training for every leader who wishes to be part of our camping programme. Being a leader on one of SU's camps is an excellent opportunity to grow as a Christian and to develop your leadership skills.

The types of camps which SU runs are as follows:

• Children's interschool camps during school holidays
• Teenage interschool camps during school holidays
• Life skill camps run during the school term for schools
• Leadership camps for school leaders
• Weekend Adventure camps
• Weekend Children's camps
• School Christian Group Committee Training Camps
• Various other training camps

For further information on camping and campsites you can contact Christian Camping South Africa.
www.ccsa.org.za
SU Camping