This year Crossword was held at the Magalies Retreat Bushcamp and we were incredibly blessed by the Lord. Our speaker was Gavin Johnston from Randburg Baptist Church and he spoke superbly well from the book of 1 John. It was a great challenge to the youth to “always keep it real” and many responded well with four young people committing themselves to Christ and others pledging to live out the Christian life more and more. The campsite was a great venue and despite a few hiccups with maintenance the camp generally ran very smoothly. It’s such a blessing to have a fantastic team of leaders to just get on with things “in the trenches”, especially under pressure. We are so thankful to God for the work He’s doing amongst our leaders and pray that this continues so that we can deal with the growth of Crossword.

Highlights of the camp included the sessions where the Bible was taught and singing praises with our amazing band, quiet times with leaders, the bed time group discussions and prayer. In addition we had some fantastic activities that helped the youth to interact with each other and work together. Our superhero was “Baa Wool”, a sheep who had been led astray by some ferocious wolves and had become “Baa Wool(f)”. As Crossword progressed and the Word of God was taught, we saw a massive transformation as Baa Wool(f) became Baa Wool again! This was true for a number of teens and we are so thankful to our Heavenly Father for His continued work in their lives.

We had the most epic chef ever as it’s not often that at a youth camp you get roast chicken on the first night and a carvery on the second night, bacon and eggs for breakfast and pap en wors for lunch but this we did and it was so awesome to eat so well! We don’t know how Audrey does it on such a tight budget, it must be her legendaryness!

Due to the growth of Crossword we’ve had to book a bigger campsite for 2010 and we are rejoicing at how much the Lord has blessed us, He has just been so incredible and the blessing that Crossword has been to so many youth has been a testimony to His love and the fact that He continues to work out His purpose in the world.

The Crossword committee has worked unbelievably hard and without them we would not be able to run such an effective camp. I’m so thankful to our camp secretary Angela Hare, assistant director Kerin Verster and committee members Andrew Prohn and Hope Motlhope. God has gifted you all and you are a blessing to the youth. Please pray for the continued work of Crossword Gauteng, that it may glorify God and extend His Kingdom.

BRYAN HAIGH