Faith meant a lot in Camilla's childhood home. Grace was said at every meal, evening prayers were prayed and Sundays the family gathered for Mass with the local Catholic pastor, in a family chapel in the main building of the castle. The family would be seated on the balcony of the church that was open to other Catholic believers in the area as well.
The church at Ledreborg castle was originally Protestant, but the family Holstein-Ledreborg converted to the Catholic faith in 1911. The conversion from the Protestant faith was of course a problem but this was solved by Camilla's great-grandfather. When the king of Denmark offered to make him a Minister he agreed on condition that the chapel at Ledreborg castle in the future should be Catholic.
"As a little girl it was normal for me to believe in Jesus. When I started school I wondered why the other kids did not believe, but I never spoke to them about it. Back then we still had assembly in the schools but that was only the first couple of years. As I got older my faith slowly drifted away", says Camilla Holstein-Ledreborg, by way of introduction.

Light hearted dreamer
Camilla describes herself as a light hearted "dreamer", who could sit for hours gazing out of the window without doing anything at all. When she was not day dreaming she was playing"cops and robbers" in the forest. Rather than wear princess gowns she could be found at full gallop on horseback. Her father bought four Icelandic horses for his daughters and Camilla had her own horse called Stjerna, which she thought was really cool because it was rather wild.
During winter she was skiing in the south of Germany where her mother had a house in the mountains and the summer holidays was spent in a country house in the south of France, together with her cousins and their babysitters. The children had their own beach where they could swim, water ski or sail their boats. Every year during winter holidays she went skiing with the family who had a strong family bond and they would spend time together and enjoy each others company.
Camilla has always been the outdoor type though. She loved to go for long walks and enjoyed nature especially in and around the forests at Ledreborg castle, where she also hunted. "I have done many nice and exiting things. I have ridden horses in the Sinai desert, climbed mountains in Germany and paddled canoes on the river Thames. I have even walked in processions in the streets of Luxembourg and waved at the crowd from the balcony at the grand dukes mansion. I have been drinking tea with the late queen mother and attended hunting dinners with members of the royal Danish family. I have danced at state balls dressed in splendid gowns, driven sports cars, and flown in helicopters. I was always looking for new and fascinating experiences but regardless of what and how much I did, it never seemed enough", Camilla said thoughtfully.

Culture shock and art history
It is difficult to imagine Camilla Holstein-Ledreborg as a student at an English boarding school ran by Catholic nuns, nevertheless she attended boarding school from 8th-10th grade, which was an enormous culture shock for her. She missed her family and thought that the nuns were very grumpy. Her faith at this time in her life was very weak. The only reason she went to Mass in the evening was so that she did not have to do her homework.
"After three years schooling in England I was not sure that I could continue my education in Danish, so I ended up taking my baccalaureate at the Copenhagen International School. Thereafter, I went travelling. First I went to Italy where I studied Italian and art history for approximately a year, and then I went on to the USA. Everything I did was at random. I did not know what I wanted in life and my parents did not have any expectations either, maybe because I was number five", Camilla says.
"When I came home, I had to do something "acceptable" so I continued studying economics though it did not interest me. Then I got a job as an assistant textile preserver at Rosenborg Castle and worked a couple of months for an art preserver. It was pretty boring but I thought I wanted to do something with art. I learnt how to clean paintings, file them and put articles in showcases. In order to enhance my skills I went back to England where I studied art history at the Victoria Albert Museum and worked as a shop decorator in a shop specializing in English furniture, at Sloane Street. I also took some extra courses at Inchbald School of Design".
Camilla thoughtfully continues:
"It sounds so surreal compared to what I am doing today. The truth is I was seeking for the meaning to life. So I was searching all over without success or finding what I was looking for..."

Wedded and divorced after five years
The daughter of Count Holstein-Ledreborg, who was then 26, got married in 1986. For the first year of their marriage they lived in a big apartment in Amaliegade before moving to the Estate at Lolland. The estate belonged to her husband, but Camilla says she never felt at home there.
"We did not have a good marriage. We knew each other for eight years before we got married but after five years we got divorced. My husband was never home. I was home alone with the children and I felt as if I was locked up. I frequently went to visit family but over the years I got more and more reserved. During this period I suffered from anxiety attacks. I would get claustrophobic in the middle of the highway if I could not see the exit and when I came into a room with many people, I had to put my head between my legs in order not to faint. My sisters tried to speak to me about having faith in God but I did not listen. When you feel this way remember to say a prayer, they would remind me and one day in desperation I discovered it helped. After many years of keeping Him in the distance, this was my first step back towards God.

Horrible news
In the years following the divorce, Camilla focused on her career again:
"As the only employee of a franchise in a private company, I worked and lived in Charlottenlund with my two children and I kept myself busy. It was going well, but this happiness was short lived when one day the police came to my door and told me that my ex-husband had been involved in a serious car accident. I asked if he died, to which I got no reply. My first reaction was the two boys. We took each others hands and asked Jesus to help us. After we prayed I drove the boys to my sisters and then went to the Rigs Hospital with a friend, to identify him. It was scary and the accident was a turning point in my life and also put an end to my career.
For the children's sake I decided to take care of my ex-husband and hoped that everything would turn out for the good. The situation was desperate. His brain was very seriously damaged in the accident and the physicians did not know if he would survive. After the initial stabilizing period in the Rigs Hospital he was flown to a facility in France specialising in traumatic brain damage, where he was hospitalised for almost a year. In order to be with both him and the boys, I travelled back-and-forth. He was not able to breathe unassisted, was in a coma and had to be fed intravenously. He showed no signs of reaction except in his eyes. After a period of rehabilitation in the hospital in Vordingborg, he was moved home to his estate. I gave up my house and moved back to the estate with the children in order to take care of him. I had always loved him and after all, I was not the one who left "Camilla says.

Forgive my sins
Camilla was seeking God more intense now and among other things she went on a pilgrimage to Lourdes and Medjugorie where she had her faith renewed. In Lourdes she had a very significant experience. She went forward for prayer and confessed she was living in sin. Overwhelmed by tears she cried and cried without knowing exactly why. The year after in Lourdes she experienced a fantastic atmosphere of prayer and returned back home with a deep peace in her heart. During a retreat with Charismatic Catholics she was baptised with the Holy Spirit and when the Catholic Pastor, Martin Bergsøe, invited her to a revival meetings with evangelist Christian Hedegaard in Nykøbing Falster, Camilla and her children were sitting on one of the front rows.
It was a fantastic meeting. Many young people was saved, set free and healed and Camilla experienced a strong call to do something for God.
"I remember walking in the fields afterwards praying. "If You want to use me Lord, here I am", and when Christian asked me if I wanted to be his coordinator, I could not say no. I did not know what a coordinator did but I found out soon enough. I also realised that the Gospel has a price tag attached. The Catholic pastor was fired from his office because of his participation in the revival meetings and started a new Free Church, "Bibelværkstedet" in Nykøbing F. When I started attending the meetings, I was no longer allowed to take care of my ex-husband and I had to leave the estate because his family did not approve of what was happening. Luckily I had just sold my old house in Charlottenlund, so I had enough money to buy a new house and get a car".

It is about Jesus
It is now four years later and Camilla Holstein-Ledreborg is still the coordinator for Evangelist. She is no longer living on Lolland but has built her own wooden cottage next to the old rider's farm in Gørløse, where Evangelist has their office.
"I have found my place and I know that it is here where God has called me to be. Many years of seeking are over and today I know what I want to do with my life. I want to serve God and preach His Word so that people can get their lives changed as well", Camilla says.
"Even though I am no longer Catholic, I have a good relationship with my Catholic family and I am grateful for what they invested in me while I was growing up. No matter what form of Christianity we represent, is it all about Jesus", she adds.
Camilla Holstein-Ledreborg is non denominational in her approach. She has a great love for people and God has given her a supernatural gift to look into peoples lives. She has started a teaching series called "Between Heaven and Earth" where she also shares her testimony and life with God. Camilla concludes "It is of no consequence whether you are born in a castle or a detached house. True happiness is to know Him and the peace He gives. Finding meaning in life is not to forget where you came from, but most of all, to know where you are going".